- 10 hours ago
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Short filmTranscript
00:00At the Celebration Moon Banquet, someone asked my alpha husband a question.
00:04Kale, how can you still in the mood to drink? Shouldn't you be at a funeral today?
00:08Kyle Blackhead looked completely lost.
00:10Whose funeral?
00:11The vault nobles in the hall fell dead silent.
00:13You're Luna's adoptive mother, Maeve Vale. She died five days ago.
00:17She was buried today at Silver Lake. You did not know?
00:20The silver cup slipped from Kale's hand and smashed on the floor.
00:23Moonberry wine splashed across his black formal coat like blood that had arrived too late.
00:28He did not know. Of course he did not know.
00:30Five days earlier, I had knelt in the corridor of Moonwell Infirmary, pleading repeatedly for Moonwell's serum.
00:36Rain ran from my hair into my collar. My moon robe clung coldly to my shoulders.
00:41Maeve was burning with moonrot fever. She was not a pureblood wolf of ironpoint pack.
00:45Only the human woman who had taken me in, raised me, and turned a mud-covered street girl into a
00:50Luna who could stand beside an alpha.
00:52The healer said a timely injection could still save her. So I requested 50,000 moonsilver from the Luna treasury.
00:59Sienna Frost sent the request back with a gentle, polished smile.
01:02Mira Moonwell is not a charity house for outsiders.
01:05You can't just use pack resources to subsidize a bloodless woman, simply because you became Luna.
01:14I told Sienna it was life-saving money. She asked me to resubmit proof of kinship, a treatment plan, council
01:23authorization, and the alpha's written approval.
01:27So I called Kale. He did not answer. I called a second time, then a third.
01:35It wasn't until the 11th call that he finally cut the connection.
01:40Only later did I learn that he was comforting Sienna.
01:44That morning, I had rushed into Pack Hall to question the approval process, bringing her to tears in front of
01:51everyone.
01:52She only said one thing to Kale.
01:55Alpha?
01:57Mira may still not be used to being Luna. She lacks discipline.
02:00I only want to help her learn the rules.
02:05Then she took a moonstone pendant from her drawer and hung it against the inside of his wrist.
02:13My grandmother left me this calm stone.
02:16It filters out intense emotional fluctuations.
02:20Alpha, you've been under a lot of border pressure lately.
02:25You shouldn't be bothered by the Luna's domestic trivialities.
02:29Kale did not refuse.
02:32From that day on, the pendant hung on the chain of his communication stone,
02:38silently severing every sharp pain that should have reached him through the mate bond.
02:47So when I knelt in the rain, when my chest felt as if it were tearing apart,
02:52all he sensed was a distant, dull noise he could ignore.
02:57When the call finally connected again, he interrupted me coldly.
03:03Listen to Sienna.
03:04She understands Pack rules better than you.
03:08Kale, please hear me out.
03:10Maeve can't hold on.
03:11Do not use your adoptive mother to guilt trip me.
03:14You always have a new excuse when asking for money.
03:17The connection died.
03:19The rain was deafening.
03:26I stared at the closed gates of Moonwell Infirmary and suddenly felt that my five years as Luna
03:31felt like a prolonged fever dream.
03:33Outsiders believed I was Iron Peak's Luna.
03:36Protected by the Alpha's mark, the Black Pine Palace and the respect of an entire pack.
03:41In truth, I had to ask Sienna for approval before I could wear a decent dress.
03:45When I married into Iron Peak, the council issued a Luna resource allocation charter.
03:50It said a Luna from outside the pack needed a steward appointed by the Alpha to review all
03:55resources during her adaptation period.
03:59Kale acquainted Sienna.
04:00The adaptation period was five years.
04:03My mother did not survive to the end of it.
04:05Every banquet, diplomatic meeting, and pack council required me to fill out a Luna supply form.
04:11Sienna always held the approval until the last moment.
04:15Mira, your reason is not sufficient.
04:18This cloak is too expensive.
04:20You are only accompanying the Alpha.
04:23Do not steal the spotlight.
04:24A moon carriage until 11?
04:27A Luna should know restraint.
04:29When I arrived late, Kale would frown.
04:31Mira, do you have no sense of time?
04:34Look at Sienna.
04:35She always knows how to keep everything orderly.
04:37Yes.
04:38Of course she did.
04:39She locked me piece by piece into procedures she had designed herself, then let Kale watch
04:43me look helpless.
04:47Until Maeve died in a hospital bed.
04:52Only then did I understand.
04:54This mate bond was never shelter.
04:58It was a cage.
05:03That day, the rain gradually faded.
05:06I stood beside my mother's cold hospital bed, and held the hand that had already gone still.
05:12Her last words, were not, I love you.
05:16They were, I'm sorry.
05:18She said she had failed to protect me, failed to see his true colors before I married him, failed to
05:23carry me out of that palace one more time.
05:25She did not know that she had already saved me, not because she had lived three more days in the
05:29infirmary, but because she had shown me the truth.
05:32The place I thought was home had never treated me as family.
05:35I pressed my face into her palm and wept silently for a very long time.
05:40Then I wiped my eyes and asked Kale for severance.
05:45He replied with only three words.
05:48Stop being ridiculous.
05:51At that moment I remembered the first rainy night after I married him.
05:55He had wrapped a cloak around me with his own hands, led me through the black pine path and told
05:59me Iron Peak would be my home.
06:01He said the alpha's mark would protect me.
06:03He said no one would ever make me lower my head again.
06:05I had believed him.
06:06So I learned pack etiquette, moon hall banquet rules, and the ancient family's convoluted titles and subtext.
06:12The first time Sienna smiled as she returned my dress application.
