- 2 days ago
The Defection Of The She-Wolf - Ep ✅ FULL [Eng Sub]
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Short filmTranscript
00:02i'm getting married but the person i've been in love with for eight years won't know about it
00:07because he has already found the luna he chose and when i erased all my memories and was expelled
00:12from the group by him he knelt down before me in tears in the palace garden on the night of
00:18the coronation feast i heard my cousin moan the name of my fated mate the bell tolled slow iron
00:24rattling my bones the air was thick with a scent i knew better than my own skin fur iron and
00:29the
00:29promise of a storm it belonged to the man i'd loved for eight years my destined mate his teeth were
00:35buried in my cousin viola's throat not mine asha viola flinched fingers clutching her cloak eyes
00:43glossing with a practiced she leona don't miss my stand i i didn't want to be here the elders say
00:50all the clans are watching the north needs a luna who can steady things i'm just filling in for
00:56tonight i laughed sharp as a blade of ice filling in this is the coronation night not a tryst
01:05shut up asher lifted his mouth from her skin gold eyes turned to me calm crushing you should learn
01:11to speak more sweetly we need someone who puts our allies at ease tonight then do something worth
01:17hearing silly me i stared at them still braced together viola's the fated luna isn't she that's
01:26why you betrayed me i haven't betrayed anyone he stepped forward his presence a slab of pressure
01:32i'm the alpha the pack comes first then us us she's my cousin so your mark gets to come in
01:40order viola shook her head fast voice soft enough to ring don't say that i never wanted to replace
01:47you i was afraid you'd be hurt everyone says being luna is cruel i thought i could hold it for
01:52you first
01:53until things settled then i give it back how considerate i jerked my chin at the bite oozing on
01:58her neck considerate enough to soothe my boyfriend i see her fingers trembled innocence wilted prettily
02:05asher caught my chin and forced my gaze to his look at me his voice dropped iron threaded you're not
02:12leaving his thumbs slid the hollow of my neck low unshakable you're mine let go i knocked his hand
02:20away only to feel an invisible weight slam my chest alpha voice half born already demanding my bones
02:27kneel i bit my tongue and strangled the egg legal double marking asher will you really
02:35i'll bear the consequences snorted you bear them i pay what a bargain now get your hands off me
02:42leona please don't don't make a scene viola pleaded they're all watching the elders the lords
02:46if you must blame someone blame me this is only temporary after tonight i i can step aside
02:54can you step aside clean or do you mean to say once the crown's on too late i stared at
03:00the fresh
03:01mark her eyes reddened she twisted her ties i'm not that kind of fire ripped under my skin detonating
03:11in my skull my heart hammered war drums the wolf in me bucked and clawed shame and craving tore through
03:17reason i clutched the cold pillar until my knuckles blanched i would not fall he lifted his head knuckles
03:22wiping the smear of blood from his lip his gaze clear almost cruel now everyone knows whose you
03:29are viola squealed asher what have you staggering i clapped both hands over my throat my heart slammed
03:38like it would break free my new mark jumped in time with his chaining me to the man who had
03:42just
03:42betrayed me viola made a show of reaching for me i slapped her hand away is this the plan make
03:49me the
03:49thing between you no one sees you miss to stand her asher said low the only person i misjudged is
03:55myself i yanked my cloak loose blood slid from the wound flowering dark on stone i thought eight
04:01years would teach you to choose once the alpha voice fell again granite on my shoulders come back
04:07it bowed my tendons my wolf howled to heal to drown in his scent i locked every instinct behind my
04:13ribs
04:13no leona don't go viola choked at least not tonight they'll say you're willful unfit then where fit
04:22for me i strode away music shifted the heart erupted in cheers people glimpsed the stain on my neck
04:33and looked aside like dodging a drawn wire at the turn i lit my calm stone father by the old
04:39law begin
04:40the centering i didn't soften it the sooner the better mother's voice cut in steadying but shaking
