- 9 hours ago
ESP Susurros en la Cama del Alfa Oscuro
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00:02i was a slave yet every night i had to take luna's place and sleep with the alpha
00:07on the bed i begged him to mark me and make me one of his mates
00:14what are you thinking you're nothing but a slave
00:19i close my eyes every wolf in the pack knows kaelin doesn't just love lady vivian
00:24he worships her so the next morning i walked straight to the pack matriarch
00:29and kneeled before her i volunteered to marry her eldest son
00:32kaelin's dying brother firstly shocked then the pack matriarch's eyes filled with tears
00:38after the ghost marriage is done you'll have to keep widow's ville for your mate forever
00:44my good child have you truly thought this through i will have no regrets alpha kaelin and lady vivian
00:52had gone deathly pale on the full moon night kaelin came to vivian's room again i watched them through
00:57the crack in the door his voice low and honeyed her laugh like silver vivian left to wash up
01:03cheeks ruined with wanting before she went she killed every candle as always an hour later i
01:10stepped into the dark his scent hit me first and my traitorous body answered heart slamming skin
01:16why are you so cold i was outside watching the snow truth is i'd been shivering at the threshold in
01:25a thin slip for an hour waiting for her signal like a good little ghost
01:29you smelled a pause my heart stopped the tincture
01:35so nice his mouth found mine in the dark his hardness reached my soul
01:48before dawn i knelt at vivian's feet and recited him every whisper every mark blooming purple on my throat
01:55her expression curdled then she walked back into his arms kaelin caught her hair around one lazy finger
02:01you've been sneaking out to find yourself another wolf
02:04she swatted him pouting prettily as if she were the one vivian was beautiful and chronically
02:10devastatingly fragile kaelin saw her at the spring hunt gathering he fell instantly
02:15offered her the first mate rank before the night was over perfect together everyone said so
02:21as her bonded handmaid i was genuinely happy for them until their bonding night
02:28three nights in a row no completed bond no mating mark overnight vivian became the pack's favorite joke
02:36desperate vivian invented the switch every night candles out handmade substitutes masking tinctures
02:43rubbed into my skin until i smelled like her ghost of all her handmaids only i was a viable double
02:49vivian
02:50and i were built from the same blueprint the same narrow waist the same pale slope of shoulder and throat
02:55side by side in daylight the resemblance was unsettling in total darkness with the masking tinctures
03:01working through my skin his wolf couldn't tell the difference what vivian hadn't accounted for
03:06i was not fragile she broke under kaelin's hands i did not what she couldn't endure i simply survived
03:15body learning the architecture of his need learning to anticipate it relax only three years my body will
03:23recover then i will give you enough gold to live well outside the mansion think about it my whole
03:28family's safety rested in her hands i had no choice one hour later vivian and kaelin finally rose
03:35i returned to my quarters briefly then went in to lay out the morning meal
03:42why are you dressed like that i didn't know how to answer i pressed my lips together kaelin bit
03:48hard darling you've forgotten selena is mute i nodded quickly serving vivian meant constant
03:55proximity to kaelin and she was terrified of exposure so she declared me mute the entire pack
04:02believed it your little mute is striking sad almost how pretty she is and what exactly does my alpha
04:08mean by that has she caught your eye i haven't blamed you for anything yet and you're already turning
04:13on me kaelin had pushed too far last night i'd wept myself hoarse then bitten him hard he'd walked
04:22through silver and hellfire to earn his title scars mapping him from throat to hip he wouldn't care
04:29about a few teeth marks this whole performance was foreplay i don't know how much time passed
04:36you insolent thing you dared bite him are you challenging me i had no time to defend myself vivian
04:42had me bound dragged to the supply outbuilding no food no water kaelin had left for the border
04:49territories however long he was gone i stayed locked up i was barely breathing when my sister
04:55found a way through briar had bribed the guard slipped a bowl of broth under the door she was my
05:00younger sister sister what did you do to make the lady so angry briar when will kaelin be back the
05:06guard
05:06saturday tonight and he's going straight to the ladies room what else was happening in the mansion
05:12the alpha haired his wolf spirit is fading again the pack healers say there's nothing left to do
05:16they're preparing the rates lucian the elder brother cursed since birth fading never anchored to this
05:22world he's never taken a mate the matriarch doesn't want him to cross alone she's looking for someone
