- 5 hours ago
Betrayed, Then Cherished
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Short filmTranscript
00:00The night we were supposed to bond as mates, bar manager Silas had the bouncers drag me out of the
00:05back chamber of the hollow and fang.
00:07He walked out with the new female bartender instead. He looked at me like it meant nothing.
00:12Nova's baby needs a father on paper. Once I divorce her, I'll marry you.
00:17Everyone thought I'd swallow my pride and wait another month. After all, I'd already waited seven years.
00:24Dad!
00:26But that night, I accepted my father's arranged match and left Dusk Hollow entirely.
00:34I vanished from his world completely.
00:41Three years later, I was back to the town. My husband had a work emergency, so he had his people
00:46in Dusk Hollow to collect me.
00:47I'll go along with whatever you say.
00:49The demon spirit tournament here was about to begin. I was here helping my husband holding this.
00:54I spotted someone holding a carved bone marker. My formal name, Ren.
00:58Nova stood beside him, along with a handful of the bar's regulars.
01:02Two wolf luds, a half-blood witch, a vampire.
01:04Hey, isn't that you obsessed ex? Isn't that waiter Lena?
01:08See? I told you. She'd come crawling back.
01:12She vanished without a trace. Now she sees Silas is rich.
01:15She probably cries herself to sleep every night.
01:18But Lena, if you were going to stage a reunion, at least show up in something decent.
01:22You can't afford better than that?
01:23You look this pathetic?
01:25I used to dress sharply every single time I knew I'd see Silas.
01:28Best clothes. Best version of myself. Not anymore.
01:31No point. I was pregnant now.
01:33My husband had told me to wear whatever was comfortable.
01:35The clothes I'm wearing were chosen by him.
01:37I noticed. They only knew my old name.
01:40They had no idea I was the person they'd been sent here to collect.
01:43Lena? Hey, it's good you're back.
01:45Look, Silas been asking after you for years.
01:47Yeah, our son is entering the young training co-court soon.
01:50From now on, you're in charge of the drop-off.
01:52He was still so incredibly arrogant, but I wasn't that naive girl anymore.
01:55Hey, Lena. This is Nova.
01:57I didn't want to waste another second on them.
01:59Please don't blame Silas. He's just trying to take care of you.
02:02Who knows what kind of shady stuff you had to do to survive these years.
02:05Maybe a hooker. Three years.
02:07Nova still wore that exact same expression.
02:09It still made my sin wrong.
02:11Alright, Lena. Drop the attitude.
02:12You clearly can't survive out there, so stop throwing tantrums and learn your place.
02:17Damn, Lena. Look how good Silas is to you.
02:20He's given you free room and board.
02:21Isn't babysitting better than whatever trashy life you're doing now?
02:24Hurry up and say thank you.
02:26Don't worry, dear.
02:27If my son acts up, I'll handle him myself.
02:30You won't be mistreated.
02:31Why would she be mistreated?
02:33She bolted over nothing.
02:35She's back because the outside world didn't want her.
02:38A little humility is good for her.
02:40The Silas who used to love me was long gone.
02:42He was no longer the one who protected me when I was sexually assaulted in the bar.
02:46That was fine. It was over. No point.
02:49I was about to have my second child.
02:51Aren't you here to pick me up? Let's go.
02:56Pick you up? Please.
02:58Read this carefully.
03:00We're here for Rin. You even know who that is?
03:02Rin is the lady of the Ashwiel line.
03:04She's mated to the Lord Caius, our bar's mistress.
03:06Yeah, Caius is a legend, child of the dark.
03:08He is coldest creature alive in the field, but completely devoted to one mate.
03:11Rumor is he refused every offer for years, just waiting for win.
03:14Everyone who matters knows the rule.
03:16You want Caius' favor, go through Rin.
03:18She is everything to him.
03:19Three years of marriage, Caius' bussiness had doubled.
03:22So had his reputation as the most fiercely devoted mate any supernatural alive had ever witnessed.
03:28Caius had a one-of-a-kind piece commissioned.