04:45beneath leona you know what that means truth will cut your heart silver fire will sear your bones
04:51once you turn you carve out your own lungs father rumbled and once begun it can't be stopped failure
04:58may take your life i pressed my palm to the burning mark i know and i am not turning back
05:03snow feathered
05:05past the window even if it strips me to skin and bone i will return this bite to the goddess
05:10father
05:10asked when three days i said in the birch grove with black water as mirror have them witness
05:23three days in the birch grove with black water as mirror have them witness i stood in the center of
05:32my room fur and snow lingered his scent all that remained was the sting first into the trunk the
05:39wool shawl he gave me at last winter's rights the blue of the deepest northern ice he'd said it matched
05:44my eyes to hell with matching leona came a sugared whisper from the door i didn't turn wrong room luna
05:55yours is down the hall viola crept in fingers twisting her skirt i wanted to help asher said
06:03you'd be moving i straightened so fast she flinched help to check i didn't hide any of his things or
06:10to
06:10see if i've cried her eyes glossed why do you always think the worst of me we grew up as
06:16sisters
06:18exactly why i know how you help i picked up the album my fingertips burned the way you helped with
06:26the luna's place asha came from the doorway he crossed in and took that half step in front of her
06:33protective without thinking it cut deeper than i expected no need he said to me alpha weight in his
06:39tone viola's showing concern like your way of showing loyalty i asked marking two women at once
06:45his jaw set for the pack viola's blood is purer the elders calm when they see it oh then i
06:51should thank
06:52you both i swept the room filled with our years one steals my place the other tears the vow viola
06:58tugged
06:58his sleeve don't don't fight asher only meant for me to stay at his aunt's key loser to counsel
07:04you put her at your aunt's i asked a hundred paces from your bed it's safer he said voice brooking
07:11none
07:12all eyes are on us she needs protection protection i repeated from my malice or the rumor mill polishing
07:19your new luna he stepped in watch your tone or what i held his gaze use your alpha voice again
07:27bite me again viola drew a little breath please don't it's my fault i can go back to my old
07:35house
07:35skin if it isn't safe enough asher cut her off his gold eyes locked on me viola will be luna
07:42that's
07:42settled she will stay where she is and you his glance flicked to the half-packed trunk you have three
07:49days to leave the norse main grounds the air froze i'd expected it hearing it still twisted my gut
07:55three days my voice stayed level how generous the elders decided it he said time to prepare and to
08:02avoid conflict conflict i laughed afraid i'll spoil the picture or tell how you staged it it isn't like
08:10that viola burst out they're worried you're not coping and outside there are rumors what rumors i asked
08:16she looked away that you couldn't accept the decision that you acted extreme that you might not
08:22suit the luna's role so exile me to prove i suit it i looked at asher that's your fix
08:29send me off so she can ascend his face hardened you need distance it's for the good of all i
08:37felt
08:37very tired eight years and it was my first clear look at this face fine i bent to the trunk
08:45three days
08:45i'll go she moved to speak he tugged her back tell the guard if you need anything he said like
08:52to
08:52any pack member the door closed on viola's whisper i'm so worried
09:02the door closed on viola's whisper i'm so worried
09:09the next two days rumor spread like fire in drybrush at the hall a woman murmured i heard
09:16she wrecked the coronation nearly attacked the new luna in the corridor two guards muttered
09:22arafa had to mark her twice to settle her wolf's too wild even the clerk granting my removal pass
09:29eyed me with pity leaving might be best each word was a knife i knew whose hand guided them
09:36i said nothing i emptied my rooms and my memories one thing left the album tonight was a spillover
09:43feast from winter rites roast smoke and laughter in the air none of it touched my courtyard no one
09:50wanted to look at the former save for glances laced with pity and gossip the leather album dragged