05:27willing to complete a spirit bond a spirit bond with a dying alpha air meant grieving him forever
05:34no high-ranking female would consent not even the lower ranked handmaids at dusk they released me
05:40i'd be needed that night selena i was impulsive i meant to release you hours ago but things got away
05:46from me don't hold it against me of course not my lady my lady it has been three years when
05:53will
05:53i leave the pack mansion you want to leave yes my body hasn't healed kaylin still needs you if you
05:58insist on leave i'll simply use briar instead your sisters the voice the build close enough how old
06:03is she 13 or 14 then could kaylin at least give me a rank reaching for status now if i
06:13wanted kaylin to
06:13take a new mate i have a hundred candidates you would never make that list don't bother trying to go
06:19through kaylin directly you're a convenience to him even if you ended up in his quarters permanently
06:28i could have you removed with a single word but every unmated female is supposed to be matched
06:35eventually eventually was i supposed to be her substitute in bed for the rest of my life the
06:42gatekeeper's son is your age when you turn 16 next year i'll arrange the match the gatekeeper's son
06:48a man with a child's mind and fists like hammers hitting because it was the only thing he knew only
06:55by being bound to someone that broken would i remain useful and too far gone to threaten her
07:01kaylin returned to find me kneeling you're home you must be exhausted this girl broke the crystal
07:08chalice from the western alliance i've had her kneeling kaylin stepped over me without a glance
07:15what's the status on my brother i've asked every unmated female in the pack
07:19the spirit bond sounds like a curse to them none of the young wolves will agree what's there to agree
07:24about find a female threaten someone she loves and it's done that kind of coercion would be hard to
07:29hide from your mother enough gold and fear will find a willing body and if you handle this well
07:37my mother might finally look at you differently and every time kaylin came back from the border he
07:45spent the whole night making up for lost time he was an alpha who'd spent weeks at war he came
07:51home
07:51hungry and he made that hunger my problem that night i gave him everything pushed past my own limits to
08:00why so eager tonight did you miss me i rarely initiated he noticed good girl near dawn
08:09i came back to myself in pieces trying to run again
08:17my wolf has always been sent sensitive
08:23i've known about your lady's little switch since the beginning
08:26no wonder he grew bolder every time which meant he never held back it was all for me
08:34then why won't you give me a rank a rank she's the one who brought you here i'm not going
08:39to be the
08:40one to claim her handmaid that would fracture our bond she was right a she-wolf taken for free
08:46why give her a title what grows in the dark stays small speechless with joy thank you for your
08:54generosity's alpha i'm afraid i don't have the kind of luck to deserve it you've shared my bed for
08:59years don't get ideas above your station he didn't like greedy she-wolves he had others bonded females
09:06all with bloodlines gifts from allied packs and yet since vivian came he never touched them the pack
09:13praised him for devotion and he wore that praise like armor a handmaid born to serve was never meant to
09:22stand beside him the colder i became i was born low i don't deserve a rank and i don't belong
09:29in
09:29your quarters i only hope you and the lady are devoted to each other until the end the next morning
09:34briar heard of vivian's plan to marry me off to the gatekeeper's son we served her faithfully
09:39how can she be this cruel that brute would be a slow death the thought lingered then twisted into
09:46something darker if i couldn't escape fate i would choose it i will take the spirit bond with lucien
09:53the matriarch stared then broke into astonished relief she asked my name my birth date my bloodline
09:59the pack shaman consulted the moon charts and looked up nodding this female spirit signature aligns with
10:05the heirs in a way i have not seen in decades she was born into hardship which means she carries
10:11the kind
10:11of resilience that could anchor him the bond will serve him well in the next life cailin and vivian
10:17arrived quickly once word spread they walked in together to find me sitting at the matriarch's feet
10:21working the tension from her ankles cailin's voice came first amused sharp this is the female who agreed
10:28to bond with my brother whoever's handmaid she is she has a rare heart mother you must reward her well
10:33i turned and faced them cailin went very still it's me alpha cailin lady vivian's
10:42you're supposed to be mute i can speak my lady simply prefers i don't
10:47vivian's face turned to chalk i didn't know your household contained such a loyal soul but once this