03:30The night gloom pendant, an enchanted moonstone set in black iron.
03:34He paid a witch lord's ransom for it, just to give to Rin.
03:38She's the most envied woman in every territory.
03:44That pendant! That's it!
03:46Everyone quieted down and looked at me.
03:49Silas grabbed my wrist, looked at the pendant, then laughed.
03:53Nice knockoff.
03:55Is this your salary for fucking man?
03:57I pulled my arm back. I ran my thumb over the moonstone.
04:01Silas saw me smiling, and his expression changed.
04:03He grabbed my wrist again and ripped the pendant free.
04:06I wasn't ready for that. He got it.
04:08Better quality than the replica I had made?
04:11Not that I'd ever wear mine outside.
04:13This outer territory imitation is something else.
04:16Then she laughed.
04:20Wait, don't tell me you're Rin.
04:22Don't tell me you're Lord Caius' mate.
04:25The whole group fell apart.
04:26Of course they did.
04:27It was absurd to them.
04:29Three years ago, I was just the wolf girl who'd been abandoned.
04:33Caius was a myth-walking.
04:34No one had ever seen his face and lived to gossip carelessly about it.
04:38They certainly wouldn't believe that two people like that could have any connection.
04:42Nova swung the pendant around her finger.
04:44I'll buy it off you, Lena.
04:46Double what you paid.
04:47Give it back. Caius gave me that.
04:50Shut up!
04:51You do not say that man's name.
04:53You want to spread rumors about being connected to him?
04:55You trying to get us all killed?
04:57Caius is the bar boss.
04:59We all answer to him.
05:00Everything depends on staying in his favor.
05:03Whatever he saw in my eyes made him flinch.
05:07Pathetic.
05:08For old time's sake, I'm letting this go.
05:11Take the gold.
05:12Get yourself something decent to wear.
05:14If you don't want to watch my pup, I'll find you something tolerable.
05:16Don't worry.
05:17No thanks.
05:17I don't take things from strangers.
05:19The Hollow and Fang is hosting the Grand Convocation in three days.
05:22I was going to bring you, show you something real.
05:24But you'd need to actually look the part.
05:25You can't embarrass me.
05:26I'm good, but thanks.
05:28Fine.
05:28I'll take Nova.
05:29I won't let you down.
05:32Hope you're still this confident in three days.
05:36I put on a little charm ink, wore my comfortable travel leathers,
05:40and made my way to the Hollow and Fang alone.
05:42Silas saw me the second I pushed through the iron door.
05:45His eyes lit up.
05:46Couldn't stay away.
05:47But if you're trying to win me back, you have to put in more effort.
05:50You can't show up to the Grand Conclation dressed like that.
05:52I'm talking to you.
05:53Our staff table is over here.
05:54Where do you think you're going?
05:55That's your table.
05:56Mine is up there.
05:57He followed my gaze to the raised platform at the far end of the bar.
06:00His face went pale.
06:02Nova spotted my pendant from across the room and screamed.
06:05How did she get in here?
06:06How dare she wear that pendant tonight of all nights?
06:10Tonight is Lord Caius' first public appearance with his mate at the Congeration.
06:14Is she trying to humiliate Rin?
06:18Silas, is this woman with you?
06:20No.
06:21Take that pendant off and get out.
06:24You sure you want me to leave?
06:31It's trash.
06:33Acting like it's something sacred.
06:36Moonstone shards scattered across the old wood.
06:39Throw her out.
06:40Stop.
06:41I'm Caius'-
06:44Oh now, you're his what exactly?
06:47His kept wolf?
06:49You wish!
06:50I hadn't planned to make a scene tonight.
06:52Wasn't worth it.
06:52Are you done?
06:53But she'd made it worth it.
06:54You show up chasing after me, wearing the pendant, dressed down on purpose?
06:58You wanted me jealous?
07:00Just say it and I'll give you what you want.
07:01Silas, you're a dead man!
07:04The enchanted chandeliers above the bar pulsed once.
07:08Deep gold.