06:16I simply thought I wasn't familiar enough with the procedure.
06:20The second time, she made me wait three hours in a downpour just to get a temporary silver pass into
06:26pack hall.
06:28Even then, I told myself that as a newly appointed Luna, I really did need to tread more carefully.
06:34Then I discovered all those rules were strict only for me.
06:39The ladies of the beta families could take carriages and jewelry whenever they pleased.
06:43The council wives could summon Moonwell's private healers at will.
06:47Yet I, the Luna personally marked by the alpha, had to wait at Sienna's desk just to get an approval
06:54signature, for a bottle of painkillers for my adoptive mother.
06:58Sienna was not teaching me manners.
07:00She was showing Iron Peak that its Luna had no real power.
07:04Ironically Kale saw it.
07:05He simply thought that was best.
07:07Because a Luna trapped by procedures is the quietest, the most obedient, and the least likely to cause him any
07:13trouble.
07:17When he spoke to me in his study, his eyes never left the patrol map in his hands.
07:22Border rogue activity, winter hunting grounds, pack council resource allocation, and everything was more important than me.
07:29I stood there with my rain-soaked skirt sticking to my calves.
07:34I mean it. I want to sever the mate bond.
07:38Kale finally set the map down and looked at me.
07:41His expression was not concerned. It was impatience.
07:45Your mother's treatment pause was temporarily held by Sienna, according to the charter.
07:50I have already had her treatment access restored.
07:52I already signed it yesterday.
07:55Mira, my patience is limited.
07:56Stop using this method to compete for attention.
08:00Restored the treatment permission.
08:02He said it so lightly, as if my mother could rise from her coffin and thank him for his late
08:07mercy.
08:07I looked at him and suddenly laughed.
08:13Kale, she is dead.
08:17His brows tightened.
08:19I know you are angry, but do not joke about death like that.
08:22I stopped explaining.
08:24I had explained too many times.
08:27I had told him Sienna locked my clothes, food, travel, and medical needs inside the Luna ledger.
08:34He said it was to help me learn pack etiquette.
08:37I had told him Sienna released approvals at the last second so I would embarrass myself.
08:43He told me to reflect on why I was never prepared.
08:46I had told him Sienna was full of malice towards my adoptive mother.
08:50He said Sienna came from a beta family and wouldn't be as petty as I was.
08:55In his eyes, I was still the poor girl Maya had picked up from the streets.
08:59Even after becoming his fated mate, I was still someone who needed to be disciplined,
09:04molded, and reminded she did not deserve too much.
09:07And I was truly tired.
09:12After leaving the study, I saw at Sienna had posted a public update.
09:16She stood beside at Kale, wrapped in the silver gray shawl that should have belonged to the Luna.
09:21The caption was short.
09:22Thank you for the Alpha's trust.
09:23Guarding Iron Rex order is my honor.
09:26I looked at the photo and calmly gave it a like.
09:29Minutes later, at Kale messaged me.
09:31Sienna only performed well at work.
09:33I rewarded her on behalf of the pack.
09:35Do not overthink it.
09:37Then another message arrived.
09:38Since you left a like, drop a comment.
09:41Do not let people think you are jealous.
09:43I had not planned to answer, but in that moment I felt sick.
09:47So I commented under Sienna's post.
09:49Indeed, very responsible.
09:51You held back the Luna's medical funds,
09:53dragged out the process until her adoptive mother died,
09:55and still made the procedure airtight.
09:57Iron Peak is blessed to have you.
09:58Please keep guarding the Luna treasury.
10:01Every moon silver coin you save today may become your own wealth tomorrow.
10:08After posting, I started packing.
10:11There was hardly anything to pack.
10:14In the Alpha and Luna's main residence,
10:16almost nothing truly belonged to me.
10:19An old raincoat.
10:21A research notebook.
10:23A copper ring Maeve had left me.
10:26That was all.
10:27I took one last look at this room I had lived in for five years.
10:32On the wall hung our bonding portrait.
10:35The girl in the silver-white gown still looked naive enough to believe in the future.
10:40That gown had later been locked away.
10:42Sienna said it was too grand,
10:44and would give a young Luna unnecessary vanity.
10:50She even confiscated the old blanket my mother gave me,
10:54saying such cheap items didn't belong in the main residence.
10:57That was the blanket Maeve had stayed up late knitting for me.
11:01I fought with Aunt Sienna over it once.
11:05Aunt Kyle only said one thing.
11:07She's just trying to maintain the image of the estate.
11:10After that, I never kept anything of my own in this room again.
11:15Because I finally understood that in this place,
11:18the real me wasn't allowed to exist.
11:21Only an empty shell of a Luna that fit their perfect image.
11:27I pulled a heavily folded piece of paper from the bottom drawer of the nightstand.
11:34Maeve had written it a week before she passed.
11:47She was already running a low fever by then,
11:52her hand trembling violently as she held the pen.
11:55I had smiled that day, folded the note,
11:58and told her she was worrying for nothing.
12:01I thought I could still protect her.
12:04I thought the title of Luna could buy at least a single vial of serum.
12:10I pressed the note to my chest,
12:12and sat in dead silence for a long, long time.
12:17Outside, the moonlight slanted down from the despires of the estate.
12:22Like a blade that was five days too late.
12:27Kale returned quickly.
12:29Whenever Sienna was involved, he was always on time.
12:33He strode into the bedroom with a dark expression.
12:37Mira, since when did you become such a bitter woman?
12:41I zipped my bag.
12:42When you made me apply to another woman for the money that could save my mother.
12:47He looked as if he had heard something absurd.
12:51You are still talking about that.
12:53What was wrong with Sienna following procedure?