10:53bond is sealed you'll carry his grief for the rest of your days are you certain i will never regret
10:58it
10:58the hand hanging at cailin's side curled into a fist he stared at me like i had become something he
11:03didn't recognize i held tell me what you want silver land titles anything i can grant is yours
11:11i turned and looked at vivian she held her smile together but she took half a step back after a
11:17long
11:17pause i dropped my eyes i have a younger sister briar i asked that she be transferred to your personal
11:23household matriarch she's already part of this pack i'll see to her for the rest of her life vivian's
11:28smile pulled thin mother briar came with my dowie pack she's my bonded household i'd hate to be
11:35ungenerous but she's a handmaid mother wants her give her over cailin's voice cut across hers
11:41flat and final the matriarch's expression had gone stone cold bring the bond papers
11:48i will find briar a secure place before i pass you don't have to worry about her ever again
11:55i hadn't expected the matriarch to think about her entire future moved beyond words thank you matriarch
12:02i promise to care for lucian with everything i have when the matriarch spoke of her eldest son
12:07she couldn't stop the break in her voice i was pregnant with lucian during the dark coven war
12:14the fear marked him at birth he came into the world without breath without a wolf spirit
12:21his father had returned victorious that same night and brought someone with him from the deep forest
12:26a shaman the shaman's methods were outside anything the pack had seen he brought lucian back from the edge
12:33of nothing it should have been a miracle but the shaman warned them pulling a spirit back
12:37across that threshold was a transgression against the laws of wolf and moon lucian could live but
12:43only for 30 years no more and so it had been lucian had grown up slight unable to shift into
12:49warrior
12:49form but razor sharp in mind a natural strategist a scholar he'd won council honors young but the older
12:57he got the weaker his body became eventually he stopped leaving his territory altogether retreating to
13:03a lakeside cabin at the edge of the pack mansion since i had agreed to the spirit bond
13:07i was to remain at his side word was that he didn't allow anyone to serve him just the shaman
13:13who had stayed all these years the shaman brought me into the cabin while lucian was asleep i looked at
13:18his face his lashes trembled faintly with each shallow breath he was two years older than kalen 27
13:24the brothers looked nothing alike kalen was bronze and hard-edged from years of combat training lucian was
13:31fine-boned pale as snow almost startlingly beautiful in a way that made you forget to breathe i spent the
13:37afternoon learning his preferences when the sun touched the horizon lucian finally woke it was
13:43time for his medicine i'd spent the afternoon learning to brew it from the shaman so you're
13:46the female who plans to bond with my corpse yes get up he picked up the bowl calmly
13:56i don't want it what are you going to do about it lucian looked up a thread of provocation in
14:01his gaze
14:02the shaman had told me lucian was a person of pure instinct all feeling no armor earned honors at 15
14:09and had the makings of something extraordinary ahead of him then one evening a hunting trip with kalen
14:15ended with lucian falling off the cliff and drown in the water his wolf spirit seizing and three days
14:21of unconsciousness the matriarch had broken every servant in his household for failing him and sold the
14:27rest lucian didn't treat servants like livestock he'd read too much and thought too hard to do that
14:35alpha hair i genuinely can't force you but since we're going to be bonded eventually perhaps i looked
14:43down at the dark liquid perhaps i should start exercising a mate's authority now either you drink
14:49this or or what the shaman had told me lucian had refused medicine for six months that was why he
14:58was hovering at the edge of nothing at this rate he wouldn't survive to spring
15:16when i looked at him again vivid color had bloomed across his face like dawn breaking over frost those
15:22butterfly wing lashes were trembling with outrage i thought distantly of every arrogant she-wolf
15:29kalen had ever teased into furious helpless blushing lucian's expression was painfully similar
15:34a prick of guilt moved through me i forced my own pulse to slow keeping my voice steady
15:40if you won't drink i'll be forced to do that again
16:00alpha hair your color has improved over these past few days your skin isn't as cold as it was that's
16:05the
16:05medicine working medicine is useless the shaman works hard to brew it if you pour it out every
16:11time he'll be heartbroken watch testing the temperature alone takes constant checking to
16:18preserve the potency i've only been doing it a few days and my hands already look like this
16:24he pressed his lips together said nothing and drank the rest of the bowl without being asked
