- 6 hours ago
The False Mate
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:02I look almost exactly like their first love, Sarah.
00:05Who made her fall in love with him first?
00:08The loser. Give up Sarah.
00:10They made a bet.
00:11Whoever could win my true heart first would be the one to mate Sarah.
00:16Evelyn, will you marry me?
00:18The Alpha King lavished me with every luxury the world had to offer.
00:23Zane, the aloof and distant Gamma Zane will grant all my wishes.
00:28Do you need me to do anything?
00:31Evelyn, please love me more.
00:36I won't let you down.
00:38They all begged for my love. They vowed they would never fail me.
00:43I never expected that the second I agreed to marry Zane...
00:47You made me lose. Look how ugly you are. Never dream of marrying me!
00:56You were just a dirty secret.
00:59Caden had his men strip me of my clothes and throw me into the deep forest.
01:06The famously powerful Alpha King and Gamma actually enjoyed sharing women.
01:11It is well known that they were infatuated with a witch named Sarah.
01:15They toyed with her daily, possessing her madly.
01:18Until Sarah couldn't take it anymore and ran away forever.
01:21When they first met me, I was being bullied by several rogue wolves, barely clothed.
01:26Let's see who dares touch her.
01:27Their fragrance wafted towards me.
01:30They were my mates. I had two mates.
01:35That night, they knelt beside my bed, gently caring for me and marking me.
01:42Evelyn, marry me.
01:44Evelyn, you should have married me.
01:45They were all whispering possessively in my ear.
01:53But beautiful things never last long.
01:57Three months later, I passed by the pack house.
02:00She's just a substituted.
02:02Don't take it seriously.
02:04Hey! Sarah's coming back!
02:06But we're already sharing Evelyn now.
02:09Forget about that poor Omega.
02:11Have you forgotten how painful it was for us when we lost Sarah?
02:15Evelyn was just a bet.
02:17Fine.
02:18Anyway, I'm the one who won the bet.
02:22According to the agreement, the winner gets Sarah all to himself.
02:27So, they were pursuing me relentlessly, begging me to marry them.
02:31It was just a bet.
02:33Whoever wins my heart can mate Sarah Zayn.
02:36Zayn happily left to prepare for the mate pairing ceremony.
02:41I managed to sob.
02:45Kayden overheard and turned.
02:51Now.
02:53I am back.
02:58I want revenge.
03:00I am not reconciled.
03:03Still here?
03:05You heard all?
03:06He didn't even bother to explain.
03:08He looked at me like I was a trash.
03:11Whatever happens, I will never hurt you.
03:14I will protect you.
03:15I will keep you close forever.
03:18I didn't have much to say either.
03:20I swallowed the sting and turned to leave.
03:23A pack omega stopped me at the door.
03:26Miss Evelyn.
03:28Nights my chinged guns on the vladders.
03:31Nothing from Alpha King's pack house leaves with you.
03:33I closed my eyes, reached up and started taking it all off, piece by piece until I was standing in
03:41nothing but a plain white undershirt.
03:43The coat, the pins, the jewelry.
03:48Enough.
03:49What do you think of yourself?
03:53Do you think that the things we gave you in the past was for free?
03:57Never!
03:58Never!
04:01I think you need to pay me for oral sex right now.
04:08You promised me one thing.
04:11Does that still stand?
04:13I once had taken an attack for him.
04:15He had made his promise in front of the whole pack.
04:18Whatever I asked for, as long as it was in his power, he would give it.
04:28Zane doesn't want you.
04:30Neither do I.
04:33Don't think any of this was real.
04:35My mate will be Sarah.
04:37No one else comes close.
04:39I only ask one thing.
04:41Let me walk out of here in what I'm wearing.
04:43I just wanted to leave with my dignity intact.
04:45That was all.
04:47That's all you want?
04:48Nothing else?
04:50He had expected screaming, threats, a scene he could use to justify getting rid of me for good.
04:56He didn't know I had lived this before.
04:58I stopped wanting anything.
05:00Get out.
05:01He waved his hand.
05:02I stood and pulled open the door without looking back.
05:05It was just after December.
05:07The snow was still heavy.
05:09The cold swallowed me the second I stepped outside.
05:12I walked barefoot into it.
05:14My feet went numb fast.
05:16My face went white.
05:17I didn't make a sound.
05:19I just moved toward the pack gate.
05:21One step at a time.
05:23By the time I reached the gates.
05:25My feet were red and aching.
05:27I crouched down and wrapped my hands around my ankles trying to get some warmth back.
05:32A convoy of vehicles rolled past.
05:35Sarah only came back half a month ago and already the beta is sending her the rarest gifts to court
05:39her.
05:40He really never stopped.
05:42Didn't the beta and the alpha king both treat that omega sex soy differently?
05:45Like they actually cared?
05:46That's old news.
05:47Everyone always knew she was just something they used to pass the time.
05:50If Sarah hadn't come back, they never would have bothered finishing the game.
05:54The voices faded.
05:55I felt nothing.
05:56Just numb.
05:58So everyone had known all along.
06:00They both loved Sarah.
06:02Only I had been stupid enough to believe it was real.
06:05I didn't find out until I was already dying.
06:08I don't know how long I crouched there.
06:11Then I stood, wrapped my arms around myself, and walked out past the gates.
06:16Outside, the wind was worse.
06:18My hands and feet had gone completely rigid.
06:21At some point, my legs gave out and I went down in the snow, darkness flooding in at the edges.
06:27But I made it back to my own family house, same as last time.
06:32One extra layer of clothing.
06:34Same stairs.