12:56I dumped the bag onto the floor.
12:58Only the old raincoat and a few wrinkled notebooks fell out.
13:02Take a good look.
13:04This is the superior life you say an alpha gives his Luna?
13:08I had to fill out a form just to buy a dress.
13:10To step outside.
13:12Even to get treatment for my dying mother.
13:14The manager of Iron Peak Stables lives with more freedom than I do.
13:18There was no guilt on Kale's face.
13:20Only confusion.
13:22Because of these things?
13:24In that instant,
13:26I understood that every word I said had fallen on deaf ears.
13:29It was not that he did not understand.
13:32He simply believed I should not rebel over things he considered small.
13:36I lowered my eyes.
13:38Contact the PAC tribunal.
13:39I am applying for bond severance.
13:43Kale did not agree to severance.
13:45But he could not refuse directly.
13:47Under Iron Seek's ancient law when Aluna requested severance alone.
13:51The alpha had only two choices.
13:53Accept it in court or call the council to vote against it.
13:56He chose the latter.
13:58He wanted me to admit defeat in front of the council.
14:01After all,
14:02All of Iron Peak believed Aluna who left her alpha would live with less dignity than a stray wolf.
14:07Kale was certain I could not leave Iron Peak.
14:10He was certain I could not leave him.
14:11In the PAC's eyes,
14:13Aluna leaving her alpha was like the moon leaving the night sky.
14:16But they had forgotten that before I met Kale,
14:18I had survived alone for many years.
14:21After leaving the main residence,
14:23I dragged my bag to Professor Alara Hayes.
14:26She had been my university mentor.
14:27And now she led the Northridge Wild Wolf Reserve.
14:31Years ago when I gave up a border ecology project to marry Kale,
14:35Alara had opposed it the most.
14:37The night before my wedding,
14:38She sent me one message,
14:39Mira,
14:40Poverty is not a dead end,
14:42Dependence is,
14:43Do not hand over your whole life just because an alpha's halo dazzles you for a moment.
14:47I had not listened then.
14:48Five years later,
14:50I knocked on her door at midnight,
14:52Carrying rainwater and the cold scent of my mother's funeral.
14:55Come in.
14:56No judgment.
14:57No questions asked.
14:58She set a cup of hot tea in front of me.
15:00Only after I had cried myself hoarse did she finally take her time to speak.
15:05Tell me you haven't completely forgotten your field tracking skills.
15:09I froze.
15:10She pulled out a project file.
15:12The border wolves at Northridge are showing abnormal migration patterns.
15:15We need someone who knows PAC dynamics inside and out.
15:18You in?
15:19I stared at the file,
15:20Tears welling up all over again.
15:25I'm in.
15:28Ready to get your hands dirty?
15:29I can survive anything now.
15:32Alara smiled faintly.
15:34Good.
15:35Then stop crying.
15:36We head out at 5 a.m. tomorrow.
15:39Science doesn't wait around just p.m. because it's your heart broken.
15:42The next day,
15:43I followed the reserve team deep into Northridge.
15:45Out there,
15:46there were no alpha commands,
15:48no Luna etiquette lessons,
15:49and no application forms handed back with Santa's perfectly sweet smile.
15:53Just mud,
15:55rainforests,
15:55sample kits,
15:56and the distant howls of wolves in the dead of night.
15:58At first,
15:59it was an adjustment.
16:00But the knowledge I had buried beneath my marriage,
16:03soon found its way back into my bones,
16:05piece by piece.
16:06I could identify migration tracks,
16:09log pack dynamics,
16:10and sense danger the moment the wind shifted.
16:14Mira,
16:15were you really just a Luna before?
16:19I smiled.
16:22No.
16:25Once,
16:26I almost became myself.
16:30Just when I thought life was beginning again,
16:33Sienna appeared at the reserve camp.
16:35She wore a spotless white cloak,
16:37and stood at the edge of the mud with disgust in her eyes.
16:41So you left Kale to mix with these rogue researchers?
16:45My face cooled.
16:49Sienna,
16:50are you a sewer rat?
16:51Can't I go anywhere without seeing you?
16:54Her expression changed.
16:57Around us,
16:58the researchers all stopped working.
17:00Sienna probably never expected that I would leave her so utterly humiliated in front of a group of outsiders.
17:06In Iron Peak,
17:07she had always used rules to press me down,
17:10but this was not Iron Point.
17:11There was no Luna ledger here,
17:13no council ladies judging me,
17:15and no Kale standing behind her.
17:17I picked up a sample bottle and looked at her coldly.
17:20Northridge is a reserve,
17:21not your pack hall.
17:23If you want to putcher as a beta family lady,
17:26go back to your silver carpet.
17:29Sienna's eyes instantly whelmed up with tears.
17:33Mira,
17:33I'm just worried about you.
17:35You've been so emotionally unstable since leaving the Alpha.
17:41What if you get taken advantage of by these people who don't even know the rules?
17:47The young research flushed red with anger.
17:49Professor Allura stepped out of the tent,
17:51a clipboard in hand.
17:53Miss Frost,
17:54the research station does not entertain unauthorized personnel.
17:56You are currently standing right on the migration tracks we just marked.
18:00Take one more step,
18:01and I will have you escorted off the reserve.
18:03Sienna's perfect facade finally cracked back in Iron Peck.
18:07She was used to everyone stepping aside for her,
18:10but here,
18:10she didn't even have the right to step on a patch of wet mud.
18:14That was when Kale came from behind her.
18:16What is going on?
18:17Kale asked.
18:18Sienna's eyes reddened instantly.
18:21Alpha,
18:22I only saw Mira with these low-level wanders,
18:25and worried she was being used.
