- 6 hours ago
The Beta Chose Her Son Over Mine : New π
Category
π₯
Short filmTranscript
00:01Serena, is this how you raise our pup?
00:04Top line, in her careful handwriting.
00:07I'm alive! And you let her write like I'm dead!
00:10And threw the bundle of wildflowers onto the stone table.
00:13I didn't teach her that. She wrote it herself.
00:16Lucian clenched his jaw, grabbed the journal like he was going to tear it apart.
00:20He stared at Nora's handwriting for a long moment, then set it back down.
00:24He had no idea.
00:25This wasn't even close to the first time Nora had written him dead.
00:28Ever since he took fallen packmates widow Lyra and her son to the honor quarter,
00:33this man had stopped existing in our pup's world.
00:35The honor quarter, the section of our pack, reserved for the families of fallen pack members.
00:40Pack law granted Lucian, as beta, the duty of overseeing her welfare.
00:44But he had gone too far. I didn't say anything. Just watched him. Cold.
00:48Nora heard the noise and came out of her room.
00:51She had on her worn sleeping furs. Stayed behind me.
00:54No running up to call him dad. No crying from his rage.
00:57She just looked at Lucian with calm. Lucian's breath caught.
01:01All that rage seemed to lodge in his throat, push down his temper, and pulled a wrapped bundle from his
01:07pack.
01:09Nora, come here.
01:10Dad passed the trader's post today. Got you the shift training kit you've been asking for.
01:16Your first guided shift is next moon cycle, isn't it?
01:20Come on. Try it on.
01:23That training kit Nora had pressed her face against the trader's display case to stare at it for three moons.
01:29Lucian always said next time.
01:31In pack law, a pup's first shift must be guided by her dad.
01:35Without his presence, the shift was not only incomplete, it was dangerous.
01:39Any other day Nora would have howled with joy.
01:42But now, Nora didn't move.
01:49Sighing, Lucian knelt down and held out a hand to her.
01:52His signal stone pulsed. Reflex.
01:55He grabbed the stone and pressed it.
01:59Lyra, what's wrong?
02:01Lucian, I'm so sorry to call again.
02:04But Kai's wolf sickness flared up.
02:06He's howling for you. I can't calm him alone.
02:08I stood listening to that tired, familiar routine.
02:11But Lucian's face changed.
02:13No hesitation.
02:15Serena, watch Nara. Kai's condition is critical. I have to go.
02:18The door closed.
02:19He said it like it was the most reasonable thing in the world.
02:22He didn't even look back at his daughter.
02:24Nora walked over and looked down at the training kit on the rug.
02:27Then she picked it up and dropped it into the fire pit.
02:31Mom.
02:32Dead dad can't guide a shift, right?
02:34My chest split open.
02:36The pain hit so hard I could barely breathe.
02:38Right.
02:39After Nora fell asleep, I sat alone in the study.
02:42Opened the bottom of my healer's chest.
02:45Inside lay a sealed blood oath scroll.
02:47I am a blood gifted healer.
02:49For Lucian, I had turned down three summons from the HyPax Healing Council.
02:53But I was done drowning in this.
02:55Fifteen days from now.
02:56The last day to answer the blood oath.
02:58In fifteen days, Nora and I would leave this path.
03:01As if he never existed in our lives at all.
03:06Countdown, day ten.
03:08I had just finished a six-hour emergency healing session on a pack warrior.
03:12I dragged myself home.
03:13Our door was open.
03:14I walked in fast.
03:15My blood went cold.
03:17Two wolves were carrying something out of Nora's training room.
03:20Her blood.
03:21Anchor stone.
03:21I had spent a lot to commission that stone for Nora's fifth naming day.
03:25The pack stone carver had etched her name into it during a full moon rite.
03:29It was anchored to our territory's sacred ground.
03:32Nora polished it every morning.
03:33She pressed her palm to it before sleep.
03:35Careful.
03:36Don't chip the edges.
03:37That stone holds a blood wreat.
03:42Lucian.
03:43What are you doing?
03:45A flicker of guilt crossed his eyes.
03:48Gone fast, replaced with that usual righteousness.
03:50Don't make this harder than it needs to be.
03:53Lyra's moving Kai into new quarters.
03:55The pack healer said having an anchor stone would help stabilize his wolf sickness.
03:58He paused.
04:00Lyra can't commission one her own.
04:01Nora can just lend it to Kai for a while.