09:55at my hands eight years inside it 9999 photos 9999 moments 9999 reasons he loved me now reasons he used
10:07to it read like a clumsy joke i built a small pyre flames licked eager page one two pups wrestling
10:16in
10:16snow his gold eyes bright with laughter my nose red my eyes crinkled shut with it reason one you are
10:23my
10:24first snow pure and alive his strong hand the little paw doodle i tore it free and fed it to
10:30the fire
10:31it curled and blackened to smoke page after page first kiss in the snow our first stag the crown i
10:39set
10:39on him the day he became alpha the four seasons four promises at a time 9999 moments all ash paper
10:48sliced
10:48my finger i didn't feel it the hole in my chest swallowed pain whole the flames rose my shadow
10:55stretched thin warped he came stop asher's voice anger barely held i didn't turn another page tore free
11:04the kiss under moonlit arches reason 512 your scent smells like forever how droll alpha voice leona
11:13i order you to stop pressure punched the air my wrist shook but the page still fell into the fire
11:20your orders don't work on me asher remember i'm already exiled the courtyard parted for him he strode to
11:29my side gold eyes flickering with firelight you don't have to do this don't i i looked at him at
11:36last
11:36hug this book every night and sob over how you chose someone else his jaw locked it isn't what you
11:42think
11:43what is it then i held up the album of these 9999 reasons you loved me which one lets you
11:51mark another
11:52which lets you choose viola he watched me fire dancing in ice no answer viola appeared hands at her chest
12:00leona please don't
12:04these memories are precious they brought a crowd of course they did no show without an audience
12:10precious i echoed eyes on viola's rehearsed tremble like your luna's crown like asher's vows
12:18murmurs rose rebuke for me defense for her i lifted the whole album to pitch it asher grabbed
12:26we grappled a heartbeat then he wrenched it free by thrusting both hands into the flames the stink of
12:35scorched flesh flooded the square gasps viola shrieked lunging asher your hands he didn't spare himself a
12:44glance he clutched the album enough leona it ends here i looked at those hands hands that had been tender
12:53burned now to save the relic of our love if a promise can't bear betrayal i said it isn't worth
13:01keeping viola sobbed and clutched his arm my wrist when we struggled i must have twisted every eye swung
13:10to her her fine wrist was faintly pink nothing beside asher's seared palms but he turned at once
13:16voice rich with concern are you hurt it was absurd he burned to keep our album and first worried over
13:23her feigned twinge leona apologize you hurt her he said face cold i stared i hadn't known his talent
13:32for reversal outstripped his leadership i didn't touch her it's not her fault it was an accident
13:40viola whispered weeping prettily but it really hurt the murmurs thickened jealous mad dangerous
13:47apologize asher commanded alpha voice crushing the air i looked at the face i'd loved at viola's
13:55tremor behind him at the ring of judgment and fear the last light went out i laughed it rang in
14:02the
14:02square like a cracked bell fine i'll apologize
14:12i laughed it rang in the square like a cracked bell fine i'll apologize asher's brows eased he thought
14:22i'd bent i stepped up and met viola's eyes i'm sorry viola sorry i treated you like a sister
14:31sorry i begged my parents to take you in when yours died sorry i shared everything my clothes
14:37my room i paused my gaze cut to asher my lover her face bleached she hadn't expected that
14:46but most of all i raised my voice so all could hear i'm sorry i ever believed we were family
14:54i turned to the pyre and pulled out the last token a crescent pendant he gave me on our first
15:00anniversary you wanted to keep sake asher i said softly tossing it into the blaze fetch it from the
15:08ash with your new luna cries chased me as i left the square fire devoured the last thing i'd kept
15:15and my last retreat tomorrow the rumors would write themselves crazy leona burned her memories
15:22and hurt innocent viola even the alpha burned his hands trying to stop her let them talk tonight i
15:29buried the leona who loved asher tomorrow a new wolf would rise one who would not kneel
15:40i didn't expect him to come in the morning i left alone he stood in the doorway he didn't enter
