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The Luna Abandoned by the Frostfang Wolf Alpha
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Short filmTranscript
00:00My sister Serafini ran away from the wedding, and I was forced to become the maid of Serafine's
00:05fiance. I destroyed the ceremony in fury. I even struck Kale Vorn across the face in front of
00:14Elder of the Pack. Yet this male, the Alpha of Alphers, the Frostfang Wolf King, didn't unleash
00:21his wrath. Instead, he knelt before me and brushed the shattered ceremonial glass from my heel with
00:26his own hand. No matter how enraged you are, you are not permitted to harm yourself.
00:30It would break my heart. One sentence. That was all it took to make my heart stutter.
00:34For an entire year after that, I reigned in my wild heart. I tried to learn to handle the affairs
00:40of
00:40the Wolf Pack and to become a worthy Luna. Until Serafini Ashdown came back from abroad.
00:47We were kidnapped. The howling sea wind tore at my scalp as we stood at the cliff's edge.
00:53The rogue wolf was still snarling in madness.
00:55At Kale Vorn, it's your turn. Two Fimmins, one life. Which one will you save?
01:05Beside me, Serafine's heart-wrenching sobs filled the air.
01:09Kale, save me! Please, you have to save me!
01:14Without a word, I let my hand drift down to restomach. There, a tiny life was growing,
01:20a pup, two months along. I had just discovered it. The pack healer let me sense the pup's essence.
01:26Exceptionally strong and steady. Kale had been called to an emergency council and missed the news.
01:32When I tried to share it that night, Serafini had just been brought back to the territory,
01:36and then came this ambush. I should have reached my hand toward Kale and screamed that I carried his
01:42air. But before I could even open my mouth, Kale pointed at Serafini without a shred of hesitation.
01:49I choose Serafina!
01:51Kale didn't give me time to react before I plummeted from high up into the icy water,
01:55agaping. Bloodthirsty maw of darkness and ice swallowed me whole. My body felt as though it
02:01had been shattered and reassembled in reverse. The bond mark on my neck burned white hot,
02:05then went terrifyingly cold. Something deeply important, irreversibly, irretrievably slipped
02:11out from my womb. I slowly closed my eyes. In that instant, I regretted ever accepting the mark
02:17of Kale Vaughan. When I opened my eyes again, I saw the stark white healing ward and Kale gripping my
02:26hand, his silver volf eyes brimming with anguish. You were carrying my cup. Why didn't you tell me?
02:35I thought about the moment he faced the rogue's wolf. The moment he chose Serafini without a flicker
02:40of hesitation. I was about to pull my hand away when Serafini rushed in and pointed at me.
02:45Era, you knew you carried his pup, yet you refused to speak a single word. You deliberately made Kale
02:53choose me, didn't you? So we'd be shattered with a death for the rest of our lives. I know you
02:57despise
02:58me, but that was Kale's pup too. The heir to the Frostdale pack. Using your own flesh and blood for
03:03a scheme,
03:04how could you be so cruel? Every word was absurd, yet she delivered them through choked sobs.
03:09I opened my mouth to argue back, but Kale's hand gripping mine tightened sharply. His alpha aura
03:16flared with barely contained wrath. Is that true? So Evolve's instincts really can be blind to this
03:26degree. The alpha who marked me who swore a mate bond. That was supposed to transcend all things,
03:32had never truly trusted me. Before I could even react, Kale seized my collar and forced me to look
03:38at him. His irises bled from silver to gold. He was utterly furious. I never imagined you could be
03:45this cruel, trying to trade our pup for my guilt. You disgust me. With that, he flung me off the
03:52bed
03:52onto the floor. And my back slammed hard against the wall. The healing for lying scattered everywhere.
03:58The white floor was stained with my blood. My leg, already splinted, twisted into a horrifying angle
04:05from the impact. Yet the hand that should have been reaching to help me up was firmly planted in front
04:09of Serafini. Shielding her, his silver eyes were filled with warning. Directed at me. Kale actually
04:16thought I was going to attack Serafini. A bitter smile tugged at the corner of my mouth.
04:26I looked at him with eyes completely devoid of emotion.
04:32This pup. The tragedy was being conceived in my womb, only to have a sire like you.
04:39Kale's pupils contracted. The hand-shielding Serafini froze in midter. For a split second,
04:44his wolf recoiled, as if my words had pierced something deeper than flesh.
04:49Maybe it was the desolation in my eyes that struck him. He instinctively moved to help me up.
04:55But Serafini clutched his sleeve, tears streaming down her face.
05:00Every night since that day I've been having nightmares. Kale, it hurts so much. I keep seeing
05:08her fall. Keep hearing the splash. Serafine's weeping was pitiful, but I saw through it.
05:14Malice glinted in her eyes, as if she were saying, losing one pup is nowhere near enough.
05:24Kale turned a cold gaze toward me.
05:27Ira, you've frightened Serafin. Apologize to her.
05:32There I was, crumpled on the floor, pierced by the frost in his eyes.
05:37I'm like this and you still want me to apologize to her? I'm the one who lost our pup, not
05:43her!
05:44Not Serafina!
05:45Serafini only wept louder.
05:47Kale, I know. Hila blames me for making her lose the pup. I'll kneel and apologize to her myself!
05:53Kale couldn't bear the thought of Serafini kneeling. He turned to his pack enforcers and ordered them.
05:59Hold the Luna down. Make her apologize to Miss Ashtheod.
06:04I shrieked at him.
06:06Kale Bourne, do you even have a heart beneath that wolf's hide?
06:09But there was no room for struggle. The enforcers forced my head down and slammed it hard against the stone
06:16floor.
06:17Once, twice, three times. Blood stained my forehead red. My vision went dark.
