- 2 days ago
- #asm
The Defection of the She-Wolf - Full Episode (ENGSUB) | Werewolf Romance, Fantasy Betrayal & Revenge #ASM
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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 asher viola flinched fingers clutching her cloak eyes
00:43glossing with a practiced shield 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
01:33i'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
01:48you 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'd give it back how considerate i jerked my chin at the bite oozing on
01:59her 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 kneel
02:28i bit my tongue and strangled the urge legal double marking asher will you really i'll bear the
02:35consequences snorted you bear them i pay what a bargain now get your hands off me leona please
02:43don't don't make a scene viola pleaded they're all watching the elders the lords if you must blame
02:48someone blame me this is only temporary after tonight i i can step aside can you step aside clean
02:56or do you mean to say once the crown's on too late i stared at the fresh mark her eyes
03:02reddened
03:02she twisted her ties i'm not that kind of asher's mouth came down on my throat fire ripped under my
03:10skin detonating in my skull my heart hammered war drums the wolf in me bucked and clawed shame and
03:16craving tore through reason i clutched the cold pillar until my knuckles blanched i would not fall he
03:21lifted his head knuckles wiping the smear of blood from his lip his gaze clear almost cruel
03:27now everyone knows who's you are viola squealed asher what have you staggering i clapped both hands
03:36over my throat my heart slammed like it would break free my new mark jumped in time with his
03:41chaining me to the man who had just betrayed me viola made a show of reaching for me i slapped
03:46her hand
03:46away is this the plan make me the thing between you no one sees you miss to stand her asher
03:53said
03:53low the only person i misjudged is myself i yanked my cloak loose blood slid from the wound flowering
03:59dark on stone i thought eight years would teach you to choose once the alpha voice fell again granite
04:05on my shoulders come back it bowed my tendons my wolf howled to heal to drown in his scent i
04:11locked
04:11every instinct behind my ribs no leona don't go viola choked at least not tonight they'll say
04:19you're willful unfit then wear fit for me
04:26i strode away music shifted the fire 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
05:04snow 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
05:53luna yours is down the hall viola crept in fingers twisting her skirt i wanted to help asha said you'd
06:03be moving i straightened so fast she flinched help to check i didn't hide any of his things or to
06:10see
06:10if i've cried her eyes glossed why do you always think the worst of me we grew up as sisters
06:17exactly
06:18why i know how you help i picked up the album my fingertips burned the way you helped with the
06:26luna'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 anski loser to counsel
07:04you put her at your aunts 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 suited 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
08:46i'll go she moved to speak he tugged her back tell the guard if you need anything he said like
08:52to
08:53any 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
09:10the next two days rumor spread like fire in dry brush at the hall a woman murmured i heard she
09:16wrecked
09:16the coronation nearly attacked the new luna in the corridor two guards muttered or if i had to mark
09:23her twice to settle her wolf's too wild even the clerk granting my removal pass eyed me with pity
09:30leaving might be best each word was a knife i knew whose hand guided them i said nothing i emptied
09:38my
09:38rooms and my memories one thing left the album tonight was a spillover feast from winter rites
09:45roast smoke and laughter in the air none of it touched my courtyard no one wanted to look at the
09:51former save for glances laced with pity and gossip the leather album dragged at my hands eight years
09:57inside it 9999 photos 9999 moments 9999 reasons he loved me now reasons he used to it read like a
10:08clumsy joke i built a small pyre flames licked eager page one two pups wrestling in snow his gold eyes
10:18bright with laughter my nose red my eyes crinkled shut with it reason one you are my first snow pure
10:25and
10:25alive his strong hand the little paw doodle i tore it free and fed it to the fire it curled
10:32and blackened
10:33to smoke page after page first kiss in the snow our first stag the crown i set on him the
10:40day he became
10:40alpha the four seasons four promises at a time 9999 moments all ash paper sliced my finger i didn't feel
