My Alpha Stepbrother Marked Me, Then Rejected Me |New Movie| Ep 19 - FULL ✅ [Eng Sub]Watch the full short drama with English subtitles. CEO, billionaire, revenge, betrayal — complete story in one video.#shortdrama #ceodrama #drama #revenge #fullmovie #englishsub #reelshort #dramabox #miniseries #love #betrayal #drama2026 #video #film2026 #movie2026
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00:00The year I turned 18, I was drugged at a party and stumbled into my stepbrother Reed Sterling's
00:05room. He marked me, against his will. It was a full moon night he lost control. All I remember
00:10is the pain. After that night, I was carrying his child. That was after the Sterlings learned the
00:14truth. The truth that adopting me had cost them their real bloodline. Ten years. It took them
00:19ten years to realize that the day they chose me, the daughter they'd been searching for was right
00:24there too. Ten years ago, five-year-old me smiled at Reed, and he chose me. The wrong choice.
00:29Without question. So he hated me, couldn't stand me, and couldn't stand the thought of
00:33his child growing inside me. That day, I took his hand and placed it on my stomach. I thought
00:38he'd want to feel it. You know what? You disgust me. You stole my sister's life. Why didn't
00:43you die instead? His cold, hard rejection sent a pain through me I'd never felt before. I
00:49could feel something tearing away inside me. He got his wish. My baby died, and so did
00:53I. Before my eyes closed, I thought back on this life. From five to fifteen, I was truly
00:59happy. The Sterlings were good to me. The lakefront house in Bellevue always smelled like coffee
01:03in the morning. On Sundays, the warm scent of fresh laundry drifted from the laundry
01:08room. And Reed, we weren't even in the same grade. But he still took me to school and picked
01:12me up every day. When I was little, I'd do homework at the kitchen island, and he'd sit
01:16on the couch pretending to watch TV. He wasn't really watching. He was just there. By the time
01:21he started college, he was already 6'1", the kind of guy people just moved out of the
01:25way for. But with me, he was always close. Always put me first. I fell for him so easily,
01:30it was almost embarrassing. He was in my diary, locked behind a passcode no one could crack.
01:35Then one day, everything changed. Reed wasn't the Reed I loved anymore. After that night, he
01:40hated me even more. Before I died, I wasn't scared. Not even a little. I even thought it wasn't
01:44so bad. But somehow, I opened my eyes again. I was back to the day they came to the group
01:48home.
01:52Nola, what are you doing back here?
01:55Mrs. Linda, I don't want to go.
01:58Silly girl, it's the Steelers. If they pick you, you'll finally have a real home, sweetheart.
02:02Just smile, okay? That's all you have to do. Just one smile. One smile. I thought of Reed's
02:06eyes in my past life. Cold, hateful. The moment that black Range Rover pulled up, I hid in
02:12the storage closet. I don't know how long I sat in there. At some point, I fell asleep.
02:17By the time they found me, the Sterlings had already left. They didn't end up choosing anyone.
02:21I didn't know why. Didn't care either. Three other kids in the room, just like me. No family.
02:26I didn't know who the Sterlings' biological daughter was. The one who'd been taken from
02:29them. But in my past life, I'd overheard it on one of Ms. Linda's phone calls. The Sterlings
02:34believed she was here. In this group home, I didn't want anything to do with the Sterlings.
02:38Not this time. But in my last life, the first ten years with them,
02:41The Sterlings and Reed had been good to me. Really, genuinely good. If their real daughter
02:46could find her way back to them, we'd be even. But before I could do anything about it,
02:50the Sterlings came back a second time. All the girls around five or six were lined up for a DNA
02:54test. A cotton swab along the inside of the cheek dropped into a vial. This never happened in my past
02:59life. Word was, this DNA test had been requested by the Sterlings' young master himself. Could it be?
03:05Had Reed been reborn too?
03:08I lowered my head and stepped aside. Even though his wolf hadn't awakened yet, I could feel it.
03:13Something about him that made you not want to get too close. The next day, the girl who slept
03:18across from me, Iris, was gone. Iris never talked much. She cried all the time. A total crybaby.