16:29after that he never made me beg him to drink his medicine again half a month later the shaman gave
16:37the matriarch his report lucian had genuinely improved no longer at death's edge could it be a
16:44final surge before the end no it's real healing this one is responsible i told you before her wolf
16:52spirit signature is a natural compliment to his she steadies him the matriarch looked satisfied when
16:59she turned to me her eyes were almost tender how has selena been caring for you
17:07she's been taking very good care of me
17:12alpha lucian may not know but when selena was serving in my household her skill at attending to
17:18cailin was quite exceptional as well such a good servant the air went very still is that how you speak
17:26it's your future sister-in-law vivian you are young but that is no excuse for ignorance of pac law
17:35shut up stop embarrassing yourself days later did you hear about it vivian had found another substitute
17:44she looked for a maid again not from the pack's own hand tates she'd bought a woman from outside
17:49trained and shaped to match her voice and build exactly how do you know because cailin lit every
17:53lantern in the room that night and when he saw what he saw he beat woman half to death and
17:57threw her at
17:58vivian's feet viviana fainted and then he said if she refused to truly share his bed he would never
18:03come to her rooms again they're sleeping in separate dens now separate dens meant every wolf in the pack
18:08knew the bond was broken no mate's devotion no matriarch's approval no pups no wonder vivian
18:15looked like she hadn't slept in a month he looked fragile in the lake wind unsteadying i went back to
18:26get
18:26his clothes is it you
18:37was it always you answer me you think you can play mute with me again
18:50silence won't save you
18:53silence i don't need your voice to confirm it one night and i'd know for certain had he lost his
18:59mind i spent three years with a woman and she's going to be bonded to my brother how dare you
19:07make
19:07fools of us both especially me would a rank at my side really be worse than grieving a dead man
19:13forever
19:14do you actually want to bond with a corpse
19:19i just want to survive
19:24if i didn't do this she'd give me to someone who'd break me
19:29a formal bond even a broken one would have made me untouchable
19:34useful to no one forced to stay her shadow forever before he could recover i stomped hard on his foot
19:43and
19:43ran i was still stumbling when i rounded the corner what took you so long
19:51i smiled walked over and settled the cloak around his shoulders but he simply brushed my hand away
19:56somehow he lost balance and fell his chest had a severe bruise just leave me i am not your burden
20:06lucian like to sit there open a book in the shade why did you really agree to the spirit bond
20:13i didn't want to be given to the given to the gatekeeper's son
20:17i thought it would be something like that what is it to guess that it would be like this
20:22the shaman pressed a small wooden box into my hands should i start calling you made of the alpha please
20:27don't my future most likely was a silent room in a shrine grieving him in his name until i followed
20:35with the shaman gone i took on more responsibility including helping lucian bathe
20:43i watched his ears and tried not to smile had no one ever helped him bathe
20:48kaylin had always kept half a dozen female attendants for bathing a younger version of me would have died
20:54of the blush alone but i wasn't that innocent girl anymore there was a phrase i'd found in one of
20:59his
20:59books a broken moon a she-wolf who'd been claimed and discarded the text said that's what i was
21:06what strange things are you reading now i tucked it behind my back i'd memorized a passage and presented
21:14it to him like a prize look at you impressive you sound like you're humeering a child
21:21how old are you 18 i have almost a decade on you to me you are a child the shaman
21:30had introduced
21:31new compounds performed old rituals at the edge of firelight burned offerings and whispered things
21:37i didn't catch speak a wish you do it i want you to be happy what does that look like
21:45your body heals
21:46you find a mate who deserves you a pack of your own a life that finally goes the way it
21:52should have
21:53do you mean that our eyes met i looked away did i mean it it didn't matter what mattered was
22:00the
22:00shaman's ritual apparently worked because lucian decided he wanted to leave the cabin i asked him
22:06where he wanted to go he studied me for a long moment there's a moon festival gathering tonight i've heard
22:11the town lights the whole river festival fires were always burning somewhere nothing special but since
22:17coming into vivian's household i hadn't been to a single one the longing had been sitting quietly in
22:22me for years that night a young noblewoman arrived with her escort they said used to getting everything