06:36I walked through it without looking at anyone and knocked on the door.
06:39No one answered.
06:41My eyes burned.
06:43I let out a short, bitter sound and knocked harder.
06:46The Omega servant inside finally spoke, low and reluctant.
06:50Miss Evelyn.
06:52The family can't take you in.
06:55Please go.
06:56My hand froze in the air.
06:58It felt like something small and dense was pressing through my ribs.
07:03Spreading out slow.
07:04I pulled my hand back.
07:06The tears came without permission.
07:08In my last life.
07:10The moment my family found out the Alpha King had passed me off.
07:13They shut the door on me.
07:15They were afraid of what my presence would cost them.
07:18Afraid of what people would say.
07:20So they put me in a vehicle.
07:22And drove me to a border outpost to be forgotten.
07:25They had me poisoned.
07:27I died somewhere.
07:28No one would find me.
07:29But I still remember.
07:31Before I was chosen by Alpha King, my grandmother and my father held my hands with tears in their eyes.
07:37Evelyn.
07:39If the Alpha King is ever cruel to you, come home.
07:43We'll always be here.
07:45They said that.
07:46And then they locked the door.
07:47I could have gone somewhere else.
07:49But I knew they wouldn't let me disappear quietly.
07:52The only way to be free was to disappear completely.
07:55So I came back.
07:57The door opened.
07:58My father stared at me with his jaw set and contempt in every line of his face.
08:04Do you have any idea what you've done to this family?
08:08Why didn't you just go?
08:10You got thrown out.
08:11Why come back and drag your sisters into this?
08:15Behind him, my half-sister's eyes were full of something vicious.
08:19My grandmother stepped forward and took my hand with practiced tenderness.
08:24Evelyn, this isn't your fault that the family can't have a daughter like you.
08:30Let grandmother send you to the border outpost.
08:33We'll tell everyone you passed away.
08:35The past stays buried.
08:37Doesn't that sound better?
08:39Her voice was gentle, but her eyes held something sharp and ruthless.
08:44And underneath it, a sliver of guilt too faint to name.
08:47So it wasn't only Caden and Zane who wanted me dead.
08:52It was my family too.
08:53In the end, I got into the vehicle.
08:56I kept my hand wrapped around a small pin the whole way.
08:59I didn't let go.
09:01Same as last time.
09:03The estate manager at the outpost had his orders.
09:05And he followed them without hesitation.
09:08He locked me in a storage room.
09:11Now he stood over me.
09:13You really thought you'd survive this?
09:14You humiliated the Alpha King and the Beta.
09:19The family can't keep something like you alive.
09:22Samey words as last time.
09:24I stared down at the floor and tightened my grip on the pin.
09:28He moved toward me with a small bottle.
09:30I raised my hand without thinking.
09:33The pin aimed at his throat.
09:35Then the door exploded inward.
09:38The estate manager went sideways as the shape moved through the room.
09:42A figure in white caught my arm and pulled me upright.
09:45Voice calm and even.
09:46I heard you make good osmangra cake.
09:50Want to come work in my kitchen?
09:52She lifted her veil as she said it.
09:54The face underneath matched the portrait Caden kept locked in his private office.
09:59Stunning.
10:00Unmistakable.
10:01One look and I knew.
10:02This was Sarah.
10:04The fated mate.
10:05Both Zane and Caden.
10:07Had built their whole obsession around.
10:09In my last life the poison went down and the body burned.
10:12No one came.
10:14I had planned to take the estate manager out myself.
10:17Start a fire.
10:19And let the world think I was dead.
10:21But this changed everything.
10:23She must have seen something in my face because her expression softened.
10:27And before I could speak she draped her outer coat over my shoulders.
10:31It's cold.
10:33Don't get sick.
10:35Most girls from high ranked families smelled like powder and perfume.
10:40She smelled like green wood and clean air.
10:42I was still processing it when Zane appeared in the doorway behind her.
10:46Dropping his black coat over her shoulders before she could shiver.
10:50You matter more than anything.
10:52He looked at her with a warmth I had never seen aimed at me.
10:56Not once.
10:57Everyone said the beta was cold.
10:59That the softness he showed me had only ever been strategy.
11:04Looking at him now.
11:05I could see it.
11:07Whatever was in his eyes when he looked at Sarah was something else entirely.
11:12He seemed to feel my stare.
11:14He turned.
11:15His voice was flat.
11:16Sarah wants your baking.
11:19So you'll go to her estate.
11:21You were sent here to die.
11:23Which means you were guilty of something.
11:26Be grateful you're still breathing.
11:28And don't reach for anything more.
11:30The warmth he had shown was completely gone.
11:33This was the beta I had never been allowed to see.
11:36The boy I thought I knew dissolved out of memory and left a dull ache behind.
11:41So my real feelings had been a death sentence to him.
11:45I pulled the corners of my mouth up slightly.
11:48I'm grateful Sarah saved my life.
11:50I'll serve her well.
11:51And I won't reach for anything else.
11:53I moved to follow Sarah to the vehicle.
11:56Someone caught my wrist.
11:58I looked back into Zane's warning stare.
12:01I pulled my wrist free.
12:02Voiced flat.
12:03You don't have to worry.
12:05I won't say anything to Sarah about what happened between us.
12:08Everything before this, I'm burying it.
12:11As far as I'm concerned, we never met.
12:15He didn't speak after that.
12:16He just got into the vehicle ahead of me.
12:19At Sarah's estate, I followed them inside and watched the two of them walk side by side
12:23through the entrance hall.
12:24My chest stayed quiet.
12:26After Zane left, he looked back at me once.