03:24Turns out she was the Sterlings' biological daughter. Two days later, the Sterlings came back again. This
03:29time they said they wanted to adopt a girl to keep their daughter company. And this time I didn't hide.
03:33All of us, me included, lined up in a row, waiting for the Sterlings to come pick. The first one
03:37out
03:37of the car was the Sterlings' little girl. The crybaby who used to cry over everything. Now treated
03:42like a princess by everyone around her. There was something around Iris I couldn't quite name.
03:46Not perfume. More like a warmth. The Sterling family's warmth. A bunch of kids rushed up to her.
03:52We were all young. A group home kids learn early. You learn to read adults. You learn to read a
03:57room.
03:57Everyone knew. If you got to leave with Iris today, you'd get to wear pretty dresses like hers.
04:02Live in a big house. Have your own room. But for some reason, Iris stopped in front of me.
04:07My stomach dropped. Before I even realized what I was doing, I shoved her away.
04:10Nola! Iris!
04:13That day, Ms. Linda made me stay in my room for three hours. No coming out. I thought there
04:18was no way the Sterlings would still want me after what I did. But three days later,
04:22I was sitting in that black Range Rover. Ms. Linda said the Sterlings had filed for my foster
04:26placement. The paperwork was already done. I froze. But it was already settled. All I could do
04:30was accepted. Iris, at least, was easy to be around. And the Sterlings, just like the first
04:35ten years of my past life, were kind to me. The coldest one in the house was Reed. He barely
04:39spoke to me. But sometimes, I'd catch him watching me in silence. A flash of gold in
04:43his eyes. Gone before I could be sure. A few days later, after dinner.
04:46Dad, the group home's furnace is ancient. It keeps breaking down every winter. Can we
04:51get them a new one?
04:51The truth was, I'd been trying to figure out the same thing. How to keep the group home from
04:56the disaster. In my last life, the group home caught fire. An old space heater short-circuited
05:01in the middle of the night. Those heaters were all second-hand donations, used for God
05:04knows how many years. And those kids, their wolves were still dormant. They didn't have
05:08the adult wolf instinct to sense danger in their sleep. Smoke. Temperature. Completely
05:12unaware in the haze. They were just like any normal child. The group home never had enough
05:16funding. A second-hand space heater could last ten years.
05:19You're right, I should have thought of that. They looked after Iris for years.
05:23The Sterlings replaced the group home's entire furnace, and donated a large sum on top of
05:28it. I hadn't expected Reed to do something like that. I still kept my distance from him,
05:31but honestly, I was grateful, setting aside everything between us from the past. Reed's
05:35rebirth had genuinely saved a lot of people from a terrible fate.
05:40In the blink of an eye, Iris and I were both old enough for high school. Reed was still in
05:45college, but he'd already started interning at the family firm. He and I still barely crossed
05:49paths. I kept my distance on purpose, and Reed was just as cold toward me as ever.
05:53The contrast with how he treated Iris couldn't have been more obvious. I knew the deal. The
05:57Sterlings adopted me to give Iris a companion. That was always the point. So for all those
06:01years, school and Iris, that was my life. When everyone found out I wanted to transfer
06:06from the PAC school to a human high school, the Sterlings, even Reed, looked at me in surprise.
06:11Norla, why would you want to transfer to a human school all of a sudden?
06:14Your grades are great, but you know there's no PAC support over there, right?
06:18No PAC support meant everything would be on me. But I didn't want to stay. This time,
06:22I wanted to live my own life. The Sterlings took turns trying to talk me out of it. I didn't
06:26budge.
06:27Let her go.
06:28The living room went quiet for two seconds. No one argued after that.
06:32One night during finals, I stayed in the library studying until almost 11. By the time I came out,
06:36the school entrance was deserted. November. The wind was brutal. I walked along the sidewalk,
06:41shoulders hunched, streetlights flickering on and off in patches. The streets around the human
06:45school were nothing like Bellevue. No Sterling security. No one who knew my name.
06:50Hmm. Where are you?
06:53I didn't answer.
06:55You're just now heading home?
06:56Yeah.
06:57Where are you?
06:58By the 7-Eleven near school.
07:00Don't move. I'm coming to get you.