04:03I listened to his logic and almost laughed.
04:05Use your own pup's anchor stone to help another woman's son.
04:08I believed he never once thought to ask Nora.
04:10I pulled out my memory mirror and pressed it to the scene.
04:14What are you recording for?
04:18Evidence.
04:20This stone was Nora's.
04:23Transferring it outside our bloodline without consent gives me the right to record this.
04:33Serena, when did you become this cold?
04:35That is Zane's son.
04:36Zane died saving my life.
04:38It's just a stone.
04:40You're really going to be this petty about it?
04:45There.
04:46That covers the commission cost.
04:49Go have the carver make Nora a smaller one.
04:56I stood in Nora's empty training room and felt the air leave my lungs.
05:01Nora came home from her lessons not long after.
05:07The place where the stone had sat for years was empty.
05:09Nora didn't cry.
05:10Even didn't ask where it went.
05:12She walked back to her room.
05:13Picked up her journal and opened it to a new page.
05:16She picked up her quill and wrote carefully.
05:19Title.
05:19My dead dad took my blood anchor stone with her.
05:22I stood in the doorway watching my pup's thin shoulders.
05:25Eyes burning.
05:27A projection from Myra.
05:28In the image, Kai sat beside the blood anchor stone.
05:31Grinning wide.
05:33Zane watching over us from above.
05:35Kai finally has a stone to call his own.
05:37Thank you to our dearest Beta Lucian.
05:40For giving us the strength to keep going.
05:42I stared at that image for a long time and opened my healer's ledger.
05:46Transferred the full bond payment on the new house in the other pack's territory.
05:52Right after the transfer, Lucian sent a message.
05:57Once Kai is stable, I'll take Nora to the mid-season gathering next week to make it up to her.
06:01Stop teaching her to hold grudges.
06:03I looked at the words make it up and felt nothing but contempt.
06:06No reply.
06:07He didn't know.
06:08There was no next week.
06:13Countdown.
06:14Day 3.
06:15Today was the pack's annual pup gifting ceremony.
06:17Once a year, every pup was brought before the pack elders to have their gifts assessed
06:21and recorded in the pack's bloodline registry.
06:24A pup whose gift was formally recognized gained standing in the pack.
06:28Their names were inscribed beside their abilities for all to see.
06:31For a pup like Nora, who carried a rare double bloodline, this was everything.
06:35I sat beside her and held her small, sweaty hand.
06:38My chest ached.
06:40I knew he wasn't coming.
06:41A pup's always hope.
06:43Nora whispered.
06:43Mom, Dad promised he would be here for my gifting.
06:46I said nothing.
06:48Just held her hand tighter.
06:49Ten minutes before the ceremony began, my signal stone pulsed.
06:53Lucian.
06:54The rogue patrol ran long.
06:55I can't get away.
06:56Tell Nora I am sorry.
06:58Same excuse.
06:59Same broken promise.
07:00I turned the stone face down on my lap.
07:02Didn't tell Nora.
07:03Probably held up at the rogue pack.
07:05The ceremony moved along.
07:06Now, we record the gift of our most remarkable pup this season.
07:12Nora's hand tightened around my fingers.
07:14The gift to be registered.
07:15It was Nora's.
07:16She had bled for months to draw that form out of herself without Lucian.
07:20Every training session.
07:21Every bruise.
07:22Every night, she collapsed from exhaustion.
07:24I built toward that one image.
07:25Mom!
07:26That's mine!
07:27I smiled and began to nudge her toward the Elder's dais.
07:30Please welcome the gifted pup, Kai Hayes.
07:34Nora's face froze.
07:35Bottom of the projection.
07:36The name read Kai Hayes.
07:38Not Nora Cole.
07:39Her shift form.
07:40Someone else's name.
07:43Nora stood there.
07:44Mouth open.
07:45No sound coming out.
07:46Why is that girl standing?
07:47They called Kai.
07:48Nora heard.
07:49She sat back down, head dropped.
07:53I clenched my fist and walked straight to the family seating area.
07:57Lyra was standing, adjusting Kai's collar, smiling.
08:01Lyra!
08:02Stop right there!
08:03She looked up, smiled still on.
08:05Oh, Serena.
08:07You're here too.
08:09That shift form is my daughter's!
08:11Why does your son have his name on it?
08:14Serena, don't be upset.
08:16Lucian handled this himself.
08:17I didn't know anything about it.
08:20But honestly, Serena, does it matter whose gift it is?