15:46the carriage is ready do you need an escort so distant fitting making sure i obeyed i zipped my last
15:55case do you need to watch he sighed leona don't when this is over i'll bring you back you know
16:03it's
16:04necessary for the pack pack first i've heard enough i hefted the suitcase tell your luna her seat
16:12her man her perfect plan i'm not interested he gripped my arm don't speak of her that way
16:20she defended you though you never gave her kindness i heard every rumor these three days i said looking at
16:27his hand on me every version says i'm not enough through wild too fragile too mad for luna i lifted
16:32my
16:32eyes to his only one says the truth you didn't choose her because she's better you chose her
16:38because she's easier to control his pupils cut tight you don't know what you're saying you know it
16:44perfectly i shook him off you feared a mate who wouldn't kneel so you picked the one who will always
16:51look up viola anger cracked his mask watch your mouth or what i glanced at the clock three hours and
17:04i'm free how long does your alpha voice reach asher we stared eight years tight as a wire between us
17:10singing as it snapped for a breath i thought he might argue apologize he didn't he stepped back
17:18east gate three hours he said and left
17:26i drew a long breath and raised my calm stone mother i'm early the birches in one hour a beat
17:36are you sure the pain beats staying i said watching women point at my window tell them to be ready
17:46i'm going to be free by nightfall i lifted the case rumors won't cease hurt won't vanish but in
17:55three hours asher would wait at the east gate and i would not come he would get a legend how
18:01his former
18:01mate walked into the birches and tore their bond apart when i walked out i would no longer be his
18:07leona i'd be a wolf who belonged to her cell
18:16the revelry still hadn't died by dawn
18:21i slipped toward the birch grove the pack's quietest holiest ground snow squeaked beneath my boots
18:29eight years crushed one step at a time the elders were already there five cloaked shapes ringed around
18:36obsidian stone the air smelled of herbs and ice the first elder rasped leona hail
18:46you are early delay serves no one i said begin another elder sighed the sundering is pain beyond pain
18:59three trials as one you must bear them alone the alpha he is nothing to this i cut in my
19:06choice my right
19:08begin they exchanged looks and nodded first trial the question that carves the chief touched my brow
19:18cold power lanced my mind face your deepest fear and pain and answer truly lie or flee
19:26and the bond will lash you to pieces vision struck coronation night his mouth at viola's white throat
19:37red beating moonlit colonnade his fingers on my chin gold eyes frozen you are mine his teeth in my neck
19:44pain
19:45and humiliation rumors viola's tears his distrust agony burst from my heart squeezing it in a fist
19:54i nearly dropped to my knees sweat soaking my spine ask thundered the elder in my skull do you still
20:04love him another asked the bond screamed choking off truth love what remnants resentment habit or i jerked my
20:16eyes blurred with tears and tore the answer free i loved him but i hate him more for wrecking us
20:26for
20:27choosing power over me for turning me into someone i don't recognize a wet snap inside pain then vacuum
20:36first trial passed meanwhile at the east gate she isn't here asher paste
20:43frowning at the empty road for the third time unease nod at him don't fret viola murmured fingers gliding on
20:51his arm maybe she needs time to
20:54settle perhaps she's crying in her room
20:58reluctant to go he didn't shake her off he only grew more irritable another quarter hour
21:05viola tried again worry pitched just right
21:08or perhaps she means to make you go to her she did that sometimes
21:14wanting your attention it sounded plausible and felt wrong leona use ploys no she'd rather burn the
21:23world then a soul deep pain tore his chest the bond ripping color drained from his face
21:31he spun toward the birches leona he bolted like a loosed arrow stop her stop her in the birches
21:41second trial silver fire the elder intoned they slit my forearm silver liquid burned into the cut
21:50pine beyond words burning freezing
21:54tearing rushed my veins every nerve shrieked blood ignited and iced at once my wolf slammed against
22:02my ribs begging to shift to survive it i clamped my teeth blood seeped at my mouth i shook refusing