07:01It's fine. I can-
07:04Ten minutes later, a black Mercedes turned the corner. He didn't kill the engine. Just rolled
07:09down the window and looked at me. I got in the passenger seat. I reached for the seatbelt.
07:12Pulled. It wouldn't budge. Reed reached over and yanked it free in one pull. When his fingers
07:17brushed past my collarbone, my whole body flinched toward the door. He didn't say anything.
07:24Are you afraid of me?
07:27In my past life, I was at the pack school. Those kids always knew which side to be on.
07:33A girl splashed milk on me.
07:35Sorry.
07:36I pulled myself out of those memories.
07:39The car had already turned into the Bellevue neighborhood. There was a faint scent in the
07:42car. Cedar and rain. My wolf was still dormant.
07:44I shouldn't have been able to pick up on it. But it was there.
07:49The car pulled into the garage. He killed the engine. I stared at the clock on the dashboard.
07:54It's 11.47. He pulled the key, pushed the door open, and got out.
08:00I followed behind. Two, three steps back.
08:04After that night, everything was swallowed up by schoolwork. Every night, I sat hunched over
08:08my desk doing homework until my eyes burned. Iris' college was already set.
08:13Nora, I thought once summer started, you'd finally hang out with me. You're seriously
08:16doing a summer program?
08:17It is what it is.
08:19But it's been so long since we've done anything together.
08:21It's fine. Have fun. Send me pictures of everything. Cool stuff. Good food. All of it.
08:25It'll be like I went, too.
08:26After Iris left, I started spending every day after school in the library until the staff
08:31kicked me out. Then I'd walk to the McDonald's on the corner, order a coffee, and sit there
08:35until late.
08:36Catherine wasn't happy at first. Me coming home so late every night. But in the end,
08:41she didn't say much about it.
08:45Senior year, a whole week off. Iris came to pick me up from school the second it started.
08:50But when I walked out, Reed in the driver's seat, I thought about what Catherine always
08:53said. How after all these years, Reed still hadn't sensed his mate.
08:57Nona! Noah! We're right here!
09:00Every time she brought it up, Iris would volunteer to find him a boyfriend.
09:04Reed! I want to go to that new steakhouse in Belleville.
09:08When we got there, Reed gave a name. The hostess took us straight to a window table.
09:14Nora! What do you want to eat?
09:15I shifted in my seat. A little uneasy.
09:17I'm good with anything.
09:19Mushroom soup and herb crust filet instead.
09:21I quietly let out a breath.
09:25My stomach had been bad lately. I'd been trying to eat on time every day. But when the pain hit,
09:30after dinner, we headed back to Bellevue. My stomach kept getting worse. I dug out some
09:34Pepto and took two. I was trying to finish a paper due right after spring break. Used up
09:40every last bit of energy I had. When I got home, I crashed. I didn't wake up until the next
09:44day.
09:44It was the stomach pain that woke me up. I was about to go find something to eat. I opened
09:48the door, and there was Reed, leaning against the hallway wall. We both
09:51froze for a second. His eyes flashed gold. Then he looked away.
09:56Mom says come down for food.
09:57Iris pushed a sandwich she'd made for me across the table.
10:00Nola, you're seriously amazing. You're going to get what you want. I know it.
10:06April, college offers started rolling in. The day results came out. The whole Sterling
10:09family stayed home. I sat on the couch in the living room and logged into the application
10:13portal.
10:17The page loaded for two seconds.
10:23My hands were shaking. I hugged her back. I'd gotten offers from several schools. East
10:29coast. West coast. But I chose Boston. Five-hour flight from Seattle. Three-hour time difference.
10:34He was on the west side. Then I'd go east. Catherine wasn't happy about it. She nearly
10:38backed out of the graduation trip we'd already planned. Iris talked her mom around. Again,
10:42Iris. She was so good. She didn't always understand my choices. But she always respected them.
10:47April. Prom season. The hallways were full of promposals. Within one week, three different
10:53guys asked me to be their prom date. One slipped a note into my locker. One did it at lunch
10:58in
10:59front of the entire cafeteria. One sent a friend to ask on his behalf. Sorry, I can't. I turned
11:05them all down. After that, Iris and I went to Europe together. Just the two of us. Our own trip.