22:28she reached for in the river of lantern light and moving bodies she found lucian in seconds loser buys
22:33dinner at the finest inn in the city what do you say and she walked straight up and challenged him
22:38to
22:38a game of darts i've forgotten who won i only remember the brightness in her eyes lucian turned
22:44to look at me if you'd like to go i'll wait outside i hadn't behaved like a servant in front
22:50of him in a
22:50long time but there were others watching she didn't wait she stepped around me cheerfully and reached for
22:55lucian's chair i watched them move into the crowd and i felt something leave me that i hadn't known was
23:01mine to lose i stood in the cold for a very long time then i remembered today was my birthday
23:06she was the
23:07regent's only daughter every door in the wolf world was open to her when the regent and his mate
23:12arrived at the pack mansion to formally propose the match the matriarch looked more shaken than pleased
23:18through briar i learned the truth it wasn't love at first sight she'd fallen for lucian over a decade
23:24ago back when he was a young scholar with fire in his eyes and a future everyone could see she'd
23:29been
23:29carrying it ever since refusing every other offer lucian's potential mating became the pack's entire
23:35focus even the news that kaylin's quartermate had conceived was forgotten if the match succeeded
23:41the matriarch would have been overjoyed but lucian was already bound by the spirit bond to take a living
23:46mate the bond had to be dissolved and so i knew exactly what i had to do just as i'd
23:51once knelt before
23:52the matriarch and volunteered i came before her again i'm willing to step aside i want lucian to have this
24:02i'd had the shaman check their spirit signatures as well they aligned perfectly she was born to rank
24:08polished in every art and her love for lucian had outlasted years of silence if he died she would
24:14grieve him faithfully there was nothing more i could offer that she couldn't match so what do you want
24:20in return money is it still about status the matriarch squeezed my hands and asked what i wanted in
24:27return i pressed the gold i'd saved over two years into her palm i asked to be released from the
24:33pax bond
24:34records i want to be a free wolf child you could ask me for so much more i held the
24:43bow and didn't move
24:44tears fell one by one onto the stone take me with you okay outside the pack paushin life was uncertain
24:53and hard inside with the matriarch's protection you would be safe stay serve well don't make enemies
25:01the rest would come briar wept and pressed gold into my hands anyway on the morning i left many of
25:10the
25:10other handmaids came to see me off the shaman also walked towards me in the crowd may your ancestors
25:15guide your path padded my shoulder and then walked towards the crowd i turned around and walked towards
25:26the door but in the crowd i saw karen also there kaylin grabbed me to the corner he caged me
25:32against the
25:33wall and looked at me like he wanted to devour me say the word and i'll take you as a
25:38formal mate
25:41serve me like you used to and i'll give you rank above the others i stared at him for a
25:47long time
25:53don't look at me like that what you think lucian's gonna come running after you you're deluding yourself
26:03he's probably not even thinking of you once his body improved he didn't need you anymore
26:07you were useful and now you're spare and don't expect him to remember you in a year
26:12he didn't even come to see you off that tells you exactly where you rank to him
26:17something in my chest seized the truth was lucian and i had been in a cold war for weeks it
26:22had started
26:22on the way home from the festival if i was happy yes the warmth vanished from lucian's face happy about
26:32the
26:32fireworks no watching you walk with her you look like you belong together my wish is starting to
26:37work that made me happy you see me with another female and that's what makes you happy she's
26:41extraordinary she might become the pax future first luna of course i'm happy selena i didn't know you
26:48could be so heartless my parents had died years ago in the household where i was born into service i
26:53had
26:53no home to return to i'd planned to head south find a city where no one knew my name but
26:59the second
26:59kailin's and vivian's faces floated up behind my eyes i was on my feet booking passage on the first
27:06river ferry south before i'd finished the thought property deeds golds a house a plot of land somewhere
27:15in the south i tried to remember when the shaman had touched my bag he'd had his hands on it
27:21during
27:21the send-off but where had he gotten the ferry listed suddenly i nearly went over the rail
27:28i scrambled upright and found boots surrounding me on three sides then i was bound carried ashore and
27:34pushed into a carriage when the blindfold came down
27:44vivian smiling i couldn't stop the bitter laugh from escaping briar had been right for all the years