18:27Kyle looked at me and frowned.
18:29Mira,
18:31are you making things difficult for her again?
18:33I was too tired to explain.
18:35I turned back to my sample box.
18:37A researcher whispered,
18:40Who is he?
18:41I answered calmly,
18:44my arrogant former Alpha,
18:46who has no idea what respect is.
18:52Kale's face darkened.
18:54You have already hidden here.
18:55How long do you plan to keep making a scene?
18:58Your mother is still in Moonwall Infirmary.
19:01Are you really going to ignore her too?
19:03My hand stopped.
19:05I turned and looked at him,
19:07then stop her treatment if you want.
19:08You are good at that.
19:10Perhaps my gaze was too cold,
19:12because Kale finally sensed something was wrong.
19:15In front of everyone,
19:16he connected to Moonwall Infirmary.
19:22Restore Maeve Vale's full treatment permission.
19:25The healer on the other end
19:26was silent for a long time.
19:29Alpha,
19:30Maeve,
19:31Vale passed away last month.
19:33What did you say?
19:35Wind moved through the camp.
19:37Kale looked as if a blade had struck him in the face.
19:41The healer's voice trembled.
19:43We reported it to you,
19:45but you said private matters involving Luna
19:47should not disturb you when you were in a good mood.
19:49That order was drafted by Miss Frost.
19:51You gave oral authorization.
19:53Kyle looked down at the calm stone on his wrist.
19:55It was still warm and quiet,
19:56like a meticulously considerate shell.
19:59For the first time,
20:00he grabbed the pendant.
20:01He wanted to rip it off,
20:03only to find the knot had been tied into a dead knot long ago.
20:06He finally understood that what he couldn't hear
20:09over the past five years
20:10was never Mira's capriciousness.
20:12It was her cries for help,
20:14time and time again.
20:17When he raised his head,
20:18his gaze slowly turned to Sienna.
20:24Kale demanded to see Sienna's approval logs
20:27for the first time.
20:28I only learned later what those logs contained.
20:31I had submitted seven emergency treatment applications.
20:36Sienna had returned all seven.
20:39The first time,
20:41she said non-pure blood relatives
20:43could not use Moonwell resources directly.
20:46The second,
20:47she said my Luna authority required council review.
20:51The third,
20:52she said Maeve's diagnosis was not formal enough.
20:55The fourth,
20:56she said Moonwell serum was limited,
20:59and pack warriors came first.
21:01The fifth,
21:03she said I was emotionally unstable,
21:05and possibly exaggerating the illness.
21:08The sixth,
21:10she demanded the alpha's handwritten permission.
21:14The seventh,
21:15she gave no reason.
21:17Because by then,
21:19Maeve was already dead.
21:21What silenced Kale most
21:23was the copy path on the logs.
21:26Every rejected application
21:28had been sent to his private communication stone.
21:32He had not read a single one.
21:34Sienna had classified them as Luna domestic trivia.
21:39And on the day he first wore the calm stone,
21:42he muted that entire category of messages.
21:45After reading the logs,
21:47Kale came to the edge of the camp at midnight.
21:50When I stepped out of my tent,
21:52the wolf shape in the shadows startled me.
21:55He shifted back quickly,
21:57his voice hoarse came.
22:00Mira.
22:01I stepped half a stess back.
22:03He saw it,
22:04and the color drained from his face.
22:06I removed Sienna from her steward position
22:09and froze her family authority.
22:10I truly did not know about your mother.
22:13Give me one chance to make it up to you.
22:18Hearing him say that only made me tired.
22:21Kale.
22:23Do you think the problem between us is only Sienna?
22:26He froze.
22:27She lied to me.
22:29She lied to everyone.
22:31No.
22:32You gave her the power to lie to me.
22:35I looked up at him.
22:37His breath caught in the night.
22:39I continued.
22:40You made me apply to her for clothes,
22:43carriages, and treatment money.
22:45You let her manage me for you,
22:47then used the mess she created
22:48to accuse me of not being dignified enough.
22:51You called me Luna,
22:53but you never treated me as your mate.
22:55I was not your pack member,
22:57not your subordinate,
22:58and not a pet you needed to tame with rules.
23:00Kale reached for my hand.
23:02I avoided him.
23:03His fingers froze in the air.
23:05Mira, I never wanted to sever for you.
23:06You are my mate.
23:10Then why did you never listen to me?
23:13He could not answer.
23:15I said quietly,
23:16I gave you many chances.
23:19But you wasted every single one of them.
23:26The next morning,
23:28Kale arrived at the reserve with warriors
23:29and a large supply canvoy.
23:31He said Iron Peak would fully support
23:34the Northridge project.
23:35He said he was willing to learn respect
23:37from the beginning.
23:39He said he wanted to pursue me again.
23:42Then he opened a warmer
23:43and took out a honey cinnamon roll.
23:45I remember you bought this every morning.
23:48I looked at the steaming pastry
23:49and suddenly laughed.
23:50That was Sienna's favorite.
23:56Kale's expression stiffened.
23:58I crossed half the city,
23:59every dawn, to buy it,
24:01because you said she was tired
24:02from night duty and wanted one.
24:04Later, she told me to buy two,
24:06saying you liked them too.
24:09I never liked this, Kale.
24:11I am allergic to cinnamon.
24:13There was a note in the infirmary's old file.
24:15It was accidentally deleted
24:16the same week Sienna took my medical form.
24:18He opened his mouth.
24:20Then what do you like?
24:20I lowered my head
24:21and continued sorting sample bags.
24:23It is not important anymore.
24:27But he acted as if he had finally
24:29found the doorway to atonement.
24:31From that day on,
24:32he kept sending me things.
