- 6 hours ago
Settle athe Score, Broke The Alpha Bond
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00:00:00100. One point deducted for every betrayal. When it hit zero, I'd be free.
00:00:05The 99th time, a blizzard, 20 below, and he made me get out of the car, pregnant.
00:00:13Sorry, baby.
00:00:16Victoria's been in an accident.
00:00:18Kane Blackwood's eyes never left his phone. His voice was tight with that familiar urgency.
00:00:24The one he only ever had for her.
00:00:28I need to go get her.
00:00:31Ten seconds ago, we were on our way back from my mother's grave.
00:00:35This was the first time he'd accompanied me in three years.
00:00:38Three years of pack business.
00:00:40Three years of Victoria's not feeling well.
00:00:43Three years of next time, I promise.
00:00:46And today, Kane Blackwood, alpha heir of the Shadow Wolf Pack, said,
00:00:50I'll go with you.
00:00:51My heart had skipped. Maybe he finally remembered I was his mate.
00:00:56Maybe three years of waiting hadn't been for nothing.
00:00:59Maybe I was only fooling myself.
00:01:01He stood three feet away the entire time at the cemetery.
00:01:05Hands in his pockets.
00:01:06Jaw tight.
00:01:07Like grief might be contagious.
00:01:09When I laid the white roses down, he checked his watch.
00:01:12When I whispered the prayer, he was texting.
00:01:15Mom, I came to see you.
00:01:18Kane.
00:01:19Kane came too.
00:01:20I looked back at him.
00:01:21His fingers flew across the screen.
00:01:23He didn't look up.
00:01:24I swallowed the rest of my words.
00:01:26Three years of excuses.
00:01:28And this was what showing up looked like.
00:01:30He pocketed his phone.
00:01:32We should go.
00:01:33Storm's coming.
00:01:34I nodded, taking one last look at my mother's headstone.
00:01:37Next time, I promise silently, I'll bring your grandchild.
00:01:41My hand moved instinctively to my stomach.
00:01:44The news confirmed just three days ago.
00:01:46I hadn't told him yet.
00:01:47I wanted to find the perfect moment.
00:01:49A time when he was in a good mood.
00:01:51When he'd be willing to look me in the eyes.
00:01:54Maybe tonight.
00:01:55Then his phone rang.
00:01:56The screen lit up.
00:01:57That name searing into my resonance.
00:02:00Victoria.
00:02:01I watched him answer.
00:02:02Watched his expression transform in an instant.
00:02:05Her voice trembled through the speaker.
00:02:07Perfectly pitched fear.
00:02:09Kane.
00:02:10My car skidded on the old mountain pass.
00:02:12I hit the guardrail.
00:02:13My knee won't stop bleeding.
00:02:15I think, I think I can see both.
00:02:18Gold flashed in his eyes.
00:02:20His wolf surged awake for her.
00:02:23He'd never looked like that for me.
00:02:24Not once.
00:02:25Not even on our mating night.
00:02:27His voice was urgent, strained, panicked in a way I'd never heard.
00:02:31Where are you?
00:02:32Exact location.
00:02:33Tell me the exact location.
00:02:36The old mountain pass.
00:02:37That sharp turn.
00:02:39Please hurry.
00:02:39I'm so cold.
00:02:40I'm scared I'll die out here alone.
00:02:42The car jerked to a stop.
00:02:44Inertia threw me forward.
00:02:46The seatbelt cut into my shoulder.
00:02:48Right across my chest.
00:02:50Get out.
00:03:01All of his composure was shattered.
00:03:03He completely lost his mind over a woman who wasn't even his mate.
00:03:07I turned to look at him.
00:03:08His frantic gaze was locked on the GPS, tracing the route to her.
00:03:12His foot was already pressing the gas pedal, the engine revving restlessly.
00:03:16He'd already calculated the distance.
00:03:18He'd already made his choice.
00:03:20Cain, there's a blizzard.
00:03:21I said get out.
00:03:23I need to go save her.
00:03:24Save her.
00:03:25Of course.
00:03:26My voice was steady.
00:03:27Steader than I expected.
00:03:28Fifteen miles from wolf territory.
00:03:31Twenty below zero.
00:03:32I can't get back.
00:03:33Call someone to pick you up.
00:03:36There's no signal.
00:03:37Then walk.
00:03:38Then walk.
00:03:41I stared at his profile.
00:03:42The face I'd loved for three years.
00:03:44The face I'd thought would be with me for life.
00:03:47I called his name one last time.
00:03:49Cain.
00:03:50He finally turned.
00:03:52I looked into his eyes.
00:03:53Those eyes I'd once drowned in.
00:03:55No guilt.
00:03:56Not a flicker of doubt.
00:03:57Only urgency to get to her.
00:03:59I opened the door.
00:04:01The wind hit like knives.
00:04:03Snow swallowed my boots.
00:04:04Cold burned straight through my bones.
00:04:07Settling somewhere deep in my chest.
00:04:10I stepped out.
00:04:13Cain.
00:04:14I don't know why I said his name again.
00:04:16Maybe to see if he'd look back.
00:04:18Maybe to give myself one last chance at disappointment.
00:04:21He didn't look back.
00:04:23The car drove away.
00:04:24Tail lights fading into white until they disappeared completely.
00:04:27Like they'd never existed.
00:04:29Like I'd never existed.
00:04:30I stood on the roadside.
00:04:32Wind howling.
00:04:33Nothing but white between heaven and earth.
00:04:35Ninety-nine.
00:04:36The number surfaced from my heart.
00:04:39Clear and cold.
00:04:40This was the ninety-ninth time he'd abandoned me for Victoria.
00:04:44I started walking.
00:04:45The blizzard erased direction.
00:04:47Time blurred.
00:04:48My legs went numb.
00:04:49Ice clung to my lashes.
00:04:51When I smelled the blood, it was already too late.
00:04:54The scent cut through the blizzard.
00:04:56Wild.
00:04:57Dangerous.
00:04:57Murderous.
00:04:58Three rogue wolves emerged from the white void.
00:05:01Green eyes.
00:05:02Crusted fangs.
00:05:03Hunger rolling off them in waves.
00:05:05I'd wandered into the forbidden territory.
00:05:07They hit like a storm.
00:05:09Teeth.
00:05:10Claws.
00:05:10A blur of violence I couldn't track.
00:05:13But I knew where they were aiming.
00:05:15No!
00:05:16I curled around my belly.
00:05:18Took the claws across my back.
00:05:20Took the teeth in my shoulders.
00:05:22Let them tear me apart from the outside.
00:05:24Not the baby.
00:05:25Anything but the baby.
00:05:27Blood soaked in snow.
00:05:28Red on white.
00:05:29The world tilted sideways.
00:05:31Didn't let go.
00:05:32Ninety-nine.
00:05:33The ninety-ninth time he chose her over me.
00:05:36Minus one point.
00:05:37Only one point left on my ledger.
00:05:39And inside me, I was still carrying his child.
00:05:42Consciousness slipped away.
00:05:44Slow.
00:05:44Heavy.
00:05:45Like sinking into dark water.
00:05:47I'm sorry, little one.
00:05:49Mommy tried.
00:05:50Your father should have been here.
00:05:52But he never was.
00:05:53He never would be.
00:06:03I woke to blinding white light.
00:06:05And pain ripping through every nerve in my body.
00:06:08A voice shouted somewhere far away.
00:06:11Massive internal bleeding!
00:06:13Get her to the healing chamber now!
00:06:15I was on a streller.
00:06:16Racing down a corridor.
00:06:18Ceiling light smeared into a single white line above me.
00:06:21The sharp scent of antiseptic and crushed herbs burned my lungs.
00:06:26Somewhere deep inside, my wolf whimpered.
00:06:29Too weak even to rise.
00:06:30A gentle voice near my ear.
00:06:33Stay with us, Luna.
00:06:35We'll take care of you.
00:06:37The other voice.
00:06:38More urgent.
00:06:39Someone check her vitals again.
00:06:40She's eight weeks pregnant.
00:06:42Eight weeks.
00:06:43My hand twitched toward my stomach.
00:06:45But I couldn't feel my arms.
00:06:47Panic surged.
00:06:48Thin and sharp.
00:06:50Please!
00:06:51Please!
00:06:51Let the baby be okay!
