🐺 Él era un líder poderoso pero destrozado por el dolor, la traición y un pasado oscuro que congeló su corazón. Nadie creía que volvería a encontrar la paz, hasta que el destino la pone en su camino como la luna del alfa roto. A través de un lazo inquebrantable, secretos de la manada y enemigos acechando en las sombras, ella se convertirá en su salvación y en la reina que reclamará el trono a su lado. ¡No te pierdas este adictivo short drama de hombres lobo lleno de romance alfa, fantasía, pasión y redención! 🌕❤️
#lalunadelalfaroto #shortdrama #miniserie #dramacompleto #romancealfa #hombreslobo #fantasía #seriecorta #novelas #materechazado
#lalunadelalfaroto #shortdrama #miniserie #dramacompleto #romancealfa #hombreslobo #fantasía #seriecorta #novelas #materechazado
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Short filmTranscript
00:03I threw my body into the woods, no funeral, no grave, just crows, and that was the second
00:08time I died for him.
00:10In my world, being blind is a defect.
00:12Without a healer, I'm a mother, I am an omega, the very bottom of the path I'm a lucky,
00:17no strength, no shifting, no healing.
00:20A normal wolf will tell, heals and moves, give me a paper cut, and I'll bleed for days,
00:26but I have something more amazing.
00:28I don't see faces, I see souls of jealousy, toxic green, neat, deep, oily black.
00:34In my last life, I used it to build a king, Lucian, a forgotten fifth son.
00:39I picked him, I made him, I put him on the throne.
00:42From the day my sister Celeste died, he grabbed my jaw so hard I heard it crack,
00:48forced a wolf's vein tincture down my throat.
00:51You blind freak, you knew I never wanted you.
00:54Celeste should have been mine from the start.
00:56And because of you, she ended up with Marcus.
00:59They tortured her to death.
01:01It was your fault.
01:04I died in agony.
01:07He gave Celeste's corpse a royal burial.
01:09He gave me the woods.
01:11But the hurt, his feet, it was so convenient it dragged me right back to the death.
01:16It opened my eyes, seventeen again.
01:20Night, he made him alive.
01:22Lucian walked straight past me and took Celeste's hand, like he was afraid someone might stop him.
01:27The bastard came back too, and he remembered everything.
01:30He is terrified I'll choose him again.
01:32Honestly, I couldn't care less.
01:34I swept my blind gaze across the back of the room.
01:37In a sea of dark, rotten, Celeste's hand.
01:39My soul so pure, it glowed like liquid gold.
01:42The man in the wheelchair, the true outfit.
01:45I choose Celeste as my mate.
01:48Lucian's voice cracked through the hall like a whip.
01:50She is my one and only Luna.
01:52He walked toward my sister with eyes full of a tenderness I knew was performance.
01:56The room went silent, then the whispers hit me like a wall.
01:59No heir in their right mind would want her.
02:01A blind Omega who couldn't even shift?
02:04What a joke.
02:05Why is she even here?
02:07Trash like her should be in the kitchen, not at a mating ball.
02:11I am an Alpha's daughter born blind, when I came at village my wolf.
02:17The world filled my teeth in a quiet, that is not just weakness, that is a death sentence.
02:22Being wolf-less, that makes you a joke.
02:25My sister Celeste is the golden child, born with the siren song.
02:30A voice that can calm even the most violent Alpha in the world.
02:34The family treats her like a goddess.
02:36They treat me like a mistake they can't take back.
02:39Lucian dropped to one knee in front of her.
02:42Accept my mark Celeste.
02:44I will make you, the most powerful woman alive.
02:47And as he spoke, he threw one look back at me.
02:50Not an apology, a warning.
02:53He thinks he can take the throne without me this time.
02:55He thinks I was what held him back.
02:57He has no idea what he just threw away.
03:00I didn't awaken a war, making a rage.
03:02I got something much more dangerous, a soul life.
03:08Jealousy is toxic green.
03:10Hate is a bottomless black.
03:12Love is pink.
03:14And the deeper the feeling, the darker it burns.
03:17In my last life, I kept him alive with this.
03:20I spotted assassins before they moved.
03:22I told him who to trust, who to kill.
03:25This time, I am going to let him have exactly what he wanted.
03:28And watch him realize too late that he got me.
03:31He is nothing.
03:32And I really hope, for his sake, he doesn't end up calling back to me, begging for a mercy
03:38in the world of me.
03:40The moment Lucian's announcement landed, every eye in the room found me.
03:44I'm just a blind girl.
03:46I'm not worthy of a man like Lucian.
03:48Celeste is the perfect match for him.
03:51At least you know your place.
03:52He stepped closer.
03:53An Omega with no wolf?
03:55I wouldn't choose you if you were the last woman breathing.
03:59Not even if you crawled to me on your knees.
04:01My mother Marilyn made a sound beside me.
04:04A sharp inhale, like she was about to say something she shouldn't.
04:07I squeezed her hand.
04:09She went quiet.
04:09I swept the ring of my soul out of her.
04:12Marcus, murky charcoal, cruel underneath the surface.
04:15The other airs, muddy swirls of greed and want.
04:18In my last life, I chose Lucian because his soul looked cleaner than anyone else's in the room.
04:23It was a mask.
04:25I didn't see what was underneath until the day he killed me.
04:27The rotten, unapropriate wrath.
04:29He didn't just hate what it was.
04:31He hated me.
04:32I was blind in my last life in more ways than one.
04:35Never again, Celeste glided toward me.
04:37Face arranged into the perfect picture of a loving older sister.
04:41Don't be sad.
04:43Go ahead.
04:44I'll let you have whoever you want.
04:46Her soul was turning toxic green, edge to edge.
04:49Pure jealousy, barely holding its shape.
04:52Since no one's going to claim you anyway, you can always beg me for work.
04:57Celeste will need a personal maid.
04:58With CSF smitchy floors, scrubbing floors all a wolfless Omega is good for.
05:02I didn't work.
05:03I didn't even bother.
05:05None of them were worth the energy.
05:07And then, the sound of wheels.
05:09The chatter died.
05:10Then the room shifted.
05:13Kyle Ravenscroft had arrived.
05:15Uninvited.
05:16Unannounced.
05:17And completely unmoved by the spectacle.
05:19He sat in that wheelchair like a predator at rest.
05:23And then I saw.
05:24My breath caught.
05:25His soul was gold.
05:26Pure.
05:27Shimmering.
05:28Blinding gold.
05:29The mark of the moon goddess herself.
05:32The mark of a true king.
05:34I clenched my fists so hard my nails broke the skin.
05:37Last life.
05:38I picked the wrong man.
05:40I defied the moon goddess.
05:42Put a monster on the throne.
05:43And everyone paid for it.
05:45Not this time.
05:47I stood up.
05:48I walked past Lucian without a glance.
05:50Past every arrogant alpha heir in the room.
05:52I stopped in front of Kyle's wheelchair.