12:29Something unreadable moving across his face.
12:31I didn't look up.
12:32Then arms came around me from behind.
12:35You're okay.
12:35Thank God.
12:36Sarah held on to me.
12:38And despite everything,
12:39despite the softness of her face and the slender look of her,
12:43she was taller than I expected.
12:45Close to Zane's height.
12:46Her arms were solid.
12:48Her voice was lower than I remembered too.
12:51I pushed her back gently,
12:52keeping my voice even.
12:54Thank you for coming for me.
12:55She kept her eyes on me.
12:57I'm sorry.
12:59You got used to it because of me.
13:02That wasn't fair to you.
13:03I thought she was drawing a line.
13:05A warning dressed up as an apology.
13:07But then she said,
13:09I'm not going to bond with either of them.
13:12I don't want either of them.
13:13I didn't understand what she meant.
13:15I didn't try to.
13:17I just let her set me up in a room and stayed.
13:20My family had shut the door.
13:22Right now I had no leverage and no choices.
13:25I wasn't in a position to say no.
13:28Sarah seemed to mean what she said.
13:30She never made things hard for me.
13:31And whenever Zane or Kayden sent gifts,
13:34she turned them away immediately
13:36and then came to find me and explained quietly,
13:39I'm not keeping them.
13:40I didn't understand why she kept doing that.
13:43I just sent her a portion of fresh Osmanthus cake every day.
13:48Zane and Kayden showed up at the estate together.
13:51In the side kitchen,
13:53Zane had his hand around my throat
13:55and his eyes were pure dark fury.
13:57What did you say to her?
13:58She just pulled out her brother's copy
14:01of the late Alpha's standing order
14:03to dissolve the bonding agreement.
14:05Kayden watched from a few steps back and laughed,
14:08low and sharp.
14:09Should have finished it properly.
14:11Evelyn, I should have gotten rid of you
14:13when I had the chance.
14:14I hadn't done anything.
14:16The pressure on my throat made my vision blur.
14:19My back hit the wall, hard and cold.
14:22It wasn't me.
14:24Something in my expression
14:26made Zane's grip loosen slightly.
14:28I used it.
14:30I swung my open hand
14:31and caught him across the face
14:33hard enough to snap his head to the side.
14:35He felt the heat in his cheek.
14:37His eyes went dark.
14:39Evelyn.
14:40I pressed my hand to my chest
14:42and pulled in long, slow breaths.
14:45Whatever Zane said after that,
14:47I let it pass through me.
14:49He yanked me back up by the arm.
14:51Go tell Sarah there's nothing between us anymore.
14:54Whatever trick you pulled is done.
14:56If you don't,
14:58I will take apart everything you've built
15:00and your family goes down with you.
15:03Kayden hadn't spoken yet,
15:04but the intent in his eyes
15:06was already building.
15:08Two men who use someone else's feelings
15:10as a bet chip.
15:12And you think you get to accuse me
15:13of playing games.
15:15I drove the pin into Zane's wrist.
15:18He pulled back with a hiss.
15:19Kayden moved toward me,
15:21jaw tight.
15:22For a second,
15:23I was ready to take them both down with me
15:25if that is what it came to.
15:26Then Sarah stepped between us.
15:29Same as the outpost.
15:30Kayden stopped.
15:31His face went complicated.
15:34Sarah, don't listen to her.
15:35Whatever you decide,
15:37whether you bond or with me,
15:39you'll be protected.
15:41You'll have everything.
15:42He pushed hard,
15:43but Sarah just let out a slow breath.
15:46I really can't bond with either of you.
15:48Then she reached up
15:49and started undoing her coat.
15:51Zane had brought guards.
15:53I stepped in front of her
15:54and grabbed her arms.
15:55Even if you don't want them,
15:56don't ruin your own reputation
15:58doing it like this.
15:59I got my arms around her waist
16:01to stop her.
16:02And then I felt it.
16:03No softness.
16:04Solid muscle,
16:05flat and warm
16:06and very clearly.
16:07Not what I had been expecting.
16:10Sarah wrapped me in close
16:11and murmured into my hair.
16:12Easy.
16:14Stop touching.
16:15My brain went completely blank.
16:17Sarah was a man.
16:19He looked up at the two stunned alphas
16:21in front of him
16:21with total calm.
16:24Still want to claim me now?
16:26Both of them stood frozen.
16:28The fury drained
16:29and something ugly took its place.
16:34Warrior Asher.
16:36Why are you impersonating
16:37your own sister?
16:38They had seen the near-identical faces
16:40and assumed it was
16:41some kind of prank.
16:43There has never been
16:44a daughter in my family.
16:46Anyone who looked
16:47would have found that out.
16:50Wearing women's clothing
16:51is just a preference of mine.
16:53I hope neither of you
16:54are telling me
16:55you've developed a thing for men.
16:57Zane's fist tightened slowly.
16:59He thought back
17:00over the last few days
17:02and it sat in his gut
17:03like something rotten.
17:05Caden's expression
17:05stayed perfectly still.
17:07He turned and walked out.
17:09He didn't want to stay
17:10in the room another second.
17:12The moment they were both gone
17:13Asher looked down at me,
17:15amused.
17:16Done yet?
17:17Or did you need more time?
17:19I realized my fingers
17:20were still curled against him.
17:22I'm sorry.
17:24I didn't know you were dressed.
17:25I made my exit fast.
17:27I wanted to leave the estate.
17:29Leave the whole city.
17:30But Asher caught my hand
17:31and his voice when he spoke
17:32was easy and direct.
17:34I've been stuck out
17:34at the border for years
17:35which means I've aged
17:36out of the easy options.