10:50it
10:50the hole in my chest swallowed pain whole the flames rose my shadow stretched thin warped he came
10:57stop asher's voice anger barely held i didn't turn another page tore free the kiss under moonlit
11:05arches reason 512 your scent smells like forever how droll alpha voice leona i order you to stop
11:15pressure punched the air my wrist shook but the page still fell into the fire your orders don't work
11:22on me asher remember i'm already exiled the courtyard parted for him he strode to my side gold eyes
11:30flickering with firelight you don't have to do this don't i i looked at him at last and laughed hug
11:37this
11:37book every night and sob over how you chose someone else his jaw locked it isn't what you think what
11:43is
11:43it then i held up the album of these 9999 reasons you loved me which one lets you mark another
11:51which lets you choose viola he watched me fire dancing in ice no answer viola appeared hands at
12:00her chest leona please don't these memories are precious they brought a crowd of course they did
12:09no show without an audience precious i echoed eyes on viola's rehearsed tremble like your luna's crown
12:16like asher's vows murmurs rose rebuke for me defense for her i lifted the whole album to pitch it
12:25asher grabbed we grappled a heartbeat then he wrenched it free by thrusting both hands into the flames
12:34the stink of scorched flesh flooded the square gasps viola shrieked lunging
12:41asher your hands he didn't spare himself a glance he clutched the album
12:47enough leona it ends here i looked at those hands hands that had been tender with me
12:54burned now to save the relic of our love if a promise can't bear betrayal i said
13:00it isn't worth keeping viola sobbed and clutched his arm my wrist when we struggled
13:08i must have twisted every eye swung to her her fine wrist was faintly pink nothing beside asher's
13:14seared palms but he turned at once voice rich with concern are you hurt it was absurd he burned to
13:21keep our album and first worried over her feigned twinge leona apologize you hurt her he said face
13:29cold i stared i hadn't known his talent for reversal outstripped his leadership i didn't touch her
13:35it's not her fault it was an accident viola whispered weeping prittily it really hurt the
13:43murmurs thickened jealous mad dangerous apologize asher commanded alpha voice crushing the air i looked
13:53at the face i'd loved at viola's tremor behind him at the ring of judgment and fear the last light
13:59went out i laughed it rang in the square like a cracked bell fine i'll apologize
14:12i laughed it rang in the square like a cracked bell fine
14:18i'll apologize asher's brows eased he thought i'd bent
14:23i 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 my room
14:39i paused my gaze cut to asher my lover her face bleached she hadn't expected that but most of all
14:48i raised my voice so all could hear i'm sorry i ever believed we were family i turned to the
14:55pyre and
14:56pulled out the last token a crescent pendant he gave me on our first anniversary you wanted to keep
15:03out of the sky asher i said softly tossing it into the blaze fetch it from the ash with your
15:08new luna
15:10cries chased me as i left the square fire devoured the last thing i'd kept and my last retreat
15:17tomorrow the rumors would write themselves crazy leona burned her memories and hurt innocent viola
15:24even the alpha burned his hands trying to stop her let them talk tonight i buried the leona who loved
15:31asher
15:32tomorrow 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
15:47the carriage is ready do you need an escort so distant fitting making sure i obeyed i zipped my last
15:55suitcase do you need to watch he sighed leona don't when this is over i'll bring you back you know
16:04it's
16:04necessary for the pack pack first i've heard enough i have to the suitcase tell your luna her seat her
16:12man
16:13her perfect plan i'm not interested he gripped my arm don't speak of her that way she defended you
16:22though you never gave her kindness i heard every rumor these three days i said looking at his hand on
16:28me every version says i'm not enough through wild too fragile too mad for luna i lifted my eyes to
16:33his
16:33only one says the truth you didn't choose her because she's better you chose her because she's
16:38easier to control his pupils cut tight you don't know what you're saying you know it perfectly i shook him
16:45off you feared a mate who wouldn't kneel so you picked the one who will always look up viola anger
16:54cracked
16:55his mask watch your mouth or what i glanced at the clock three hours and i'm free how long does
17:06your alpha
17:06voice reach asher we stared eight years tight as a wire between us singing as it snapped for a breath
17:13i