07:09That light only activated for one person.
07:12The child of the dark.
07:16Boss is coming.
07:18Behave.
07:20Nova and I broke it off by the way.
07:23I don't understand what this has to do with me.
07:26Did he think I'd still like him?
07:28Gross.
07:32And every supernatural in that bar went quiet watching him.
07:36His guardian scrambled to keep up.
07:38Lena, I'll forgive you for the three years.
07:40I'll give you another chance.
07:42Have my pup.
07:42I promise I'll get rid of Nova.
07:46Mom!
07:48What happened?
07:49Who hurt you?
07:50Why is there so much blood?
07:52One word.
07:53Mom.
07:53Every creature in that venue turned from the boy to me.
07:56I'm okay.
07:57The ones who'd watched me get knocked around without doing a thing.
08:01All of them staring.
08:02Who did this to you?
08:03My chest ached looking at him.
08:06Caius was already toward us.
08:07That quiet, controlled walk that made the air in a room feel different.
08:11Supernatural creatures moved aside without knowing why.
08:14I felt him before I saw him.
08:16He was going to be angry.
08:17I knew that.
08:18Since I'd started carrying our second, the sickness had been brutal.
08:21Caius had barely let me out of his sight.
08:23The only reason I'd arrived separately was because of his business.
08:26If I'd known this would happen, I wouldn't have come ahead without him.
08:29Our son's white shirt made the blood on my wrist look worse than it was.
08:34Dad!
08:35Someone hurt Mom!
08:37Lena!
08:37What happened?
08:38I'm right here and you're already hurt.
08:40I can't take my eyes off you.
08:42Whoever did this!
08:43He didn't finish the sentence.
08:44He didn't need to.
08:45The whispers completely stopped.
08:47Not the comfortable silence of last call.
08:50The kind that fell when every predator in a room recognized something far above them on
08:54the food chain.
08:55Silas' friends shaking hard.
08:57The female they'd spent three days calling Silas' pathetic ex was Lord Caius' mate.
09:03They'd seen the pendant.
09:04She told them multiple times.
09:07Nice performance, Lena.
09:08Where'd you dig up these two?
09:10Nova can get them booked with a traveling carnival if they need the work.
09:14Not that you could afford the commission.
09:16Petra had arrived late.
09:17She had no idea who Caius was or what his child looked like.
09:21She dressed up tonight to find a high-ranking mate.
09:26The fastest way to do that, in her experience, was to make Nova happy.
09:30Making Nova happy meant making me miserable.
09:32The entire venue stared at her like she'd lost her mind.
09:36That finally got to her.
09:37You're actually quite something for someone standing next to her.
09:41If you ever want to leave, I wouldn't mind taking care of you.
09:45My mouth twitched.
09:47She was propositioning my husband.
09:49In front of me, I genuinely could not decide if that was brave or catastrophically stupid.
09:55Caius found it funny in the way a man finds something funny right before he makes it permanently
10:00stop.
10:00Over the years, anyone who tried to get close to him, slipping notes under the bar's private
10:06door, sending signals through intermediaries, making moves at the convocation, had vanished
10:12from every territory entirely.
10:15Petra finally registered the bar's energy.
10:18Nova wanted nothing to do with her.
10:22You just insulted Lord Caius and his mate?
10:25Do you want to be exiled from every territory at once?
10:28Lena, his Wren?
10:30I just offered to take care of Lord Caius.
10:32Caius' reputation as the most protective mate in any supernatural circle was not a rumor.
10:39Petra's magic had misfired completely.
10:41It happened to witches when their nervous system went into freefall.
10:45Every suppressed spell she'd been holding activated at once, and the result was a spectacular,
10:50humiliating, involuntary display.
10:53Caius' jaw tightened slightly.
10:55Two of his people materialized from the shadows and quietly walked her out.
11:00Nearby, a healer Caius had summoned was cleaning the wound on my wrist.
11:04Could you be slightly more careful?
11:06The healer's hands started trembling.
11:08He's helping me stop.