05:55I choose him.
05:56The hall went dead silent.
05:58Then it exploded.
06:00Lifed up.
06:00From every direction.
06:02All at once.
06:03The blind girl and the cripple.
06:06Neither of you has a wolf.
06:08You really are a perfect match.
06:12Xayah.
06:14You can't see.
06:15You don't understand.
06:17He's in a wheelchair.
06:19She glanced at the crowd.
06:21Milking every second of it.
06:23I'll pretend I didn't hear that.
06:26Choose again.
06:27And if you truly can't find an alpha willing to have you, you're welcome to follow our caravan.
06:34Serve Lucian and me.
06:36At least you won't go hungry.
06:38I'm not anyone's servant.
06:40And I'm not a stray you take in out of pity.
06:43Kyle hadn't said a word through any of it.
06:45He just looked his chair forward until he was right in front of me.
06:48He took my hand.
06:49His palm was large and rough.
06:52Fist with calluses.
06:53He found you when you get from others of hard use.
06:59He took my hand and guided it to his knee.
07:02No flinching.
07:03No excuses.
07:05If he was lying.
07:06He didn't want pity for it.
07:08I left my hand there.
07:09I could feel the heat of him through the fabric and tense, alive.
07:13Then a jolt.
07:14It shot through my fingertips, raced up my arm.
07:17And hit my chest like a beast.
07:19This wasn't the soul line.
07:20This was something else entirely.
07:23My blood was screaming.
07:24I don't have a wolf.
07:26I was never supposed to feel a mate ball.
07:29But there it was.
07:32Kyle's whole body locked up.
07:34I looked into his soul.
07:36Warm pink threading through shaming gold.
07:38I leaned in close and smiled.
07:41If it's your next, Lucian's face went ugly.
07:43The mating ball isn't over.
07:46And you're out here making promises you can't keep?
07:49If you fail to heal him, the Alpha Council will have your head.
07:52Can you actually do it?
07:53I didn't answer right away.
07:55I let my fingers trail slowly along this tense trial.
07:59I can.
08:00But it'll require a very specific kind of contact.
08:04He understood immediately.
08:06The tips of his ears went red.
08:07He turned his head away.
08:09Couldn't quite bring himself to look at me.
08:11In my peripheral vision, Lucian's soul ignited.
08:15A roaring wall of green fire.
08:17Jealousy.
08:18A cold laugh rose in my chest.
08:20Jealous of what?
08:21Except Lucian.
08:22You're the one who poured poison down my throat.
08:25The moment I stepped outside the hall, the world tilted.
08:28White hot pain detonated behind my eyes.
08:33Like something was being driven through my skull from the inside.
08:36That is the cost.
08:38Every time I lose the soul eye on that many people at once, I'll turn.
08:42I pressed my freezing fingers to my temples.
08:44The cold always came after.
08:46After the ball, Lucian got to work.
08:48He pulled up everything from our past life.
08:51Her favorite flowers.
08:52Her secret hiding spots.
08:53Every word she'd been waiting her whole life to hear.
08:57He played her like he'd been practicing for years.
09:00That same day, a mating contract arrived at my door on heavy old parchment.
09:07I accept you as my mate.
09:08I will hold and protect you in this life and the next.
09:11Not even death will part us.
09:13The handwriting was deep and certain.
09:15No hesitation in a single stroke.
09:17It felt exactly like him.
09:19Foth weddings were set for the same morning.
09:21The night before, Celeste walked into my room like she owned it.
09:25She didn't knock.
09:26Her maid tossed something at my feet.
09:28A tattered gray shawl.
09:30A kind worn by the lowest ranking of omegas.
09:33A mark of total submission.
09:35You're a blind freak, Zara.
09:41No real alpha will ever claim you.
09:43She leaned in.
09:45Voice honeyed and vicious at the same time.
09:48Lucian and I are being generous.
09:51We're keeping you on as a servant.
09:53But on the day of the ceremony, no carriage for you.
09:56You'll wear that and walk behind the caravan.
10:00Servant entrance.
10:01Don't embarrass her.
10:02The morning came.
10:03I left the shawl on the floor where it landed.
10:06I put on the dress Kyle had sent instead.
10:09White silk, thousands of diamonds sewn into the fabric.
10:12Small enough to look like starlight.
10:15At the estate gate, two carriages waited.
10:18One was extraordinary.
10:21Draped in thumb-sized pearls.
10:22Built like a throne that happened to have wheels.
10:25The other was a plain standard one.
10:28Nothing alive.
10:31Celestine hesitated for a second.
10:33She walked straight to the pearl carriage and stepped inside.
10:38The head guard turned.
10:40His expression didn't waver.
10:42You're in the wrong carriage.
10:44This was commissioned by Alpha Kyle for his Luna
10:47and no one else.
10:49He didn't give her time to argue.
10:51The guards took her by the arms and her turn.
10:53She caught her heel on her skirt
10:55and went down hard for her face into the dirt.
10:59Lucian arrived just in time to see it.
11:03Celeste scrambled up and threw herself at him,
11:05already crying.
11:09It's Zahra!
11:10She planned this!
11:13She can't stand that I'm the one becoming a Luna!
11:16She turned to the crowd gathering around her, eyes glistening.
11:20Please, don't hate her.
11:22She's struggling.
11:24I know we're in love, Lucian.
11:26But I begged you to keep her safe.
11:29I've waited for months just so she could be our servant
11:32and I'm not starved on this street.
11:35She's a blind, Omega.
11:37She should be grateful anyone even bothered to take her in.
11:40To pull a strunt like this on her sister's wedding day?
11:43It's aesthetic!
11:44The crowd was vicious.
11:45They always are when they smell wetness.
11:48Lucian's soul was drowning in black.
11:51Thick and suffocating.
11:52Ink dark.
11:53He pulled Celeste against his chest and turned on me.
11:56You're an Omega, Zahra.
11:59You have no right to wear white.
12:02Take that dress off right now
12:04or I'll shred it off your back myself!
12:07Celeste buried her face in his chest.
12:09But I could see her soul.
12:11She was smirking.
12:13Lucian,
12:14you don't have me watching you back this time.
12:18What's coming for you tonight isn't a wedding.
12:22It's a funeral.
12:24It's the rest we foiled like I'd struck.
12:27How can you curse him like that?
12:29Just because he didn't choose you?
12:31You dare curse an Alpha heir!
12:35Guards!
12:36Seize her!
12:38The soldiers started moving in.
12:40Think carefully.
12:42You're laying a hand on Alpha Kyle's mate.
12:45Make sure that your consequence are ready to live with.
12:48Lucian laughed.
12:49Jagged.
12:49Ugly.
12:50Kyle?
12:51The cripple isn't even here.
12:53Probably hiding in his chambers,
12:55too embarrassed to show his face.
12:57He's using you for sport, Zahra.
12:58Nothing more.
12:59He stepped forward,
13:00close enough that his shadow fell over me.
13:02Neil.