00:06:53Blood pressure's dropping.
00:06:55We need alpha blood for the healing ritual now!
00:06:57The reserves are decleted.
00:06:58Another healer said, breath tight with panic.
00:07:01Alpha Cain allocated the last six units to a private patient in the cosmetic room.
00:07:06Alpha Cain.
00:07:07The name snagged in my fading consciousness.
00:07:10My husband.
00:07:11My mate.
00:07:12The father of the child fighting to live inside me.
00:07:15The gentle-voiced healer.
00:07:17Chloe.
00:07:18Her name tag said.
00:07:19Pulled out her phone.
00:07:21Her hand shook.
00:07:22Her voice cracked despite her effort to stay professional.
00:07:26Beta Marcus.
00:07:27This is healer Chloe from the PAC clinic.
00:07:29I need to reach Alpha Cain immediately.
00:07:31Luna Ira is in critical condition.
00:07:34Massive internal bleeding.
00:07:35She's eight weeks pregnant.
00:07:37We need alpha blood for the healing ritual.
00:07:39Without it, we'll lose them both.
00:07:41A pause.
00:07:42Muffled voices on the other end.
00:07:43Marcus relaying the message.
00:07:45Then he came back on.
00:07:46His tone careful.
00:07:48Apologetic.
00:07:49The alpha says the reserves are allocated for Miss Stone.
00:07:52She's having a procedure.
00:07:54He can't authorize a transfer.
00:07:55Chloe stuffened.
00:07:56Her knuckles went white around the phone.
00:07:59Beta Marcus, please.
00:08:00Tell him his Luna is dying.
00:08:02Tell him his pup won't survive without-
00:08:04I heard Marcus pull the phone away, his voice growing distant.
00:08:08Alpha.
00:08:08You're Luna.
00:08:09She-
00:08:10Cain's voice cut through the speaker.
00:08:12Cold.
00:08:13Final.
00:08:14Victoria is my priority.
00:08:15The blood stays with her.
00:08:17And hang up.
00:08:18Victoria needs rest.
00:08:19The line went dead.
00:08:21Four words.
00:08:22Victoria is my priority.
00:08:24Colder than the blizzard he'd abandoned me in.
00:08:27Chloe stared at the phone.
00:08:29Her hands trembled.
00:08:30When she looked at me, her eyes glistened with something I couldn't name.
00:08:35Pity.
00:08:35Horror.
00:08:36Shame on behalf of her alpha.
00:08:38She whispered.
00:08:39I'm so sorry, Luna.
00:08:41I'll- I'll find another way.
00:08:44I'll-
00:08:45But I wasn't listening anymore.
00:08:46I was feeling, deep in my belly, something flickered.
00:08:50Faint.
00:08:51Fragile.
00:08:52Fighting.
00:08:53Then, weaker and weaker and weaker, still.
00:08:58My wolf keened.
00:09:00A sound I'd never heard her make.
00:09:02Raw.
00:09:03Broken.
00:09:04The sound of something being torn away at the root.
00:09:07The flutter stopped.
00:09:08The warmth vanished.
00:09:10And then there was nothing.
00:09:12Just silence.
00:09:14Where a heartbeat should have been.
00:09:16Gone.
00:09:17My child was gone.
00:09:26I waited for the grief to hit, for the scream to tear from my throat, for the tears to come.
00:09:32Nothing came.
00:09:33I lay there, staring at the ceiling, and felt hollow, like someone had reached inside me and scooped out everything
00:09:40that mattered.
00:09:41Chloe was crying.
00:09:42Soft sobs somewhere to my left.
00:09:45She was mourning my child more than I could.
00:09:47But I couldn't cry.
00:09:48I had nothing left to cry with.
00:09:51Cain Blackhill had taken everything from me.
00:09:54My dignity.
00:09:55My hope.
00:09:56My dreams of a family.
00:09:58And now, my child.
00:10:00For a scar.
00:10:01For a scar on the other woman's knee.
00:10:03When I woke again, the searing agony had dulled to a distant ache.
00:10:08Chloe sat beside my bed.
00:10:10Her eyes were red.
00:10:11The pup.
00:10:12I know.
00:10:13She didn't say anything else.
00:10:16There was nothing else to say.
00:10:17I reached for my bag on the nightstand.
00:10:20My fingers found the black, less leather ledger inside.
00:10:23I opened it to the last page.
00:10:25The pen felt steady in my hand.
00:10:27Last one point.
00:10:29He let our child die to spare her a scar.
00:10:32Entry 100.
00:10:33Final score.
00:10:34Zero.
00:10:36I stared at the number.
00:10:37Zero.
00:10:38100 entries.
00:10:40Three years of wounds.
00:10:42And now this.
00:10:43The last one.
00:10:44The one that emptied the account completely.
00:10:46The child was gone.
00:10:48And for the first time in three years, something settled inside me.
00:10:52Not grief.
00:10:53Not rage.
00:10:54Stillness.
00:10:55The kind that comes when you finally stop bleeding.
00:10:58When the wound goes so deep it ended the bee's clean.
00:11:01I closed the ledger.
00:11:03Somewhere in the back of my mind, a voice surfaced.
00:11:06Bridget's voice.
00:11:07From a phone call three months ago.
00:11:09When you're ready to leave, I'll be here.
00:11:11San Francisco.
00:11:12I found this old warehouse.
00:11:14It could be something special.
00:11:16A sanctuary for wolves like us.
00:11:19Wolves who need healing.
00:11:21Just say the word, Isla.
00:11:23I hadn't been ready then.
00:11:24I was ready now.
00:11:32I signed myself out against heater's orders.
00:11:35Chloe tried to stop me, fingers wrapped around my wrist, eyes still swollen.
00:11:39Luna, please.
00:11:40Your body needs time.
00:11:42There's nothing left to heal.
00:11:44Soon I was back home, walking alone through the iron gate.
00:11:48The guards didn't look at me.
00:11:50They never did.
00:11:51Inside, my footsteps echoed against marble.
00:11:55Three years I'd lived here.
00:11:56Three years of walking these halls.
00:11:59Eating at that table.
00:12:01Sleeping in that bed.
00:12:03It had never felt like home.
00:12:05I went straight to the bedroom.
00:12:07Our bedroom.
00:12:08The one we'd shared in name only.
00:12:11His scent clung to everything.
00:12:13Pine and smoke.
00:12:15And alpha.
00:12:16My wolf stirred weakly.
00:12:18Still drawn to our mate even now.
00:12:20I opened the closet.
00:12:22His side.
00:12:23Tailored suits.
00:12:25Italian leather.
00:12:27Watches worth more than my mother's estate.
00:12:29My side.
00:12:30Designer labels his assistant had chosen.
00:12:33Appropriate for a Luna.
00:12:35Nothing that was ever mine.
00:12:37I started packing.
00:12:39Not the gowns.
00:12:40Not the jewelry.
00:12:41Not the furs meant to make me look like I belonged.
00:12:45Just the things from before.
00:12:46A sweater my mother knitted.
00:12:48A photo of her laughing in our old garden.
00:12:51A sketchbook filled with nursery designs that would never be built.
00:12:55I was folding the sweater when I heard his footsteps.
00:12:58My hands froze.
00:12:59The door opened.
00:13:01Kane stood in the doorway.
00:13:02He looked.
00:13:03Tired.
00:13:04Black circles under his eyes.
00:13:06Strouble shadowing his jaw.
00:13:08His shirt wrinkled.
00:13:10Kane Blackwood.
00:13:11Who never had a hair out of waste.
00:13:12In his hand.
00:13:13A gift box.
00:13:15I heard you were in the healing bod.
00:13:16His voice was flat.
00:13:18Dististant.
00:13:18Like he was reading from a script.
00:13:20My heart stuttered anyway.
00:13:22He came.
00:13:22My wolf whispered.
00:13:24He came to see her.
00:13:25He stepped into the room.
00:13:27Set the box on the dresher.
00:13:28The healer said you checked yourself out early.
00:13:30You should rest.
00:13:32Recover your strength.
00:13:33I watched him move.
00:13:34Watched the way he kept distance between us.
00:13:37Three feet.
00:13:38Maybe four.
00:13:39Then he looked at me.
00:13:40Really looked.
00:13:41His eyes traced my face.