06:23With every knock, searing pain shot through my entire body, through the bond.
06:27I felt nothing from Kale's end but cold, unyielding judgment.
06:32By the time Kale snapped out of it, I had almost passed out from the blows.
06:37Enough!
06:38The alpha's brow furrowed. He moved to summon the healers.
06:43At just the right moment, Serafini conveniently collapsed in his arms, so the words that reached his lips became...
06:50Serafini, what's wrong? Every healer, now!
06:54...all to attend to Serafini, whose breathing was steady.
06:58Heart rate was normal, her eyelids were still twitching erratically from her inexperience at feigning unconsciousness.
07:04Meanwhile, I, the Luna, covered in blood, was discarded on the cold floor like carrion.
07:11Eventually, I gathered a sliver of strength and struggled to climb back into the healing bed.
07:16My phone rang. I answered.
07:19Serafini must have accidentally triggered a call while fainting.
07:23From...
07:23The other end came her theatrically choked sobs.
07:27Kale, I was just too young back then.
07:29The thought of the ceremony terrified me, so I fled.
07:32Will you forgive me?
07:35How could I ever blame you?
07:37Kale's voice was warm and gentle.
07:39A tone I had once believed was reserved for me alone.
07:42But you marked at Ira, without a single objection.
07:46And at the ceremony, you indulged her every whim.
07:49I thought maybe...
07:50The alpha seemed to let out a low, rumbling laugh.
07:54Foolish girl.
07:56I claimed her only to cover your shame and salvage your family's name among the packs.
08:00As for letting her run wild at the ceremony, that was to deflect the gossip away from you.
08:05So that when you finished wandering and came back, you'd still be spotless.
08:09And no pack elder could point a claw at you.
08:12I promised I would always protect you.
08:14The call cut off.
08:16My vision blurred with wetness.
08:18I finally understood just how foolish I had been all these years.
08:22Because of one gentle look from an alpha.
08:24A few hollow words of protection.
08:26I had believed he truly loved me.
08:29What I thought was fate had been a lie from beginning to end.
08:35I laughed until my whole body trembled.
08:38The wounds split open.
08:39And I felt nothing.
08:41Not until an urgent voice called out beside my ear.
08:44Ira.
08:45Ira.
08:46I came back to myself.
08:47Uncle Harrison and Aunt Margo had arrived with the finest healers from the Valen family estate.
08:53Seeing the blood-soaked wreck I had become.
08:56My uncle.
08:57A beta male so gentle he had never raised his voice in his life.
09:00Turned red-eyed.
09:01Pale Vaughn is utterly despicable!
09:02You're broken like this and he's still attending to another female.
09:05I knew it!
09:05Your father forcing you into that substitute mating.
09:08He never had good intentions.
09:09Animals!
09:09They're worse than beasts!
09:11Aunt Margo threw a reproachful look at him.
09:13Is now really the time?
09:16You'll only make Ila more distressed.
09:18She tenderly wiped away my tears.
09:20Ira.
09:21Why don't you come back to the Valen estate with us and recover for a while?
09:25If you truly cannot bear the separation from Kale, then at least let me stay here and tend to you.
09:31I lifted my head, my gaze resolute.
09:36No need.
09:38I've decided to sever the mate bond with Kale Vorn.
09:42As I spoke, I produced a blank bond severance decree bearing Kale Vorn's own signature,
09:48sealed with the Frostfang sigil.
09:50He had placed it in my hands solemnly on the night of our claiming ceremony.
09:54He said it was the greatest assurance an Alpha could willingly give his mate a promise that,
10:00should he ever fail me, I would have the power to walk free.
10:03Those words had pulled me deeper and deeper.
10:06Until.
10:06In the end, I paid with my own pup's life.
10:09Now, I handed this once-treasured gift to my uncle and aunt.
10:13They understood immediately and summoned.
10:15A pack law keeper to draft the severance pact.
10:19The moment I pressed my blood signature at the bottom of that document,
10:23a breath of relief escaped me, the mate bond in my chest,
10:27already frayed to a single thread, went utterly silent.
10:31The law keeper gathered the scrolls.
10:35After the reverence is recorded, there will be a one-moon cooling period.
10:41Once that moon passes, I will deliver the final dissolution decree.
10:48My voice was calm.
10:50Empty, but calm.
10:53My wounds had been tendered.
10:56I was just about to rest.
10:57Then the healing ward door was kicked open with brute force.
11:00A tall female swept in.
11:03Ilara Vorn.
11:04Kale's mother and high elder of the Frostfang pack.
11:08Without a word, she delivered a hard slap across my face.
11:11You knew you carried the Frostbell air,
11:13and you still insisted on going alone to that rogue-inflested territory?
11:16It's one thing for a low-blorn omega like you to get taken.
11:19But you killed the Vorn pack's first grandson.
11:21Today, I will teach you what it means to answer to the Elder Council.
11:25Faced with Ilara's sudden fury, all I felt was absurdity.
11:29That day, it was Serafini who had forced her way into my vehicle
11:33and ordered the driver to change course toward the rogue borderlands.
11:36That was what gave the kidnappers their opening.
11:39I was co-porsed by Serafine into going to that territory.
11:43Ilara looked half doubtful.
11:45No.
11:47Serafine would have no reason to do this.
11:49I insisted firmly.
11:51None of you have investigated!
11:52Why are you saying this?
11:54Ilara immediately summoned her enforcers.
11:56Go.
11:58I want to see who has been lying to the Elder Council.
12:03The ward door was pushed open again.
12:06Kale blocked the enforcers from leaving.
12:08His alpha presence filled the room like a winter storm.
12:12No need to investigate.