13:03Beg Celeste's forgiveness.
13:06And maybe,
13:07maybe,
13:08I'll still find a use for you.
13:09Then a voice cut through everything.
13:11Who is threatening my mate?
13:12The crowd skipped.
13:13Kyle moved through them like they weren't there.
13:15Sharp black suit.
13:17Not a single piece of his face.
13:19You can see that.
13:19His presence was suffocating.
13:21The moment he appeared,
13:22the street went silent.
13:24Beside him,
13:24Lucian suddenly looked at the door
13:26wearing his mask.
13:29Kyle came straight to me.
13:31He took my hand and folded it inside his
13:33large,
13:34warm,
13:35unhurried.
13:35He said he let it sit down.
13:37Then he looked at him.
13:38Now.
13:39His eyes fixed on Lucian
13:40like a blade finding its mark.
13:42Let's try that again.
13:43Who was it that told my mate?
13:45Do anything.
13:45The temperature in the street seemed to drop.
13:48No one walked.
13:50No one breathed.
13:51He didn't shout.
13:52Didn't signal his men.
13:53He just watched Lucian
13:55the way a predator watches something
13:56it has already decided to deal with later.
13:59I'll remember that.
14:00I'm an alpha heir.
14:01Same as you.
14:02Who the hell do you think you are?
14:04Who the hell do you think you are?
14:06A forgotten fifth son
14:07trying to give orders to my mate.
14:10You're not a rival, Lucian.
14:12You're a fit note.
14:13The color drained from Lucian's face.
14:16This isn't over.
14:18Low and mean.
14:19You'll both regret tonight.
14:21I gave you a chance, Zara.
14:24When you come crawling back
14:25and you will
14:27don't expect mercy.
14:29I looked at his soul
14:30and how he came
14:30murky and small.
14:32He genuinely believes he is the chosen one.
14:34He thinks the throne is already his
14:36and that I was just dead weight
14:38holding him back.
14:39He has no idea what is waiting for him.
14:41Without me clearing his path
14:43he won't last the season.
14:45He'll be lucky to still be breathing
14:46by the time the leaves turn.
14:48Oh, her first night as mates was quiet.
14:50Just the two of us
14:51and the fire crackling low between us.
14:54We shared whiskey,
14:56amber and slow burning
14:58on the way down.
15:00I could feel his eyes
15:01heavy and silver warm
15:03against my skin.
15:04My pulse wouldn't settle.
15:06Even sitting across from me
15:07in that chair
15:07his presence filled the entire room.
15:10You said you could fix my legs.
15:14How?
15:16Help me with something first.
15:19I've never seen this room.
15:22Describe it to me.
15:24Then he started talking.
15:26The fires glow.
15:28The oil paintings.
15:29He told me their textures,
15:31not just their subjects.
15:32The velvet curtains.
15:33Deep and heavy.
15:34On the shelf above the nightstand
15:38there's an old book.
15:40The cover is faded.
15:42My hand stilled around the glass.
15:44That shelf was high
15:45nearly at the ceiling.
15:47From a wheelchair
15:48the top of that book
15:49was completely out of sight.
15:51There was no way
15:52he could know the cover was faded.
15:54I didn't say a word.
15:55I just took another sip
15:57and filed that detail away somewhere.
15:59I wouldn't forget it.
16:00I stood up with my glass in hand
16:02then let it slip.
16:05It hit the carpet
16:06with a dull thud
16:07and rolled toward the sofa.
16:09Kyle's body moved
16:10the second
16:10he was about to stand.
16:12Then he caught himself
16:13and settled back
16:14into the leather
16:14as if nothing had happened.
16:16But I felt it.
16:18That reflex
16:18was all the confirmation
16:19I needed.
16:20I didn't say anything.
16:22Not yet.
16:23Here's one more way
16:24to be sure.
16:27I stepped in close.
16:30And I strapped.
16:30My heart was slamming.
16:32I ignored it.
16:34I raised my hand
16:35and let my fingertips
16:36trace from his jaw
16:37down to his chest.
16:39Hard as stone beneath the shirt.
16:41Not the body of a man
16:42who hadn't used his legs
16:43in seven years.
16:44I looked into his soul.
16:46A storm deep crimson.
16:48Soft pink.
16:49Something more tender
16:50than he'd admit.
16:51And threading through both.
16:52A sharp streak
16:54of dark green panic.
16:56He knew I was getting close.
16:58I leaned down.
17:03My lips barely grazed
17:05the corner of his mouth.
17:06Not a kiss.
17:08A question.
17:08His breathing came apart.
17:10And then I took his hand
17:11and pressed his palm
17:12flat against my chest.
17:14The silk between us
17:15was nothing.
17:16My face was burning.
17:18Because in that moment,
17:19his body gave me
17:20the most honest answer
17:22I had.
17:22His body reacted
17:24before his mind
17:25could stop it.
17:25I felt the shift
17:27in his balance.
17:28The sudden breeze
17:29through his thighs.
17:30The instinctive drive upward.
17:32A man who hadn't
17:33moved his legs
17:34in seven years
17:34wouldn't move like that.
17:36I pulled back
17:36just a moment.
17:38Like a smile
17:39consoled me.
17:40Your legs are fine.
17:41That much, I know.
17:42Kyle closed his eyes.
17:44His throat moved
17:45as he swallowed.
17:46Then he stood up.
17:47One hand stayed
17:49at my waist.
17:49The other still
17:50pressed against my chest.
17:52He lifted me
17:53and I felt just
17:54how much of him there was.
17:55Nearly six foot long.
17:57All of it muscled.
17:58My whole world
17:59was suddenly just him.
18:01How did you know?
18:02I just smiled
18:03and gave him
18:04something vague
18:05enough to pass.
18:06He set me down
18:07gently on the edge
18:07of the bed.
18:08Then stepped back.
18:10The hand that
18:10approached my chest
18:11was shaking.
18:12I'm sorry.
18:12I shouldn't have...
18:14Don't.
18:15I'm the one
18:15who put your hand there.
18:16He looked at me
18:17for a long moment.
18:19He laughed.
18:20A real laugh.
18:21Warm and unguarded.
18:22Like seven years
18:23of tension
18:23finally giving way.
18:25Seven years.
18:27Seven years
18:27fooling everyone.
18:28The whole damn world.
18:31And my blind mate
18:32catches me
18:33on the very first night.
18:34We didn't go
18:34any further that night.
18:36We ended up
18:36on the rug
18:37in front of the fire.
18:38The bottle of whiskey
18:39between us
18:40and we just
18:40talked.
18:42He told me
18:42about our life.
18:43It was the only way
18:44to stay alive.
18:45I told him
18:46about Lucian.
18:47All of it.
18:48What he was underneath.
18:50I didn't choose you
18:51because I had
18:52no other options.
18:53I chose you
18:54because you were
18:55the only one
18:55worth choosing.
18:58I watched his soul
18:59begin to shift.