00:13:43The hollows in my cheeks.
00:13:44The bruises I couldn't hide.
00:13:46The way my clothes hung loose on a body that had lost too much.
00:13:50Something shifted in his expression.
00:13:52He crossed the room.
00:13:53One step.
00:13:54Two.
00:13:55Until he was close enough that his scent wrapped around me.
00:13:58Until the bond between us hummed.
00:14:01Faint but alive.
00:14:02My breath caught.
00:14:04Kane.
00:14:05His hand lifted.
00:14:06Dot his knuckles grazed my cheek feather light.
00:14:08Almost hesitant.
00:14:10His thumb traced the edge of a bruise near my jaw.
00:14:12Who did this to you?
00:14:14His voice had dropped.
00:14:15Low.
00:14:16Rough.
00:14:17That protective edge I'd only ever heard him use for Victoria.
00:14:21My wolf surged.
00:14:22Heat bloomed in my chest, spreading lower.
00:14:25My skin prickled everywhere he touched.
00:14:28Rogues.
00:14:29In the blizzard.
00:14:31His jaw tightened.
00:14:32Gold flickered at the edges of his irises.
00:14:35I'll have them hunted down.
00:14:37Every last one.
00:14:38For one impossible moment.
00:14:40For one impossible moment.
00:14:41I believed him.
00:14:43Believed he still cared about me.
00:14:45His eyes dropped to my mouth.
00:14:47The air thickened.
00:14:48My lips parted.
00:14:50His hand slid from my cheek to the curve of my neck.
00:14:53His palm warm against my pulse.
00:14:56I could feel my heart beat mammering against his fingers.
00:15:00Maybe.
00:15:00I thought.
00:15:01Maybe this time.
00:15:02His phone rang.
00:15:11The sound cracked through the room like a gunshot.
00:15:14Victoria.
00:15:15Of course.
00:15:16His hand dropped.
00:15:18He stepped back.
00:15:18The cold rushed in where his warmth had been.
00:15:21I have to take this.
00:15:23He answered before I could respond.
00:15:25His voice softened.
00:15:26Warmed.
00:15:27Tender in a way I'd never heard directed at me.
00:15:30Victoria.
00:15:31Slow down.
00:15:32What happened?
00:15:33I couldn't hear her words.
00:15:35Only the high, trembling pitch of distress.
00:15:37Already moving toward the door.
00:15:39I'm coming.
00:15:41Stay where you are.
00:15:42I'll be right there.
00:15:43He paused at the threshold.
00:15:45Glanced back.
00:15:46But not at me.
00:15:47Through me.
00:15:48Rest.
00:15:49I'll be back later.
00:15:50He wouldn't be.
00:15:51We both knew it.
00:15:52The door closed.
00:15:54His footsteps faded.
00:15:56The car engine roared to life.
00:15:58Then, silence.
00:15:59I stood there.
00:16:00His touch still burning on my skin.
00:16:03My wolf howling at the loss.
00:16:04I reached for my phone.
00:16:06Bridget answered on the second ring.
00:16:08Ira?
00:16:09Is everything...
00:16:10I'm leaving.
00:16:11Tomorrow.
00:16:12Silence.
00:16:13Then a long exhale.
00:16:15About damn time.
00:16:16I've had a room waiting for you for two years.
00:16:19What do you need?
00:16:20A fresh start.
00:16:21You'll get one.
00:16:22I promise.
00:16:24What about the bond?
00:16:25The moon temple.
00:16:26Neutral territory.
00:16:27They can sever it.
00:16:28You're sure?
00:16:29I've never been more sure.
00:16:31Then I'll see you soon.
00:16:32You're going to be okay, Ira.
00:16:34Better than okay.
00:16:36I hung up.
00:16:37Then I walked to the nursery.
00:16:38I decorated it myself.
00:16:40Pale silver walls.
00:16:42A mobile of moons and stars.
00:16:45Hand-painted murals of wolf pups playing in meadows.
00:16:48Sleeping under cresses.
00:16:50The crib sat in the corner.
00:16:52White oak.
00:16:53Carved with protective wounds I'd researched for weeks.
00:16:56I touched the railing.
00:16:58My baby would have slept here.
00:16:59Would have looked up at those painted moons with wide, wondering eyes.
00:17:04What happened?
00:17:05The first sob tore from my throat.
00:17:07I sank to my knees.
00:17:09Grief crashed through the numbness.
00:17:11Raw.
00:17:12Animal.
00:17:13Unstoppable.
00:17:14I cried for the child I'd never hold.
00:17:17For the nursery that would stay empty.
00:17:19For three years of waiting for a man who was never mine,
00:17:23My wolf howled with me.
00:17:26When the tears stopped, I was hollow.
00:17:28But my hands were steady.
00:17:30I reached for the mobile first.
00:17:32The little moons and stars I'd hung with such hope.
00:17:35Then the murals.
00:17:36I peeled the canvas in long strips.
00:17:39The wolf pups disappeared.
00:17:41The meadows vanished.
00:17:43The painted sky went dark.
00:17:45The crib took longer.
00:17:46I broke it down with my bare hands.
00:17:49Flinters bit into my palms.
00:17:50The protective rooms cracked.
00:17:53The white oak ground as it splintered.
00:17:55When I finished, the room was bare.
00:17:58I stood in the center.
00:17:59Fragments of moons at my feet.
00:18:01Torn canvas scattered like shed skin.
00:18:04The bones of a crib that would never hold anyone.
00:18:07Tomorrow, I would go to the moon temple.
00:18:10Tomorrow, I would sever the bond.
00:18:12And then leave here forever.
00:18:21I left two things on his pillow.
00:18:23The signed divorce papers.
00:18:25And the ledger.
00:18:26Open to the last page.
00:18:27Deduct one point.
00:18:28He let our child die to spare her a scar.
00:18:35Final score, zero.
00:18:37I didn't leave a note.
00:18:38The numbers said everything.
00:18:40I'd research the moon temple months.
00:18:41When the ledger hit 50, and I first let myself imagine a life without him.
00:18:47The only place that could sever a mate bond completely.
00:18:49Painfully.
00:18:50Permanently.
00:18:51I never thought I'd I'd actually go.
00:18:54Now, I couldn't get there fast enough.
00:18:56The drive took six hours.
00:18:57I watched Shadow Wolf territory disappear in the rearview mirror.
00:19:01Familiar forests giving way to ancient redwoods that marked the boundary of neutral land.
00:19:06No pack claimed this territory.
00:19:08No Alpha's Law reached here.
00:19:10Only the moon temple.
00:19:12Only the old ways.
00:19:13The temple rose from the mist like something out of a fever dream.
00:19:17White stone columns wrapped in silver vines.
00:19:21A dome that seemed to drink moonlight and breathed it back out.
00:19:24Even in daylight, the air hummed against my skin.
00:19:27An ancient, alive, waiting.
00:19:30My wolf stirred uneasily.
00:19:32The bond.
00:19:33It will hurt.
00:19:34I know.
00:19:34He's still our mate.
00:19:35He was never our mate.
00:19:37Not really.
00:19:37The guardian met me at the Threld.
00:19:39Elder Silas.
00:19:40Hair white as bone.
00:19:42Eyes the pale gold of a wolf who Widston, who'd seen centuries pass.
00:19:46He moved like time meant nothing to him.
00:19:48His voice resonated against ancient stone.
00:19:51Not a question.
00:19:52You seek to sever a mate bond?
00:19:56Yes.
00:19:57He studied me.
00:19:58His gaze langled on my neck.
00:20:00On the mark Kane had left three years ago.
00:20:02This bond was sealed in blood and moon.
00:20:05Breaking it will feel like dying.
00:20:07Many wolves do not survive the severing.
00:20:11I've already died once this week.
00:20:13I'm still here.
00:20:14Something shifted in those ancient eyes.
00:20:17Follow me.
00:20:17The inner chamber was carved entirely from moonstone.
00:20:21Walls, floor, ceiling.
00:20:23All of it pulsing with soft silver light.
00:20:25In the center sat a shallow pool.
00:20:27Its surface so still it looked like liquid glass.
00:20:31Kneel.
00:20:31I knelt at the edge.
00:20:33The stone bit cold through my dress.
00:20:35My wolf flinched.
00:20:36When the sacred water touches your mark, the severing begins.