22:09the change by will alone riding the silver storm until it thinned soaked spent i dropped to a knee
22:15gulping air second trial passed leona stop asher hit the grove and the barrier struck him back
22:27sundering seals its own field none may cross
22:31his gold eyes were wild on me rage and fear i wiped my mouth didn't look his way continue
22:43third trial the choice of renunciation the chief elder bore a stone plate upon it a silver knife
22:52and a braided lock of hair mine and asher's twined cut at our joining eight years ago sever it feed
22:59it
22:59to the fire his eyes were ancient stone then your bond is ended no reconciliation
23:04i gripped the knife cold seeped into my palm the braid lay between us each strand wound with laughter
23:11vows warmth i thought it would bind us to the end leona look at me i forbid this asher hammered
23:20the
23:20barrier voice cracking from command to something close to panic i order you to stop your alpha orders
23:26once his orders were my axis my breath now they were a wasteland of irony i drew breath and raised
23:35the blade snow light flashed on steel a pale decided face glanced back at me leona don't his voice broke
23:43to plea we can talk fix it viola she she only brought the knife down a small clean sound like
23:52a thread
23:52snapping in an empty room the braid fell in two clean as if i'd cut not hair but a living
23:58cord between
23:58two hearts something thundered apart in my soul the last beam of a house collapsing years of feeling
24:05thread by thread tore loose and blew away hunger void and rending pain swallowed me the world went black
24:13my body folded forward i didn't strike cold stone i fell into a stranger's arms a scent rushed in cold
24:20fur
24:21wild wild and free i twitched newborn weak couldn't fight don't move said a low steady voice above me
24:30flat unreadable by night wind's charge i'm taking you home night wind the word was a plank my nerves
24:38unstrung darkness took me whole put her down who are you give her back asher raged ramming the barrier
24:46like a trapped beast leona open your eyes don't go with him the elders stood as one a wall he
24:53couldn't
24:53cross the right is sealed the chief said voice like ice sundering is her will the law is above all
25:02respect it viola stumbled in breathless her eyes flashed with secret triumph at the severed braid
25:08gone again in a wash of tears when she saw me in a stranger's hold she covered her mouth my
25:14god weeping
25:14with exquisite grief leona so you had someone else so that's why you were so cruel why not say so
25:22why must you hurt yourself hurt asher like this a poisoned needle straight to asher's spinning mind
25:29someone else ready retreat so her severing wasn't betrayal's ache it was that she'd found her next
25:36she burned the album turned her back cut the braid not from hate but because her heart had already moved
25:43shame and fury drowned the last of his pain he glared at the stranger's arm underneath
25:50fine very fine you had your replacement ready no wonder you were so eager his voice warped with rage
26:00as you wish from now on we are finished never show your face to me again the man finally lifted
26:08his head
26:08a hood shadowed him i saw a hard jaw and a ghost of a contemptuous smile she cut a chain
26:15he said voice
26:16low but clean as breaking ice slicing through wind and howl not to find a stand-in don't measure her
26:23with your small sorry yardstick he didn't spare them another glance he gathered me and strode into the
26:29into shadow and snow behind him asher's unspent fury viola's weeping with its bitter shine the elders
26:38silent witness the right was done no turning back
26:46asher's unspent fury viola's weeping with its bitter shine the elders silent witness the right was done no
26:54turning back i rose through emptiness bone deep weariness first then a throat like dust and a
27:01body bruised by an unseen wheel i opened my eyes the ceiling was familiar the wood grain of my childhood
27:07room fire crackled in the hearth dry and warm leona mother's voice trembled i turned with effort
27:14my parents sat close father holding my hand mother stroking my hair dark crescents under both eyes told the
27:20vigil water i rasped mother lifted me and tipped the cup father's jaw unclenched i'm home the
27:28hollowness of sundering hum the worst of the pain had ebbed to a long dull ache you're home mother