17:13thought he might argue apologize he didn't he stepped back east gate three hours he said and left
17:27i drew a long breath and raised my calm stone mother i'm early the birch is in one hour a
17:35beat
17:35are 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 three
17:55hours asher would wait at the east gate and i would not come he would get a legend how his
18:01former mate
18:02walked into the birches and tore their bond apart when i walked out i would no longer be his leona
18:08i'd be a wolf who belonged to herself
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
18:28eight 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
18:55the sundering is pain beyond pain three trials as one you must bear them alone the alpha he is
19:04nothing to this i cut in my choice my right begin they exchanged looks and nodded first trial
19:14the question that carves the chief touched my brow cold power lanced my mind
19:20face your deepest fear and pain and answer truly lie or flee and the bond will lash you to pieces
19:30vision struck coronation night his mouth at viola's white throat red beating moonlit colonnade his fingers
19:40on my chin gold eyes frozen you are mine his teeth in my neck pain and humiliation rumors viola's tears
19:48his distrust agony burst from my heart squeezing it in a fist i nearly dropped to my knees sweat soaking
19:57my spine ask thundered the elder in my skull do you still love him another asked
20:07the bond screamed choking off truth love what remnants resentment habit or i jerked my head up
20:17eyes blurred with tears and tore the answer free i loved him but i hate him more
20:24for wrecking us for choosing power over me
20:29for turning me into someone i don't recognize a wet snap inside pain then vacuum first trial
20:38passed meanwhile at the east gate she isn't here asher paced frowning at the empty road for the third
20:46time unease nod at him don't fret viola murmured fingers gliding on his arm maybe she needs time to
20:54settle perhaps she's crying in her room reluctant to go he didn't shake her off he only grew more
21:02irritable another quarter hour viola tried again worry pitched just right or perhaps she means to make you
21:10go to her she did that sometimes wanting your attention it sounded plausible and felt wrong
21:18leona use ploys no she'd rather burn the world then a soul deep pain tore his chest the bond
21:28ripping color drained from his face he spun toward the birches leona he bolted like a loosed arrow stop
21:38her stop her in the birches second trial silver fire the elder intoned they slit my forearm silver
21:48liquid burned into the cut pine beyond words burning freezing tearing rushed my veins every nerve
21:57shrieked blood ignited and iced at once my wolf slammed against my ribs begging to shift to survive
22:04it i clamped my teeth blood seeped at my mouth i shook refusing the change by will alone riding the
22:11silver storm until it thinned soaked spent i dropped to a knee gulping air second trial
22:18passed 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
22:44third trial the choice of renunciation the chief elder bore a stone plate upon it a silver knife and a
22:52braided lock of hair mine and asher's twined cut at our joining eight years ago sever it feed it to
22:59the
22:59fire his eyes were ancient stone then your bond is ended no reconciliation i gripped the knife cold seeped
23:07into my palm the braid lay between us each strand wound with laughter vows warmth i thought it would
23:14bind us to the end leona look at me i forbid this asher hammered the barrier voice cracking from command
23:22to something close to panic i order you to stop your alpha orders once his orders were my axis my
23:31breath
23:31now they were a wasteland of irony i drew breath and raised the blade snow light flashed on steel a
23:38pale
23:38decided face glanced back at me leona don't his voice broke to plea we can talk fix it viola she
23:47she only
23:48i brought the knife down a small clean sound like a thread snapping in an empty room the braid fell
23:55in
23:55too clean as if i'd cut not hair but a living cord between two hearts something thundered apart in my
24:01soul the last beam of a house collapsing years of feeling thread by thread tore loose and blew away
24:08hunger void and rending pain swallowed me the world went black my body folded forward i didn't
24:15strike cold stone i fell into a stranger's arms a scent rushed in cold fur wild and free i twitched
24:24newborn weak couldn't fight don't move said a low steady voice above me flat unreadable by nightwind's
24:32charge i'm taking you home nightwind the word was a plank my nerves unstrung darkness took me whole
24:40put her down who are you give her back asher raged ramming the barrier like a trapped beast leona