08:24What matters is who Lucian wants to put on a pedestal.
08:28Your pup can train until she bleeds and it doesn't change the fact that Lucian doesn't care about you two.
08:33You can be as angry as you want.
08:35Nothing changes.
08:36I looked at her face and slapped her.
08:38You have no shame.
08:40Lyra's head snapped to the side.
08:42She cried out.
08:43I grabbed her arm to drag her to the elders.
08:46Someone shoved me hard from the side.
08:48I stumbled back several steps and hit a stone bench with my lower back.
08:52I looked up.
08:53Lucian.
08:53He had Lyra and Kai behind him.
08:56Lucian, it hurts so much.
08:58Don't blame Serena.
08:59It's my fault.
09:00I shouldn't have let Kai accept this registration.
09:04Serena, what is wrong with you?
09:06You look completely unsinged right now.
09:08Lucian.
09:09Nora trained for months for that gift.
09:11You registered her shift from under Kai's name.
09:13Nora can rely on me.
09:15Kai grew up without a father.
09:17He needs this recognition to find his place in the pack.
09:19Zane died saving me.
09:21I helped his son.
09:22What's the problem?
09:25You're impossible!
09:26Impossible.
09:27My daughter's gift was stolen.
09:29Her months of blood and exhaustion were handed to another child.
09:32I went to set it right, and her own father shoved me to the ground for another woman.
09:37I closed my mouth.
09:40Nora stood there, mouth open.
09:43No sound coming out.
09:44Why is that girl standing?
09:45They called Kai.
09:46Nora heard.
09:47She sat back down.
09:48Head dropped.
09:50I clenched my fist and walked straight to the family seating area.
09:55Lyra was standing, adjusting Kai's collar, smiling.
09:58Lyra!
09:59Stop right there!
10:00She looked up, smiled still on.
10:03Oh, Serena.
10:04You're here too.
10:06That ship form is my daughter's!
10:08Why does your son have his name on it?
10:11Serena, don't be upset.
10:13Lucian handled this himself.
10:15I didn't know anything about it.
10:17But honestly, Serena, does it matter whose gift it is?
10:21What matters is who Lucian wants to put on a pedestal.
10:25Your pup can train until she bleeds, and it doesn't change the fact that Lucian doesn't care about you two.
10:31You can be as angry as you want.
10:33Nothing changes.
10:34I looked at her face and slapped her.
10:36You have no shame.
10:38Lyra's head snapped to the side.
10:40She cried out.
10:41I grabbed her arm to drag her to the elders.
10:43Someone shoved me hard from the side.
10:46I stumbled back several steps and hit a stone bench with my lower back.
10:49I looked up.
10:50Lucian.
10:51He had Lyra and Kai behind him.
10:53Lucian, it hurts so much.
10:55Don't blame Serena.
10:57It's my fault.
10:57I shouldn't have let Kai accept this registration.
11:02Serena, what is wrong with you?
11:04You look completely unsinged right now.
11:06Lucian.
11:07Nora trained for months for that gift.
11:09You registered her shift from under Kai's name.
11:11Nora can rely on me.
11:13Kai grew up without a father.
11:14He needs this recognition to find his place in the pack.
11:17Zane died saving me.
11:18I helped his son.
11:20What's the problem?
11:22You're impossible!
11:24Impossible.
11:25My daughter's gift was stolen.
11:26Her months of blood and exhaustion were handed to another child.
11:30I went to set it right, and her own father shoved me to the ground for another woman.
11:34I closed my mouth.
11:38Kai is here today because of his wonderful godfather, Beta Lucian Cole.
11:43He has been more than family to us.
11:46Mom.
11:47A voice behind me.
11:48I turned.
11:50Nora stood a few feet away.
11:52Nora.
11:53I reached for her.
11:54Nora stepped back.
11:58Mom.
11:59Let's go.
12:00Nora's face was tight.
12:01Holding back tears, she refused to let fall.
12:05No more fighting.
12:06There was no point arguing with a man who had chosen to be blind.
12:10Back home, Nora sat in her room for a long time.
12:13Then she opened her journal and wrote a new entry.
12:17Dad gave away my innate gift to someone else.
12:20I moved our departure two days earlier.
12:24I could not stay in this pack one moment longer than I had to.
12:32The day before we left, I took Nora to the pack market to gather last supplies for the journey.
12:38Nora held my hand.
12:39She stopped outside a food stall.