12:14Before I could even breathe a sigh of relief,
12:16the alpha's next words smashed me to the bottom of the abyss.
12:19All of this is Ella's fault.
12:22Out of jealousy, she dragged Serafine to the rogue borderlands.
12:26She brought this on herself.
12:28I jerked my head up, staring at Kale in disbelief.
12:31I had actually felt a flash of gratitude when he walked in.
12:35I thought he had come to defend me.
12:37I never imagined he would personally pin all.
12:40The blame on me.
12:41All to shield Serafine, the real culprit.
12:44Fine.
12:46I have always known the Ashtone bloodline was diluted and unworthy,
12:50but I didn't realize it could produce such a lying, shameless creature.
12:54Enforcers, bring the pack Discipline Rod!
12:57Alera's fury surpassed rage and turned to ice.
13:00My pupils trembled.
13:01The Frostfang Discipline Rod was notorious.
13:04Barbed silver alloy.
13:06Lethal to wolves, it was never invoked except for crimes of the gravest order.
13:10No!
13:11I'm not the one who lied!
13:13What right do you have to punish me?
13:15The...
13:16I fought with everything I had, but Beta Enforcers pinned me hard against the floor.
13:21Then the barbed rod came smashing down onto my abdomen.
13:25A piercing scream tore through the healing ward corridor.
13:29Kale's brow furrowed instinctively.
13:32Mother.
13:33Alera's tone left no room for argument.
13:36You're not thinking of pleading for this Omega, are you?
13:41That was my first grandson!
13:43The frost-tailed heir I waited decades for!
13:48Mother, you misunderstand.
13:50Kale turned his face away, his expression unreadable,
13:53but I caught the flicker of his wolf retreating behind ice.
13:57Ira has been far too willful this time.
14:00She deserves the punishment.
14:01But this entire matter has nothing to do with Seraphine.
14:05Please do not drag an innocent person into it, Mom.
14:08She deserves punishment.
14:09Do not drag an innocent person into this.
14:12As more than a dozen strikes of the silver rod smashed into my chest and back.
14:17Agony tore through every limb.
14:19Every nerve blood soaked through my hospital gown.
14:22The mate bond in my chest didn't just fray.
14:24It began to rot until I could bear no more.
14:27My vision went black.
14:30In the haze, I thought I heard someone howling my name.
14:33Ira!
14:34Ira, don't you dare surrender to the dark!
14:37I forbid you to die!
14:39When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw, unsurprisingly, was the anxious, worried faces of my uncle and
14:45aunt.
14:46Those damned Vorns!
14:48I swear on the Valon name, I'll get justice for you!
14:51My voice was barely a rasp.
14:54Please, don't.
14:55The Vorn Pact's dominion over Northmoor was now absolute.
14:59No wolf in the territory would willingly challenge them.
15:02Only then did I say what had been crystallizing in my mind since the moment I woke.
15:06Uncle, you've always said the territories overseed are more promising.
15:11That you wanted to relocate the Valon healing practice of fraud.
15:15Aunt Margo's eyes lit with cautious hope.
15:18Ira, you mean, you're willing to come overseas with us?
15:22Seeing me nod, she finally broke into tears of relief.
15:26Good. Wonderful. If you're willing, then everything will be alright.
15:30But the words had barely faded before a burst of footsteps sounded outside.
15:34A deep male voice followed.
15:36Leave.
15:38Ira, where do you intend to go?
15:41To be safe, I sent my uncle and aunt away first.
15:45I was thinking of traveling to clear my mind.
15:49The healers recommended it.
15:50Kale exhaled invisible relief.
15:52He pulled me into his arms with the same possessive tenderness he had always wielded.
15:56That sounds wise.
15:58His scent enveloped me, cedar and frost.
16:01Once it had been my greatest comfort.
16:03Now every breath of it made my stomach turn.
16:06About my mother holding you accountable.
16:09Ultimately, I failed to contain the situation.
16:13But I owe Seraphine too much.
16:15I must pay that debt.
16:17You're my mate.
16:19You understand me, don't you?
16:21After the horror of my pup's death, his tender words only sent ice through every inch of my body.
16:27But I no longer had the strength.
16:29To demand what debt he meant, I simply pushed his large hands away and forced a stiff smile.
16:35Of course I understand.
16:36Feeling his empty embrace, Kale's brow furrowed.
16:40His wolf stirred uneasily.
16:42Something was wrong.
16:43But his wolf couldn't put finger on what was wrong.
16:48Seraphine chose that exact moment to enter.
16:51Carrying a thermal container, her face wore precisely the right amount of concerned sweetness.
16:57Ira, you're awake.
16:59I heard your injuries were very severe, so I specially prepared some restorative herb broth.
17:05Please, try it.
17:07I didn't want to drink it at all.
17:08My wolf recoiled instantly from the scent rising from the broth.
17:12You put Silverthorn in this?
17:14I'm deathly reactive to Silverthorn.
17:17Seraphine immediately covered her mouth in feigned innocence.
17:22I had no idea.
17:23I didn't believe her for one second, back in the Ashdown household.
17:27One of her favorite tricks was accidentally mixing Silverthorn powder into my food.
17:32Then, watching with barely concealed glee as my body broke out in burns.
17:37But Kale believed her.
17:38Not only did he believe her, but he was displeased by my reaction.
17:43Seraphine was only trying to be kind.
17:46There's no need to be so dramatic.
17:48Seraphine pitifully clutched his sleeve.
17:50But if Ira refuses to drink it, the pack outside will tear me to pieces.
17:54She pointed outside the ward.
17:56Her eyes rimmed red.
17:57I already told them that Ira and I have a wonderful bond.
18:00If she won't even take one sip, they'll definitely think I'm lying.