11:13When we got back, I made one more stop. The group home in Portland. Ms. Linda still remembered
11:17me. When she heard I'd gotten into college, she almost cried.
11:21Good. Good sweetheart.
11:23Once she'd pulled herself together, she asked if the Sterlings had been treating me well.
11:27I nodded. Yeah. Really well. This life. I really had been lucky.
11:34The night Iris flew to England, I packed my bags too. Catherine couldn't understand why
11:39I wanted to leave for school so early. That night, walking past Catherine's room, I heard
11:45her voice through the door. She's never going to see us as her real family. No matter what
11:49we do, she's always going to leave. I went back to my room. Didn't turn on the light. Just
11:58sat there in the dark until morning. The next day, the Sterlings drove me to Sea-Tac.
12:03Call us if you need anything. Don't forget to eat. We're always here.
12:08Okay, Mom. At the airport, I said goodbye to each of them. I reached for the suitcase in
12:13Reed's hand. Let's go.
12:18Then board the same plane. He sat down next to me.
12:25What?
12:25Then he slipped a gray neck pillow behind my head. When his fingers grazed the back of
12:29my neck, my whole body was stiff. I kept my earbuds in. Sat rigid the entire time. Didn't
12:34sleep for a single second. After we landed, Reed carried my luggage all the way from the
12:39parking lot to the dorm. My roommates thought he was my boyfriend. After he left, they found
12:46out he was my brother. Every single one of them came at me for his Instagram.
12:48Girl, that is not a brother faith.
12:54The truth is, in this life, Reed and I barely interacted at all. I knew he didn't like me,
12:59so I always kept my distance. Not once, and it wasn't just him. I kept my distance from
13:03everyone. In my past life, he hated the smile I gave him when I was five. I never understood
13:08why. But that day, at the group home, he looked at every girl in the line. And in the end,
13:13he walked over to me. All because I smiled at him. He chose me. And Iris was left behind.
13:18The reborn Reed. He probably hated my smile too. So in the Sterling house, I was always
13:23guarded. Always careful. The only time I could relax was around Iris. Now that I was in Boston,
13:29I didn't have to face any of them anymore. I could finally breathe. The only hard part was Christmas.
13:34Every year, I had to come up with a new excuse not to go back. The first year, Iris facetimed
13:39me. She looked a little hurt. The second year, I still didn't go back.
13:42Nola? What's going on with you? I feel like you didn't just go to college. You left us.
13:48For good.
13:49Iris waited for a long time. Then she hung up. That night, I made myself a cup of hot cocoa.
13:54That gray neck pillow was still at the bottom of my closet. Some nights, a trace of cedar and
13:58rain would drift through. I was never sure if I was really smelling it or just remembering.
14:06The truth is, in this life, Reed and I barely interacted at all. I knew he didn't like me,
14:11so I always kept my distance. Not once. And it wasn't just him. I kept my distance from everyone.
14:16In my past life, he hated the smile I gave him when I was five. I never understood why. But
14:21that day,
14:21at the group home, he looked at every girl in the line. And in the end, he walked over to
14:25me.
14:25All because I smiled at him. He chose me. And Iris was left behind. The reborn Reed. He probably
14:31hated my smile, too. So in the Sterling house, I was always guarded. Always careful. The only time
14:38I could relax was around Iris. Now that I was in Boston, I didn't have to face any of them
14:42anymore.
14:43I could finally breathe. The only hard part was Christmas. Every year, I had to come up with a
14:48new excuse not to go back. The first year, Iris FaceTimed me. She looked a little hurt. The second year,
14:53I still didn't go back. Nola? What's going on with you? I feel like you didn't just go to college.
14:59You left us. For good. Iris waited for a long time. Then she hung up. That night,
15:04I made myself a cup of hot cocoa. That gray neck pillow was still at the bottom of my closet.
15:08Some nights, a trace of cedar and rain would drift through. I was never sure if I was really smelling
15:13it or just remembering. I finished the hot cocoa and lay in bed. The dorm was almost empty,
15:23not a single person in the hallway. I forced my eyes shut. Then my phone buzzed.