00:20:41Do not fight it.
00:20:43Let it break clean.
00:20:45If you resist, you risk losing your wolf forever.
00:20:49I nodded.
00:20:50He dipped his fingers into the pool.
00:20:52The water clung to his skin like murky.
00:20:55Heavy.
00:20:55Unnatural.
00:20:56Alive.
00:20:57When it touched my forehead.
00:20:58Cold burned straight through my skull.
00:21:01When it reached the mark on my neck.
00:21:03Silver light erupted from my skin.
00:21:06The chamber shook.
00:21:07Dust rained from the ceiling.
00:21:09The pool shattered into a thousand ripples that defied gravity.
00:21:12Rising into the air around me like suspended stars.
00:21:16And in one floating droplet, I saw my reflection.
00:21:19Silver eyes.
00:21:21Pure liquid silver.
00:21:23Blazing like twin moons.
00:21:25Silas stumbled backward.
00:21:26Then his knees hit the stone floor.
00:21:28The words tore from him like a prayer.
00:21:32Goddess above.
00:21:34Moonblooded.
00:21:35The eleventh in a thousand years.
00:21:38I stared at him, the heart slamming against my ribs.
00:21:49What?
00:21:50Silas' forehead pressed to the ground.
00:21:52The bloodline of the first wolf.
00:21:54The moon goddess's own daughters.
00:21:56I thought the line died in the last war.
00:21:59I thought...
00:22:00Elder Silas!
00:22:01What does this mean?
00:22:03He raised his head slowly.
00:22:05His ancient eyes glistened.
00:22:06It means that when you sever a corrupted bond, the betrayer does not walk away untouched.
00:22:13My breath caught.
00:22:14When a moon-blooded wolf severs a bond broken by betrayal, she leaves a mark.
00:22:20A brand.
00:22:21Moon fire, we call it.
00:22:23Every full moon, the pain returns.
00:22:25Like his soul being flayed alive.
00:22:28It never fades.
00:22:30Never stops.
00:22:31Not until the day he dies.
00:22:34The silver light pulsed beneath my skin.
00:22:37Warm now.
00:22:38Hungry.
00:22:39Kane would feel this.
00:22:40Every full moon.
00:22:42For the rest of his life.
00:22:43Do you wish to continue, knowing what it will cost him?
00:22:46I thought of the blizzard.
00:22:48His taillights vanishing into white.
00:22:50I thought of the phone call.
00:22:53Victoria is my priority.
00:22:54I thought of my baby's heartbeat.
00:22:56Fluttering.
00:22:58Fading.
00:22:59Gone.
00:22:59Continue.
00:23:00The answer was steady.
00:23:02Final.
00:23:03Silas bowed his head.
00:23:04As you wish, moon daughter.
00:23:06He placed both hands on my shoulders.
00:23:09The old tongue spilled from his lips.
00:23:11Words that vibrated in my bones.
00:23:14In my blood.
00:23:15In the hollow space where my child used to be.
00:23:18The water rose from the pool and wrapped around me like a coon of liquid moonlight.
00:23:22Then the pain hit.
00:23:24Half.
00:23:24It felt like being torn in half.
00:23:27Like claws shredding through my chest.
00:23:29Ripping out the bond thread.
00:23:31By bloody thread.
00:23:33My wolf howled.
00:23:34I screamed.
00:23:35The sound echoed off moonstone walls and came back twisted.
00:23:39Broken.
00:23:40Raw.
00:23:41And somewhere far away.
00:23:42I felt it.
00:23:44A snap.
00:23:45Clean.
00:23:45Final.
00:23:47Absolute.
00:23:48The bond shattered.
00:23:49I collapsed at the edge of the pool, gasping.
00:23:52My whole body shook.
00:23:53Sweat and tears ran together on my face.
00:23:56But beneath the pain.
00:23:58Beneath the emptiness where the bond used to live.
00:24:00Freedom.
00:24:01Pure.
00:24:02Absolute.
00:24:03Mine.
00:24:04I laughed.
00:24:05I laughed.
00:24:06I laughed.
00:24:06Or so sobbed.
00:24:06I couldn't tell the difference anymore.
00:24:08The airport was quiet at this hour.
00:24:10I sat in a hard plastic chair.
00:24:13Phone in my hands.
00:24:14One message.
00:24:16That was all I owed him.
00:24:17I typed it slowly.
00:24:19Read it twice.
00:24:21Then hit send.
00:24:22The departure board flickered.
00:24:24My flight was boarding.
00:24:26I walked to the gate.
00:24:28Handed over my ticket.
00:24:29Found my seat by the window.
00:24:31The plane lifted through thick gray clouds.
00:24:34And then broke through.
00:24:35Sunlight.
00:24:36Warm and golden.
00:24:37Flooding through the scratched plastic window.
00:24:40I pressed my palm to the glass.
00:24:42Three years.
00:24:43One thousand and ninety-five days.
00:24:45He never once looked at me.
00:24:47Not really.
00:24:48But he would feel me now.
00:24:50Every full moon.
00:24:51For the rest of Sift His Life.
00:25:01Victoria was on top of him when the pain hit.
00:25:04Her jasmine perfume filled his lungs.
00:25:06Her nails raked down his back.
00:25:08Her lips traced his jaw.
00:25:11Whispering promises he'd heard a thousand times.
00:25:14I've waited so long for this.
00:25:16Finally.
00:25:17Just us.
00:25:19No one in the way.
00:25:20Kian lowered his mouth to hers.
00:25:22And fire exploded in his chest.
00:25:24He jerked back with a snarl.
00:25:26Hand flying to his heart.
00:25:28Not desire.
00:25:30Not exhaustion.
00:25:31This was agony.
00:25:32Raw.
00:25:33Shredding.
00:25:34Impossible.
00:25:35Like something being ripped out by the roots.
00:25:37His wolf threw itself against his ribcage.
00:25:40Not in anger.
00:25:41In anguish.
00:25:42Aira.
00:25:43The name tore from his throat before he could stop it.
00:25:46Not Victoria's.
00:25:47His mates.
00:25:48The woman he'd left standing in a blizzard.
00:25:50The woman whose face he couldn't quite picture because he'd never bothered to look.
00:25:55Aira!
00:25:55Aira!
00:25:56What?
00:25:57Did you just...
00:25:58You're in my bed, Kian.
00:26:00You're inside me?
00:26:03And you're saying her name?
00:26:05He threw himself off the bed, staggling as another wave of agony tore through him.
00:26:10The bond, the mating bond he'd ignored for three years, was screaming, fraying, snapping apart, mate hurting.
00:26:18His wolf clawed at his skull.
00:26:19Well, something's wrong.
00:26:21Go!
00:26:21Go!
00:26:22Kane!
00:26:23Where the hell do you think you're going?
00:26:25He was pulling on his clothes, hands shaking, heart slamming.
00:26:29Home.
00:26:30It's 3 a.m.
00:26:32You can't just leave because you had some pathetic dream about your little house.
00:26:38The door slammed behind him.
00:26:40The drive to the pack fortress took 20 minutes.
00:26:43He made it in 12.
00:26:44Marcus was waiting at the gate.
00:26:46His beta's face was gray, his shoulders tight.
00:26:49Marcus fell into step beside him.
00:26:51Alpha, I've been trying to reach you for hours.
00:26:54Where is she?
00:26:55Where's Isla?
00:26:57Silence.
00:26:58One beat.
00:26:59Two.
00:27:00She's gone, Alpha.
00:27:02Kane stopped dead.
00:27:03What do you mean, gone?
00:27:04She left.
00:27:06This morning.
00:27:07But there's more.
00:27:08Things you need to know.
00:27:09Then talk.
00:27:11The night of the blizzard.
00:27:12After you left her on the highway.
00:27:14She never made it back.
00:27:16Wandered into feral territory.
00:27:18Three rogues found her.
00:27:20The ground shifted beneath Kine's feet.
00:27:23What?
00:27:23Border patrol pulled her out two hours later.
00:27:26Half dead.
00:27:27Blood everywhere.
00:27:28She almost didn't make it.
00:27:30Kine's chest tightened.
00:27:32His wolf snarled.
00:27:33Clawing.
00:27:34Panicked.
00:27:35Why didn't I know about this?
00:27:37Why the hell didn't anyone tell me?