24:33Silver leaf broochids,
24:35expensive moon dew cream,
24:37white moon lilies that made my skin burn.
24:39Every item was something
24:40Shiana had once showed off
24:41in a public post.
24:42The researchers began to whisper.
24:45Is the alpha chasing Mira
24:46or chasing Sienna through her?
24:49Maybe to him,
24:50they've always been interchangeable.
24:52I did not explain.
24:54Because some truths,
24:55he just had to figure out for himself.
24:57On the last day of the project,
24:59Kale arrived with a solemn expression
25:01in a velvet box.
25:02You will like this one.
25:03I did not open it.
25:04It is a custom watch, right?
25:06His eyes lit off.
25:07How did you know?
25:07Because Sienna likes watches.
25:08I looked at him
25:09and found the whole performance
25:10almost absurd.
25:11His face slowly turned pale.
25:12Since you remember all her preferences,
25:14why didn't you just be with her?
25:16I asked him.
25:17Kale almost answered without thinking.
25:18Her Frost family background
25:19is too complicated.
25:20The council would never accept her as Luna.
25:22The instant the words left his mouth,
25:24even he froze.
25:25I did not.
25:26I only zipped the sample bag shut.
25:28What I heard in that sentence
25:29was everything he had never said
25:30in five years.
25:32He liked Sienna's taste,
25:34Sienna's manners,
25:34and Sienna's polished pack bread dignity.
25:37But what he needed
25:38was a Luna the council would not oppose.
25:41I was perfect for that.
25:42An orphan.
25:44No family.
25:45No political ties.
25:46A blank sheet clean enough
25:48for anyone to stay.
25:49And Sienna was clever enough
25:50to know she could not be Luna,
25:51so she turned Luna into an empty shell
25:53and stuffed me inside it.
25:54She occupied every place
25:56a Luna should have held except me.
25:57His mornings,
25:58his preferences,
25:59his trust,
26:00the inside of his wrist.
26:01She left me with nothing
26:02but the empty title of Luna.
26:04I looked at Kale.
26:05I accepted the mate bond
26:06because only Iron Peck's Moonwell
26:08could keep my mother alive.
26:09At that time,
26:10she had already been ill
26:11for three years.
26:12Every year,
26:12she survived on serum
26:14from your pack.
26:15I did not love you.
26:16I was grateful.
26:17I thought gratitude
26:18would be enough
26:19to last me a lifetime.
26:23Now she is dead.
26:24My gratitude to you
26:26is paid off.
26:27He stumbled half a step back,
26:29as if someone had shoved him
26:30hard in the chest.
26:32I do not need your privileges,
26:34your late concern,
26:35or you.
26:39After we returned
26:40to Blackwood territory,
26:41the bond severance
26:42went unexpectedly smoothly.
26:44Kale withdrew
26:44his counsel objection.
26:46At the meeting,
26:47someone suggested
26:48keeping the mate bond
26:49and letting me remain
26:50in Iron Peak
26:50as a Luma in name only.
26:52Kale stayed silent
26:53for a long time.
26:54Then he placed
26:55seven rejected
26:56emergency treatment applications
26:58in the center
26:58of the long table.
27:01If a Pax Luna
27:02cannot save her own mother,
27:03then that position
27:04should not use my name
27:05to keep trapping her.
27:07I withdraw my objection.
27:09It was the first time
27:10he spoke for me
27:11in front of the council.
27:12It was also the last.
27:14Kale did not come.
27:16His conciliare
27:17brought the signed documents,
27:18compensation money,
27:19a mountain cottage,
27:20and the silver pine forest
27:22near the main residence
27:23that had once belonged
27:24to the Luna.
27:25Everyone thought
27:25I would be moved.
27:27I only signed calmly.
27:29When the mate bond severed,
27:31my chest felt
27:32as if a fine thread
27:33had cut through it.
27:34It did not hurt.
27:36It was only empty.
27:37In the Pax Tribunal Hall,
27:39twelve moonlamps burned.
27:41By ancient Ironhead custom,
27:43both Alpha and Luna
27:44should press their palms
27:45to the moonstone
27:46so it could witness
27:47the mark retreat.
27:48Kale had sent only one drop
27:50of Alpha blood
27:51in a silver vial.
27:53The elder poured it
27:54onto the stone.
27:55The blood dropped
27:56quickly as heaped in,
27:57and a ring of cold white light
27:59illuminated the stone surface.
28:01I pressed my palm down.
28:04The mate mark on my chest
28:05felt as if ice water
28:07had washed through it.
28:08I heard low sighs
28:09ripple through the hall.
28:10Hushed whispers
28:11quickly followed.
28:12She's really walking away
28:13from the Alpha's bond.
28:15What is she even gonna be
28:16without Iron Peak?
28:18A former Luna
28:19without a pack.
28:20She'll be more pathetic
28:21than a rogue wolf.
28:22I didn't look back.
28:24For the past five years,
28:25I had cared far too much
28:26about those voices.
28:28Cared that people said
28:29I wasn't good enough
28:29for Kale.
28:30Cared that the council wives
28:31despised my low birth.
28:33And cared that Tiana
28:34mocked my lack of manners.
28:35And cared about that
28:36faint look of disappointment
28:37in Kale's eyes
28:38whenever he looked at me.
28:39But now,
28:40I was finally done caring.
28:41When the light faded,
28:43the elder announced,
28:43Mate bond severed.
28:45I did not cry.
28:46I simply let out
28:47a soft breath,
28:48like a drowning person
28:49breaking the surface,
28:51finally taking that
28:51first real breath of air.
28:53That emptiness confirmed it.