19:00The gold bleeding
19:01slowly
19:02into a deep
19:03and glowing lake.
19:04Late into the night
19:06it came back.
19:07The splitting pain
19:08behind my temples
19:09like an axe
19:10working its way
19:10through the bone.
19:11I tried to keep
19:12my hands still.
19:13They were shaking
19:14anyway.
19:15Kyle stopped
19:16mid-sentence.
19:17Your head.
19:18Before I could deflect
19:19his thumbs
19:20were already
19:21at my temples.
19:22Pressure.
19:23Exact like he
19:24mapped the pain
19:25before he touched it.
19:26My mother used
19:27to get them.
19:28I've known what to do
19:29since I was a boy.
19:30The pain didn't ease.
19:31It vanished.
19:32We shared the same bed.
19:34His arm lay heavy
19:34and warm
19:35across my waist.
19:36My head settled
19:37against his chest.
19:38I listened to his heartbeat
19:40through my soul-eye.
19:41I watched his soul settle.
19:43The gold softening
19:44deepening
19:44into a rich
19:45and quiet pink.
19:46For the first time
19:47in two lifetimes
19:48I felt safe.
19:49She was bleeding
19:50during his mom and heart.
19:51In my last life
19:52a maid tried to spike
19:53his wine with wolf's game.
19:55I caught her
19:56before she could get close.
19:57I read the murder
19:58in her soul
19:59swapped the glasses
20:00had her detained
20:01before he'd taken
20:02a single seat.
20:03This time
20:04I did nothing.
20:05Celeste didn't notice.
20:07She wouldn't know
20:07a threat
20:08if it sat down
20:08beside her
20:09and introduced itself.
20:10The next morning
20:11Kyle and I arrived
20:12at the Alpha King's estate.
20:14No sign of Lucian.
20:16No sign of Celeste.
20:17The corridors
20:18were alive
20:18with hushed
20:19urgent voices.
20:20The air was poisoned
20:22in his own chambers.
20:23He hasn't wakened.
20:24The heat.
20:25The carriage had barely
20:27rolled to a stop
20:28when Celeste
20:29appeared at the gates.
20:30She looked like
20:30she hadn't slept in the days.
20:32Zara!
20:33You poisoned him!
20:36Give me the antidote
20:37right now!
20:39I felt the temperature
20:40inside the carriage shift.
20:42Kyle went very still
20:43beside me.
20:44I placed a hand
20:45on his arm.
20:45I've got this.
20:47I leaned in
20:48and pressed a quick kiss
20:49to his cheek.
20:50Then I stepped out
20:51into the morning air.
20:53Antidote?
20:54I don't have one.
20:57Whatever happened
20:57to Lucian
20:58has nothing to do
20:59with me.
21:00Liar!
21:02Then how did you know
21:04he'd be dying
21:04on his wedding night?
21:05I tilted my head.
21:08That's a serious accusation.
21:10Where's your proof?
21:12Did you catch the killer?
21:14Did you find the poison?
21:15I already knew
21:16she hadn't.
21:17The spy Marcus sent
21:18was a professional.
21:19Without my soul eye
21:20she was a ghost.
21:22By now she was likely
21:23across the border
21:24untouchable.
21:25Celeste stood there
21:26mouth open
21:27nothing coming out.
21:28If you keep causing
21:30a scene on my land
21:31my warriors
21:32will remove you.
21:35Her eyes dropped
21:36to my neck.
21:37She saw the red mark
21:38Kyle had left there.
21:39You actually slept
21:41with him?
21:42A blind girl
21:43and a broken man?
21:44I suppose trash
21:45finds its own level.
21:46I suppose trash
21:47finds its own level.
21:48I thought about
21:49last night
21:49the fire
21:50the whiskey
21:51the long silence
21:52after he finally stood up
21:53and I felt the full weight
21:54of him for the first time.
21:56Kyle wasn't broken.
21:57He was 10,000 times
21:58the man Lucian
21:59would ever be.
21:59I laughed.
22:02What is so funny?
22:04I stopped
22:04looked at her
22:05we're close enough to it.
22:06I'm laughing
22:07at how blind you are.
22:09Lucian is going to die
22:11and when he goes down
22:12he'll take you with him.
22:14If you want to survive
22:15what's coming
22:16sever the bond now
22:18while you still can.
22:20That was it for her.
22:21She swung at my face
22:22wide, furious
22:23telegraphed
22:24from a mile away
22:25I shifted my weight
22:26and stepped aside
22:27she hit nothing but air
22:28the momentum
22:29carried her forward
22:30and she went down hard
22:31palms and knees
22:32in the dirt
22:32I looked down at her
22:33remember this
22:35because the next time
22:36you raise a hand to me
22:37I won't step aside
22:38she stared up at me
22:39from the ground
22:40trembling
22:40for the first time
22:41in her life
22:42she was actually
22:43afraid of me
22:43the blind girl
22:44she used to torment
22:45wasn't there anymore
22:47someone else
22:47had taken her place
22:49Kyle was waiting
22:50when I stepped back
22:51into the carriage
22:52he just watched me
22:53with those grey eyes
22:54and in them
22:54not worry
22:55not pity
22:56admiration
22:57he trusted me
22:58to handle my own affairs
22:59that respect landed
23:00heavier than any shield
23:01he could have raised
23:02he turned to his lead guide
23:03and spoke well
23:04no one from Lucien's pack
23:06crosses onto my land again
23:08for any reason
23:10ever
23:13after Celeste was escorted out
23:15he turned to the business
23:16of leaving
23:16we were heading for Thorn Harbor
23:18the courtyard filled with people
23:20and supplies controlled for us
23:22and through all of it
23:23my soul
23:23I found a single target
23:25a guard named Vaughn
23:26his soul was a muddy
23:27treacherous grey
23:28I leaned close to Kyle's ear
23:30who is that man?
23:33Vaughn
23:34he's been with me
23:35since I was 15
23:36saved my life twice
23:38I pulled back in it
23:39Kyle do you trust me?
23:41his soul flushed
23:42deep darkly
23:43all at once
23:44you're my mate
23:45of course I do
23:46he's a traitor
23:48we change the route
23:49to Thorn Harbor
23:50and we tell no one
23:52in my last night
23:53this was where it ended
23:54with Kyle
23:55ambushed on the road
23:56to the harbor
23:57wounds that never healed
23:58he died defending
24:00the city walls
24:00I finished speaking
24:02let my lips brush his cheek
24:04Kyle's arm came around my waist
24:06immediately
24:07pulling me in
24:08across the yard
24:10I felt Vaughn watching us
24:11he clocked how close we were
24:13and looked away fast
24:14Kyle pressed his face
24:15into the curve of my neck
24:16his breath was warm
24:18against my skin
24:18are you trying to fix
24:19my legs again?