27:51i'd served her and this was still where we ended up they brought out women with strong hands to deal
27:56with me the blows were professional and thorough she'd grown thinner since i last saw her the delicate
28:02elegance that had once made her untouchable now just made her look breakable what it didn't do was
28:07protect her inside the pack i used your body as a convenience and you had the nerve to find your
28:14own
28:14way out ungrateful traitorous have you forgotten what you swore loyal service always loyal service
28:24she wasn't wrong but loyalty is a two-way bond and she had never honored her half waited for the
28:30anger
28:30to burn out so i could leave i overestimated her capacity for mercy the first day i knew the hitting
28:37look at me the second day she used silver tipped needles on my hand
28:43the third day she locked me in the holding den beneath the estate i found my parents remains there
28:48for a moment just one i genuinely wanted to stop fighting the young guard outside pulled me up before
28:54i could follow the thought all the way selena come back please you saved me do i know you years
29:01ago
29:02a bracelet went missing in the ladies rooms they were going to use me as the culprit you figured
29:07out who really took it and you bought me enough time to prove it i kept all my fingers because
29:11of
29:11you you're one of the kindest people i've ever known why is she doing this to you because i wasn't
29:18loyal enough what's happening at the pack mansion the alpha haired is he truly going to bond with the
29:25regent's daughter the matriarch is frantic the whole bonding is off the regent's family pulled their
29:30daughter out the night his wolf spirit nearly went dark completely she agreed to cancel it
29:36she's never been this close to real death before they say she ran celine please stop thinking about
29:42them think about yourself you have to survive long enough to be rescued will you let me help you
29:46please help me bury my parents is there anything else i can do for you after that i need you
29:51to find
29:51a small wooden box you buried my parents i'll carry that gratitude into whatever comes next
29:57on the fifth evening vivian returned she examined her nails as if nothing else mattered i could
30:04barely hold my head up you're still alive heaven must want you to suffer longer begging me to stop
30:12don't bother i wasn't begging i was cursing her quietly steadily the rope around my neck tightened i let
30:23hold taut tighter until the air was gone then it went slack a second cruelty another method noise poured
30:32in from every direction someone was calling my name someone was in the water i was lifted carried fast too
30:50fast and then i hit a cold chest and stayed there whoever held me dropped to their knees their arms
30:56locked
30:57around me like i might disappear
31:02where are you i am here i am here i thought i had lost you celine i'm so sorry i
31:12should have found you sooner
31:15lucian brought me back to the lakeside cabin the shaman had prepared a medicinal bath something old
31:21something meant for deep wounds lucian washed me himself every new injury he found made the skin
31:27around his eyes darken deeper redder in the blur between waking and sleep i felt like i was drifting
31:35held up by careful hands and warm water rocking gently the last thing i remembered was a soft bed
31:42rising up to catch me and my arms closing around it i slept for a very long time
31:57where's lucian he kept watch over you for days i added something to his tea he's out is he having
32:03an episode his wolf spirit he's been destroying himself since you left his wolf didn't want to be
32:08steady i couldn't do much you were the only person keeping him anchored that was never me don't cry
32:15he's alive and he won't die before 30 i made sure of that much what happens at 30 does the
32:22bond snap he
32:23was always going to die early you know this if he weren't fated for early death you two would never
32:27have found each other i sat very still something inside me was splitting apart lucian woke to find me
32:36staring into nothing what's wrong his voice came out rough with sleep i wiped my face said nothing
32:42my fingers rested against his throat feeling his pulse i'm going to kiss you say yes or no
32:51you were a lot less polite the first time
32:58his mouth was cold and his breath against mine was like a thread of warmth in a blizzard brief and
33:05so
33:05easy to lose lucian i love you
33:14i love you too
33:21i never expected to fall in love with someone within such short life
33:27neither did i then the shaman came back he returned three nights later moving with purpose
33:34and sat across from us i've been doing a great deal of thinking that's usually ominous the curse on
33:41you the life debt your father made with the witch clan it was sealed with sacrifice specifically the
33:47sacrifice of a wolf spirit sacrifice can be answered with sacrifice or with something equal and opposite a
33:54bond freely chosen a mating bond a true one not a spirit bond with a corpse a living breathing voluntary