18:04In the blink of an eye, the pack swarmed inside.
18:09Luna Ira, was the rogue ambush arranged because your sister wanted you thrown off the cliff
18:13while you carried the air?
18:15We've heard you were subjected to the Frosthen discipline rod, also because of your sister.
18:19Every single question was aimed at Seraphine, but every single word filled me with dread.
18:24I turned my head and met.
18:26Kale's ice-cold silver gaze.
18:28His lips moved soundlessly.
18:30Drink it, or else the lives of your family.
18:33As if my volf had been ripped from my body, I numbly swallowed the silver thorn-laced broth.
18:39Seraphine leaned in close, smug, her voice low enough for only my ears.
18:44So pathetic.
18:46Just as useless as your weak-blooded mother who died young.
18:50A full bowl went down.
18:52I nearly lost consciousness on the spot.
18:54Fiery burns spread like wildfire across my entire body, until my vision went black.
19:00And I lost all awareness.
19:05When I woke, the ward was empty, not a single soul had stayed to watch over me.
19:10The healing fur had backflowed more than halfway.
19:13Full with blood.
19:14I don't know where I found the strength to press the call button.
19:18A healer finally rushed in.
19:22Didn't I tell your alpha ages ago, your complications are severe, you need 24-hour monitoring?
19:27The line nearly drained you dry and no one noticed.
19:30Where is he?
19:31Don't tell me he's off comforting your sister again.
19:33I glanced at the lunar calendar on the wall.
19:36I had been unconscious for over two weeks.
19:38But there was less than a week left until the bonding severance moon ended.
19:43A small, hollow smile tugged at my lips.
19:46Soon he won't be my mate.
19:49What?
19:49I said, soon he won't be my mate anymore.
19:54So, could you help me find a caretaker?
19:56Someone from outside the Vorn pack.
19:59Under the caretaker's attention, I recovered steadily.
20:02Though occasionally, I still received messages from Serafini.
20:05Kale has always wanted me.
20:07You're nothing but a paid holder.
20:09If you know what's good for you, renounce the alpha mate title now.
20:13I calmly turned off the phone screen.
20:43The day I was discharged, Kale finally appeared.
20:45Kale's expression hardened, his alpha aura pressing down.
20:49On the grounds that you spread false rumors and destroyed Serafian's reputation across every pack in the territory.
20:57I didn't do any of that.
20:58I've been in the healing wad the entire time.
21:01If yous use your resources to verify...
21:04No need.
21:05The alpha cut me off, his voice flat and absolute.
21:10Serafian says it was you.
21:12So it was you.
21:13It felt like an invisible claw had seized my heart and was squeezing.
21:17A bitter, suffocating ache spread like poison to every limb.
21:21Serafini tugged at Kale's sleeve.
21:24Aera is still my little sister, after all.
21:27If she doesn't want to, forget it.
21:32It's not like this is the first time I've been treated this way by her back in the Ashdown house.
21:38Serafini tugged at Kale's sleeve.
21:41Aera is still my little sister, after all.
21:43If she doesn't want to, forget it.
21:48It's not like this is the first time I've been treated this way by her back in the Ashdown house.
21:53Each teardrop hit the floor as though it were striking Kale directly in the chest.
21:57His face hardened to granite.
21:59I always knew you were willful, Aera.
22:02But I never imagined you dared bully Serafina even in her own den.
22:06And she was still merciful enough to plead for you.
22:10Pushing back this apology again and again because you hadn't recovered.
22:14Yet you're this ungrateful.
22:18Do not blame me for what comes next.
22:21He merely crooked a finger.
22:23Pack enforcers surged forward and kicked hard against the backs of my knees.
22:27I collapsed face down onto the stone floor.
22:30Then they seized my hair and slammed my forehead against the ground.
22:34The crack of my skull hitting stone.
22:36My blood streaked face.
22:38Both made Kale's wolf lurch inside his chest.
22:41He was struck by a sudden, unwelcome memory.
22:44Right after the miscarriage, I had been treated exactly like this.
22:48The same brutal grip.
22:49The same cold floor.
22:52A flicker of something.
22:54Regret.
22:55Protectiveness.
22:56Stirred inside Kale's chest.
22:57He was just about to call a halt when Serafina threw herself into his arms.
23:01Aera is more or less getting what she deserves.
23:03I just hope that after this she'll stop targeting me.
23:06The fledgling softness in Kale's heart turned back to ice.
23:09By now, my world had dissolved into a sea of crimson.
23:13The only thing keeping me upright was a message my uncle and aunt had sent.
23:17Tomorrow is the day we finalize your severance.
23:20We're coming to collect you now.
23:22And we're bringing little Leo with us.
23:24Just endure until my family arrives.
23:27Then everything will finally be over.
23:29That was what I told myself.
23:31Until a document was shoved in front of my face.
23:33This is the apology, Sroll.
23:36Sign your blood name.
23:37Now.
23:38But my eye caught what was tucked inside.
23:41I pulled it out and my vision nearly shattered.
23:47A letter of forgiveness?
23:49My mind instantly flew to the faint blood scent on Serafina and then to the
23:53message my uncle and aunt had sent.
23:56By timing alone, they should have arrived long ago.
24:00A flicker of something, regret, protectiveness, stirred inside Kale's chest.
24:05He was just about to call a halt when Serafina threw herself into his arms.
24:09Ira is more or less getting what she deserves.
24:11I just hope that after this she'll stop targeting me.
24:14The fledgling softness in Kale's heart turned back to ice.
24:17By now, my world had dissolved into a sea of crimson.
24:21The only thing keeping me upright was a message my uncle and aunt had sent.
24:25Tomorrow is the day we finalize your severance.
24:28We're coming to collect you now, and we're bringing little Leo with us.