24:21because I'm happy
24:22to wait until tonight
24:23or we could start now
24:25the next morning
24:26Vaughn was gone
24:27Kyle sat beside me
24:28at breakfast
24:29cutting my steak
24:30into careful pieces
24:31without being asked
24:32you were right
24:34Vaughn was Marcus' man
24:36buried so deep
24:37I never suspected him once
24:39in seven years
24:41it took some
24:43persuasion
24:44to get him to talk
24:46he looked at me
24:47how did you know, Zara?
24:49I looked into his soul
24:50gold and pink
24:51wound together
24:52no suspicion
24:53no fear
24:54lucky guess
24:55the words were barely out
24:57when the pain hit
24:57white
24:58hot behind both temples
25:00at once
25:00my hand went to my head
25:02before I could stop it
25:03Kyle didn't say a word
25:04he just moved his chair
25:05flush against mine
25:06Unanhand kept cutting my food
25:08the other reached up
25:09and wrapped around
25:09the back of my neck
25:10the pain dissolved
25:11he has stopped asking
25:13why it happens
25:13he just makes sure
25:15he is there when it does
25:16Thorn Harbor
25:17Kyle's territory
25:18the land was rough
25:20resources thin
25:21the kind of place
25:22the Alpha Council
25:23never bothered
25:24to look at twice
25:25the wolves here
25:27were loyal to Kyle
25:28the way wolves
25:29are loyal to someone
25:30they've chosen
25:30out of true devotion
25:32when I went to the market
25:33they called me Luna
25:34and refused my coin
25:35every stall
25:36every vendor
25:37I had to set the money down
25:39and walk away
25:40before they'd touch it
25:41I came back to the estate
25:42breathless
25:43and my maid watched me
25:45come through the door
25:47the Luna is blind
25:48but she moves faster
25:50than any soldier
25:50I've trained with
25:53Kyle heard her
25:54that night
25:55his fingers
25:56found the edges
25:56of my eyes
25:58Zara
26:00is it really just
26:01nothing?
26:03I nodded
26:04he pulled me in
26:05against his chest
26:06and held me there
26:08it doesn't matter
26:09I'll be your eyes
26:10every sunrise
26:11every star
26:13whatever you want to see
26:15I'll find the words for it
26:16I watched his soul
26:17through all of it
26:18the gold was shifting
26:19becoming something
26:20warmer
26:20deeper
26:21the more time
26:22we spent together
26:22the deeper the gold grew
26:24every shared meal
26:25every quiet evening
26:26beside him
26:27it only became richer
26:28but then something strange
26:30started happening
26:31when I was away from him
26:32even briefly
26:32I got restless
26:33not just missing him
26:34it was physical
26:35a deep pulling ache
26:36I couldn't reason away
26:37the further I walked
26:38the worse it pulled
26:39until it hurt
26:40I told myself
26:41it was the intensity
26:42of a new bond
26:43but I knew that wasn't it
26:44I don't have a wolf
26:45I was never supposed
26:47to feel this
26:47that night when he kissed me
26:49his soul shifted
26:50into something
26:50I'd never seen before
26:51a pink so saturated
26:53and alive
26:53it looked like
26:54the first day of spring
26:55breaking open
26:56all at once
26:57the most beautiful thing
26:58I had ever seen
26:59it didn't last
27:00the next morning
27:01a piece of encrypted
27:02intelligence arrived
27:03Lucian is awake
27:04but the damage
27:05is permanent
27:06intermittent mania
27:07he has lost control
27:08of his wolf
27:08a slow smile
27:09touched my lips
27:10this was just the beginning
27:11of what was coming for him
27:12but then
27:13the catch
27:14the alpha council
27:14had issued
27:15a mandatory summons
27:16Marcus was hosting
27:17a banquet
27:18every heir was required
27:19to attend
27:19no exceptions
27:20Kyle had no choice
27:22we were going back
27:23Marcus's estate
27:24reeked of bad intentions
27:25before we even
27:26stepped inside
27:26I swept the ballroom
27:28with my soul
27:28I the moment
27:29across the threshold
27:30oily green for greed
27:31thick in every corner
27:32of the room
27:33a deep sickening
27:34crimson for lust
27:35and underneath all of it
27:36something flat
27:37and purposeful
27:38that made my skin crawl
27:39I found Kyle's hand
27:40under the table
27:41and held it
27:41don't eat
27:42don't touch the
27:43in my last life
27:44this banquet
27:45ended in blood
27:46their souls
27:46were a flat
27:47professional grey
27:48the color of people
27:49who had killed before
27:50and slept just fine after
27:52last time
27:53when the blades came out
27:54I didn't think
27:54I just threw myself
27:56in front of Lucian
27:57and took a poison silver dagger
27:58to the legs
27:59carried that scar for years
28:00when Lucian was already king
28:02I mentioned it
28:03he looked at me
28:04with something close to boredom
28:06protecting your mate
28:07is your duty Zara
28:08you're already Luna
28:09what more do you want
28:11I don't make the same mistakes
28:12twice
28:12it happened fast
28:13the three dancers
28:14reached into their silts
28:16short blades
28:17jagged
28:17silver
28:18and they lunged
28:19Kyle moved
28:21before I could blink
28:21he didn't care
28:23about the secret anymore
28:24he came half
28:25out of his chair
28:26one arm sweeping
28:27me behind him
28:28and his guards
28:28materialized
28:29from the dark
28:30like they'd been
28:30part of the shadows
28:31all along
28:32a wall of bodies
28:33between us
28:34and everything
28:34we were safe
28:35I looked past them
28:36toward Lucian
28:37no one moved
28:38to cover me
28:39the moment
28:40the first blade
28:40flashed
28:41Celeste screamed
28:42and ran
28:42straight for the exit
28:44and didn't hit backwards
28:46Lucian was surrounded
28:47a silver dagger
28:48soaked in concentrated wolfsbane
28:50buried itself
28:51into his thigh
28:52dark blood hit the floor
28:54he went down hard
28:55gasping
28:56through the screaming
28:57the overturned chairs
28:58the crush of bodies
29:00trying to flee
29:00his eyes found mine
29:02he was begging
29:03his soul was a wreck
29:05terror and pain
29:07and underneath it all
29:08a dark green tide of regret
29:10I held his face
29:12kept my face completely still
29:13didn't move a single muscle
29:15I am blind after all
29:17I can't see a thing
29:18I didn't make it
29:19two steps into the carriage
29:20the spike hit the moment
29:22the door closed
29:23red hot
29:23straight through the center
29:24of my skull
29:25it was the worst backlash
29:27I'd ever suffered
29:28I scanned the entire ballroom
29:29every soul
29:30every shadow
29:31every blade
29:32before they struck
29:33it cost me everything
29:35the world went black
29:36my knees folded
29:37Kyle caught me
29:39before I hit the floor
29:40his arms locked around
29:41my waist like iron
29:42pulling me hard
29:43against his chest
29:44Zara
29:45I'd never heard that
29:46in his voice before
29:47fear
29:48my head
29:49was all I could get out
29:50he didn't wait
29:50he pulled me in against him
29:52and pressed both palms
29:53to my temples
29:54and something happened
29:55that I still can't explain
29:56it wasn't just pressure
29:58it wasn't just warmth
29:59it felt like a hand
30:00reaching through the pain
30:01and pulling it out
30:02from the root
30:02gone completely
30:03in seconds
30:04I lay against his chest
30:06dazed
30:07listening to his heart pound
30:08why does his touch do that