15:34Iris? Nola, come downstairs. Iris had already spotted me. And it wasn't just Iris. David,
15:42Catherine, even Reed. All of them standing there. Catherine was holding a bag of groceries.
15:47David had a little tabletop Christmas tree. Nola! I suddenly felt like I'd been so selfish.
15:53I knew it. I knew you missed us. In that moment, wrapped up in Iris' arms,
15:59I felt a gaze settle on me. That night, Catherine cooked Christmas dinner in the communal kitchen
16:04on my floor. A big pot of pasta, garlic, olive oil, parmesan. The whole floor smelled like it.
16:10It's picnic-style Christmas. Halfway through eating, Iris noticed something was off.
16:14I couldn't stop shaking. She touched my forehead. You're burning up!
16:18Iris dragged me to the ER. When the blood work came back, they said I couldn't go home.
16:23If we hadn't come, how long were you going to let yourself burn like that?
16:27She always showed up when I needed her most. Everything went black.
16:33When I opened my eyes again, I was in the ICU. The doctors at the human hospital said it was
16:39acute kidney failure. But the pack doctor the Sterlings brought in, after reviewing all my charts,
16:44pulled David and Catherine into the hallway. I caught fragments through the door.
16:48Incomplete first shift, her wolf tried to emerge but failed. The shift damaged her organs on the
16:52way out. My wolf had finally tried to wake up. But she was too weak. The shift stalled halfway.
16:57Never completed. My kidneys were torn apart in the process. Dialysis at the human hospital
17:01could only buy time. The pack doctor said I needed to be transferred to the pack hospital in Seattle.
17:05But it didn't matter. Human hospital or pack hospital. The conclusion was the same.
17:09The only way I'd survive was a kidney transplant. I stared at the ceiling. I didn't understand.
17:13I'd been trying so hard. So hard to break free from the Sterlings. To build my own life. I'd gotten
17:17into a good school. Two more years and I'd be working. And now everything had gone dark. I was
17:23transferred to the pack hospital in Seattle. I saw Iris. Eyes swollen from crying. Her school was
17:28about to start. She didn't go. Took a leave of absence. Refused to leave my side. And the pack doctor
17:35said that because my kidneys were damaged by an incomplete shift, a human kidney might not be
17:39compatible. A wolf's kidney would be best. The pool of potential donors shrank to almost nothing.
17:43What I didn't expect was that Iris went behind everyone's backs and got herself tested. And she
17:47was a match.
17:53I lay in the hospital bed, listening to Catherine's voice in the hallway.
17:56Iris, have you thought about this? If you give up a kidney, what happens to you for the rest of
18:01your
18:02life? Stop telling me you'll be fine with one kidney. You don't know that. I won't allow it.
18:07Do you hear me? I won't allow it.
18:10Tears rolled down my face. Iris, I won't let you do this either. I waited until no one from the
18:16Sterling family was around. Then I packed my things and left the hospital. I had nowhere to go. And I
18:22didn't want the Sterlings to find me. I couldn't even fly. The pack hospital had my information on file.
18:29The second I booked a ticket, the Sterlings would know. I called a car from outside the hospital.
18:34I told the driver to keep heading south.
18:41Sacramento. A city I'd never been to before. I'd always planned to pay the Sterlings back,
18:45every dollar they'd spend on me over the years. But now, that was clearly never going to happen.
18:51This life I'd always owe them.
18:54I found a tiny studio on a quiet side street. Craigslist listing. Cheap rent. Everything old.
19:02To keep myself looking somewhat normal, I got a job at a flower shop wrapping bouquets. The owner was a
19:08Mexican lady in her 60s. She didn't ask many questions. She looked at me once, and told me to
19:12come in at nine the next morning. The hours weren't long. Six a day. It wasn't hard work.
19:22But every time I came back to that little studio, I felt lonely.
19:30Valentine's Day. The flower shop was slammed until late. By the time I clocked out, it was almost one
19:36in the morning. Sacramento was quiet at night. The last bus was long gone. All I could do was walk
19:41home. But on the way, I kept feeling like someone was behind me. Up ahead was a narrow stretch.