24:32Just endure until my family arrives.
24:35Then everything will finally be over.
24:37That was what I told myself.
24:39Until a document was shoved in front of my face.
24:42This is the apology, Sroll.
24:44Sign your blood name.
24:45Now.
24:46But my eye caught what was tucked inside.
24:49I pulled it out, and my vision nearly shattered.
24:55A letter of forgiveness?
24:57My mind instantly flew to the faint blood scent on Serafina, and then to the message my uncle and aunt
25:03had sent.
25:04By timing alone, they should have arrived long ago.
25:08In the footage, my uncle's family still lay at the attack site.
25:13Aunt Margo was the only one conscious, with an arm grotesquely twisted.
25:17She clutched little Leo, his chest nearly torn through.
25:21She knelt on the ground, kowtowing over and over.
25:25My pup is dying.
25:27Please, I'm begging you.
25:29Let us reach the healers.
25:33You.
25:35My voice shook uncontrollably.
25:38Kale's expression remained utterly.
25:40Indifferent, the three lives in that footage seemed to mean less to him than a single tear from Serafini.
25:47You sign.
25:49I save them.
25:51Otherwise.
25:53The unspoken threat hung heavy in the air.
25:56I finally broke.
25:58I lifted my head and fixed him with a stare so desolate, so utterly hollow, that Kale himself froze for
26:04an instant.
26:05No.
26:05She wasn't supposed to look at him like that.
26:08I took the blood pen from his hand and, with immense effort, signed my name.
26:13A single tear fell onto the document, bleeding into a crimson ripple.
26:20Kale, Vaughan.
26:22I hate you.
26:23Kale moved to summon the healers, but Serafini urged frantically beside him.
26:29If we don't deliver the forgiveness letter now, the pack enforcers will come for me.
26:35So the vehicle roared off, leaving me crumpled on the ground, gritting my teeth.
26:39I hauled myself up.
26:41I hailed transport after transport before one finally agreed to take me to the attack site.
26:47I kept vigil outside the operating chamber through an entire night until my tears ran dry and finally, those words
26:54from the head healer.
26:55They're out of immediate danger.
26:57At daybreak, the law keeper delivered the bonding severance decree.
27:02My grandparents arrived at the same moment.
27:04I thought they would blame me.
27:06That they would look at me and see only the fool who had brought ruin to our family.
27:10Our little era has suffered so much.
27:13But the two elderly wolves simply held me in their arms.
27:17Outside the healing ward, transport was already waiting.
27:21A message from Kale appeared on my phone.
27:24I've already summoned the best healers for you.
27:26Your family will be fine.
27:29Serafini was quite shaken.
27:30I'm taking her away from the territory for a while to help her recover.
27:34I'll bring you back a gift.
27:36I glanced at the message once, felt the last frayed thread of the bond finally snap, then blocked his number,
27:42boarded the transport, and never looked back.
27:48Three months later.
27:50The far coast, a territory untouched by the Frostfang pack's influence, by day, I refined our ancestral healing formulas.
27:58By night, I studied pack medicine texts.
28:01Every hour in the laboratory was an hour I didn't spend remembering.
28:05I had changed.
28:07Everyone around me knew it.
28:08The Aira who once lived for a single.
28:11Alpha's smile was gone.
28:12In her place stood someone quieter.
28:14Harder.
28:15Someone.
28:16Who no longer flinched at shadows but no longer believed in fairy tales.
28:20My Volf, too, had changed.
28:23She was still there, but retreated deep.
28:25Curled up in some quiet corner of my soul.
28:28The severance had not killed her.
28:30But it had wounded her profoundly.
28:31She no longer strained toward the bond that wasn't there.
28:35She no longer howled for an Alpha who had never truly wanted us.
28:38We were healing.
28:40Slowly.
28:41But healing.
28:42The door chimed, and I looked up from my workbench.
28:45The male who walked in was tall.
28:47Lean, with dark brown hair falling across warm amber eyes.
28:55There was a gentleness to his face.
28:57But beneath it, a quiet strength that didn't need to announce itself.
29:03Aira, lately?
29:04You've been so focused on work.
29:06Are you really alright?
29:08Julian's voice was smooth, carrying a faint accent I couldn't quite place.
29:12I set down my notes.
29:14I had been pressing my quill too hard.
29:16The paper was scored.
29:18I'm fine.
29:19I just...
29:20don't know how to be anyone else anymore.
29:23Julian didn't push.
29:24He never pushed, instead he glanced at my workbench and smiled.
29:28The Blackwood Pack sent me to coordinate with your family's practice.
29:32I blinked.
29:33I was expecting someone...
29:34older.
29:36No offense.
29:38None taken.
29:40Everyone expects my father.
29:43But he's semi-retired now.
29:45Spends most of his time in his greenhouse, talking to his herbs.
29:49Something about the way he said it, fond and faintly exasperated, pulled an unexpected smile from me.
29:56It was the first time I had smiled at anyone in three months.
30:00Julian, I would learn, was an alpha.
30:04But unlike any alpha I had ever met, the Blackwood Pack's most gifted healer.
30:08Patient beyond measure.
30:13Over the following weeks, Julian never pushed.
30:17Never pried.
30:18When I went quiet mid-conversation.
30:20He simply waited.
30:21When I flinched at sudden movements, he pretended not to notice.
30:25When I snapped at him once.
30:27Unfairly.
30:28Unkindly.
30:29A lash of temper born of pain rather than anger.
30:32He merely nodded.
30:34You're right.
30:36I should have asked before touching your equipment.
30:39I'm sorry.
30:40I apologized later, mortified.
30:42He shrugged.
30:44You've been through something.
30:45I don't know what, and you don't owe me the story.