30:10this isn't comfort
30:11this is something older
30:12something that runs deeper
30:14than either of us understands
30:15and it is starting to frighten me
30:17while I recovered in Kyle's arms
30:19reaching his learning
30:20what that blade actually felt like
30:22the wolf's vein on those daggers
30:24was pure
30:24it doesn't just wound
30:25it destroys whatever the body
30:27would normally feel
30:28it shredded his body's ability
30:29to heal from the inside out
30:31in my last life
30:32I took that blade from him
30:33I felt the silver
30:34eat into my flesh
30:35felt the poison dissolve
30:37everything I had
30:38I survived it barely
30:39and he never once
30:40mentioned it again
30:41he treated my body
30:42like a shield
30:43he was entitled
30:44to stand behind
30:44at this time
30:45he got to find out
30:46what it actually costs
30:47the healers couldn't do a thing
30:49the damage was permanent
30:50Lucien would never walk again
30:52the man who spent
30:53his whole life
30:53looking down at everyone
30:54from a great height
30:55was never going to stand again
30:57the intelligence reports
30:58kept arriving
30:59one after another
31:00like a slow collapse
31:02Lucien confirmed
31:03permanently disabled
31:04Celeste began her exit strategy
31:07the moment he lost his straw
31:09she spent months
31:10petitioning the alpha council
31:11to dissolve their bond
31:13six months later
31:14the alpha king
31:15had seen enough
31:16he stripped Lucien
31:17of his inheritance
31:18no title
31:19no claim
31:20no future
31:21in the werewolf world
31:22no one pledges their sword
31:24to a man
31:24who can't lead
31:25from the point
31:26in our last life
31:27Lucien thought
31:28seizing the throne
31:29was simply a matter
31:30of wanting it badly enough
31:31he had no idea
31:33what was actually
31:34holding him
31:34he thought those allies
31:36followed him by choice
31:37I made sure
31:38they were worthy
31:39long before they
31:40ever pledged themselves
31:41the traitors he feared
31:42never had the chance
31:43to strike
31:44I silenced them first
31:46and the commanders
31:47he trusted with his army
31:48were placed there
31:49by my hand
31:50one by one
31:51paid for in blood
31:52without me
31:53he couldn't have held
31:54a border crossing
31:55let alone
31:56Flora
31:58Celeste didn't run
31:59she stripped his estate
32:00clean
32:01jewelry
32:01gold
32:02every coin she could find
32:04then she was gone
32:05she went back to Marcus
32:07but the terms
32:08had changed
32:08he didn't want
32:09a Luna this time
32:10he took her
32:11as a mistress
32:12I ran into her
32:13yesterday
32:13a high-end
32:14perfume shop
32:15near the harbor
32:16I was holding a bottle
32:17a rare blend
32:18when she reached over
32:19and plucked it
32:20straight out of my hand
32:21I'll take all of these
32:23she told the clerk
32:24she was draped
32:25in diamonds
32:25her soul
32:26was the same
32:27toxic green
32:28as always been
32:28she looked me over
32:30oh Zara
32:31she said
32:31perfume seems a bit
32:33pointless for you
32:34doesn't it
32:34she leaned in
32:36expensive wine
32:37on her breath
32:37it's not as if
32:38your man can stand up
32:39to get close enough
32:40to smell it
32:41a little gasp
32:42a hand over her mouth
32:43eyes wide
32:44with performed regret
32:45that was awful of me
32:47you don't mind
32:49do you
32:49I smiled
32:50not at all
32:51I said
32:52take them all
32:53the clerk looked baffled
32:55I didn't explain
32:56there is no point
32:57arguing with a woman
32:58who's already
32:59walking toward her own end
33:00she just doesn't
33:02know the road
33:03she is on yet
33:03it is right
33:04Thorn Harbor
33:05was in a hard rain
33:06my headguard
33:07appeared in the doorway
33:08his face tight
33:10Lupin is at the
33:11front gate Luna
33:12he has been dragging
33:13himself through the mud
33:14for the better part
33:15of an hour
33:16he won't leave
33:17I walked out
33:18to the entrance
33:19and looked
33:19through the iron bars
33:21he was there
33:22soaked
33:23shaking
33:23loaded and soaked
33:24from the road
33:25when he saw me
33:26something desperate
33:28ignited in his eyes
33:29he urged order
33:30and the guards
33:31drove him back
33:32he went down
33:33into the frozen mud
33:34why
33:35the word tore out
33:36of him like
33:36it had been caught
33:37on something
33:38Zara tell me
33:39in the last life
33:41you always knew
33:42what was coming
33:43I thought if a blind
33:44girl could build
33:45a kingdom for me
33:45then all I had to do
33:47was take the credit
33:47so why did I lose
33:49everything
33:49he started screaming
33:50slamming his fists
33:52against his own
33:52useless legs
33:53the sound of it
33:54got swallowed up
33:55by the thunder
33:56when he finally
33:57ran out of breath
33:58he looked up at me
33:59he looked small
34:00the arrogance
34:01was gone
34:02what was left
34:03underneath
34:04wasn't much
34:04Zara
34:05like he said
34:06quietly
34:06his voice doing
34:08something
34:09approximating humility
34:10I made a mistake
34:12come back
34:14come back
34:17the luna title
34:18it's yours
34:18truly this time
34:20we can rebuild
34:21together
34:22like before
34:24we can take it
34:25all back
34:25I looked at his soul
34:27thick
34:28oily green
34:29bottomless with it
34:30he wasn't performing
34:31he was genuinely
34:32drowning in regret
34:33that almost made it worse
34:35Lucian
34:35you still don't understand
34:37what you had
34:38I was never your luna
34:39because you became king
34:40you were only ever king
34:42because I chose
34:43to stand beside you
34:44I turned my back
34:46on him
34:46locked toward the warm
34:48lights of the estate
34:49locked the gates
34:51if he sets foot
34:52on this land again
34:53you have my permission
34:54I'm permission
34:54to treat him accordingly
34:55the iron gate
34:57slammed shut
34:57the sound cut through
34:59the rain like a verdict
35:00he was still screaming
35:02my name when I walked
35:03through the front door
35:04I didn't hear that
35:05that door was never
35:07opening again
35:08Celeste's death
35:09the report arrived
35:10this morning
35:11history repeated itself
35:12down to the last
35:13attack
35:14Marcus both turned
35:15to her as an
35:16a man to pull
35:16and they carried her
35:18body out of
35:18the estate
35:19someone noted
35:20the scent
35:20he didn't grieve
35:29he didn't rage
35:31good
35:31she watched me fall
35:32and ran straight
35:33to another man's bed
35:35I gave up everything
35:36in this life for her
35:38and that's how
35:39she repays it
35:39he beat his fists
35:41against the wheels
35:42of his chair
35:42until his knuckles
35:43bled
35:44I never should have
35:45poisoned Zara
35:45I never should have
35:46chosen Celeste
35:47over Zara
35:47I was still holding
35:49the report when I
35:50heard the bedroom door
35:51I crumpled the paper
35:52in my fist
35:53Kyle walked in
35:54I turned toward the window
35:56the sun had gone down
35:57I was just
35:58before I could finish
36:00he reached out
36:01and took the crumpled note
36:02from my hand
36:03he smoothed it flat
36:04then lifted it to the light
36:06then he lowered it
36:07and looked straight at me
36:09you're not blind
36:10in the way you let
36:10everyone believe
36:11are you?