12:41I followed her gaze through the crowd.
12:43I followed her gaze through the crowd.
12:43Lucian.
12:44He was carefully cutting a piece of roasted meat, blowing on it to cool it, feeding it to Kai.
12:49Lyra sat beside him, smiling like she had everything.
12:52An unhappy family.
12:53I watched it and almost wanted to laugh.
12:55This was what his emergencies always looked like.
12:58Mom, isn't dad supposed to be on patrol?
13:00A lie caught in the open.
13:02Ridiculous.
13:03And pathetic.
13:04I let out a cold laugh and turned to leave with Nora.
13:07Then a war horn split the air.
13:09A second later, the market's outer wall exploded inward.
13:12Rogues.
13:13A full waiting path.
13:14Pouring through the breach in the stone.
13:16People screamed and surged toward the inner gates.
13:22Nora!
13:23I shouted.
13:24I grabbed for her hand on instinct, but the crowd was wild.
13:28No direction.
13:29My hand was empty.
13:31By the time I got back up, smoke from the burning stalls had spread across the market square.
13:35I searched through the crowd.
13:37Through the black smoke, I spotted Nora.
13:39She had fallen behind an overturned cart, blocked by a collapsed market frame.
13:43Then a figure broke through the smoke.
13:45Lucian.
13:46He was moving fast.
13:47Blade drawn.
13:48Cutting a path through the fleeing crowd.
13:50He saw Nora.
13:52He saw his pup trapped behind the cart.
13:54From the other side came Lyra's scream.
13:58Lucian!
13:59Help!
13:59Kai is pinned under a fallen beam!
14:04Lucian went rigid.
14:06He turned back.
14:07Eyes locking on his own pup, just feet away.
14:09Nora!
14:09Don't move!
14:10Daddy's getting Kai out first, then coming back for you!
14:14And I watched him, and run toward another woman and her child.
14:18He pulled Kai free, and pushed Lyra toward the inner gates.
14:21In the worst moment of my life, he left his own pup behind.
14:25I watched, bit through my lip until I tasted blood.
14:28He left her with a promise to come back.
14:30In the rolling smoke, Nora watched the direction Lucian disappeared, her small body completely still.
14:36She stopped crying.
14:38Stopped calling out.
14:39Slowly, she let the hand covering her nose drop.
14:42Let the smoke fill her lungs.
14:43A tear slid down her cheek.
14:46Mom, Dad went to save someone else.
14:49Pack law says a father protects his pup above all others.
14:52But I don't have a father anymore, so the law doesn't count for me.
14:56Those words broke through my last wall.
14:57Nora!
15:02Mom's here!
15:04I grabbed a healer's kit from the rack and started on Nora myself.
15:10After a long while, I finally stepped outside and collapsed onto a bench.
15:15I pressed my hand to my chest.
15:17I found the thread of the mate bond still there.
15:20Faint and fraying, I closed my eyes, and I severed it.
15:23Pain hit like a blade through the ribs.
15:26But I didn't make a sound.
15:27Lucian, you have lost us for good.
15:32Two hours later, Lucian ran into the healing tent soaked in sweat.
15:37Face smeared with ash.
15:39Serena!
15:40What happened?
15:41How is Nora?
15:42Lucian!
15:43My head hurts so much!
15:46Kai won't stop crying!
15:48He's asking for you!
15:50Please go check on him first!
15:53Let me go!
15:55My pup is in there!
15:57Every time she cried, Lucian gave in.
16:00But this timeβ¦
16:08Nora.
16:10Nora.
16:11Serena.
16:12Due to smoke damage combined with severe shock to the blood bond, her wolf voice is gone.
16:17She cannot produce a howl.
16:18No.
16:19She cannot shift.
16:20No!
16:27Healer.
16:29What did you just say?
16:31My pup never stops howling.
16:33She sings in her sleep.
16:35Why is this happening?
16:36It's all my fault!
16:38Oh no!
16:43No!
16:43The healer didn't answer him.
16:44Just patted my shoulder.
16:46I walked silently into the inner chamber.
16:48No crying.
16:49No red eyes.
16:52Serena.
16:53Hit me.
16:55Scream at me.
16:56Whatever you need.
16:57I didn't know the rogues would breach so fast.
16:59I thought I had time.
17:00No accusation.
17:02No yelling.
17:05Nothing left to say.
17:07Lucian was shut out.