17:38What do you think
17:39about staying on
17:40as a warrior's mate?
17:41We had known each other
17:42for less than a week.
17:43Where was this coming from?
17:44I didn't get the chance
17:45to answer.
17:46The kitchen door
17:46exploded open again.
17:48Both men were back.
17:49Faces dark.
17:50Caden's eyes locked on me.
17:51Cold and direct.
17:52She's not bonding with him.
17:56Evelyn.
17:58Come here.
17:59Zane said nothing.
18:00His bandaged wrist
18:01said it for him.
18:03Same as inside the stronghold.
18:05Come when called.
18:06Go when dismissed.
18:07A wolf they could use
18:08and discard
18:09whenever the mood shifted.
18:10What exactly
18:11are you two doing right now?
18:14Are you telling me
18:15a warrior of this pack
18:16can't choose his own mate?
18:19Evelyn.
18:20Come back with me.
18:22I'll make you
18:23a ranked mate
18:23inside the stronghold.
18:26Our agreement still stands.
18:28I'll bond with you.
18:29Their fated mate
18:30had turned out to be a man.
18:31So now they reversed course
18:33and tried to pull me back
18:34into the same fire
18:35they had thrown me into before.
18:37Both of them
18:37looked at me now
18:38with that warmth
18:39I used to fall for.
18:40For a second
18:41the image wavered.
18:42Before everything happened.
18:44Two men
18:44who had seemed
18:45so sure about me.
18:46But I knew
18:46there was nothing real
18:48in any of it.
18:48I was just the new prize
18:50in a new round
18:51of the same game.
18:52My voice came out
18:53steady and empty.
18:55I believe the Alpha King
18:56and the Beta
18:57both told me
18:58not to reach
18:58for anything
18:59beyond my place.
19:00I haven't forgotten.
19:02Both of them
19:03went still.
19:03The silence
19:04stretched between them
19:05and somewhere inside it
19:07guilt surfaced.
19:08They had assumed
19:09I would always orbit them.
19:10Always react to them.
19:12Years of shared history
19:13had a weight to it
19:14and they had just
19:15started to feel it.
19:16I'm sorry.
19:16He finally understood.
19:17I was not going
19:18to trust him again.
19:19Not by one degree.
19:21Zane moved in close.
19:22Please don't.
19:23Evelyn.
19:25Come with me.
19:26Everything I promised you
19:27it still counts.
19:28I was still working out
19:29how to make them leave
19:30when Asher's voice
19:31cut through the room.
19:32Five years ago
19:33you two were ambushed
19:34at Silvermore Lodge.
19:35A girl saved you
19:36and you've held on to that.
19:37Has it occurred to you
19:38that the girl
19:39might not have been me?
19:41You mean the girl
19:42who covered our escape
19:42wasn't you?
19:43If it had been Asher,
19:44protecting the pack's leadership
19:46would have been part
19:47of his duty
19:47but if it wasn't him
19:49then neither of them
19:50had been unknowingly
19:51fixated on a man
19:53for years.
19:54The brief flicker
19:55of something like hope
19:56showed before they
19:56could stop it.
19:58Asher confirmed it.
19:59Neither of them
20:00looked at me again.
20:01They exchanged one glance
20:03and walked out together.
20:04I had seen that look before.
20:07Stakes.
20:08A score to settle.
20:09They didn't know the first thing
20:11about caring for someone.
20:12They only knew how to compete,
20:14how to manipulate,
20:15how to turn everything
20:16into a game.
20:17Thinking that
20:18the weight I had carried
20:19in my chest
20:20since my last life
20:21finally broke apart.
20:23These two weren't worth
20:24the grief
20:24when I turned
20:25to say goodbye
20:26to Asher
20:27five years ago.
20:29Were you the boy
20:30whose father
20:31forced him into a dress
20:32to perform?
20:33I can't believe
20:34you still remembered.
20:35The person in front of me
20:36slowly matched the memory.
20:38A rail-thin boy
20:39covered in marks
20:40being forced into a costume.
20:43Backstage at Silver Moon Lodge
20:45I stepped in.
20:47Blocked the knife.
20:48When I get out of this
20:49I'm going to find you
20:51and claim you.
20:51Put on the dress
20:52and went out
20:53onto that stage.
20:55You're a ranked warrior now.
20:56That means you got out
20:57so why keep wearing the dress?
21:01The old man's gone.
21:03He asked me before he died
21:04to be his mate's reflection
21:05a few more days.
21:08His ghost wanted to see.
21:09He told me
21:10his mother had died
21:11in labor because of him.
21:13His father couldn't kill him
21:14but couldn't forgive him either.
21:16The face was too much like hers.
21:17So from the time he was small
21:19he was dressed
21:19and trained
21:20as the family's daughter.
21:22Forced to learn performance,
21:23music, painting.
21:24Same as five years ago
21:25I pressed my hand lightly
21:27to his forehead.
21:28Asher, I told you then
21:29and I'll tell you now.
21:31You are a good person.
21:33You have never
21:34not once
21:35been anything else.
21:36In my last life
21:37he made warrior rank
21:38and never came back.
21:39Thank you
21:41for choosing
21:42to come back for me.
21:43One sentence
21:44and he understood.
21:47How could I let
21:47my moonlight
21:48disappear from this world?
21:50His voice
21:50was barely above a whisper.
21:52You were mine too.
21:53But I heard it
21:53and I smiled.
21:54What I said before
21:56about claiming you
21:57I was being stupid.
22:00Wherever you end up
22:01bonded or not
22:02just stay safe.