24:48open your eyes don't go with him the elders stood as one a wall he couldn't cross the right is
24:55sealed
24:56the chief said voice like ice sundering is her will the law is above all respect it viola stumbled in
25:04breathless her eyes flashed with secret triumph at the severed braid gone again in a wash of tears when
25:10she saw me in a stranger's hold she covered her mouth my god weeping with exquisite grief leona so you
25:17had someone else so that's why you were so cruel why not say so why must you hurt yourself hurt
25:24asher
25:25like this a poisoned needle straight to asher's spinning mind someone else ready retreat so her
25:32severing wasn't betrayal's ache it was that she'd found her next she burned the album turned her back
25:38cut the braid not from hate but because her heart had already moved shame and fury drowned the last of
25:45his pain he glared at the stranger's arm underneath fine very fine you had your replacement ready
25:55no wonder you were so eager his voice warped with rage as you wish from now on we are finished
26:04never
26:05show your face to me again the man finally lifted his head a hood shadowed him i saw a hard
26:11jaw and a
26:12ghost of a contemptuous smile she cut a chain he said voice low but clean as breaking ice slicing
26:19through wind and howl not to find a stand-in don't measure her with your small sorry yardstick he
26:25didn't spare them another glance he gathered me and strode into the birches into shadow and snow behind
26:32him asher's unspent fury viola's weeping with its bitter shine the elder's silent witness the right was
26:40done no turning back
26:46asher's unspent fury viola's weeping with its bitter shine the elder's silent witness the right was done
26:54no turning back i rose through emptiness bone deep weariness first then a throat like dust and a body
27:01bruised 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
27:20eyes told the vigil water i rasped mother lifted me and tipped the cup father's jaw unclenched
27:26i'm home the hollowness of sundering hum the worst of the pain had ebbed to a long dull ache
27:32you're home mother whispered tears spilling father blew out a breath the ride cost you dearly
27:41i shook my head less than staying the last memory before i fell those arms that voice who carried me
27:49i
27:49asked a man my parents traded a look mother gripped my hand there's something we meant to tell you but
27:56before father finished grave the north is worse than you know silver means a nightclaws pressed the
28:05borders without the main pack shelter we can't stand alone i listened the shape of it was clear we've
28:12arranged a match the strongest shield we could find who canin thorn father said they call him the rogue
28:24king strong unbound by any great pack yet feared by them all we didn't tell you because your heart was
28:31set we wanted you happy so the road had been laid and they'd waited never forcing until i cut the
28:37past
28:37myself they'd born too much for me my chest still ate emptied and raw but my choice rose simple and
28:43short i accept i said voice thin and steady on one condition their eyes widened i'll meet him
28:52i'm not a commodity not a prize not an appendage i said this alliance happens on terms we set mine
28:59and
28:59his i belong to myself he needs to understand that my voice wasn't loud it didn't have to be a
29:06low baritone
29:06rich as smoke answered from the door i don't steal prey the door swung a tall man leaned the frame
29:14travel worn leathers eyes winter starlight gray i receive what chooses me kane thorn stood there
29:21like he'd been waiting now he said tell me your choice leona hale
29:31i made the only choice that made sense the wedding moved with shocking speed
29:3710 days from waking and saying yes to standing before a mirror in a gown
29:42mother's fingers shook at my collar no heavy northern robes kane had sent a lean silver white
29:49dress shoulders edged with wolf fur the skirt cut like a warrior's coat he understands you mother
29:57murmured pride and worry braided in my eyes he understands a posture i said to the mirror
30:05one 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
30:20only my parents and our core and his small handful quiet flint-eyed fighters stamped by the wild
30:27kane waited at the altar in black leathers under a dark silver cloak stitched with a waning moon and
30:33wolf claws no crown no ornament he wore authority like skin i crossed rubble toward him each step
30:42shore wind combed the ruins we faced each other his eyes traveled over me without judgment only an
30:49appraiser's clean measure as if weighing a weapon meant to match his hand an elder priest lifted his voice
30:55we witness the alliance of leona hale and kane thorne leaking balance and shelter by blood and oath so