00:27:40Marcus met his eyes.
00:27:41Something dark moved behind them.
00:27:43Not anger.
00:27:44Grief.
00:27:45The healers called you directly, Alpha.
00:27:47That night.
00:27:48They needed your blood for the healing ritual.
00:27:51The phone call.
00:27:52Luna Ira is in critical condition.
00:27:54Victoria is my priority.
00:27:56The blood stays with her.
00:27:58Ice spread through his veins.
00:28:00She was eight weeks pregnant.
00:28:01The words hit like a blade to the throat.
00:28:04What?
00:28:05Eight weeks.
00:28:06Pup didn't survive.
00:28:08The blood that could have saved them.
00:28:10You gave it to Miss Stone.
00:28:12For her knee.
00:28:13Kine couldn't breathe.
00:28:14Pregnant.
00:28:15Ira had been carrying my pup.
00:28:17And I'd killed them both.
00:28:19His knees hit the gravel.
00:28:21He didn't remember falling.
00:28:22I didn't know.
00:28:25She never told me.
00:28:27Marcus crouched beside him.
00:28:29She tried.
00:28:30The healers tried.
00:28:32You hung up before anyone could explain.
00:28:34Victoria is my priority.
00:28:36His own words.
00:28:38His own voice.
00:28:39His own sentence.
00:28:41Alpha.
00:28:41She left something for you.
00:28:43In your bedroom.
00:28:51Cain walked through the fortress.
00:28:53Like a ghost.
00:28:54The bedroom door hung open.
00:28:56Her side of the closet was empty.
00:28:58Nothing but bare hangers swaying in stillness.
00:29:01And on his pillow.
00:29:02Two objects.
00:29:04His hands trembled as he reached for them.
00:29:06Dissolution papers.
00:29:08Signed.
00:29:08Dated.
00:29:09Final.
00:29:09And a black leather ledger.
00:29:11Open to the last page.
00:29:12He recognized the handwriting.
00:29:14Elegant.
00:29:15Precise.
00:29:16The same script she used for her sketches.
00:29:18Deduct one point.
00:29:19He forgot our mating anniversary.
00:29:21Deduct one point.
00:29:22He cancelled Moon Lake because Victoria called.
00:29:25Deduct one point.
00:29:26He said her name in his sleep.
00:29:27Entry after entry.
00:29:2999 wounds.
00:29:30Three years of silence.
00:29:32Catalogued in neat, careful script.
00:29:35And at the bottom.
00:29:36Deduct one point.
00:29:37He let our child die to spare her a scar.
00:29:39Entry 100.
00:29:41Final score.
00:29:41Zero.
00:29:43His phone buzzed.
00:29:44A message.
00:29:45From Aera.
00:29:45The pain in your chest won't fade.
00:29:47It will follow you until the day you die.
00:29:50A gift from the moon goddess to those who betray their mates.
00:29:53He looked down.
00:29:54Where the mating mark had been.
00:29:56That sacred place over his heart.
00:29:58Silver fire was carving into his skin.
00:30:00Lines burning.
00:30:01Twisting.
00:30:02Forming a crescent moon.
00:30:04Moon fire.
00:30:05The ancient brand.
00:30:06The betrayer's curse.
00:30:08It's not legend.
00:30:09Mine.
00:30:10Forever.
00:30:12Kane.
00:30:13Victoria stood in the doorway.
00:30:14Coat thrown over her nightgown.
00:30:16Breathless from chasing him.
00:30:17What's going on?
00:30:18You left me lying there like I was nothing.
00:30:20Her eyes found the ledger.
00:30:21The papers.
00:30:22The empty closet.
00:30:24Understanding spread across her face.
00:30:26Then, a smile.
00:30:27Finally, she's gone.
00:30:29I knew she couldn't last.
00:30:31Now we can stop pretending, Kane.
00:30:33Now we can be what we were always meant to.
00:30:36What?
00:30:37Get out.
00:30:39You can't be serious.
00:30:41After everything I did to get rid of her, you're going to.
00:30:45What did you say?
00:30:46She realized her mistake too late.
00:30:49Kane moved.
00:30:50His hand closed around her throat.
00:30:51Not squeezing.
00:30:52Just holding.
00:30:53A promise.
00:30:54He said slowly.
00:30:55Gold bleeding into his eyes.
00:30:57What did you do?
00:31:01Nothing.
00:31:01I just...
00:31:02I just meant...
00:31:03You knew.
00:31:04You knew she was pregnant.
00:31:05You knew she was dying.
00:31:07And you let me give you that blood anyway.
00:31:09Kane, please.
00:31:09I didn't think...
00:31:10He released her.
00:31:11She stumbled back, gasping.
00:31:13Get out of my territory.
00:31:14If I ever see you again, I'll tear out your throat myself.
00:31:18She ran.
00:31:19And Kane sank to the floor.
00:31:21The ledger pressed against his chest.
00:31:23The brand burning through his skin.
00:31:25One hundred entries.
00:31:27One hundred times she'd reached for me.
00:31:29And every single time, I'd let her fall.
00:31:41Kane stood in his study, staring at the map spread across his desk.
00:31:45Red pins marked every relocation they'd checked.
00:31:48Three days.
00:31:49Seventy-two hours of searching.
00:31:51Every tracker in the pack.
00:31:53Every contact.
00:31:55I called in every favor I was owed.
00:31:58Nothing.
00:32:00Ira vanished like smoke through my fingers.
00:32:02Her family's old territory, abandoned for years.
00:32:06The human city where her mother had lived, no trace.
00:32:09The Moon Temple in neutral territory, the elders has wouldn't even open the gates.
00:32:12The Moon Daughter's whereabouts are not your concern.
00:32:16You lost the right to know the moment you broke faith.
00:32:20Moon Daughter.
00:32:21He couldn't get the title out of his head.
00:32:23He'd torn through the pack's ancient archives for three sleepless nights.
00:32:27And finally, in a crumbling manuscript that fell apart in his hands, the Moon-blooded Daughters of the First Wolf.
00:32:33Born once in a generation, if at all, their blood carries the blessing of the Moon Goddess herself.
00:32:39In a thousand years, only ten have awakened.
00:32:42The eleventh will rise from betrayal.
00:32:44He read the passage until the words blurred.
00:32:46Most Moon-blooded wolves carry dormant blood, never knowing what sleeps inside them.
00:32:52The awakening requires a catalyst.
00:32:54A breaking so complete that the wolf's very soul cracks open.
00:32:58When a Moon-blooded severs a corrupted bond, she bands the Betrayer with moonfire.
00:33:03The mark burns eternal.
00:33:04Every full moon, the agony returns tenfold.
00:33:08There is no cure.
00:33:09There is no end.
00:33:10Only death brings relief.
00:33:12Kane's hand moved to his chest.
00:33:14Beneath his shirt, the Trescent brand pulsed.
00:33:17A constant, low burn that never faded, not even in sleep.
00:33:21Half-blood, I'd called her.
00:33:23Embarrassment.
00:33:24Stain on the Blackwood line.
00:33:26And all along, she'd carried the rarest bloodline in wolf history.
00:33:30A knock at the door.
00:33:31Enter.
00:33:32Marcus stepped in, a stack of reports in his hands.
00:33:36Anything?
00:33:37Marcus set the reports on the desk.
00:33:40Nothing, Alpha.
00:33:41She covered her tracks clean.
00:33:42Whoever helped her disappear, they knew exactly what they were doing.
00:33:47Kane's fist slammed into the desk.
00:33:49The wood splintered beneath his knuckles.
00:33:51She can't have just vanished!
00:33:55Someone knows something.
00:33:58Someone!
00:33:59Alpha.
00:34:01Can I speak freely?
00:34:04Since when do you ask permission?
00:34:06Since I'm about to say something you don't want to hear.
00:34:09Marcus met his eyes, held them.
00:34:11Do you know when your Luna last smiled?
00:34:13Question hit wrong, off-center.
00:34:16What?
00:34:17A real smile.
00:34:19Not the one she wore for packed dinners when everyone was watching.
00:34:22A real one.
00:34:23Do you remember the last time you saw it?
00:34:25Kane opened his mouth.
00:34:27Nothing came out.
00:34:28He couldn't remember.