28:55I had finally stepped out
28:56from under Iron Peak's moonlight.
29:00I donated half the compensation
29:03to Moonwell Infirmary's fund
29:04for non-pack patients.
29:06With it,
29:07I submitted one final proposal
29:09under my name
29:10as former Luna.
29:11It contained only one rule.
29:14Emergency treatment applications
29:15for non-pureblood relatives
29:17could no longer be approved
29:18or rejected by a single steward.
29:20If no decision was made
29:22within 24 hours,
29:23the application would pass automatically.
29:27I named it the Vale Clause.
29:30Vale was my mother's surname.
29:32It was the only trace of her
29:34I wanted to leave
29:35in the second half of my life.
29:39With the other half
29:40of the compensation,
29:41I founded an independent
29:43research station
29:44at North Ridge.
29:45As for the silver pine forest
29:47and the mountain cottage,
29:49I listed them for sale
29:50on the pack exchange.
29:52The buyer placed an order
29:54quickly at a ridiculous price,
29:55without asking a single question.
29:58I did not check.
30:00I already knew who it was.
30:04That evening,
30:05Kyle sent a message.
30:08Why sell those?
30:09Is the money not enough?
30:11I did not reply.
30:17After dark,
30:18his assistant came to my door
30:19with a moon silver card.
30:21The alpha says
30:22the previous compensation
30:23was too little.
30:28I saw Kale sitting in a black vehicle
30:30across the street
30:31and returned the card to him.
30:33Kale,
30:34I do thank you
30:35for not making the ending uglier.
30:37His eyes were red.
30:38Mira,
30:39I only want to compensate you.
30:41No need.
30:42We are even.
30:43He suddenly lost his composure.
30:45How can we possibly be even?
30:47Your mother's death?
30:48Everything I put you through?
30:49How can one sentence
30:50just wipe all of that clean?
30:52I looked at him.
30:54I did hate you.
30:56Words failed him.
30:58Maeve's husband abandoned her.
31:00Her biological son
31:02called another woman mother
31:03for money.
31:05She spent her entire life
31:07being left behind.
31:08But in her most desperate moments,
31:10it was Ironpok's medical resources
31:12that gave her three more years.
31:13So I am done hating.
31:18I thought of my mother's frail,
31:20withered hand on her deathbed.
31:21How she had gently covered my eyes.
31:26Mira,
31:26don't spend the rest of your life
31:28paying off a debt of resentment.
31:30The rain will stop eventually.
31:32You have to keep moving forward.
31:34In that moment,
31:35the person I hated most
31:36wasn't Kale,
31:37nor was it Sienna.
31:38It was myself.
31:39I hated myself
31:40for having to kneel
31:41at the gates of someone else's power
31:42just to buy my mother more time.
31:44I hated myself
31:45for not listening to Alara sooner,
31:47for never taking my mother
31:48to see the ocean
31:49she had always dreamed of.
31:50And I hated myself
31:52for trapping my mother's final days
31:54between a hospital bed
31:55and the moon well.
31:56So now,
31:57I only want to move forward.
31:59I said to Kale,
32:01You have compensated me
32:02more than enough.
32:03The rest is between me
32:05and myself.
32:06He sat in the car,
32:07looking as if those words
32:09had utterly shattered him.
32:10We lingered in the freezing wind
32:12in a long, suffocating silence.
32:15Finally,
32:16I turned and walked away.
32:19No goodbyes.
32:20And no looking back.
32:25After that,
32:26I put all my energy
32:27into Northridge.
32:29The reserve's research station
32:31was built.
32:31I started mentoring students,
32:34making migration models,
32:35and helping small border packs
32:38create independent
32:38medical aid networks.
32:40Once,
32:41Alara patted my shoulder
32:42and said,
32:42Choose your students carefully.
32:44I am old.
32:45I refuse to train your students
32:47after training you.
32:48I laughed for a long time.
32:49It was the first time
32:50since leaving Ironpeat
32:51that I felt light from the heart.
32:53I thought my story
32:54with Kale had ended there.
32:55Then,
32:56half a year later,
32:57Sienna crossed the line
32:58and appealed at the PAC tribunal.
33:00Kale had sent her
33:00to the Alaska border outpost
33:02for closed reflection.
33:03Under Ironhead's ancient law,
33:05if a former steward's guilt
33:06was deemed a work mistake,
33:07she could ask the council
33:08to reduce the punishment.
33:09Sienna plied.
33:10She claimed she had
33:11only following procedure.
33:12And that I had abused
33:14my Luna title
33:14to spread rumors,
33:15destroying her place
33:16in the PAC.
33:17She asked the council
33:18to review whether
33:19the VAL clause was legal.
33:20That clause was the last influence
33:22I had left in Ironpoint.
33:23It had already saved
33:24more than one child.
33:25Sienna's target was not me.
33:27It was the last bit of influence
33:29I had left behind this clause.
33:30She wanted to completely
33:32eradicate me
33:32from Ironpox's memory.
33:34The council notified me
33:35to attend the hearing.
33:37I did not have to attend the hearing.
33:39But it was Maeve's name.
33:42So I put on a gray coat
33:43and took the night car
33:44back to Ironpeat.
33:48In the hearing hall,
33:49Sienna looked more haggard
33:51than I expected.
33:52She had lost weight
33:53and there were dark shadows
33:54beneath her eyes.
33:55But her gaze was still the same
33:57as the day she returned
33:58my applications.
33:59Gentle, polished, certain.
34:02She cried before the council.
34:04I admit my approvals were strict.
34:06But I never deliberately
34:08delayed treatment.
34:09Mira's own materials
34:10were flawed.
34:12Now, she is using a clause
34:14named after her mother
34:15to make me carry all the blame.