31:05bound neither to betray the other he turned to kane do you swear i swear kane never looked away from
31:15me
31:16i swear the night wind clan my shelter and theirs is mine to guard i swear respect to my ally
31:21leona hale
31:22her will is her territory he paused the words fell like stones i came thorn will never use alpha voice
31:29on my wife her soul will not bow a ripple of the crowd no alpha made such vows because it
31:37stripped
31:37their right to compel the elder swallowed moved to me leona hale do you accept i said i do clear
31:47as a
31:48bell i trade this marriage for my people's safety i swear to stand as ally to kane thorn
31:55until our pact is done my will and my loyalty rise from my choosing he raised a silver knife seal
32:03it
32:03kane offered his hand i set mine in his warm steady stop a roar cracked the right in half asher
32:13stormed the
32:13ruins with a clutch of guards his eyes burned when he saw our joined hands and the lifted blade this
32:19ends now his voice lashed the air alpha pressure trying to cow the room leona do you know what you're
32:27doing kane's hand didn't shift he didn't look at asher his eyes narrowed cool and faintly amused
32:35i stepped forward unnecessarily shielding him asher wood mind your words and where you stand where
32:45he laughed he is 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 reach
33:08here he choked on that color worsening even severed you were mine the north is not a toy to be
33:16touched
33:17kane are you provoking the north pain moved at last he turned slow deliberate drawing me a fraction
33:24behind him no voice weight only something older larger like the step opening its eyes provocation
33:31he 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 she belongs where she chooses not where you assign her
33:48and second his gaze stung i'm not testing the north sliding from asher to his guards i'm accepting an
33:54ally who chose to stand with me you however are testing me on my ground disrupting my right what
34:00do you want asher his head tilted two thrones voice gone ice a handful of warm bodies empower both
34:07she his hand reached back found mine pressed a thumb to my skin a silent foul between equals
34:14she wants a road of her own silence fell heavy asher's face went iron he opened his mouth and found
34:21his
34:21reasons thin and silly against the other man's clarity i laced my fingers in canes and stepped up
34:27shoulder to shoulder i said continue asher thrashed no leona it was for the pack i did it for us
34:36i never loved anyone else only you he didn't see his guards catch up or pale-faced viola their backs
34:51i was wrong i was wrong leona asher's voice went raw i marked you both mad thinking i could hold
35:00love
35:01and power both i needed viola's blood to soothe the the elders i had to hold both for the norse
35:09sake
35:10a howl went around the ruin marking two sisters against the law near unforgivable viola's face
35:20shattered she stumbled forward disbelief and hurt lancing her prettiness to be called a tool before
35:27all 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 officiant 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
36:23you thought i was luna she was you heard her over and over i won't let you have her truth
36:33hit like a
36:34pail of glacial water i hadn't only lost a faithless mate i'd lost a path stolen a future snatched by
36:41the
36:41hands i called kin a crown that should have been mine taken and smashed i stood chilled to the bone
36:48not rage not rage not grief a cold absurd clarity kane's voice cut clean you're fighting gaze brushing
36:58asher then viola settling on me for a stolen crown stained his eyes lit with the first hint of fire
37:06as he looked at me she never wanted a crown she wants the whole sky every gaze turned to me
37:13i drew breath lifted my spine and stood beside kane my voice rang flat and final through every crack of
37:20the ruin i won't be a luna's shadow i won't be anyone's prey not before not now not ever i
37:30turned to
37:31kane and opened my hand keninthorne i choose you
37:37free and equal the corner of his mouth bent slight and sure he slit his palm so did i we
37:47clasped hands
37:48our blood fell to earth a new power rose warm strong not a collar but a resonance like moon and
37:56night
37:57locking eyes the elder cried by blood it is done the right finished in truth bared and obstacles broken
38:12by blood it is done the right finished in truth bared and obstacles broken noise faded i went alone to
38:21mirror lake black and still as ink beneath the waxing moon the heat of the new bond moved in me
38:28coexisting strangely with the hollowness sundering left footsteps heavy tentative i knew him before
38:34he spoke tatters of a bond ghosted the air leona asher's voice was hoarse authority gone only wreckage