17:10Lucian pressed his palm flat against the window, mouthing her name over and over.
17:15Nora didn't cry.
17:16She looked at him for two seconds, turned her head.
17:18The blood bond between a pup and her father, severed at last.
17:28Pack duty.
17:29He was needed back immediately to file the rogue breach report.
17:33Lucian had to leave.
17:35Lyra scrambled after him.
17:36The second he was gone, I moved fast.
17:40Cancelled every record tied to this pack.
17:42Midnight.
17:43I carried Nora out through the eastern border gate.
17:46Nora walked beside me once we cleared the tree line, watching the territory lights fade
17:50behind us.
17:52The farewell was done.
17:58Dawn.
17:59Lucian had been up all night, finishing his report.
18:01He ran back to the healing tent.
18:09No U.S., just a healer collecting used dressings.
18:13Where are they?
18:15Where is my maids and my pup?
18:18Serena took her daughter out at midnight.
18:20You're too late, Lucian.
18:28The mother-daughter sleeping furs by the hearth were gone.
18:32The matching clay cups on the stone table were gone.
18:37The herbs drying on the window ledge had been cleared away.
18:40Belonging to me and Nora was gone.
18:42He walked into Nora's room.
18:43Nothing left.
18:44Number one thing.
18:45On the floor where the blood anchor stone used to sit.
18:48In the middle of those four worn marks.
18:50Lay a small journal.
18:51Nora's journal.
18:56Lucian dropped to his knees and grabbed it.
18:58Six words scratched into the cover.
19:00Father's death log.
19:01Lucian opened to the first page.
19:03Neat.
19:04Careful handwriting.
19:05Day one.
19:06Auntie Lyra called.
19:07Dad left.
19:08No one was there when I tried on my training kit.
19:11Dad was killed in battle.
19:12Lucian's eyes went red.
19:13He remembered screaming at Serena.
19:16Throwing the training kit on the floor.
19:17Slamming the door without once looking back at his daughter.
19:22He turned to the second page.
19:24Day five.
19:25Pack family witness day.
19:26Every other father came.
19:28I waited a long time.
19:30Dad died at the widow's quarter next door.
19:33Third page.
19:35Day 925.
19:37The anchor stone in my room was taken away.
19:39Mom spent a lot to get it for me.
19:41His love went with it.
19:43Lucian's hands cramped.
19:44He turned page after page.
19:46Every page was a debt he owed.
19:48A blade he had put in his own pup's hands and used to cut her open.
19:52He reached the last entry.
19:53The ink was blurred.
19:55Clearly hit by something wet.
19:56There was a rogue attack at the market.
19:58Dad said wait.
19:59He went to save Pat.
20:00I watched him carry someone else out through the swamp.
20:03Toto.
20:03Dad turned into ash completely.
20:05Ghosts don't come back to save anyone.
20:13He stayed on his knees in the empty room for a long time.
20:17Then he got up and started sending messages to everyone.
20:20My mentor.
20:21My cohort sisters.
20:23Anyone who might know where we went.
20:25First message.
20:26My fellow senior healer.
20:28Please.
20:29Where did Serena go?
20:30Lucian.
20:31Serena accepted a post in another pack.
20:34Where is confidential?
20:35She asked me not to say.
20:37Message ended.
20:38He sent word to her closest friend.
20:40The reply came fast.
20:42Get lost.
20:42A piece of filth.
20:43Nora can't howl now.
20:45Do you understand what that means?
20:47Contact me again.
20:48And I will bring this before the pack.
20:50Elders my son.
20:51Lucian rode to the eastern border gate.
20:53Pulled the night watch records from the crossing log.
20:55On the memory mirrors projection.
20:57Me.
20:58Nora.
20:58On my hip.
20:59One pack on my back.
21:00Passing through the gate at midnight.
21:02Nora had her face pressed into my shoulder from the moment we entered until we disappeared
21:06into the dark.
21:07She never once looked back.
21:09No hesitation.
21:10He understood now.
21:12We were gone for good.
21:13That evening.
21:15Lucian came back to the empty house.
21:17He had barely sat down when the entry mark was pressed from outside.
21:25Lucian.
21:26I made your favorite stew.
21:28I'm here to take care of you.
21:30Lucian looked at her face.
21:31He used to see sadness and helplessness written there.
21:34Now his stomach turned.
21:38Lyra saw Lucian was quiet.
21:41Lucian.
21:42Don't be so hard on yourself.