34:02mating bond freely given both sides willing under the full moon if the bond takes hold
34:09the original sacrifice is fulfilled differently life for life but instead of taking it gives
34:18the curse breaks has this worked before i believe it will
34:24yes
34:26the next few days passed in controlled chaos the matriarch convened a pack circle vivian's crimes
34:32had not gone unnoticed the poisoning of kaylin's quarter mate and the unborn pup had been confirmed
34:37by pack law that was grounds for exile vivian was removed quietly finally the regent's daughter came
34:45to the cabin one more time he told me at the festival you know the night we went to dinner
34:49what to say
34:51he talked about you for three hours straight without realizing it i'm sorry i was slow to understand her
34:57expression unreadable i didn't know what to say she stepped forward and squeezed my hand once
35:03don't let him die then she was gone
35:10kaylin came to the cabin the night before the ritual he stood in the doorway and for the first
35:15time in the years i've known him he looked genuinely lost my brother
35:22he's going to be all right the shaman believes so
35:26i never saw you do you know for three years i've actually never given you a proper look
35:34for whatever it's worth i'm sorry i thought about everything i could say what i said was
35:42take care of yourself kaylin he nodded turned walked away it wasn't forgiveness not yet
35:52but it was a beginning the full moon rose over the lake like a white flame the shaman built the
35:58circle
35:58at the water's edge silver dust wolf herbs old fire lucian stood at the center he refused the chair
36:05tonight he was standing on his own in the moonlight and the sight of him pale and slight and stubbornly
36:12impossibly upright hit me somewhere i didn't have words for the shaman's voice rose over the water
36:18speaking old words in the witch clan's tongue the language of the curse that had been turned tonight
36:24into something else he looked at me with those mothwing lashes and that expression that always meant he'd
36:29run out of arguments and was trying not to show how much he felt celine you don't have to i
36:36know
36:38i might still i know that too then what are you doing
36:45choosing the shaman's voice peaked the circle ignited not fire exactly something older silver
36:53blue rising from the water's surface i felt the pull of it in my chest not pain not fear
36:59something more like recognition lucian's hand tightened on mine and i felt the moment it happened
37:05a snap deep in the core of me like a lock giving way like something that had been held closed
37:11for
37:1130 years finally opening lucian made a sound i'd never heard from him before not pain the opposite of
37:18pain he dropped to his knees in the silver circle and his wolf his wolf spirit which i had never
37:24seen
37:25which he had never been able to fully call tore out of him with a howl that shook the lake
37:30white
37:30enormous blazing like a comet above the water he threw his head back and howled again the sound broke
37:37over the forest over the pack mansion over every territory for miles and from far away from every
37:44direction at once howls began to answer the shaman wept i didn't realize it until i saw his shoulders
37:51shaking lucian's wolf settled around him like a second skin the color returned to his face not the
37:57brief flush of fever but real warmth steady and permanent he touched his own hands like he was
38:03checking they were real then he looked at me and his eyes those beautiful exhausted fighting to stay
38:10open eyes were the clearest i'd ever seen them selena just my name the way he said it cracked something
38:19open in me i pressed my face against his chest and stayed there for a long long time his heartbeat
38:25was
38:25strong steady warm not borrowed time just him the matriarch came to the lake the next morning she took
38:35one look at lucian standing in the early light no chair no shawl real color in his face and she
38:42sat down
38:42on the nearest bench and didn't move for several minutes how thanks to selena who sacrificed herself
38:49willingly she was a good girl the shaman explained what had happened then she reached out and drew me
38:56to sit beside her as she'd done before what do you want i once hoped my sister would be safe
39:03and that i
39:03could be free but now all i want is for lucian to return as leader safe and happy it happened
39:12at the
39:12next full moon briar stood beside me it's already more than enough you have a thread right there hold
39:23briar what
39:31lucian was waiting at the lake's edge he'd learned to stand like he meant it
39:36may your life together be filled with love laughter and happiness may your home always be warm and your
39:44hearts always full i had survived every single thing and i was here free loved his mate and mine
39:58i am not going to die
39:59selena i am not going to die
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