27:35whispered tears spilling father blew out a breath the ride cost you dearly i shook my head less than staying
27:43the last memory before i felt those arms that voice who carried me i asked a man my parents traded
27:53a
27:53look mother gripped my hand there's something we meant to tell you but before father finished grave
28:00the north is worse than you know silver means a nightclaws press the borders without the main pack
28:07shelter we can't stand alone i listened the shape of it was clear we've arranged a match
28:14the strongest shield we could find who canin thorn father said they call him the road king
28:25strong unbound by any great pack yet feared by them all we didn't tell you because your heart was set
28:31we wanted you happy so the road had been laid and they'd waited never forcing until i cut the past
28:37myself they'd born too much for me my chest still ate emptied and raw but my choice rose simple and
28:43sure i accept i said voice thin and steady on one condition their eyes widened i'll meet him i'm not
28:53a
28:53commodity not a prize not an appendage i said this alliance happens on terms we set mine and his i
29:00belong
29:00to myself he needs to understand that my voice wasn't loud it didn't have to be a low baritone rich
29:07as smoke answered from the door i don't steal prey the door swung a tall man leaned the frame travel
29:14worn leathers eyes winter starlight gray i receive what chooses me kane thorn stood there like he'd been
29:22waiting now he said tell me your choice leona hale
29:31i made the only choice that made sense the wedding moved with shocking speed
29:37ten days from waking and saying yes to standing before a mirror in a gown mother's fingers shook at
29:44my collar no heavy northern robes kane had sent a lean silver white dress shoulders edged with wolf fur the
29:52skirt cut like a warrior's coat he understands you mother murmured pride and worry braided in my eyes
30:01he understands a posture i said to the mirror one that refuses the leash father called from the door
30:10the right was ready no grand hall no assembled clans a ruined stone keep at the border suited kane only
30:20my parents and our core and his small handful quiet flint-eyed fighters stamped by the wild kane waited at
30:28the altar in black leathers under a dark silver cloak stitched with a waning moon and wolf claws no crown
30:35no ornament he wore authority like skin i crossed rubble toward him each step shore wind combed the
30:43ruins we faced each other his eyes traveled over me without judgment only an appraiser's clean measure
30:50as if weighing a weapon meant to match his hand an elder priest lifted his voice we witness the alliance
30:57of leona hail and kane thorne leaking balance and shelter by blood and oath so bound neither to betray
31:07the other he turned to kane do you swear i swear kane never looked away from me i swear the
31:17nightwind clan my
31:17shelter and theirs is mine to guard i swear respect to my ally leona hail her will is her territory
31:24he paused the words fell like stones i came thorn will never use alpha voice on my wife
31:31her soul will not bow a ripple of the crowd no alpha made such vows because it stripped their right
31:38to compel the elder swallowed moved to me leona hail do you accept i said i do clear as a
31:47struck bell
31:48i trade this marriage for my people's safety i swear to stand as ally to kane thorn until our pact
31:56is
31:56done my will and my loyalty rise from my choosing he raised a silver knife seal it kane offered his
32:04hand
32:05i set mine in his warm steady stop a roar cracked the right in half asher stormed the ruins with
32:14a clutch
32:14of guards his eyes burned when he saw our joined hands and the lifted blade this ends now his voice
32:21lashed the air alpha pressure trying to cow the room leona do you know what you're doing
32:28kane's hand didn't shift he didn't look at asher his eyes narrowed cool and faintly amused i stepped
32:36forward unnecessarily shielding him asher wood mind your words and where you stand where he laughed
32:45gaze cutting the ruin this is what you choose
32:51a wanderer in a heap of stones without the north what can you get joyce i said and you by
32:59what right
33:00do you stop me former mate the elders witnessed the sundering ample of the north your hand doesn't
33:08reach here he choked on that color worsening even severed you were mine the north is not a toy to
33:16be