30:48But I've treated enough wounded wolves to recognize the signs.
30:52His amber eyes met mine, steady and undemanding.
30:56Take whatever time you need, Ira.
30:57I'm not going anywhere.
30:59Julian also personally performed the operations on my uncle's family.
31:03He devised a meticulous rehabilitation plan that had little Leo, the most critically injured,
31:09transferred to a standard ward within a single week.
31:12He even represented the Blackwood Pack and signed a partnership.
31:16Agreement with our family.
31:18The terms were exceedingly fair.
31:20Without even a whisper of exploitation.
31:22So I truly meant it when I turned to him.
31:28For everything.
31:29But after everything that had happened, something inside me had fractured.
31:33I couldn't interact normally with people anymore.
31:36Even expressing gratitude left me stiff and awkward.
31:41Julian, as if he hadn't noticed a thing, simply drew closer.
31:45His warm palm rested briefly against my forehead, checking my temperature with a healer's practice touch.
31:52Your pulse is still too fast.
31:54You're pushing yourself too hard again.
31:56I know.
31:57I let my hand fall.
32:02I just...
32:04Every time I slow down, I start remembering.
32:08And I don't want to remember.
32:10Julian continued tending to a cut on my arm with gentle efficiency.
32:14Don't worry.
32:15Your wounds will heal very soon.
32:17He coaxed me the way one would soothe a frightened pup.
32:20Because I'm the best healer there is.
32:23I found myself nodding, almost against my will.
32:26And for the first time in months, the tight knot in my chest loosened, just a little.
32:31Meanwhile, across the ocean.
32:34The Vornpac council had ground to a complete halt, all because of Kale's obsessive drive to find me.
32:40Through every sleepless night, he replayed every detail of my disappearance.
32:44If he had known about the pup, how could he possibly not have chosen me?
32:49He hurled another bottle against the wall.
32:53Just because I made one wrong choice, you would leave me so completely?
32:58It's not fair!
33:01When his path lieutenant pushed open the door, Kale surged to his feet.
33:10Did you find my mate?
33:11The lieutenant shook his head.
33:13All we found was a single clip of the alpha mate boarding a charter flight.
33:16As for where that flight was headed, the trail goes cold.
33:20Someone with considerable resources has buried it.
33:23The light in Kale's eyes extinguished instantly.
33:26His towering body collapsed into a pile of shattered glass.
33:30His shirt bloomed crimson.
33:32His wolf wind.
33:34Alpha.
33:35The surveillance trail is truly dead.
33:38But perhaps...
33:40You might visit the Ashter home-owned in person.
33:44The alpha mate is, by blood, still a daughter of that house.
33:49In truth, Kale had torn through the Ashdown estate the very day I went missing, and found nothing.
33:55He set off for the Ashdown residence at once, in the past, whenever he visited.
34:01The Ashdowns would line up at the gate to welcome him.
34:04But today he had come to hastily, without any advance notice.
34:08The servants didn't recognize him at first, by the time they realized who he was.
34:13He had already stormed into the great hall, and in the moment he pushed open the inner door,
34:17he caught a fragment of a name.
34:20My name.
34:23Inside, Serafini, who had once again received a packed tribunal summons, was raging.
34:29That wretched actually dared to bring charges against me!
34:33I should have finished her off too, right then and there!
34:36Kale's entire body went rigid.
34:38The Serafini in his memory had always been...
34:40gentle and fragile.
34:42How could she use such vicious language against her own blood?
34:45And what did she mean?
34:47Finished her off too.
34:49Suddenly fragments resurfaced.
34:51My uncle's family.
34:52Run down deliberately.
34:54The silver thorn in the broth.
34:55The driver who lied, and why was her bedroom several times finer than mine?
34:59She claimed her upbringing had been worse than a dog's.
35:02That I frequently cast her out.
35:04But the more Kale thought about it, the more things refused to add up.
35:10Then, from inside the room, came the voice of Mr. Ashdown.
35:14The most important thing right now is to find Kale and beg for his intervention.
35:18By the way, he still believes you're the one who saved his life, correct?
35:23In an instant, every drop of blood in Kale's veins turned to ice.
35:29Inside the chamber, Serafini was still basking in self-satisfaction.
35:34Kale Vaughn.
35:35He might be the most powerful alpha in three territories.
35:39But all it took were a few well-placed tears, and he swallowed every lie I fed him.
35:44He'll go his whole life never knowing the one who saved him wasn't me at all.
35:48It was that pathetic little Omega.
35:50Era.
35:52Just thinking about it makes me giddy.
35:55So what if Eela saved his life?
35:57I stole all the credit.
35:59She knew all along she'd never surpass me in Kale's heart.
36:01That's why, the day of the ambush, she didn't even dare tell him she carried his pup.
36:07She just stood there and watched him choose me, and couldn't even save her own heir.
36:12It's honestly hilarious.
36:14After the brief, stunned paralysis, a rage unlike anything Kale had ever known surged through him.
36:20His wolf surged.
36:22His eyes blazed molten gold.
36:24Frost began to crystallize along the walls.
36:27The chamber door exploded inward, torn clean off its hinges.
36:43This time, Kale seized her by the shoulders.
36:46His eyes held nothing but endless, frozen contempt.
36:50The tribunal is too merciful for a lying, venomous snake like you.
36:54You deserve to be cast out of every pack under the moon.
36:58Seraphine's face drained of all color.
37:01Kale issued a single command to his lieutenant.
37:03In less than half an hour, the lieutenant arrived with a thick dossier of documents.
37:09From start to finish, Seraphine had been weaving lies.
37:13The one who had suffered ceaseless misery in the Ashdown household, who was frequently locked out, had always been me.