34:17This is unfair.
34:19The council turned toward me.
34:20I did not cry.
34:21I took a stack of printed files
34:23from my briefest.
34:24Before leaving Ironpeak,
34:25I had copied two sets of data
34:26from the old medical archives.
34:28The first, over five years,
34:29Sienna reviewed 142
34:31emergency Luna applications.
34:33138 were returned.
34:34The second,
34:35during the same period,
34:37she approved 67 applications
34:39from Frost family members
34:40as stewards.
34:41Approval rate, 100%.
34:44I pushed the data
34:45to the center of the tables.
34:47Miss Frost says
34:48she never delayed
34:48anything on purpose.
34:50She only treated
34:51my 138 pleas for help
34:53as flawed materials.
34:54Yet in 67 applications
34:56from her own family,
34:57not one material was flawed.
34:59The hall stayed silent
35:00for a long time.
35:01For the first time,
35:03Sienna's pistol finally cracked.
35:05Then she raised her head
35:06and smiled.
35:07Mira, do you think you won?
35:09Everything Kale sends you now
35:11is something I touched first.
35:12He is not chasing you!
35:14He is chasing the me
35:15he never dared to admit
35:16wanting for the past five years.
35:18You only carried the empty name
35:19of Luna for me for five years.
35:20I looked at her and said calmly,
35:22I know.
35:23Sienna's smile froze.
35:24I knew from the first day,
35:26I said,
35:26I only needed that empty name then
35:27to buy my mother
35:28three more years of life.
35:33Now my mother is gone.
35:35And I do not want the name either.
35:40It was never yours.
35:42And it was never mine.
35:44It was a check
35:44Iron Poke wrote to an orphan.
35:47Now it has expired.
35:49And it should be void.
35:50When I turned to leave
35:51the hearing hall,
35:52Sienna screamed behind me.
35:54The words were ugly.
35:56I did not hear them clearly.
35:58I did not need to.
35:59When I walked out of Pack Hall,
36:01Kale stood below the steps.
36:03He did not stop me.
36:04He only said quietly as I passed.
36:10Mira.
36:12Thank you for coming back.
36:14I did not pause.
36:15I did not come back for you.
36:17I came back for my mother.
36:22After the hearing,
36:23the council rejected Sienna's appeal.
36:26The veil clause was written
36:27into Iron Peak's permanent charter.
36:29Sienna was sent back to Alaska
36:31for indefinite confinement.
36:33I thought the story
36:33should truly end there.
36:35Three months later,
36:36news came from the border.
36:44Kale had been ambushed
36:46by rogue hunters during patrol.
36:47He was gravely injured
36:49and taken to Moonwell Infirmary.
36:52I held my coffee cup
36:54and hesitated
36:55for a very long time.
36:57In the end,
36:58out of the humanity
36:59owed to someone
37:00who had once been my mate,
37:02I went to see him once.
37:04Moonwell Infirmary
37:05looked the same as ever.
37:07White stone walls,
37:09silver water veins,
37:10and the cold herbal smell
37:12that sank into the bones.
37:14Kale lay on the hospital bed.
37:16Half his arm was locked
37:17inside a heavy support frame.
37:18The healers whispered
37:19that even if he recovered well,
37:21he might never fully shift
37:22into his battle wolf form again.
37:25Mira.
37:26When he saw me,
37:27a bitter smile struggled
37:28onto his pale face.
37:31I stood by the bed,
37:32as if visiting
37:33an ordinary old friend.
37:36I heard you woke up.
37:38I didn't ask.
37:40But he continued speaking anyway.
37:44His assistant had testified
37:46at the tribunal
37:47and recounted the whole truth.
37:49During her confinement in Alaska,
37:51Sienna secretly contacted
37:53a team of rogue hunters
37:54once hired by the Frost family.
37:56She leaked the route
37:57of the only Winter Pass patrol
37:59Kale would lead
38:00personally that month.
38:02Then,
38:03she altered the map,
38:05changing the retreat point
38:07to an abandoned watchtower.
38:09When Kale led his team
38:11into the ice gorge
38:12north of the Black Pine Forest,
38:14silver nets
38:15sealed every exit.
38:25The assistant testified
38:27that Alpha could have
38:28forced his way out
38:29in wolf form.
38:30But he stopped
38:31and went back
38:31for two young warriors.
38:33A silver hook
38:34pierced through
38:34his shoulder blade,
38:35and half his arm
38:36was burned
38:37by poison silver.
38:41They survived.
38:42The price was that
38:44Kale might never
38:45become a complete wolf again.
38:51Sienna later said
38:52during interrogation
38:53that she had not
38:54wanted Kale dead,
38:56she only wanted him
38:57to lose his strength.
38:58A man who lost
38:59his Alpha battle form
39:01could only depend
39:02on the person
39:02who best understood
39:03the rhythm of his life.
39:05She thought that person
39:06was her.
39:07She had miscalculated
39:08one thing.
39:11The first sentence
39:12Kale spoke after
39:13waking was not about
39:14her.
39:15And not about me.
39:16He asked for the names
39:17of the two young warriors
39:18he had saved.
39:20The healer told him
39:21they were alive.
39:22Kale closed his eyes
39:23and exhaled for a long time.
39:25His assistant said
39:26that in that moment,
39:28Alpha looked as if
39:28he had finally done
39:29one thing right.
39:30When I first heard
39:31the news,
39:32I was organizing
39:33pup migration data
39:34at the research station.
39:36A young researcher
39:37asked carefully
39:38whether I wanted
39:39the report turned off.
39:42I shook my head.
39:44No.
39:45I no longer felt pain
39:47just because
39:48he was in pain.