00:34:36Three hundred and sixty-seven days ago, she baked you a cake for your birthday.
00:34:41Chocolate.
00:34:42Little silver moons on top, she made them herself.
00:34:45Something cold crawled down Kane's spine.
00:34:48You didn't come home.
00:34:49Victoria called with some crisis at her gallery.
00:34:52You left.
00:34:53Didn't get back until the next overnoon.
00:34:55The cake sat on the table all night.
00:34:57Luna Ira threw it out before you walked through the door.
00:35:01She smiled at you like nothing happened.
00:35:04Asked about your night.
00:35:06Three hundred sixty-seven days.
00:35:08A full year without a real smile.
00:35:10And I'd never noticed.
00:35:12Never once looked at her long enough to see the light leaving her eyes.
00:35:15She used to hum when she worked, in that little herb garden she planted behind the east wing.
00:35:20Old songs.
00:35:21Lullabies her mother taught her.
00:35:23She stopped about six months into your mating.
00:35:25Right around the time you started spending nights at Miss Stone's place.
00:35:29Kane didn't speak.
00:35:31Couldn't.
00:35:32I watched her fade, Alpha.
00:35:35A little more every day.
00:35:37And you never saw a goddamn thing!
00:35:41Marcus.
00:35:42Three hundred sixty-seven days.
00:35:45You let her spend three hundred sixty-seven days alone in a house full of your scent.
00:35:50Wondering why she wasn't enough.
00:35:53Wondering what was wrong with her.
00:35:56Wondering why her own mate couldn't stand to look at her.
00:36:00I said that's enough!
00:36:03It's not.
00:36:05You want to know who your Luna was?
00:36:07She healed wounded wolves who couldn't afford pack healers.
00:36:12Did it for free.
00:36:14Never told anyone.
00:36:15She remembered every guard's name.
00:36:17Every birthday.
00:36:19She sat with Elder Hammond for six hours while he died.
00:36:22Holding his hand so he wouldn't be alone.
00:36:24She did that, Alpha.
00:36:26She was that person.
00:36:28And you threw her away like she was nothing.
00:36:30The words landed like blows.
00:36:32Kane couldn't breathe.
00:36:33I'm not trying to twist the knife.
00:36:34I'm telling you what you lost.
00:36:36Who you lost.
00:36:36Because if you don't understand that, then you're going to spend the rest of your life wondering why it hurts
00:36:41so much.
00:36:42He turned towards the door.
00:36:44Paused.
00:36:45She deserved better than you, Alpha.
00:36:48I hope wherever she is, she finds it.
00:36:52The door closed behind him.
00:36:54The weight of 367 days pressed against his ribs like a hand trying to crush his heart.
00:37:00His phone buzzed.
00:37:01Victoria.
00:37:02Please, baby.
00:37:04Let me explain.
00:37:06I love you.
00:37:07I've always loved you.
00:37:09We can still fix this.
00:37:11Call me.
00:37:11He stared at the message.
00:37:13Once, those words would have moved something in him.
00:37:15Made his wolf perk up.
00:37:16Made him want to protect her.
00:37:18Comfort her.
00:37:18Give her whatever she needed.
00:37:20Now his stomach turned.
00:37:21He deleted it without replying.
00:37:23Outside, the sun bled into the horizon.
00:37:26And then, the moon rose.
00:37:28Full.
00:37:29Silver.
00:37:30Merciless.
00:37:30The brand on his chest.
00:37:32Ignited.
00:37:33Kane doubled over with a sound that wasn't quite human.
00:37:36Half snarl.
00:37:37Half scream.
00:37:37He clawed at his shirt, ripping buttons, desperate to get it away from his burning skin.
00:37:42The crescent moon glowed white hot against his flesh.
00:37:45And his wolf howled inside his skull, thrashing against the agony.
00:37:49This was the curse.
00:37:50This was the price.
00:37:52He collapsed onto the cold floor.
00:37:54Sweat stoked through his clothes.
00:37:56His vision swam with tears he couldn't stop.
00:37:58And somewhere in the back of his shattered mind, he heard her voice.
00:38:02It will follow you until the day you die.
00:38:05Moonlight pulled across his body.
00:38:07He didn't try to crawl away from it.
00:38:16Kane sat alone in his study.
00:38:18The black leather book open in his trembling hands.
00:38:21The ledger was destroying him.
00:38:23Page by page.
00:38:24Entry by entry.
00:38:25Deduct one point.
00:38:26Our mating anniversary.
00:38:27He took Victoria to Moonlake Falls.
00:38:30The place he promised to take me someday.
00:38:32Moonlake Falls.
00:38:34I remembered.
00:38:35Victoria had pouted about wanting to see the waterfall during autumn.
00:38:39I took her there without thinking.
00:38:41Three days later, Marcus brought it up.
00:38:43Turns out that day was also my own claiming anniversary.
00:38:45I sent flowers to Ira.
00:38:47Didn't even write the card.
00:38:48Had my assistant do it.
00:38:49Deduction one point.
00:38:50The silver moon celebration.
00:38:52The chandelier fell.
00:38:53He threw himself over Victoria instead of me.
00:38:55The celebration.
00:38:56His grandfather's annual gala.
00:38:57He remembered the crash of crystal.
00:38:59The screams.
00:39:00The way his body had moved without conscious thought.
00:39:03Toward Victoria.
00:39:03Actually, he was closer to me.
00:39:05He knew that now.
00:39:06He'd seen the security footage.
00:39:08Marcus had pulled.
00:39:09He was only three feet from her.
00:39:11Victoria had been across the room.
00:39:12And he'd run past his own maid to cover another woman's body with his.
00:39:16Deduction one point.
00:39:17He had a high fever.
00:39:19104 degrees.
00:39:20I stayed up all night pressing cold cloths to his skin.
00:39:23When it broke at dawn, the first name on his lips was hers.
00:39:27Victoria.
00:39:27He'd called for Victoria while I sat beside him through the dark hours.
00:39:32While my hands cooled his burning forehead.
00:39:34While I whispered old prayers to the moon goddess.
00:39:37He'd opened his eyes and asked for someone else.
00:39:39Deduct one point.
00:39:40My birthday.
00:39:41He forgot.
00:39:42Again.
00:39:43Deduction.
00:39:44One point.
00:39:45I cooked his favorite meal.
00:39:46Waited three hours.
00:39:47He came home smelling like her perfume and said he'd already eaten.
00:39:51Deduct one point.
00:39:52I wore the red dress.
00:39:53The one he said brought out my eyes.
00:39:55He didn't look up from his phone once.
00:39:56Deduct one point.
00:39:58The pack elders asked about an heir.
00:39:59He said when the time is right.
00:40:01Later I heard him tell Victoria he wasn't sure he wanted pups with a half blood.
00:40:06The words blurred.
00:40:07Didn't want pups pup with a half blood.
00:40:10Did I really say that?
00:40:12I didn't remember anymore.
00:40:14I must have said it.
00:40:17She wouldn't have written it down otherwise.
00:40:20She wrote everything.
00:40:22Every wound.
00:40:25Every dismissal.
00:40:27Every time I picked the wrong one.
00:40:30Ninety-nine entries.
00:40:32Three years of bleeding where no one could see.
00:40:36Kane closed the ledger.
00:40:38His hands wouldn't stop shaking.
00:40:39He needed to move.
00:40:40Needed air.
00:40:41Needed something other than sitting here choking on proof of what he'd done.
00:40:45He found himself walking.
00:40:47He stopped in front of a door he'd never bothered to open.
00:40:50The nursery.
00:40:51He'd known she was working on it.
00:40:52He'd walked past this door a hundred times and never once looked inside.
00:40:56His hand closed around the handle.
00:40:58He pushed it open.
00:40:59The breath punched out of his lungs.
00:41:08The room was destroyed.
00:41:10Destroyed.
00:41:11The walls had been painted silver once.
00:41:13He could see it beneath the canvas that hung in shreds.
00:41:15Hand-painted murals.
00:41:16Wolf pups tumbling through wildflower meadows.
00:41:19Little moons and stars.
00:41:21Scattered across a painted sky.
00:41:23All of it torn down.
00:41:24The crib lay toppled in the corner.
00:41:27White oak carved with protection runes.
00:41:29The runes were cracked now.
00:41:31Splintered.