33:16touched kane are you provoking the north pain moved at last he turned slow deliberate drawing
33:23me a fraction behind him no voice weight only something older larger like the step opening its
33:29eyes provocation he tasted the word or you're mistaken twice he dropped each word like pebbles in still water
33:39first she isn't norse property or your inheritance
33:44she belongs where she chooses not where you assign her and second his gaze stung
33:50i'm not testing the north sliding from asher to his guards i'm accepting an ally who chose to stand
33:55with me you however are testing me on my ground disrupting my right what do you want his head
34:01tilted two thrones voice gone ice a handful of warm bodies empower both she his hand reached back found
34:09mine pressed a thumb to my skin a silent vow between equals she wants a road of her own silence
34:16fell
34:17heavy asher's face went iron he opened his mouth and found his reasons thin and silly against the other
34:23man's clarity i laced my fingers in canes and stepped up shoulder to shoulder i said continue
34:30asher thrashed no leona it was for the pack i did it for us i never loved anyone else only
34:38you he didn't
34:39see his guards catch up or pale-faced viola at their backs asher
34:51asher i was wrong i was wrong leona asher's voice went raw i marked you both mad thinking i could
35:00hold
35:00love and power both i needed viola's blood to soothe the the elders i had to hold both for the
35:08norse's
35:09sake a howl went around the ruin marking two sisters against the law near unforgivable viola's face
35:19shattered she stumbled forward disbelief and hurt lancing her prettiness to be called a tool before
35:26all to hear that what he truly couldn't let go was me stabbed deeper than any rebuke for
35:33the pack she whispered shaking tears spilled unlovely now
35:40you said i was gentler more to your taste you said it was because because her voice fell to pieces
35:50asher dropped his head yes you suited my taste sweeted the luna i pictured
35:57but not what my heart wanted no no viola broke she pointed at me and screamed that night a ragged
36:07sound the goddess's blessing was hers i begged the efficient i changed the prayer i stole the luna's
36:15blessing silence so pure even the wind held breath she sobbed and laughed at once eyes white on asher
36:24you thought i was luna she was you heard her over and over i won't let you have her truth
36:33hit like
36:33a pail of glacial water i hadn't only lost a faithless mate i'd lost a path stolen a future snatched
36:41by
36:41the hands i'd called kin a crown that should have been mine taken and smashed i stood chilled to the
36:47bone not rage not grief a cold absurd clarity kane's voice cut clean you're fighting gaze brushing asher
36:59then viola settling on me for a stolen crown stained his eyes lit with the first hint of fire as
37:06he
37:06looked at me she never wanted a crown she wants the whole sky every gaze turned to me i drew
37:14breath
37:14lifted my spine and stood beside kane my voice rang flat and final through every crack of the ruin
37:21i won't be a lunar shadow i won't be anyone's prey not before not now not ever i turned to
37:31kane and opened my hand kenny thorn i choose you free and equal the corner of his mouth bent slight
37:41and
37:41sure he slit his palm so did i we clasped hands our blood fell to earth a new power rose
37:51warm strong not
37:53a collar but a resonance like moon and night locking eyes the elder cried by blood it is done the
38:04right
38:04finished in truth bared and obstacles broken
38:12by blood it is done the right finished in truth bared and obstacles broken
38:18noise faded i went alone to mirror lake black and still as ink beneath the waxing moon the heat of
38:26the new bond moved in me coexisting strangely with the hollowness sundering left footsteps heavy
38:32tentative i knew him before he spoke tatters of a bond ghosted the air fiona asher's voice was
38:39hoarse authority gone only wreckage left i turned he stood a few paces off something clenched in his
38:46fist the gold in his eyes was dull crowded with regret refusal pain and a lost man's panic i
38:53never thought
38:56viola would the name shredded his throat i was blind to power to a false calm
39:04i wronged you he opened his hand a crescent pendant lay in his palm cleaned faintly scorched i
39:12found it in the ash he said i know it fixes nothing i looked at it once it meant the
39:17purest fiercest