21:45Nora made it out, didn't she?
21:47You saved Kai.
21:51Zane would be grateful.
21:56I thought I was helping.
21:59Was I...
22:00Get away from me!
22:01firearm!
22:10Why did you push me?
22:13You may push me.
22:14Get away with me.
22:15All he could see was Nora closing her eyes in the smoke.
22:18A few days later, he rode to the Honor Quarter.
22:21He had been covering Lyra's upkeep for months.
22:24He didn't announce himself.
22:27He knew the entry mark.
22:29Voices inside.
22:30A man's voice, laughing.
22:33Lyra on the bench, with a man he didn't recognize.
22:36On the table between them, stacks of gold coins.
22:44Lucian's quarterly stipend.
22:46The upkeep allowance he had been sending every moon cycle.
22:51When is that idiot beta finally going to take you as his mate?
22:56The wolf sickness act is getting old.
22:58You have to fake it every single time.
23:01Take me as his mate? Why bother?
23:03His mate left. He's drowning in guilt.
23:05If I push for a bond right now, it'll backfire.
23:08As long as Zay's name holds, I keep the tears ready.
23:11He's my permanent gold source.
23:12You're cold. The rogue attack was serious and you still made him save your pup first.
23:17Heard his actual pup lost her voice?
23:19That little brat should have choked in the smoke. She had it coming.
23:22Her mother always walking around like she's above everyone.
23:25Lucian's a fool.
23:26I said two words about Kai being scared and he left his own pup behind.
23:30A male like that deserves to lose everything.
23:36Every word shredded what was left of Lucian's dignity.
23:39The wolf sickness was fake.
23:40All the helplessness was a performance.
23:43Everything he had believed was noble and right had just been a mark getting bled dry.
23:47Lucian stood outside shaking.
23:49He thought about carrying Nora's anchor stone out for these people.
23:52About registering Nora's gift under Kai's name at the gifting ceremony.
23:56About turning his back on his pup in the smoke.
23:58About Nora's dead eyes watching him go.
24:00He could barely stand.
24:01The old hymn would have kicked the door in.
24:03But not this time.
24:04He went completely still.
24:05Stepped back from the door.
24:07Rode straight to the pack law keeper.
24:08I want to file a formal complaint.
24:11Fraud.
24:11Falsified illness records.
24:13Someone has been collecting pack resource under false pretense.
24:16After he left the law keeper.
24:17Lucian went back to the pack records chamber.
24:20He opened the ledgers and spent all night pulling together three years of transfers.
24:24Messages.
24:25And falsified healer reports.
24:27He cut off every escape route Lyra had.
24:29And destroyed his own standing doing it.
24:31When it was done.
24:32Lucian stood alone in the dark chamber.
24:34He raised his hand.
24:35And struck himself.
24:36Ten times.
24:37Hard.
24:38His lips split.
24:39His cheeks swelled.
24:40He couldn't feel any of it.
24:43Three days later.
24:44The pack held its annual honors assembly.
24:46The great hall was full.
24:48Every elder.
24:49Every ranked member.
24:50Every family with a fallen warrior.
24:51The hall hadn't been this full in years.
24:53Lyra sat in the front row.
24:55In the seat reserved for honored widows.
24:57Today she was to speak on behalf of the fallen members' families.
25:00And receive the pack's annual condolence tribute.
25:02A large sum.
25:04Set aside from the communal stores.
25:06Her face was arranged into grief.
25:07Her eyes couldn't quite hide what was underneath.
25:09We now call Beta Lucian Cole to present the condolence tribute to Lyra Hayes.
25:15The hall gave a slow, respectful acknowledgement.
25:18Lucian walked to the front step by step.
25:20He did not pick up the tribute pouch.
25:21Lyra stood, composed, and moved toward the dais.
25:25She had her speech ready.
25:26Her tears were ready.
25:27Lucian swept the hall.
25:28I do have something for Lyra Hayes today.
25:31But it is not a gift.
25:32A projection filled the air above the ceiling.
25:35Lyra's voice, clear and cold, echoed through the great hall.
25:38Take me as his mate.
25:39Why bother?
25:40A male like that deserves to lose everything.
25:43All the vicious words Lucian heard that day became solid evidence.
25:48The moment the projection sounded, the hall went dead silent.
25:51Then erupted.
25:52Pack members turned on Lyra, where she stood.
25:55The air in the hall changed completely.
25:57No!
25:58That recording is false!