11:09They immediately turned identical wounded expressions on me.
11:13Okay.
11:13I know.
11:14I'm sorry.
11:15Keep going.
11:15She's fine.
11:16The baby is fine.
11:17The wrist is the worst of it.
11:19I'll use the best healing balm we have, do everything possible to make sure there's no scarring.
11:23Caius said nothing.
11:24I knew that silence.
11:25It was the one that came right before something irreversible.
11:28Silas was sweating.
11:29He'd spent the last three days telling his ex to care for his pup, and she was, in fact,
11:34his boss's mate.
11:35Watching Caius with me now, Silas felt something he hadn't expected.
11:38He recognized it as jealousy and hated himself for it.
11:42But he couldn't afford to act on it.
11:43Not with his position on the line.
11:45I want to know exactly what happened.
11:50Everything.
11:51From the beginning.
11:52If I have to piece it together myself, the outcome will be significantly worse for every
11:56single one of you.
11:58It was a misunderstanding, my lord.
12:00It was a misunderstanding, my lord.
12:03As Lena's, as her former intended, I was, I was simply connecting with her.
12:07Things got out of hand.
12:08He said former intended, with a particular emphasis.
12:11Male ego.
12:12The absolute worst moment for it.
12:14Caius was holding a glass.
12:15I heard it crack.
12:16You probably know she was quite devoted to me before she left.
12:19Reconnecting after years apart, it's natural that emotions...
12:22The glass shattered in Caius' grip.
12:24Blood ran down his fingers.
12:25Stop!
12:26Stop trying to get between us.
12:28You had your chance and you threw it away.
12:31Don't flatter yourself.
12:33I have loved exactly one person my entire life and it's you.
12:38Every creature here can hear me say it.
12:40Lena.
12:42Nova and I are finished.
12:44Completely done.
12:45I know you made it with Caius to punish me.
12:48I get it.
12:48I'm not angry.
12:49Just come back.
12:52Nova can disappear.
12:53Just come home with me.
12:55I stared at him for a long moment.
12:56I honestly could not believe what I was hearing.
12:59His arrogance had no floor.
13:00Caius' blood was smearing onto my wraps.
13:02But as I urgently pressed the binding to his palm, he suddenly let out a low, genuine laugh.
13:08Why are you laughing?
13:09Lena.
13:10You just said I'm the one you love most.
13:13Our son made a face and looked away.
13:14His cold, fearsome father was currently acting like a lovesick hatchling.
13:19All because I defended him.
13:21The rumors are real.
13:23He is completely devoted to his mate.
13:26Silas stood there, his knuckles white with humiliation.
13:30Cub tender?
13:32My mother is the most protected one in our den.
13:35You think you deserve her?
13:36I know all about you.
13:38You're the one who broke my mother's heart.
13:39You're not as impressive as my father.
13:41Not as strong.
13:42Not as well formed.
13:43And you smell like someone who peaked too early and never recovered.
13:47It's making my eyes water.
13:48Is your hatchling gonna grow up leaching off others just like you?
13:52The guests surrounding us erupted.
13:54They couldn't help it.
13:55Everyone in that clearing knew the truth.
13:57He had posted for years on Nova's family resources.
14:01It was not a secret.
14:04Hearing all of this, Nova had completely lost her grip on rational thought.
14:08Talked bad about her son made her mad.
14:11You little rat chicks!
14:12I'll kill you!
14:14I didn't think.
14:16I let go of Caius' hand and threw myself entirely over our son.
14:20A blinding, searing pain ripped through my back.
14:23The color drained from my face.
14:25Joel, where are you?
14:29I wanted to tell him not to cry.
14:31I didn't get the chance.
14:34I woke up in the bar owner's private office,
14:36which had a bed specifically for the owner to rest.
14:39Oh, thank God!
14:40You're awake!
14:41If you had stayed under any longer,
14:43your mate and your son were going to tear this entire bar apart.
14:46What?
14:46She was definitely exaggerating.
14:48You're both fine.
14:50The healer said it was shock and pain.