39:19trust now it felt far away i didn't take it i picked it up between two fingers cold and weightless
39:25let the water bury it i said and flicked it a dim arc then nothing no splash as if it
39:31never existed
39:33he lunged a step as if to plunge in after it stopped short he stared at rings smoothing to glass
39:39stared at the past he couldn't retrieve his shoulders fell i turned to go leona the last
39:46failing reach in his voice give me one more chance even if not his mates just don't chase me i
39:55said
39:56without looking back the knight shredded my words and carried them still cool chase me and i'll
40:01remember only the worst of you i walked to the figure waiting in moonlight kane said nothing only held
40:08out his hand i set mine in his
40:21mirror lakes chill and asher's last broken call fell behind us kane kept my hand in his without urging or
40:28speech leading me through snow bright pines away from lanterns and familiar scents into the wild that
40:34seemed to answer to him we didn't stop until a windless cliff shouldered above the valley below the
40:40north slept the main keep was a smudge in moonlight far and small he let go shrugged off a gray
40:48wolf pelt
40:49cloak and set it around my shoulders warm from his body snow cedar in its fibers
40:56silence pooled rest not wait he sat across the small fire he'd kindled feeding it now and then
41:04gaze cutting to the dark to me assessing never prying i broke the quiet first my voice sanded down
41:12why me you could have found someone simpler no pass to trip over no enemies in tow he stirred the
41:23coals
41:23sparks rising to star themselves the north needs change not repetition he said a soul ground to
41:32powder by rules then the one who breaks them and stands understands balance better than a pretty
41:38puppet who's never been tested his eyes met mine through the heat i'm not looking for a mate who
41:43won't cause trouble i want an ally who'll meet it at my side your past you're severing your trouble he
41:51added the faintest edge of scorn in it as for enemies i've walked alone a long time they come in
41:57flocks one more is nothing i don't fear noise something eased in me there was no pity in him
42:05no rescue only measure and respect not for a woman to be shielded but for a force to be reckoned
42:12with
42:13that blood bond does it bind i glanced at our palms twin scars drying oh the last hardest knot
42:22he breathed a small laugh chains by obedience from cowards they breed rebellion in everyone else he
42:30looked at me as if laying down a contract our bond is a pact a notice served to scavengers and
42:36doubters
42:36leona hale stands under my shelter and beside me it means your enemies get my claws your choices
42:43get my weight he held me steady in his gaze it doesn't mean you must love me or obey me
42:50or belong
42:52to me you belong to you the fire snapped his words branded hotter than flame the last band about my
43:01ribs
43:01loosened not ownership not a new collar a horizon choice given without price i let out a breath that
43:11had been knotted for years and for the first time facing him let my mouth soften into something like
43:17relief i understand night thickened toward gray the wind sharpened kane rose and ground the last embers
43:25out under his boot we should go we need to crest the eastern ridge before soon up i stood and
43:33handed
43:33him his cloak he buckled it on with quick hands we took the climb side by side he didn't steady
43:39me he
43:40didn't dull the wind with his voice he kept a perfect distance present never crowding we topped the ridge
43:45as the first seam of gold ripped the dark light poured wild over an endless white flame no thrones no
43:53crowns
43:54no rules whispered behind cupped hands only snow to the end of the world mountains like sleeping
44:00titans and the sky indifferent free kane stopped beside me looking out dawn gilded the hard lines
44:08of his face calm and dangerous as a king of wilderness that's the horizon he said the wind smearing his
44:16words belongs to no one anyone can walk to it i looked back once the northern valley that had been
44:23my
44:23whole world seemed small and far when the moon swells full again the packs may remember this night
44:30but not an alpha squabble not a crown changing hands they'll remember a she-wolf who stood in ruins
44:38shook off her chains and chose her wild and her sky and she didn't look back
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