36:13my throat closed
36:15I couldn't find
36:16a single word
36:16I looked into his soul
36:18it was burning
36:19it was sharp
36:20in a small orange
36:21in a feeling
36:22don't I deserve
36:24the truth?
36:25I marked you
36:26I made you my mate
36:28I would have
36:29protected you regardless
36:30blind, wolfless
36:31it didn't matter
36:32but for a year
36:34you let me believe
36:34I understood you
36:37and I didn't
36:38the blind girl
36:39and the cripple
36:40two people who had
36:41made an art form
36:42of being something
36:42they weren't
36:43standing in this room
36:45in the dark
36:45every mask we'd ever
36:47worn was gone
36:47he turned for the door
36:49and I felt something
36:50I hadn't felt
36:51in two lifetimes
36:52genuine terror
36:53I threw myself
36:54off the bed
36:55and wrapped my arms
36:56around him
36:57held on
36:58I could feel
36:59the anger in him
37:00but underneath it
37:01his soul
37:02was already shifting
37:03the orange queen
37:05leading toward
37:06something else
37:07the harder I held on
37:08the faster it faded
37:10my voice came out small
37:11I pressed my face
37:13against his back
37:14and just held on
37:15his soul turned pink
37:17his pride hadn't yield
37:18he was still standing there
37:20every muscle
37:21locked against him
37:22but his heart
37:23had already answered
37:24I came around
37:25to face him
37:26pressed my cheek
37:27against his chest
37:28and listened
37:29his heartbeat
37:30was fast
37:31uneven
37:32his soul was so pink
37:34it was almost blinding
37:35Kyle
37:36I steadied my voice
37:37as best I could
37:39that wasn't the only thing
37:40I lied about
37:41this was the secret
37:42I'd carried through two lives
37:43without telling a single person
37:45I see souls
37:46I can read the truth
37:48inside people
37:49he went completely still
37:50and I know what's coming
37:52the werewolf world
37:53is about to burn
37:55Thorn Harbor
37:56will be under siege
37:58I looked up at him
37:59in my last life
38:01you died
38:01when the city walls fell
38:02his breathing changed
38:04I searched his soul
38:05one last time
38:06not a flicker of doubt
38:07not a trace of fear
38:09only gold
38:12shimmering gold
38:13do you believe me?
38:14I asked
38:15he didn't answer with words
38:16he pulled me into his chest
38:18both arms
38:19no space between us
38:21and buried his face
38:22against my neck
38:23I believe in you
38:27that's the only thing
38:28in this world
38:28I'm sure of
38:29five hours
38:30that is what it took to dismay
38:32Kyle gave me the Alpha War seal
38:35and put every warrior in the pack
38:36under my command
38:37we didn't just hold Thorn Harbor
38:39we took the fight
38:40to the Alpha Wars fortresses
38:41then came the first night
38:42the great siege
38:43the boss army hit the valley
38:45the sea of Blackburg
38:47wall to wall
38:48as far as the door was sealed
38:50Kyle sat in his chair
38:51at the edge of the fortress wall
38:53watching it come
38:54then he stood up
38:54not in our bedroom
38:55not in the dark
38:56where no one could see
38:57the front of every soul
38:59on that mountain field
39:00he shrugged off the heavy coat
39:01he'd hidden behind
39:02for seven years
39:03and let it drop
39:04his bones began to crack
39:05and shift into the moon
39:07he transformed
39:08a massive silver wolf
39:09he was huge
39:10larger than any alpha
39:11in history
39:12his fur shimmered
39:13like liquid metal
39:14in the dark
39:14he stood on the edge
39:15of the fortress wall
39:16and he let out a howl
39:17that shook the very power
39:19every wolf on that field
39:20ally and enemy alike
39:22dropped their heads
39:22not from orders
39:23from something older than orders
39:25seven years of buried power
39:27of swallowed rage
39:28of playing the broken man
39:29while the world underestimated
39:31he snapped his head around
39:32before the echo had died
39:33that silver gaze
39:35cut straight through the smoke
39:36through the fire
39:37through everything between us
39:38and found me
39:39I felt at the moment it landed
39:41not just a look
39:43something that went
39:43all the way down to the bone
39:45like a string he taught
39:46over two lifetimes
39:47had finally been released
39:49dated mate bond
39:50he had kept his wolf
39:51locked away for seven years
39:53the bond had been sealed with him
39:55but now his wolf
39:56was falling awake
39:57and everything he held back
39:59came through at once
40:00he shifted back
40:01dropped one knee on the stone
40:03chest healing
40:04hands braced against the ground
40:06trembling
40:06when he looked up at me
40:08it was like the first time
40:10like he was seeing something
40:11he'd been reaching toward
40:12without knowing it
40:13it's you
40:14his voice was right
40:16it was always you
40:19the moon goddess
40:20didn't give you to me
40:21for your gift
40:24she gave you to me
40:25because you're mine
40:26I felt the truth
40:27within my own hand
40:28every piece of it
40:30clicking into place
40:31all at once
40:31the jolt when our fingers
40:33first touched
40:34at the mating ball
40:34the way his hands
40:36could pull the pain
40:36and come out of my skull
40:37the suffocating dread
40:39every time he left the room
40:40I don't have a wolf
40:42so the bond had come through
40:43quietly
40:44a whisper where it should have been
40:46but it had always been there
40:48from the very first moment
40:50when he reached out
40:50and touched his knee
40:51our blood had already made it
40:54take your place
40:56as alpha king
40:57the grand hall was in ruins around him
41:00dust still settling from the siege
41:02and Zara shall be your luna
41:05Kyle didn't hesitate
41:06no
41:07one word
41:08it landed in that hall
41:09left the stone dropped into stone
41:11I'm issuing two commands
41:13first
41:15we are establishing a dual kingship
41:19Zara and I rule together
41:21as equals
41:22the silence cracked
41:24impossible
41:25there has never been a woman
41:27on that throne
41:28Kyle stepped up onto the platform
41:30he looked out across the council
41:32every face
41:33every objection
41:34with the kind of calm
41:36that has nothing left to prove
41:37when Thorn Harbor was under siege
41:39Zara stood on the front lines
41:41beside me
41:43every wound I took
41:44she felt
41:46every sacrifice I made
41:48she had already paid a higher price for
41:50he brought his hand down flat on the stone table
41:53crack of it I believe
41:54without her
41:55I'd be in an unmarked grave on the battlefield
41:58you don't get to erase what she built
42:00just because she isn't what you expected
42:05I am the Alpha King
42:07and so is she
42:09Alpha King
42:10he leaned forward
42:11voice dropping
42:12if anyone here has a problem with that
42:14step forward now
42:15no one moved
42:16I have spent seven years being underestimated