22:03Asher didn't try to hide
22:05how much he didn't
22:05want me to go.
22:06I was one step
22:07too slow.
22:09Zane came in fast
22:10on horseback
22:11and pulled me
22:11into his arms.
22:14Where are you going?
22:18The ground tilted.
22:20When I got my bearings back
22:21Caden was there too.
22:23Both of them
22:24looking at me
22:25with that heat
22:25I recognized
22:26and wanted nothing
22:27to do with.
22:28I felt Zane's hand
22:29at my waist
22:29and drove my knife
22:30into his arm
22:31without pausing.
22:32He had been stabbed
22:33by me enough times
22:34now that he released
22:35me on instinct.
22:36Asher stepped between us
22:37and pulled me behind him
22:39voice like ice.
22:40What are you doing
22:40here at this hour?
22:41I'm here for my mate.
22:43Evelyn already agreed
22:44to bond with me.
22:45What I did was wrong.
22:47I know that.
22:48But if I had known
22:49from the start
22:50that you were the one
22:50at Silvermoon Lodge
22:52I never would have hurt you.
22:53You want to be angry at me?
22:55Fine.
22:55Yell at me.
22:56Hit me.
22:56Just come back.
22:58I went too far before.
23:00I shouldn't have made you
23:01leave in almost nothing.
23:02Come back to the stronghold
23:03with me.
23:04We can go back
23:05to the way things were.
23:06Voice full of the kind
23:07of sincerity
23:07he was very good at.
23:09I think the Alpha King
23:10and the Beta are confused.
23:12I'm a mid-rank wolf's daughter.
23:14Five years ago
23:15I would have pulled anyone
23:16out of that situation
23:17including a stray.
23:20If that's the reason
23:21you're both standing here
23:22you can let it go.
23:23It really doesn't matter to me.
23:25I understood them now.
23:26They were unpredictable.
23:28Performative.
23:29Asher had his hand
23:30at my back
23:31and was moving me
23:32toward the estate entrance.
23:33The door shut behind us.
23:36Solid.
23:37And final.
23:38From the upper floor
23:39I could see Zane and Caden
23:40still standing in the snow
23:41letting it fall on them.
23:43Asher came to stand beside me.
23:46I'll find a way
23:46to get you out of the city.
23:48A few days.
23:49In the meantime
23:50I'll teach you
23:50some defense techniques.
23:52Sound good?
23:52But he knew me well enough
23:54to understand
23:54that wasn't what
23:55I needed to hear.
23:56And I said yes
23:57without hesitating.
23:58Every woman I had ever known
24:00had been told
24:00to be soft
24:01and steady
24:01and careful.
24:03No one had ever asked
24:04what I actually wanted.
24:05I had read about fighters
24:06and wide open borderlands
24:08my whole life
24:09and never been allowed
24:10to reach for any of them.
24:12I wanted to be strong enough
24:14to protect myself.
24:15To never be at someone
24:16else's mercy again.
24:18In the days that followed
24:19Caden and Zane
24:20seemed to understand
24:21they had lost the right
24:22to force anything.
24:23They didn't come at me directly.
24:25But every day
24:25they showed up
24:26and ran through
24:27the same performance
24:28they had used before.
24:29Rare items kept arriving
24:30at the estate.
24:31Then they finally ran
24:32out of patience
24:33and sent my family.
24:34My half-sister
24:35showed up at the gate
24:36crying.
24:37Half-sister
24:38the things that happened
24:39at the outpost
24:40that was father making
24:40a terrible mistake.
24:42Grandmother found out.
24:44She's been sick ever since
24:45and she only wants to see you.
24:47The tears were convincing.
24:48The calculation in her eyes
24:50wasn't.
24:51I didn't refuse.
24:52I smiled.
24:57Alright.
24:58Let's go see grandmother.
25:00The snow had stopped.
25:02But the streets
25:03got unfamiliar fast
25:04and my smile went thin.
25:06Asking me to come back.
25:07Asking me to think
25:08of the family name.
25:09But the splinter
25:10was already in.
25:11It wasn't coming out easily.
25:13I had known
25:13since my last life
25:14exactly what my family was.
25:16They could accept me
25:17when I brought them
25:18something to gain.
25:19They could also
25:20leave me to die
25:20when I stopped being useful.
25:22I stopped being
25:23easy to manage.
25:24So they sent
25:25the half-sister
25:25who looked most like me.
25:27I watched the streets
25:28get worse
25:29and jumped out
25:29of the moving vehicle.
25:32My half-sister
25:33came after me
25:34with a knife.
25:35Before,
25:36she might have succeeded.
25:37Now I had her wrist
25:38and my other hand
25:39at her throat.
25:40Grip tightening slowly.
25:43It was father's idea.
25:44He said if you wouldn't
25:45cooperate he'd replace you.
25:46I just didn't want
25:47to be invisible anymore.
25:48She was going for sympathy.
25:50Someone else got there first.
25:51Caden looked down at her
25:52from a few feet away.
25:54Expression flat.
25:55I asked your family
25:56to speak on my behalf.
25:57Is this what they call helping?
25:58She went pale
25:59and started shaking her head.
26:01But Caden didn't want
26:02to hear it.
26:02He had her removed.
26:03Then his attention
26:05came back to me.
26:06Evelyn,
26:07stop making this hard.
26:09Are you really done
26:10caring about your family?
26:11I moved back
26:12before he could.
26:14I am.
26:15And the Alpha King
26:17doesn't wipe out
26:17whole families
26:18without reason,
26:19does he?
26:20I turned and walked away.
26:22Everything has consequences.
26:23I didn't owe my family anything.