00:41:31Like someone had beaten them with bare fists until they broke apart.
00:41:35On the floor.
00:41:36Little wolves made of painted canvas.
00:41:39Torn from the murals.
00:41:40Ripped into pieces no bigger than his palm.
00:41:43Kane's knees hit the ground.
00:41:44This wasn't packing.
00:41:46This wasn't moving on.
00:41:47This was a woman destroying the future she'd built alone.
00:41:50The dreams she'd carried in silence.
00:41:52The nursery she'd decorated for a pup whose father couldn't be bothered to open the door.
00:41:58His fingers found one of the torn wolves.
00:42:00A small gray pup with silver-painted eyes.
00:42:03It looked like her.
00:42:05The tears came before he could stop them.
00:42:07He knelt in the ruins of everything she'd hoped for.
00:42:10And he broke.
00:42:11Sobs tore through his chest.
00:42:13Silent.
00:42:14Violent.
00:42:15Shaking his whole body.
00:42:16His wolf howled with him.
00:42:18A sound like something dying.
00:42:22All of this.
00:42:24I caused it.
00:42:25I broke her so completely.
00:42:28She had to rip this room apart just to leave.
00:42:32Kane?
00:42:33Victoria stood in the doorway.
00:42:35Face arranged into something soft and concerned.
00:42:38Marcus mentioned you've been having a hard time.
00:42:41She picked her way into the room.
00:42:43Stepping over debris like it offended her.
00:42:45I thought I should check on you.
00:42:47Make sure my alpha is okay.
00:42:50Kane didn't move.
00:42:51Didn't look up.
00:42:52She crouched beside him.
00:42:53Close enough that her perfume.
00:42:55Jasmine.
00:42:56Too sweet.
00:42:56Cloying.
00:42:57Wrapped around him.
00:42:58I know you're hurting, baby.
00:43:01But she's gone now.
00:43:03It's over.
00:43:04We can finally have what we always should have had.
00:43:07Actually, I have some news.
00:43:10Something that might help you feel better.
00:43:12Kane finally raised his head.
00:43:14Her hand moved to her flat stomach.
00:43:16I'm pregnant.
00:43:26It's yours, Kane.
00:43:27We're going to have a pup together.
00:43:30The words hung in the dusty air.
00:43:32Once, they might have sparked something.
00:43:35Now all he could see was Ira.
00:43:37My child with Ira.
00:43:39Dead.
00:43:40Because I gave the blood that could have saved them to this woman.
00:43:44For a scar.
00:43:45For a fucking scar on her knee?
00:43:47You're lying.
00:43:48Victoria's smile cracked.
00:43:50Excuse me?
00:43:51Kane stood.
00:43:53I said you're lying.
00:43:54You've been on contraceptives since we were 17.
00:43:57You told me yourself you'd never let pregnancy ruin your figure.
00:44:01Things change.
00:44:02Not that fast.
00:44:03How far along?
00:44:05Two weeks?
00:44:06Three?
00:44:07I haven't touched you since the night Aayla left.
00:44:09Before that, it had been months.
00:44:11Victoria's face drained of color.
00:44:13You're not pregnant.
00:44:14You're trying to trap me now that she's gone?
00:44:17Kane, if you just listen to me!
00:44:19Get out.
00:44:20You're making a mistake.
00:44:21I said, get out!
00:44:23You don't!
00:44:25The Alpha Command hit like a physical fourth.
00:44:28Victoria's knees buckled.
00:44:29Her wolf forcing submission.
00:44:32She caught herself on the broken crib.
00:44:34Her mask slipped.
00:44:35Something ugly flashing in her eyes.
00:44:38You'll regret this.
00:44:39When you finally accept she's never coming back.
00:44:42When you're rotting alone with your pathetic curse and your guilt.
00:44:46You'll come crawling back to me and I'll...
00:44:51Marcus.
00:44:54Escort Miss Stone off packed territory.
00:44:57Permanently.
00:44:58If she crosses our borders again, she's to be treated as a threat.
00:45:02Understood, Alpha?
00:45:04Victoria's screams echoed down the corridor as Marcus hauled her away.
00:45:08His name over and over.
00:45:10Getting thinner until it disappeared entirely.
00:45:13Silence flooded back.
00:45:14Kane sank to the floor again.
00:45:16His hand found the little silver-eyed wolf.
00:45:19He held it against his chest.
00:45:20And he didn't move for a very long time.
00:45:30The scandal broke on a Tuesday.
00:45:32Kane was in his study.
00:45:33The ledger opened on his lap for the hundredth time.
00:45:36When Marcus burst through the door without knocking.
00:45:39Alpha.
00:45:40You need to see this.
00:45:41The television flickered to life.
00:45:43A news anchored's voice cut through the silence.
00:45:46Structural failure at the historic Stone Gallery has been traced to sub-gandered materials.
00:45:52Horses confirmed that Victoria Stone nonthingly approved cheaper alternatives to cut costs,
00:45:57endangering hundreds of guests at last month's exhibition.
00:46:01Kane's fingers tightened on the arm hold.
00:46:03I thought the gallery collapse was an accident.
00:46:05The footage cut to Victoria.
00:46:07She stood behind a podium bristling with microphones.
00:46:10Tears glistening.
00:46:12Lower lip trembling just so.
00:46:14The perfect picture of wounded innocence.
00:46:16I am the victim here.
00:46:18The real criminal is the woman who sabotaged my gallery out of jealousy.
00:46:22My ex-lover's mate.
00:46:24Ira Winters.
00:46:26Kane's wolf slammed against his ribs.
00:46:29She couldn't stand that Kane chose me.
00:46:31Victoria dabbed at her eyes with manicured fingers.
00:46:35She's been obsessed with destroying me since the day of their mating ceremony.
00:46:39This so-called structural failure was her revenge.
00:46:42He was moving before the sentence finished.
00:46:45One moment he was in his study.
00:46:47The next, the microphone was in his fist, ripped from Victoria's hands.
00:46:51His wolf was right there, pressing, snarling, gold bleeding into his eyes.
00:46:57You don't get to say her name.
00:46:59Victoria stumbled back, her mask cracking.
00:47:02Kane, what the hell are you-
00:47:03He turned to face the cameras.
00:47:05Let them see.
00:47:06Let them all see.
00:47:07Every word out of her mouth is a lie.
00:47:09Victoria Stone cut corners to save money.
00:47:12People were hurt because of her greed.
00:47:14Now she's blaming an innocent woman who isn't here to defend herself.
00:47:18A reporter shoved forward.
00:47:20Mr. Blackwood, are you saying your former Luna had no involvement in the gallery collapse?
00:47:25Ira had nothing to do with any of this.
00:47:27She's the kindest person I've ever known.
00:47:29She wouldn't hurt anyone.
00:47:31And I-
00:47:31He stopped.
00:47:32The words jammed in his chest.
00:47:34Mr. Blackwood.
00:47:36The cameras pressed closer.
00:47:38Microphones jabbed at his face.
00:47:40Victoria was hissing something behind him, but her voice had become white-wheeled.
00:47:44All he could see was Ira.
00:47:46The hope in her eyes on their mating day.
00:47:48The way it had dimmed, month by month, until there was nothing left but that careful, polite
00:47:54emptiness.
00:47:55I destroyed her.
00:48:04Silence swallowed the crowd.
00:48:06I had the most precious gift the goddess could give, and I threw it away.
00:48:10For nothing.
00:48:11For lies.
00:48:13For someone who never loved anything but herself.
00:48:16Are you saying you still have feelings for your former Luna?
00:48:19Feelings.
00:48:20I love her.
00:48:21I never stopped loving her.
00:48:23I was just too blind and too stupid to see what was right in front of me.
00:48:27Victoria's shriek slutted through the murmuring crowd.
00:48:31You can't be serious!
00:48:32She shoved past a cameraman, mascara starting to run.
00:48:36You're choosing that half-blood bitch over me?
00:48:38After everything I gave up for you?
00:48:41What did you give up, Victoria?
00:48:42Your honesty?
00:48:43Your decency?
00:48:44You never had either.
00:48:46I gave you everything!
00:48:47You gave me nothing but lies, and you took everything that mattered.
00:48:51My mate.
00:48:52My pup.
00:48:54My...
00:48:54The word wouldn't come.