19:50No streetlights. No one around. I started walking faster. And faster. But the footsteps behind me,
19:57they sped up too. I panicked. Tripped. Hit the ground. Someone was coming toward me. I screamed,
20:05scrambled backward. The headlines started flooding in. Rape. Murder. Body found three days later in a
20:11ditch. A hand closed around my wrist. Please. Please let me go. Please. I'm sick. I swear. I don't
20:17have any money. Please. Just let me go. I kicked and hit at whoever was in front of me. Then
20:26someone
20:26pulled me in. Held me tight. Nola. Nola. Nola. It's me. I'm here. It's me. I froze for one second.
20:38That scent came back. In the dark. It wrapped around me completely.
20:47After a long time, I pulled myself free and went back to the little studio.
20:50I didn't know how Reed found me here. I didn't want to know why he came after me. In our
20:57past life,
20:58he hated me. So why? Over the next few days, Reed was just there. Following me. Quietly. He didn't
21:03talk. Didn't explain. Didn't get too close. He was just there. He sat in the cafe across the street,
21:09pretending to look at his phone. When I walked home after work, he walked behind me.
21:14Half a block back, I didn't want to deal with it. Didn't want to ask.
21:18But the flower shop owner noticed. She glanced out the window at Reed sitting in the cafe,
21:23then looked back at me. Boyfriend trouble?
21:28I didn't answer.
21:32Just walked out in silence.
21:36I refused to take anything from the Sterlings.
21:39Not anymore. One time, Reed showed up outside my building again.
21:45I couldn't hold it in. I walked up to him.
21:51Let me go. Clean.
21:54Is that too much to ask?
21:56His eyes changed. Gold. Deep gold. Not the usual flash that came and went.
22:01His wolf had surfaced completely. But he didn't move.
22:07Nola. I'm sorry.
22:10He just stood there. Eyes full of grief.
22:16My condition was getting worse.
22:18The next time I ended up in the ICU,
22:21I was transferred back to the PAC hospital in Seattle.
22:26Iris sat at the edge of my bed again.
22:29She held my hand.
22:31Pressed her forehead against the back of it.
22:34Her shoulders were shaking.
22:36Nola, please.
22:37Let me do this.
22:39Let me save you.
22:40Please.
22:45You're my sister. Do you hear me?
22:50Do you hear me? You're my sister.
22:52That was the first time Iris ever said that to me.
22:55I held her hand.
22:56Weak.
22:57Shook my head. I was happy she said it.
22:59But no matter how many times she did,
23:02I couldn't let Iris give me her kidney.
23:05Before, the reason I refused was because I couldn't go through it again.
23:08What if something happened to Iris because of me?
23:10I couldn't imagine how the Sterlings would treat me after that.
23:13But now, the reason was different.
23:14I simply couldn't ruin the rest of Iris' life.
23:16She was young.
23:17Her wolf had only just awakened.
23:18Losing a kidney, no one knew what that would do to her wolf.
23:22Catherine had aged so much these past weeks.
23:25The elegant Alpha's wife.
23:27Now with lines carved deep around her eyes.
23:30I knew she regretted it.
23:32After what she'd said, Iris still refused to speak to her.
23:36Catherine blamed herself.
23:38Thought she'd been a terrible mother.
23:40That her selfishness had made my condition worse.
23:42But I never blamed Catherine.
23:44Not really.
23:45Because I knew.
23:47It wasn't just Iris who went and got tested.
23:49Catherine did too.
23:50She just wasn't a match.
23:51And she never told anyone she'd tried.
23:53Then, just when everyone was about to lose hope,
23:57the PAC hospital called.
23:58They'd found a kidney for me.
24:04I made up an excuse.
24:05Told them there was a problem at the West Coast branch.
24:08Said I had to fly out.
24:09Mom gave me grief for it.
24:10Said Nola had finally gotten a donor match.
24:12She was about to go into surgery.
24:14And me, her brother, couldn't even be bothered to care.
24:17Then she started...
24:18You remember Iris' birthday every single year.
24:20Every single year.
24:23But Nola's, you've never once remembered.
24:25She's your sister too.
24:28But you're the only one in this family who's always treated her like an outsider.
24:33I smiled bitterly.