26:26Zane had been stationed
26:27outside the estate
26:27every day,
26:28making sure I couldn't
26:29leave quietly.
26:30But now,
26:31following Caden's lead,
26:32he was gone.
26:34I looked at the broken
26:35down buildings
26:35along the road
26:36and headed straight
26:37for the city's
26:38outer boundary.
26:39I had already told Asher
26:41I wouldn't let any exit
26:42go to waste.
26:43We didn't need to
26:44draw this out.
26:44Time to go.
26:45Everything moved smoothly.
26:47I found a vehicle
26:48heading for the coast,
26:49but something sat wrong
26:50in my stomach.
26:51We need to move fast.
26:53The city's shifting.
26:54Asher's estate
26:55just got raided.
26:56The ruling family
26:57doesn't care.
26:58Use people up
26:58and throw them away.
26:59That's what tyrants do.
27:00Three years of watching Caden,
27:02I knew how much he cared
27:03about how the pack saw him.
27:05He had never done anything
27:06this openly reckless before.
27:09I closed my eyes.
27:10Then I turned my horse around
27:12and rode back.
27:15I am very happy with him.
27:17I cannot lose him.
27:20I will find you
27:21and claim you.
27:24Evelyn,
27:24ready to come home now?
27:26Release, Ashel.
27:28Done.
27:29I went back
27:30into the stronghold.
27:32This time Caden
27:33outdid everything
27:34from those three years.
27:36He cleared out
27:36the stronghold.
27:37He overruled
27:39every council member
27:41and announced
27:42he would make me
27:43his official mate.
27:45A permanent bond.
27:47Just the two of us.
27:49He stayed close
27:50every day.
27:52Warm and obsessive
27:54and relentless.
27:54Every Omega
27:56who had watched me
27:57be humiliated
27:57was reassigned.
27:58When he found out
27:59what my family
28:00had tried to do
28:01at the outpost,
28:02he acted on it immediately.
28:03A new attendant
28:04helped me prepare
28:05one morning
28:06and shook her head
28:07in admiration.
28:08My lady,
28:09the Alpha King
28:09loves you so much.
28:11Everyone in the whole
28:11territory knows it now.
28:13He has a chosen one.
28:14Her name is Evelyn.
28:15One bond,
28:16one mate,
28:16forever.
28:17People are saying it everywhere.
28:18Through them,
28:19I found out
28:20what I needed to know.
28:21Asher was being held
28:22in the pack dungeon.
28:24Zane had been confined
28:25to his estate.
28:26Caden was loudly
28:27performing his devotion
28:28to the whole kingdom.
28:29But I had not forgotten
28:31what he looked like
28:32when he told me
28:32I was nothing but a bet.
28:34A plaything.
28:36Not worth the air
28:37between us.
28:38Every moment
28:38of my last life
28:39was still in me.
28:41So I helped Zane get out.
28:43At the bonding ceremony,
28:44he came in
28:45with a blade raised.
28:46His eyes were burning.
28:47Aiden dropped
28:48every pretense
28:49of being a patient
28:50older brother.
28:51Brother,
28:52Evelyn belongs with me.
28:53They tore the masks off
28:54for the first time
28:55and showed each other
28:56the actual hatred underneath.
28:58Everyone said
28:59they were close,
29:00that the bond
29:00between them ran deep.
29:02No one knew
29:03they had always
29:03despised each other.
29:05So they competed
29:06for the same things.
29:07Wanted the same people
29:09just to settle the score.
29:11While the stronghold
29:12descended into chaos,
29:13I stepped behind
29:14a dividing screen,
29:16dropped a fire starter,
29:17and ran,
29:19I already had
29:20a mount ready.
29:20I had Caden's seal,
29:22and I used it
29:23to open the dungeon.
29:24I came to the dungeon
29:25to rescue Asher.
29:30Stop!
29:31You'll kill each other!
29:32The lady,
29:32she used the alpha seal.
29:34She took the prisoner
29:34from the dungeon.
29:36After her!
29:37Caden was unconscious
29:38for two weeks.
29:39By the time he came back
29:41and gave the order,
29:42there was no trace
29:43of me or Asher
29:44left anywhere in the kingdom.
29:45In a village
29:46no one had heard of,
29:47Asher and I stayed.
29:49The people there
29:49were mostly fighters
29:50he had mustered out
29:51from the border.
29:52They had helped
29:53pull him free.
29:54He had shed the dress
29:55for good.
29:56Dark clothing,
29:58straight-backed,
29:58easy in his own skin.
30:00The village women
30:01could not stop talking
30:02about how handsome
30:03he was,
30:04and they kept looking
30:05between us
30:06and nudging each other.
30:07Little Evelyn,
30:08you two even have
30:09the same eyes,
30:10made for each other.
30:12The way that boy
30:13watches you,
30:14his eyes are practically stuck.
30:16Why aren't you together yet?
30:17It had been because
30:18of the resemblance
30:19to Asher that I had
30:20become Caden
30:21and Zane's target
30:22in the first place.
30:23Now that all of it
30:24was finally behind me,
30:26I wanted peace.
30:27Morning training
30:28with Asher,
30:29and eventually
30:30to get out
30:31and see the borderlands
30:32I had read about
30:33my whole life.
30:34After saying goodbye
30:35to the woman,
30:35I turned toward the house
30:37and walked straight
30:38into Asher's face.
30:40My cheeks went hot.
30:41Before I could speak,
30:42he said,
30:43Don't listen to her.
30:44She talks too much.
30:46I don't have feelings
30:47for you.
30:48You're my sister.
30:49There's conflict
30:50at the border.