26:00Lucian, listen to me!
26:01I was threatened!
26:02That man forced me to say those things!
26:04The hall doors opened.
26:05Lyra Hayes, you are formally charged with fraud against the pack.
26:09Falsification of illness records.
26:11And deliberate manipulation of a ranked beta to breach his sworn duty to his blood pup.
26:16Iron binding cuffs locked around her wrists.
26:19Every mask she had worn collapsed at once.
26:21Lucian, don't stand there playing the honorable male now!
26:24Did I force you to leave your pup behind?
26:26You left your own pup in that smoke yourself!
26:28You will never wash that off!
26:32Every word landed exactly where it was meant to.
26:35She was right.
26:35Lyra was just an outsider.
26:37A predator who found a mark.
26:39The one who handed the weapon to her.
26:40The one who used it on his own pup.
26:42That was him.
26:43Lyra was dragged out of the hall.
26:44Her pack standing was stripped on the spot.
26:46Her name removed from the honor quarter record.
26:49Kai, with his mother facing formal charges and his wolf sickness confirmed as never having existed,
26:54was taken into pack ward care.
26:56The assembly ended without ceremony.
26:58Lucian stood alone in the emptying hall.
27:00He slowly removed his beta insignia and pinned it from his chest.
27:03He walked to the senior elder.
27:05Bowed deep.
27:06Placed the insignia in her hands.
27:07I don't deserve to hold this rank anymore.
27:10Stripped of every title.
27:11Every standing.
27:12Every piece of his identity.
27:14Lucian walked out of the great hall.
27:16Carrying one thing only.
27:17The need to find us.
27:18And face what he had done.
27:22Two years later, a pack territory near the southern coast,
27:25inside the largest gathering hall in the region,
27:28I was leading a cross pack healing council.
27:30Good morning everyone.
27:32Thank you for being here.
27:33He the willed the cement straits.
27:35Senior healers from seven territories filled the hall.
27:38Four istis was Maury S. von der Gwei.
27:39The council ended to a standing acknowledgement from every healer in the room.
27:43Nobody in that hall knew that two years ago I had walked out of a territory with nothing.
27:47In the very last row, Lucian sat with a beard grown out.
27:50Two years of searching.
27:52He had crossed half the known territories.
27:54Spent everything he had.
27:56Taken labor work and supply runs to keep moving.
28:00He had aged a decade.
28:02He didn't dare approach.
28:04Turned and left before I could see him.
28:07Late afternoon.
28:08Outside, a pup training ground on the edge of the territory.
28:12Lucian's eyes burned.
28:14The shadows that used to live in her face were gone.
28:16He couldn't stop himself.
28:18Nora!
28:19Nora!
28:20Dad's here!
28:24He reached out, wanting to hold the daughter he had missed every single day.
28:28Nora stopped.
28:30Lucian reached for her through the blood bond on instinct.
28:33Nothing.
28:34No frequency.
28:35No pull.
28:36No trace of his own blood in her at all.
28:39Only pure unfamiliarity.
28:41Like looking at someone she had never seen before.
28:46There is a stranger approaching me.
28:52The tutor stepped forward immediately, placing herself between Nora and Lucian.
28:58What do you want?
28:59Our pup says she doesn't know you.
29:02Step back now or I call the law keepers.
29:10Lucian froze.
29:12He watched his daughter's hands as she signed.
29:18The hands that used to press against the anchor stone every morning.
29:21Those hands now only spoke in silence.
29:24And what they said was,
29:26I don't know him.
29:27The cruelest punishment wasn't hatred.
29:29It was being erased completely.
29:32But Lucian understood now what the healer had not been able to explain two years ago.
29:37Nora wasn't silent because she couldn't howl.
29:39She had found the bond thread herself.
29:42The one connecting her blood to his.
29:44And she had cut it.
29:46A pup who severs her own blood bond to her father.
29:49The healer said it was impossible.
29:51No pup had the will for it.
29:53Nora had.
30:00Can you put some distance between this male and my daughter?
30:04He's frightened her.
30:06Serena.
30:08Lyra.
30:10Lyra is gone!
30:12I know what I did.
30:13I know all of it.
30:15Let me make it right, please.
30:17Even if you just let me watch from a distance.
30:30Sometimes a missed chance meant a farewell forever.
30:33I know all of it.
30:36I know all of it.
30:36I know all of it.
30:36I know all of it.
30:36I know all of it.
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