38:41left i turned he stood a few paces off something clenched in his fist the gold in his eyes was
38:47dull
38:48crowded with regret refusal pain and a lost man's panic i never thought
38:56viola would the name shredded his throat i was blind to power to a false calm i wrong you he
39:07opened his
39:07hand a crescent pendant lay in his palm cleaned faintly scorched i found it in the ash he said i
39:15know
39:15it fixes nothing i looked at it once it meant the purest fiercest trust now it felt far away i
39:21didn't
39:21take it i picked it up between two fingers cold and weightless let the water bury it i said and
39:27flicked
39:27it a dim arc then nothing no splash as if it never existed he lunged a step as if to
39:35plunge in after it
39:36stopped short he stared at rings smoothing to glass stared at the past he couldn't retrieve his shoulders
39:42fell i turned to go leona the last failing reach in his voice give me one more chance even if
39:51not his
39:52mates just don't chase me i said without looking back the knight shredded my words and carried them
39:59still cool chase me and i'll remember only the worst of you i walked to the figure waiting in moonlight
40:06kane said nothing only held out his hand i set mine in his
40:21mirror lake's chill and asher's last broken call fell behind us kane kept my hand in his without urging
40:28or speech 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
40:40the north slept the main keep was a smudge in moonlight far and small he let go shrugged off a
40:48gray wolf pelt cloak and set it around my shoulders warm from his body snow cedar in its fibers silence
40:57pooled rest not wait he sat across the small fire he'd kindled feeding it now and then gaze cutting to
41:06the dark to me assessing never prying i broke the quiet first my voice sanded down why me you could
41:14have found someone simpler no pass to trip over no enemies in tow he stirred the coals sparks rising to
41:25star themselves the north needs change not repetition he said a soul ground to powder by rules
41:33then the one who breaks them and stands understands balance better than a pretty puppet who's never
41:39been tested his eyes met mine through the heat i'm not looking for a mate who won't cause trouble
41:45i want an ally who'll meet it at my side your past you're severing your trouble he added the faintest
41:53edge
41:53of scorn in it as for enemies i've walked alone a long time they come in flocks one more is
41:59nothing
42:00i don't fear noise something eased in me there was no pity in him no rescue only measure and respect
42:09not for a woman to be shielded but for a force to be reckoned with that blood bun does it
42:15bind i glanced
42:16at our palms twin scars drying oh the last hardest knot he breathed a small laugh chains by obedience
42:26from cowards they breed rebellion in everyone else he looked at me as if laying down a contract our bond
42:33is a pact a notice served to scavengers and doubters leona hale stands under my shelter and beside me
42:40it means your enemies get my claws your choices get my weight he held me steady in his gaze it
42:48doesn't
42:48mean you must love me or obey me or belong to me you belong to you the fire snapped his
42:57words branded
42:58hotter than flame the last band about my ribs loosened not ownership not a new collar a horizon
43:07choice given without price i let out a breath that had been knotted for years and for the first time
43:14facing him let my mouth soften into something like relief i understand night thickened toward gray
43:21the wind sharpened kane rose and ground the last embers out under his boot we should go
43:29we need to crest the eastern ridge before soon up i stood and handed him his cloak he buckled it
43:35on with
43:35quick hands we took the climb side by side he didn't steady me he didn't dull the wind with his
43:41voice he kept a perfect distance present never crowding we topped the ridge as the first seam of
43:47gold ripped the dark light poured wild over an endless white flame no thrones no crowns no rules
43:55whispered behind cupped hands only snow to the end of the world mountains like sleeping titans and the sky
44:02in different free kane stopped beside me looking out dawn gilded the hard lines of his face calm and
44:10dangerous as a king of wilderness that's the horizon he said the wind smearing his words belongs to no one
44:19anyone can walk to it i looked back once the northern valley that had been my whole world seemed small
44:25and
44:25far when the moon swells full again the packs may remember this night but not an alpha squabble not a
44:33crown changing hands they'll remember a she-wolf who stood in ruins shook off her chains and chose her wild
44:41and
44:41her sky and she didn't look back
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