30:51I'm going.
30:52Take care of yourself.
30:53And then he was gone,
30:55voice cold
30:55like it had never been warm.
30:57Like the tenderness
30:57I had seen in him
30:58was something
30:59I had imagined.
30:59I didn't stop him.
31:01I just watched him go,
31:02and something hollow
31:03opened in my chest
31:04without warning.
31:05I thought about
31:06what the woman had said.
31:07I let out a quiet,
31:08slightly sad sound.
31:11Six months passed.
31:12I had no news
31:13from outside.
31:14Then I went into town
31:15for medicine
31:16and found out
31:17everything had changed.
31:18Six months ago,
31:19the Alpha King
31:20had turned tyrant.
31:21Asher had gone back
31:22to the capital
31:23voluntarily
31:23to end the conflict.
31:25Caden had chained him
31:26to the outer wall
31:27of the stronghold
31:28for three days
31:28in the open
31:29before exiling him
31:30to the border.
31:31These last six months,
31:33rogue forces
31:34had grown stronger
31:35than they had been
31:35in years.
31:36But Caden spent
31:37his days in a rage,
31:39locked Zane
31:40in the estate,
31:40and sent people
31:41across the whole territory
31:43looking for a girl
31:44with Evelyn's face.
31:45For reasons
31:46no one fully understood,
31:47Caden's hatred
31:48for Asher
31:48had become personal.
31:50He cut the border supplies.
31:51People were talking
31:52on every corner.
31:53The rogues
31:54are closing in.
31:55The Alpha King
31:56has lost his mind,
31:57and the pack
31:58is falling.
31:58I sent back
32:00the medicine
32:00and rode for the border.
32:02The fighters
32:02who had been
32:03with Asher
32:03saw me ride in,
32:05and the relief
32:05in their faces
32:06shifted to grief fast.
32:08Evelyn,
32:09you should say goodbye
32:10to him while you can.
32:11I gripped my reins,
32:13got off the horse,
32:14and walked into
32:15the command tent
32:16one step at a time.
32:19Asher was laid out there,
32:20barely breathing.
32:22He was worse.
32:24He's basically
32:25invincible in a fight.
32:26How did this happen?
32:29Since about six months ago,
32:30he's been coughing blood.
32:33Getting weaker.
32:35The healers
32:36couldn't explain it.
32:37He kept going out
32:38to fight anyway.
32:40Last time he had
32:40an episode mid-battle
32:41and took a blade
32:42directly to a vital point.
32:44The healer said
32:45there wasn't much time left,
32:46but he kept saying
32:47your name.
32:48We were just writing
32:49the message
32:49when you showed up.
32:53Asher,
32:55I'm here.
32:58You said you needed
32:59a mate.
33:00How are you allowed
33:01to go down like this?
33:04Asher has been through
33:05worse than this
33:05since he was small.
33:08Even what his father
33:08put him through
33:09didn't break him.
33:11The coughing blood,
33:13the weakness,
33:14that's because he went
33:15to the eclipse pack
33:15and paid with his
33:16lifestyle for something.
33:18I asked him
33:19what he got.
33:20He wouldn't say.
33:22But that same day
33:23he left the border
33:24for the first time
33:25and went straight
33:26to an outpost
33:27at the edge
33:28of the territory.
33:30Word was,
33:31you almost died there.
33:33I stood very still.
33:34Everyone knew
33:35about the eclipse pack.
33:36A reclusive wolf clan
33:38who could reverse fate
33:39and bend time.
33:40The cost was always
33:41the same in your life.
33:42Now I knew
33:43why I had come back.
33:44At some point
33:45the fighter left.
33:46My tears came down
33:47and my vision blurred.
33:49Asher,
33:50you absolute idiot.
33:55In my last life
33:56I loved the wrong people
33:58and I paid for it
33:59the way I deserved.
34:00This life
34:01I felt everything fully
34:02and I didn't regret
34:03a single choice I made.
34:05But now I regretted
34:06stepping in that night
34:07at Silvermoon Lodge.
34:09If we had never
34:09crossed paths
34:10he would have been fine.
34:12He would have made
34:13warrior rank
34:13without owing anything
34:15to anyone.
34:16He would have had
34:16a full, clean life.
34:18Instead,
34:19because of me
34:20all of it changed.
34:21Another tear fell
34:22and fingers caught it.
34:24Asher's lip curved slightly.
34:26What are you crying for
34:27if not for you?
34:29I would have died
34:30back then.
34:33I don't regret it.
34:37I just...
34:39He stopped.
34:39I really wanted
34:41to claim you.
34:42I wanted to take you
34:43to the border
34:44and show you everything.
34:47All of it.
34:52I guess I can't anymore.
34:54His voice was rough
34:56and full of want
34:57but he still managed
34:58to smile.
34:59When you find someone
35:00be smart about it
35:01he needs to at least...
35:04He needs to love you
35:05more than I did.
35:06That's the only way
35:07he deserves you.
35:09Another wave hit
35:10and I couldn't hold it.
35:11Tell me where they are.
35:13Please.
35:14What happened to him
35:15was my fault.
35:17He shouldn't have
35:17to carry it.
35:18He closed his mouth
35:20and kept it shut
35:21no matter how many ways
35:22I asked.
35:23I asked every fighter
35:25close to him.
35:26No one told me
35:27anything useful.
35:28In the end
35:29I found red ceremonial
35:30clothing
35:31and I brought it back.
35:32We held the bonding
35:33ritual right there.
35:35Asher,
35:37I'm yours.
35:38Even now
35:39with no time left
35:40the tent was filled
35:42with red.