14:51That's why you went under.
14:52The unborn is completely safe.
14:55That Nova is something else.
14:57Going after a cub with a blade?
14:59My son.
15:01Caius.
15:02Are they...
15:03Both fine.
15:04Physically completely fine.
15:06Slow down.
15:07Drink.
15:08You didn't need to throw yourself in front of him.
15:11Your husband will protect him.
15:13That's Chot.
15:13I know, I know.
15:15He's your whole heart.
15:16That terrifying little creature.
15:18He doesn't need protecting.
15:20He's more dangerous than most full-grown warriors.
15:23Where are they?
15:24Getting revenge.
15:25I wanted to come along,
15:26but your mate and your son are genuinely terrifying when they operate together,
15:30so I volunteer to stay with you instead.
15:32When I arrived, you were already under.
15:34From what I pieced together from the witnesses still standing,
15:36your son watched you collapse and went completely still for about two seconds.
15:39Then he picked up the knife Nova had dropped and drove it straight through her hand,
15:43into the stone below.
15:46A cub.
15:47I don't know where he gets that kind of strength.
15:49Caius found out about the strike at the border crossing three days ago,
15:52and the pendant,
15:53and everything they said to you.
15:56He had his people hold Silas down,
15:58and they dealt with the hand he used to hit you.
16:03Nova's face received the same treatment,
16:05and then Caius had a chest of gemstones brought into the clearing.
16:09All the shards from your broken pendant,
16:11and he told Nova that since she loved taking things that belonged to you so much,
16:15she could have them.
16:16All of them.
16:20She had to swallow them.
16:22You know what Caius said?
16:27You love taking what is hers.
16:29You love taking what is hers.
16:31So here,
16:32I am giving you everything you wanted.
16:35The stones,
16:37and the mail.
16:38She refused at first.
16:39So Caius had her hatchling brought in.
16:42Then she did it.
16:43She swallowed a great many shards.
16:45They worked her over until she was barely conscious.
16:49Then Caius had her dropped beyond the Outer Bounders.
16:52Face first.
16:53Everyone who stands by and watches you get hurt
16:56is banned from the bar's transaction list.
17:02That's my boy, Caius.
17:04The child of the dark was precise and he was cold.
17:07But every time I so much as bruised my arm,
17:09he acted like he'd personally failed.
17:11He was brutal because he was afraid.
17:14Not of losing power.
17:15Of losing me.
17:19Lena.
17:20It's me.
17:21His face was still swollen.
17:24He'd managed to find a decent cloak.
17:26The one I'd given him years ago.
17:28The one he'd told me was plain and unworthy of his rank.
17:32He had his methods for getting past sentinels, apparently.
17:36I stayed where I was.
17:38Last time I'd moved too fast,
17:40it had cost me.
17:41He seemed to read that.
17:44I'm not going to hurt you.
17:46I just needed to...
17:47What?
17:48I still love you.
17:49Every time I think about you with him,
17:52I can't breathe.
17:53I know it's too late.
17:54I know what I did.
17:56But I can't just...
17:57Raelynn.
17:58You were with another female
18:00while we were still bonded.
18:01You let me humiliate myself.
18:04You abandon me.
18:05And destroy me.
18:06And then tonight,
18:07when you had the chance
18:08to do literally anything else,
18:10you stood in front of my mate
18:11and told him I was devoted to you?
18:13You've had seven years and three more
18:15to figure out what you want.
18:16What you want keeps shifting
18:18based on what you can reach.
18:20That's not love.
18:21I was always your contingency.
18:24And you were never mine,
18:25not really.
18:29You gave me this for the winter solstice.
18:30I told you it was plain.
18:32I know.
18:32I kept it.
18:39Lina.
18:40You're up.
18:42Are you...
18:43Does anything hurt?
18:44Do you need...
18:44Father,
18:45she was fine two minutes
18:46before you got here.
18:47She was talking and everything.
18:48Are you okay?
18:50Tell me you're okay.
18:52I'm okay.
18:53You say that every time.