42:18I have no patience left for it
42:20not for myself
42:21and not for her
42:22the bond had been a river with no outlet for years
42:25the night the war ended the dam broke
42:27he marked me
42:28the moment his teeth found the back of my neck
42:30something detonated beneath my skin
42:32not pain
42:33or not only pain
42:34something that felt like being struck by lightning from the inside
42:37my bones began to shift
42:39I screamed
42:40Kyle didn't let go
42:41he pulled me harder against his chest
42:43and held on
42:43his soul blazing gold in my sight
42:45steady as a fixed star
42:47an anchor in the middle of everything from the part
42:49something that had been raiding under my skin for 17 years
42:52was finally waking up
42:53it was never missing
42:54it was just too powerful to surface one song
42:57that needed something equally matched to call it out
42:59I shifted
43:00white
43:00pure
43:01absolute white
43:02a wolf larger than any female in recorded history
43:05her coat caught the moonlight the way fresh snow catches it from within
43:09Kyle's silver wolf circled me
43:10haunts twice
43:11three times
43:12then he stopped
43:14pressed his massive head against my neck
43:16and let out a sound so low and so full
43:19it barely qualified as a sound at all
43:21the elders hadn't moved
43:23in the old legends
43:24the white wolf is the living avatar of the moon goddess
43:27she hadn't walked the earth in 500 years
43:30I had never been broken
43:31my wolf had never been missing
43:33she was just waiting for the one person strong enough to bring her home
43:37Kyle shifted back
43:38he pulled me into his lap and held me there
43:41both of us still catching our breath
43:43the soul
43:44as I looked at it
43:45I had no words
43:47gold and pink
43:48woven together so completely
43:50they'd become a single color
43:52that didn't exist anywhere else
43:55I knew
43:55he said into my hand
43:56from the moment you chose me at the ball
44:00I didn't know what you were
44:03but I knew you were something the world hadn't seen before
44:07you were just waiting for someone to finally find you
44:09I never let myself dream this far in my last life
44:12I was too busy holding someone else to ever look up for myself
44:16now I sat at the highest seat in the council hall
44:19Kyle beside me
44:20every elf
44:23the intelligence network was mine
44:25the land rights were mine to grant or revoke
44:28the power I had spent a lifetime building for someone else
44:31it was finally in my own hands
44:33and then they brought in Lucian
44:35he dragged himself across the stone floor on his hands
44:38he reached my boots
44:39and stretched out one trembling hand toward the hem of my robes
44:43a guard stepped forward
44:45his sword flashed
44:46the blade stopped an inch from Lucian's fingers
44:49Lucian didn't even register
44:51he just started screaming
44:52this isn't right
44:54that seat belongs to me
44:57you were my instrument Zara
44:59I promised to make you my Luna
45:01why isn't that enough for you
45:02get down
45:03help me up there
45:04that's where I'm supposed to be
45:06I looked at him for a long moment
45:08I remembered the last line
45:10the rebel wolves had us surrounded
45:12he didn't reach for me
45:13he didn't hesitate
45:14he turned and ran
45:16and when they caught him anyway
45:17he offered me up to find himself another day
45:20and at the very end
45:21he was the one who forced the wolf's bane down my throat
45:24he was the one who gave Celeste my title and my burial
45:27he threw my body to the crows
45:29and now he was on the floor of my hall
45:32demanding I come down and handed our back to him
45:34I looked at his soul
45:36there was nothing left in my throat
45:38hold him
45:39the guards pinned him to the stone
45:41he crashed he tried to bite
45:43he screamed until his voice cracked
45:45they forced his jaw open
45:46and I poured the wolf's bane myself
45:49a quick death would have been mercy
45:50and I had none left to give him
45:52this was something else
45:54a slow total erasure
45:56first
45:57the taste would go
45:58then the smell of air
45:59then the light
46:01fading at the edges
46:02dimming inward
46:03then sound
46:04then touch
46:04then nothing at all
46:06a living body with no world left inside it
46:09trapped in the dark he had always carried
46:10with nothing for company but his own guilt
46:13it took a week
46:14the guard came to me on a quiet morning
46:16and delivered the news without ceremony
46:18Lucian was dead
46:19died in total silence
46:21total darkness
46:23without a single sensation to mark the end
46:25what should we do with the body?
46:27I didn't look up for my work
46:28take it outside the territory
46:30no retts
46:31no marker
46:33leave nothing
46:34I gave his remains exactly what he gave mine
46:37down to the last detail
46:39the account was closed
46:41the fire had burned down to embers
46:43the room was almost quiet
46:47Kyle's arms came around my waist from behind
46:50his breath was warm and even against my neck
46:56you went to see him today?
46:58I did
46:59I watched a monster reach the end he earned
47:02I leaned back into him
47:03are you jealous of a dead man Kyle?
47:06a low sound in his chest
47:08not quite a laugh
47:09he reached up slowly and found the knot of the silk blindfold
47:12I still wore in public
47:13worked it loose
47:14let it fall
47:16the moonlight came through the window
47:17neither of us spoke for a while
47:19then he took my hand and guided it to his chest
47:22pressed it flat right above his heart
47:24Zara tell me what color it is
47:25I laughed soft surprised by it
47:28I closed my eyes and turned everything I had toward him
47:31this man who gave me his trust before I deserved it
47:33who stood up in front of an army
47:35to unmake seven years of his own carefully constructed life
47:38who fought his way to a throne he didn't want
47:40just so I could stand beside him on equal ground
47:43his soul
47:44I don't have the words for it
47:46even now
47:46a pillar of gold
47:47deep and unwavering
47:49and running through the heart of it
47:50a tide of pink so rich and so dark
47:52it looked like the last light of a sunset
47:54seen through clear water
47:55the kind of color time can't bleach
47:57the most beautiful thing I've ever seen
48:00and I've seen a lot of ugly things
48:02his arms tightened around me
48:05describe it
48:06you want to hear it
48:07I turned in his arms
48:08found his chest
48:10pressed my lips to the place above his heart
48:12and held them there
48:13I don't think any language is the right words
48:15I looked up at him
48:17but I have the rest of my life to try
48:18I live with him
48:20I live with him
48:25you
48:25you
48:26you
48:26You
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