37:22One bitter winter night, I had once again been driven from the house.
37:26I fled to a narrow alley to take shelter.
37:28That was when I stumbled upon a group of rogue wolves about to silence their hostage.
37:33A boy my age.
37:35The young alpha heir of the Vorn pack.
37:38In desperation, I signaled the pack enforcers with a forbidden distress call.
37:43Then I threw stones at the rogues.
37:46Grabbed Kale's hand, and ran with all my might.
37:49The enforcers arrived in time.
37:51The rogues scattered.
37:55But halfway through our desperate flight, Kale and I were separated by a collapsing wall of debris.
38:05He had searched for me for so many years.
38:07He never imagined he had ended up finding the wrong female.
38:15And yet, stealing credit for his rescue was only Seraphine's opening act.
38:19The vehicular attack on my uncle's family was entirely deliberate on her part.
38:24She had meant to silence them forever.
38:30The pack outside my ward.
38:32The wave of public condemnation, all orchestrated by Seraphine my miscarriage.
38:37Seraphine had deliberately leaked the news to Ilara, so that the High Elder would discipline me with the silver rod.
38:45And even the rogue Volf ambush itself.
38:48Arranged by Seraphine in collusion with exiled wolves.
38:57Why?
38:58Why did you do all this?
39:01Kale's roar was almost feral.
39:06Sauraphine trembled violently.
39:08Kale, I just wanted you to see your own heart clearly.
39:12You chose to save me.
39:14That proves I'm the one you truly love.
39:16Now that Ira has stepped aside, we can finally be together.
39:23Whatever Ira could give you, I can give you too.
39:27Even more.
39:28Wasn't I the one you wanted to claim from the very beginning?
39:34Claim you.
39:37Kale's lips curled into a smile of ice and death.
39:40The one I have loved, from the moment I first drew breath as a wolf, is Ira.
39:46If you hadn't stolen her life-saving grace, I wouldn't have wasted a single glance on you.
39:51He had once believed that finding his rescuer was the greatest gift the moon goddess could bestow.
39:56Now he understood.
39:58It had all been poison, dressed as honor.
40:01Word reached me across the ocean.
40:03Serafini, Ashdown had been arrested, the PAC tribunal found her guilty on 17 counts.
40:09Conspiracy to murder.
40:10Deliberate endangerment of a PAC heir.
40:13Fraud against the Alphars' blood oath.
40:15The sentence was exile.
40:17Permanent, irrevocable exile, a mark burned into her wolf that would cause any alpha in
40:22any territory to reject her on sight.
40:24She would live the rest of her days as a rogue.
40:27I read the news on my phone.
40:29Sitting by the window of my small apartment overlooking the foreign coastline.
40:33The sea here was warmer, greener, softer.
40:36I waited to feel something, satisfaction, vindication, relief.
40:41Instead, I felt nothing.
40:43A vast, quiet nothing.
40:46Serafine's punishment didn't bring back my pup.
40:50Julian said, glancing up.
40:52The product launch, in a couple of days.
40:55Are you ready?
40:57My family's transition overseas had been built around a core healing patent.
41:01A formula my grandfather had spent 30 years refining.
41:05I had taken that foundation and elevated it.
41:08Merging ancient wolf remedies with modern medical techniques.
41:12Even before the official launch, it had earned unanimous praise everyone knew.
41:17Once this new treatment was unveiled, it would transform PAC medicine.
41:22I had been deeply uncertain about attending the launch in person.
41:25I worried my wolf, still so quiet and withdrawn, would falter under the spotlight.
41:32Julian, what if I'm not ready?
41:34What if I freeze up there?
41:36It didn't heal the scars on my body where the silver rod had.
41:39Bitten deepest.
41:40It didn't restore the years I had spent loving a male who had never once.
41:44Chosen me, I set the phone down and went back to my work.
41:47Julian found me there hours later.
41:49Still hunched over my notes.
41:51He didn't ask about the news.
41:53He simply placed a cup of herbal tea beside my elbow.
41:57Chamomile and moon petal my favorite blend.
42:03We worked in companionable silence until the sun dipped below the horizon.
42:08That was the thing about Julian.
42:10He never demanded.
42:11He simply was there.
42:13Steady as the tide.
42:19Julian's amber eyes held mine.
42:21Steady and sure.
42:21You froze?
42:23The same at Ira, who just spent three hours arguing with the council about dosage protocols?
42:30That's different.
42:32That's just...
42:33work.
42:35No.
42:36That's you.
42:37The real you.
42:38The one who's still in there.
42:40You have to take the first step to keep moving forward.
42:43Don't you?
42:43Julian leaned forward, his voice soft but certain.
42:46In that moment, my long hesitation simply dissolved.
42:50The product launch arrived as scheduled, and taking that first step, it truly wasn't
42:55as hard as I had feared.
42:56The moment the spotlight hit, my voice was steady.
43:00My hands didn't shake, wave after wave of applause rose from the gathered pack representatives,
43:05that bright, fearless, unstoppable version of myself.
43:08The one I thought I'd lost forever, came rushing back.
43:13As I stepped down from the stage, a figure moved to block my path, Kale Vorn.
43:19He was wearing the dark, sharp-cut coat.
43:22I had once loved on him, at his collar gleamed the obsidian pin I had personally selected for
43:27our claiming ceremony.
43:28His eyes betrayed him.
43:30The silver was shadowed.
43:32Haunted, gone was the condescending arrogance.
43:34In its place was something raw.
43:36Almost desperate.
43:39Ira.
43:41You were magnificent up there.
43:43Perhaps it was the glow of success, but my expression softened, slightly.
43:49No deliberate frost.
43:51No hostility.