39:49That sounded cold.
39:52But it was freedom
39:53bought with
39:54an entire marriage.
39:55In the hospital room,
39:57Kale looked at me
39:58for a long time.
40:01Sienna will be exiled
40:02for life.
40:04Mira,
40:05everything we once had,
40:07we failed to keep.
40:09My hand rested
40:09on the door handle.
40:10I did not turn back.
40:12I only said one thing.
40:14Kale,
40:15we never had anything.
40:17You had a woman
40:18you thought was Luna.
40:20I had a contract
40:21you thought was love.
40:22Aspired the night
40:23may have died.
40:24I opened the door
40:26and walked into
40:27the long corridor
40:28of Moonwell Infirmary.
40:29Outside,
40:31rain had started again.
40:32But this rain
40:34was no longer
40:34falling for me.
40:40Three years later,
40:41the North Ridge
40:42Research Station
40:43was officially upgraded
40:45into a joint
40:46border reserve.
40:47The first students
40:48I had trained
40:49could now track
40:50wolf migration routes
40:51on their own.
40:53When Professor Alara
40:55tossed me the badge
40:56of the new director,
40:57her tone was
40:57as disdainful as ever.
41:00Do not look so shocked.
41:02You are younger than me
41:03and you've got
41:04more stamina.
41:06Who else is going
41:07to do it?
41:07I caught the badge
41:08and laughed.
41:09And you?
41:11Retirement,
41:12obviously.
41:13She lifted her coffee
41:14and looked out the window.
41:16And to make sure
41:18you don't bankrupt
41:19my research station?
41:21Outside,
41:22rain began again.
41:24North Ridge rain
41:25was different
41:25from Iron Peak rain.
41:27Iron Peak's rain
41:28always pressed down
41:29until people
41:30could could barely breathe,
41:31like a gray cage
41:33over the main residence.
41:35Here rain fell
41:36on pine needles,
41:37soil,
41:37and grass
41:38crossed by wolf packs.
41:40Its sound
41:41was light and clean.
41:43I stood under the ears,
41:45watching several wolf pups
41:47chasing each other
41:48through the rain
41:48in the distance.
41:49One of them
41:50took a tumble,
41:51but quickly scrambled
41:52back up,
41:53shook out its fur,
41:54and kept running forward.
41:58A student handed me
42:00an application.
42:01Mira,
42:02Silver Lake has a
42:02mixed-blood wolf pup
42:03who needs a medical transfer.
42:05Her mother is not
42:06a PAC member.
42:08Under the old rules,
42:10they might not get
42:10Moonwell resources.
42:11I looked up
42:12at the cover
42:13of the charter.
42:14Printed across it
42:15was a small line of text,
42:16Veil Claws
42:17applicable to all
42:18non-pure blood relatives.
42:20I lifted my pen.
42:21The moment I signed,
42:23the rain suddenly
42:24seemed very far away.
42:26I remembered
42:27the rainy night
42:27five years earlier
42:28when I knelt
42:29outside Moonwell Infirmary
42:31begging for serum.
42:33That application
42:35had been returned
42:35seven times.
42:37My mother never
42:38waited for the eighth.
42:40Today, the approval
42:42in my hand
42:42took less than
42:43thirty seconds.
42:44My student noticed
42:45my hand trembling.
42:47Professor, what is wrong?
42:50I returned the signed form.
42:53Nothing.
42:55Someone waited
42:55for her this time.
42:57At dusk,
42:58the mother and daughter
42:59from Silver Lake
43:00were brought to
43:01the research station's
43:02temporary medical room.
43:03The little girl
43:04curled beside the stretcher,
43:06clutching her mother's hand,
43:07looking so much like
43:08the me from years ago.
43:09She asked timidly,
43:11Are you a Luna?
43:12I shook my head.
43:14No.
43:14She asked again,
43:15Then why are you helping us?
43:17I crouched down
43:18and draped my coat
43:19over her shoulders.
43:20Because someone
43:21once helped me.
43:22That person
43:23never waited
43:24for repayment.
43:25So this time,
43:26I am repaying it
43:27for her.
43:28The rain softened
43:30little by little.
43:32Lights came on
43:33inside the medical room.
43:34I stood at the door
43:35and watched the healer
43:36inject the first dose
43:37of serum
43:37into the girl's mother.
43:38In that moment,
43:40I suddenly felt
43:41that many things
43:41had truly ended.
43:42Not because Kale regretted,
43:44not because Sienna
43:45was exiled for life,
43:46not because Iron Peak
43:47no longer dared
43:48look down on my name,
43:49but because I had
43:50finally turned the pain
43:51that once trapped me
43:52into a hand
43:53that could hold
43:54someone else up.
43:57Late that night,
43:58I received
43:58an unsigned letter.
44:00There was only
44:01a black pine
44:02peen wax seal
44:03on the envelope.
44:07I did not open it.
44:09I did not need to.
44:12I placed it
44:14in the fireplace
44:14and watched the flames
44:16slowly swallow
44:17that familiar mark.
44:21When the paper ash rose,
44:23the rain outside
44:24the window stopped
44:25completely.
44:27Many years later,
44:28a student once asked me
44:30during field research,
44:31Professor,
44:32what does that line mean,
44:33the one about
44:34the rain fading?
44:38I looked at the
44:38migrating wolves
44:39in the distance
44:40and smiled.
44:42It means some women
44:43are trapped by rain
44:44for many years.
44:46Then one day,
44:47they walk out
44:48on their own.
44:49They do not wait
44:50for the rain to stop.
44:51They walk
44:52and walk
44:53until they realize
44:55they no longer
44:55need an umbrella.
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