24:34The truth was, when it came to Nola, I never knew how to face her.
24:39Every time I saw her, my past life came rushing back.
24:42What I did to her, I always knew.
24:44Deep down, I knew.
24:45Iris' death in our past life had nothing to do with Nola.
24:48But back then, we were all drowning in grief.
24:51None of us could see straight.
24:52So I watched.
24:53Every time Nola was bullied, humiliated.
24:56I clenched my jaw and looked the other way.
24:58Iris was dead.
24:59Nola should be in pain too.
25:00I even went out of my way to say things that would cut her.
25:03Until that party.
25:05The one where someone slipped something in Nola's drink.
25:08I heard about it at school that day.
25:10I went after her immediately.
25:12What I didn't expect was Nola clinging to me the moment she saw me.
25:17Refusing to let go.
25:19I lost control.
25:20My wolf broke free for the first time.
25:23He chose her.
25:24And from that night on, he never went quiet again.
25:28Afterward, the regret was instant.
25:30When I found out Nola was pregnant.
25:35That day, she begged me.
25:37Pleaded.
25:37Said no.
25:38Please no.
25:38I didn't listen.
25:40I rejected her.
25:42Brutally.
25:42And that's when I finally understood what I was.
25:45A complete and utter piece of shit.
25:50In this life, I brought Iris back.
25:52And I brought Nola back too.
25:54I thought I was making things right.
25:56But slowly, I started to realize.
25:58Nola wasn't happy.
26:00It's not like I didn't notice.
26:02Back at the group home, she was already hiding from us.
26:05But I told myself, the Sterlings could give her a better life.
26:07And besides, in our past life, we owed her.
26:09So this time around, when Nola wanted to go to a human high school, I convinced the family
26:14to let her.
26:15When she wanted to go to a school five hours away, by plane, I convinced them again.
26:21What Nola didn't know was that over her two years in Boston, I flew out to see her more
26:25than once.
26:26The lecture halls.
26:27The library.
26:28Even outside her dorm.
26:31Every time, I suppressed my scent.
26:34Every time, my wolf fought me.
26:36He wanted to get closer.
26:38I wouldn't let him.
26:41Then one day, she was suddenly in the hospital.
26:44Incomplete first shift.
26:46Her wolf had finally tried to wake up.
26:48But she was too weak.
26:50The shift never finished.
26:52Her kidneys were damaged in the process.
26:55I watched mom fight Iris on the kidney donation.
26:58I also watched mom quietly get herself tested.
27:01Then drag dad to get tested too.
27:04Neither matched.
27:05So I went and got tested on my own.
27:09My kidney was a match for Nola.
27:14I used the West Coast branch as my excuse.
27:17I went into surgery first.
27:19Before they wheeled me in, I looked down the hallway.
27:22The light above the door of the next OR was on.
27:25She was behind that door.
27:27I knew.
27:28I stopped the doctor before we went in.
27:31Take care of her.
27:33Whatever it takes.
27:41The surgery went well.
27:44I was transferred to a different hospital to recover.
27:47My family was happy.
27:48Messages kept coming in.
27:50One after another.
27:52The surgery was a success.
27:54Nola's numbers were improving.
27:56No one knew whose kidney it was.
27:58And me, I realized that missing a kidney didn't really change much.
28:03If it weren't for the scar, I'd sometimes forget there was something missing inside me.
28:07Once I was healed up, I went back to doing what I'd always done.
28:13Flying to Boston to see Nola.
28:15After that, Nola went back to Boston to finish school.
28:18I knew her grades were good.
28:20I knew she'd gotten into a top research lab by her senior year.
28:24One day, I saw Nola walk out of the campus gate.
28:26There was a guy next to her, walking close.
28:29And Nola's eyes, that look she had, shy, bright.
28:33A smile she couldn't hold back, even if she tried.
28:36I'd never seen her smile like that.
28:38Not once.
28:40Not at me.
28:41Not at anyone in our family, never.
28:43And it hurt so bad I couldn't breathe.
28:44I thought to myself, maybe the surgeons made a mistake last time.
28:48Maybe they gave Nola half my heart along with the kidney.
28:51Because what else could explain this kind of pain?
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