35:43Asher leaned
35:44against the frame
35:44and the light
35:45in his eyes
35:46was scattered
35:47and bright
35:47like something broken
35:48and beautiful
35:50at the same time.
35:51Evelyn
35:53I'm so glad.
35:54He laughed
35:55and blood ran
35:56down his cheek.
35:58I reached up.
35:59Don't talk.
36:01He went quiet
36:02and then his lips
36:03pressed against mine.
36:04It lasted
36:06a long time.
36:07When I finally
36:08opened my eyes
36:09all the tears
36:11had gone.
36:12Asher wasn't
36:13breathing anymore
36:14but the smile
36:16was still on his face.
36:17I held his hand
36:18and I didn't let go.
36:20Sometime later
36:21the rogue forces
36:22attacked again.
36:23The fighters
36:24who had nothing left
36:25stood in their gear
36:26quiet and certain
36:27ready to fight
36:28one last time
36:29for the pack
36:30they belonged to.
36:31The fighter
36:31who had told me
36:32everything offered
36:33to take me
36:33and Asher
36:34somewhere safe.
36:35I shook my head.
36:36I want to stay
36:37at the border
36:38with him.
36:39That day
36:39I put on
36:40Asher's battle armor
36:41and picked up
36:42his sword
36:42and used everything
36:43he had taught me
36:44to go out
36:44onto that field.
36:46The first kill
36:47blood everywhere.
36:48I didn't freeze
36:50because I knew
36:51he was right there
36:52beside me.
36:52I could protect
36:53myself
36:54and I could protect
36:55everything he had
36:56cared about.
36:57I wore Asher's helmet
36:58with the mask down
36:59and they thought
36:59I was him.
37:00The legend of a warrior
37:01who couldn't be killed
37:02unnerved them
37:03and they wanted out.
37:04I wore that mask
37:05and signed the agreement.
37:07After the battle
37:08Caden tried to pin
37:09the charge of betrayal
37:10on Asher's name.
37:11He had the fighters
37:12who had been with Asher
37:13hunted down
37:14and destroyed.
37:15His rule got darker
37:16by the week.
37:17For half a year
37:18we scattered and moved.
37:19Caden unable to find me
37:21or Asher
37:22grew more brutal.
37:23He taxed
37:24and squeezed the pack
37:25into misery
37:25using the search
37:26as an excuse
37:27for everything.
37:28The fighters
37:29who had followed Asher
37:30found me eventually.
37:31They looked exhausted
37:32and they looked like
37:33they were asking
37:34for something
37:35they weren't sure
37:35I could give.
37:36My lady
37:37every wolf in this territory
37:38knows what kind of man
37:40Asher was.
37:41Caden is not fit to lead.
37:43We're asking you
37:44to put on the mask.
37:45Use his name.
37:46Call the fighters together
37:47and take the stronghold.
37:48I put my hand
37:50over the pendant
37:50at my chest.
37:52I put on the mask.
37:53This time
37:54under his name.
37:56The people lined
37:57both sides of the road.
37:59Caden stood
37:59on the stronghold wall.
38:01Fury and something else
38:02tangled together
38:03in his face.
38:05Asher
38:05you stole my mate
38:07and now you have
38:08the nerve
38:09to on my territory.
38:10Our eyes met
38:11from a distance.
38:12He could always
38:13read me in a way
38:14that other people
38:15couldn't.
38:16Evelyn
38:16you came back.
38:18Get in here
38:18we'll finish the ceremony.
38:20You'll be my only mate
38:20forever please.
38:21I was wrong before.
38:24Can you forgive me?
38:25His expression
38:26went strange.
38:27Open the gates.
38:29Let Evelyn in.
38:31He came down fast
38:32and moved toward me.
38:33I raised my bow
38:34and put an arrow
38:34through his chest.
38:36A tyrant falls
38:37to the people
38:37he failed.
38:42Caden looked down
38:43at the blood
38:44on his hand
38:44completely at a loss.
38:46Evelyn.
38:47I had already
38:48walked past him
38:49and taken the fighters
38:50inside.
38:51The arrow
38:52hadn't killed him.
38:54I found a member
38:55of the ruling bloodline
38:56with a clean record
38:57and helped him
38:58take the seat.
38:59Under Asher's name
39:00I became the pack's
39:01commander.
39:02If Asher had lived
39:03it would have been his.
39:05Now it was his
39:06regardless.
39:07He had earned it.
39:08The new alpha
39:09was declared
39:10in front of the whole pack.
39:11The old one
39:12was dealt with
39:13in the open.
39:14Giving the pack
39:14somewhere to put
39:15its grief and anger.
39:16Zane had been
39:17let out of confinement.
39:19Not long after
39:20the new alpha
39:20took power.
39:21He walked out
39:22of the capital
39:23and was never
39:23found again.
39:24I applied to the station
39:26at the border
39:26permanently
39:27and left the capital
39:28with the fighters
39:29who had been
39:29Asher's family.
39:31Time passed.
39:33I rode across
39:33open grassland
39:34with the pendant
39:35at my chest
39:36catching the light.
39:37Asher appeared
39:38in front of me.
39:39So,
39:39what does it feel like
39:41being a warrior?
39:43I laughed
39:44and rode toward him.
39:45He drifted
39:46the way things
39:46drifted in the wind.
39:48The neighbor lady
39:49was right you know.
39:50We really did
39:51look like we were
39:52meant for each other.
39:53Next life
39:54we do it right.
39:57Deal.
39:57I closed my eyes.
39:59One tear
39:59disappeared
40:00into my hair.
40:01Deal.
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