43:53But it was that very courtesy, that polite, impenetrable distance, that pierced Kale like
43:58a silver blade.
44:00I've uncovered everything.
44:01Can you forgive me?
44:03Just once?
44:05I truly know I was wrong.
44:07His voice was strained, threaded with fear.
44:09From the very first moment my wolf sensed you, I couldn't control what I felt on the night
44:15of our ceremony.
44:18When I saw it was you, walking towards me under the full moon, you have no idea how complete
44:25I felt.
44:26A single syllable, and I stopped everything he wanted to say.
44:30Hmm.
44:30But I don't care anymore.
44:34I severed our bond of my own free will.
44:38I think the meaning behind that should be clear.
44:44From this day forward, I want no connection with you whatsoever.
44:49Kale's eyes bled instantly to gold, his wolf surging with anguish.
44:53Why?
44:53You clearly loved me.
44:55Why can't you give me one chance?
44:57I swear on my wolf's life.
44:58I will cherish you, guard you with every breath.
45:01No one will ever be placed above you again.
45:03We can have another pup.
45:04The word pup stabbed through me like a silver shard.
45:07My voice dropped to ice.
45:09Enough.
45:09Did I not make myself clear, or do you simply refuse to understand?
45:15You and I are finished.
45:18The bond is dead.
45:22There is not even the faintest possibility between us anymore.
45:30My eyes brightened, following my gaze.
45:33Julian was making his way toward us through the crowd.
45:36The way we looked at each other drove Kale's wolf to the brink of.
45:39Madness.
45:40It shouldn't be like this.
45:43Kale opened his mouth to speak.
45:45But an unnatural groan sounded from above thee.
45:49Enormous crystal chandelier came plummeting straight down toward me.
45:55Two male voices rang out at the same instant.
46:00Kale lunged forward to pull me to safety.
46:02But before he could even touch me, he watched me stretch my hand toward Julian.
46:07Kale was closer.
46:09Reaching for Kale would have been faster.
46:11A single grab and I'd be clear.
46:13But I didn't spare him a single glance.
46:15I placed all my trust.
46:17All my hope.
46:18In another male as if.
46:20From start to finish.
46:21I had never once expected Kale to save me.
46:24But I trusted Julian absolutely.
46:27It was only in this moment that Kale finally.
46:29Truly understood.
46:31Back on that cliff.
46:32When I watched him choose Serafini without hesitation.
46:35What I must have felt.
46:36The absolute desolation.
46:38The death of hope.
46:39In the end.
46:40A deafening crash shook the hall.
46:43Kale threw himself forward.
46:45Not to be chosen.
46:46But to shield me with his own body.
46:48He was crushed beneath the massive chandelier.
46:50I, meanwhile, was wrapped safely in Julian's arms.
46:55Pulled clear in the final heartbeat.
46:57This time, I had chosen correctly.
46:59But Kale, staring up through an endless sea of red, understood one final truth.
47:04He would never be chosen again.
47:06Not by me.
47:08Not ever.
47:10In the depths of agony.
47:12Kale's fading consciousness slipped into a dream.
47:15In the dream.
47:16The scene was still that cliff.
47:18The rogue Woff was demanding he choose one life.
47:21This time.
47:22I screamed that I carried his pup.
47:24His air.
47:25His blood.
47:26So.
47:26At the very last moment.
47:28He chose me.
47:29It was the outcome he had longed for.
47:31Wished for.
47:32A thousand times over.
47:34But what followed.
47:35He could not believe.
47:36Because in the dream.
47:38Under the pretense of protecting the air.
47:40He confined me to the healing ward.
47:42In the dream's cruelest turn.
47:44Everyone I loved died.
47:46He brought Serafini back.
47:47He brought Serafini to the delivery room.
47:50Intending to bestow upon me a single act of mercy.
47:53To let me give birth to his air.
47:55He knew how desperately I had wanted this pup.
47:58Once the child was born.
47:59We would share a permanent bond.
48:01I would never be able to leave.
48:03He never expected.
48:04As soon as he entered the ward.
48:06The monitors erupted in shrill alarms.
48:09The pup had died in the womb.
48:11And I.
48:12In a final abyss of despair.
48:14Picked up a surgical blade and drove it into my own heart.
48:19In reality.
48:20The monitors in the emergency chamber screamed the same piercing alarm.
48:26Critical.
48:28Alphavorn's life signs are crashing.
48:30Heart rate collapsing.
48:32Kale Vorn was dead.
48:34He had died from massive internal hemorrhaging.
48:37The chandelier had crushed organs beyond even the accelerated healing of an alpha.
48:41During the resuscitation attempts.
48:43He had shown not a single shred of will to live.
48:46I can't claim I felt nothing.
48:49Something in my chest gave a single, faint pulse.
48:52Then it was gone.
48:53The law keeper placed into my hands a decree.
48:56Kale Vorn's last will transferring every asset of the Frostfang pack.
49:01Unconditionally.
49:02To me, along with a single line in his own handwriting.
49:05This was always yours.
49:06I was simply too blind to say it.
49:09I stared at those words for a long time.
49:11Julian was waiting.
49:12A bouquet of fresh moonflowers in his hands.
49:15His amber eyes met mine.
49:17Warm and steady.
49:19There was no possession in his gaze.
49:21Only quiet, unwavering certainty.
49:23Congratulations.
49:25On your new life.
49:26I took the flowers.
49:28Their scent.
49:29Clean.
49:30Sweet.
49:31Hopeful.
49:31Filled the space between us.
49:33My wolf stirred.
49:34Not wounded.
49:35Not hiding.
49:36Simply ready.
49:38Filled the space between us.
49:38Filled the space between us.
49:39Filled the space between us.
49:39Filled the space between us.
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