18:54Because it keeps being true.
18:56Mom,
18:57are you upset that father
18:59raised his voice at me?
19:00Did he raise his voice at you?
19:04Chal?
19:05He didn't yell.
19:06Caius.
19:09He was scared.
19:10We both were.
19:11He wasn't really yelling.
19:13He was just loud.
19:17Protecting you is also my job.
19:18I'm not sorry.
19:19I know.
19:20I know, Mom.
19:21Amy eventually took Chal to find food.
19:23And it was just the two of us.
19:25I'll do better.
19:26You won't be alone like that again.
19:29Caius.
19:30This wasn't your fault.
19:31You were alone and you got hurt.
19:33I got hurt.
19:34That's not the same thing as being alone.
19:36I'm not made of glass.
19:38I'm also not leaving.
19:39You understand that?
19:41I'm here.
19:42I chose this.
19:44You chose it because your family
19:45arranged the Alliance.
19:47I chose to stay.
19:48Every single day for three years,
19:49I chose to stay.
19:50That's not an arrangement.
19:52That's me.
19:53I thought about the hidden chamber
19:55behind the Klan tapestry.
19:56His quiet, years-long devotion
19:59that he'd never once spoken aloud.
20:01The young, unblooded creature
20:03eating alone at the edge
20:04of the training grounds every day
20:06while I stuffed a pouch of resource tokens
20:08into his pack
20:09and told him he was my honorary
20:10younger Klansman.
20:13You want to know what I was thinking?
20:14I said,
20:15every time things got hard
20:16and someone told me I'd bonded
20:17with the wrong mate,
20:18that they'd never seen you bring me
20:20warmth stones
20:21when the cold fever took me,
20:23or stay awake beside me
20:24through three full nights
20:25because I was homesick
20:26and couldn't sleep,
20:30or look at me the way you look at me
20:32when you think I'm not watching.
20:33They were comparing you
20:35to whoever they assumed you were.
20:37I know who you actually are.
20:41I don't need you to be fearless.
20:44I just need you to stop assuming I'll leave.
20:47I'm not going anywhere.
20:48He brought my hand.
20:49Didn't speak.
20:50Didn't need to.
20:51They kept me in the healer's den
20:52two extra days.
20:54Caius and Dre's insistence,
20:56not the healer's.
20:57The morning they finally let me
20:59return to our den,
21:00I walked back through the entrance
21:01and stopped in front
21:02of the bonding tapestry.
21:03We were both so young in it.
21:05Caius, already composed,
21:07already guarded.
21:08The barest pull at the corner of his mouth,
21:10like he'd practiced not smiling
21:11until it became habit.
21:13Me, looking sideways,
21:14like I hadn't fully believed
21:16in the moment yet.
21:17Image after image after image,
21:19etched in the old way.
21:20Dragon memory stone,
21:21the kind that holds a moment
21:23in its surface like pressed light.
21:27Lena, I can explain.
21:31You noticed me first.
21:33I gave you resource tokens
21:34at the training grounds
21:35because I thought
21:36you couldn't afford to eat.
21:37I told you that you were
21:38my honorary younger clansman
21:40and I never even asked your name.
21:41I didn't know it was you
21:42until I found these.
21:44I'm a little upset
21:45it took us this long.
21:46Think about all the time we wasted.
21:48You're not...
21:49Upset about the stones?
21:51No.
21:51I'm glad.
21:53I'm glad you kept looking.
21:56I never thought you'd say that.
21:58I know that's the problem.
22:00You've been waiting for me to leave
22:02since the day I arrived.
22:04I'm not leaving.
22:05I've told you.
22:06I'll keep telling you.
22:08For how long?
22:10As long as it takes
22:11for you to actually believe me.
22:13Outside,
22:14the ancient forests
22:15of the Abyssal Reach
22:16kept moving.
22:17Wind through the canopy,
22:19the distant sound of wings,
22:21the slow pulse of a territory
22:23that had stood for 10,000 years.
22:25And I stayed exactly where I was.
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