00:48:56Victoria's face twisted into something unrecognizable.
00:48:59All pretend gone.
00:49:01Your pup?
00:49:02You mean that half-breed thing that died?
00:49:04Please.
00:49:05Your bloodline is better off without mongrel.
00:49:08He moved.
00:49:09His hand closed around her throat before his brain caught up.
00:49:12Not squeezing Dot, just holding.
00:49:15A promise his wolf desperately wanted to keep.
00:49:18Say that again.
00:49:19I'm begging you.
00:49:21Victoria's eyes went wide.
00:49:23Real terror flickered there.
00:49:25The first honest thing she'd shown all day.
00:49:28Security hauled him back.
00:49:29Reporters screamed questions.
00:49:32Cameras devoured every second.
00:49:34None of it mattered.
00:49:42Two hours later, Kai knelt on Cold Stone.
00:49:45Edmund Blackwood sat behind his desk, silver eyes carrying the weight of two centuries.
00:49:50Edmund rose slowly, fingers closing around the silver-headed Kane.
00:49:54You have shamed this bloodline.
00:49:56Your obsession with that stone woman.
00:49:59Your treatment of your mate.
00:50:01That spectacle today, broadcast to every pack on the continent.
00:50:05You are unfit to leave.
00:50:07Kane said nothing.
00:50:09There was nothing to say.
00:50:10The goddess chose a mate for you.
00:50:12A true mate.
00:50:13And you threw her aside for a scheming, empty woman who has now dragged our name through filth.
00:50:21The Kane sang through the air.
00:50:23It cracked across Kion's shoulders hard enough to split skin.
00:50:26He didn't make a sound.
00:50:28You let your pup die.
00:50:29Another blow.
00:50:30Harder.
00:50:31You drove your Luna to sever a sacred bond.
00:50:35Another.
00:50:36You have proven yourself unworthy of everything this family has built.
00:50:40The Kane fell again.
00:50:41And again.
00:50:42Kane lost count.
00:50:43His shirt shrouded.
00:50:45Blood ran hot and wet down his spine.
00:50:47His wolf howled, thrassing against his control.
00:50:50But he held it back.
00:50:51He deserved this.
00:50:53Every strike was payment owed.
00:50:55Moonlight spilled through the window.
00:50:56The brand on his chest ignited, moonfire meeting torn flesh, burning him from the inside out.
00:51:03He let it come.
00:51:04Finally, Edmund stopped.
00:51:06His breath came harsh.
00:51:08The Kane trembled in his grip.
00:51:09You are no longer my heir.
00:51:11You are stripped of your council seat.
00:51:14Your access to pack resources ends tonight.
00:51:16You keep your wolf only because the goddess hasn't seen fit to claim it.
00:51:20Perhaps she still will.
00:51:21Kane stayed on his knees.
00:51:23Blood pooled beneath him, black in the moonlight.
00:51:25Get out.
00:51:27He rose slowly.
00:51:28Every movement sent fresh fire through his ruined back.
00:51:32The brand pulsed with his heartbeat.
00:51:34Constant, relentless, eternal.
00:51:37At the door, he paused.
00:51:39Grandfather.
00:51:40Silence.
00:51:41If you hear anything, anything at all about where she went, please.
00:51:46You lost that right the day you let her walk away.
00:51:49The door closed behind him.
00:51:51Kane stood alone in the empty corridor.
00:51:53Blood soaking through what remained of his shirt.
00:51:56The moonfire still burning in his chest.
00:51:58He'd lost everything.
00:52:00Title.
00:52:01Power.
00:52:02Pack.
00:52:02Family.
00:52:03None of it mattered.
00:52:04The only thing he wanted was already gone.
00:52:14Two years later, I stood at the floor-to-ceiling windows of the Silverlight Sanctuary, watching
00:52:20the San Francisco fog roll in from the bay.
00:52:23The building had been a condemned warehouse when Bridget and I found it.
00:52:27Now it was something else entirely.
00:52:30A haven for wolves with nowhere else to go.
00:52:33The walls hummed with protective wards I'd woven myself.
00:52:37The air carried the scent of healing herbs in something harder to name.
00:52:42Hope.
00:52:42Maybe.
00:52:43Mine.
00:52:44Theirs.
00:52:45You're gonna pace a trench in that floor.
00:52:47I turned.
00:52:48Lane heamed in the doorway.
00:52:50A steaming cup cradled in his hands.
00:52:53His dark hair had grown longer over the past months, curling at his collar.
00:52:57His gray eyes, always soft, always patient, crinkled at the corners when he looked at me.
00:53:04He crossed the room, pressing the warmth into my palms.
00:53:08Chamomile and moonflower.
00:53:10Figured you could use it.
00:53:11His scent wrapped around me.
00:53:13Cedar and wood smoke and safety.
00:53:15My wolf stirred, content.
00:53:19Nervous?
00:53:20A little.
00:53:20I took a sip, let the heat spread through my chest.
00:53:24I still can't believe they nominated me.
00:53:26I can.
00:53:27He settled against the window frame, close enough that his shoulder brushed mine.
00:53:32You've pulled wolves back from the edge of death more times than I can count.
00:53:35Healer of the year should have been yours last time around.
00:53:38I smiled.
00:53:39You're biased.
00:53:41Hopelessly.
00:53:41His eyes held mine, warm and steady.
00:53:45Doesn't mean I'm wrong.
00:53:46I remembered the night things shifted between us.
00:53:49Six months after San Francisco.
00:53:51Still raw.
00:53:53Still bleeding inside where no one could see.
00:53:55A full moon had risen over the sanctuary.
00:53:59Fat and silver and merciless.
00:54:01The sight of it, so bright, so indifferent, had cracked something open in my chest.
00:54:06I'd climbed to the roof without thinking, sat on the edge with my feet dangling over nothing,
00:54:11and cried.
00:54:12Lane had found me.
00:54:13He hadn't spoken.
00:54:15He just lowered himself beside me, wrapped his arms around my shaking body, and held on.
00:54:20I'd cried until there was nothing left.
00:54:23When I finally raised my head, emptied out and exhausted, he was still there.
00:54:28Still warm.
00:54:29Still holding me like I was something worth keeping.
00:54:32I'm sorry.
00:54:33Don't be.
00:54:35Your shirt's ruined.
00:54:36I've got others.
00:54:38A laugh had escaped me.
00:54:40Broken, wet, surprised.
00:54:43And he'd smiled.
00:54:44That quiet, steady smile that expected nothing return.
00:54:48That was the night I'd started to remember who I was.
00:54:58The ceremony was held at the Grand Luna Hotel.
00:55:01Neutral ground.
00:55:03Open to all packs.
00:55:04Crystal chandeliers threw fractured light across the ballroom.
00:55:08The supernatural elite drifted in glittering clusters.
00:55:11Wolves saying each other up behind champagne flasks and polite masks.
00:55:16I moved through them in a gown of liquid silver.
00:55:19It poured over my body like moonlight turned to fabric.
00:55:22My hair spills down like moonlight.
00:55:24At my throat, the crescent pendant from the moon temple durs caught the light with every breath.
00:55:30Lane walked beside me, dark suit fitted to his broad shoulders, his palm warm and steady at the small of
00:55:36my back.
00:55:37He murmured, lips brushing my ear.
00:55:39You know every unmated alpha in this room is watching you.
00:55:42Let them watch.
00:55:44There she is.
00:55:45When they announced my name.
00:55:46Aero Wintus, healer of the year.
00:55:49I climbed the stage on steady legs.
00:55:52Applause swelled around me like a wave.
00:55:55I built this.
00:55:56Earned this.
00:55:57On my own.
00:55:58Lane was waiting at the bottom of the steps.
00:56:00Pride bright in his eyes.
00:56:02He pulled me close, pressed a kiss to my temple.
00:56:05Told you.
00:56:06Knew it the first day you walked into the sanctuary.
00:56:08His wolf brushed against mine through the contact.
00:56:11A quiet greeting.
00:56:12A silent promise.
00:56:13I let myself lean into him.
00:56:15Let myself feel safe.
00:56:16And then, a cripple at my nace.
00:56:19A weight against my senses.
00:56:21Familiar.
00:56:21Unwelcome.
00:56:22My wolf went roged.
00:56:24I turned.
00:56:24The crowd seemed to part.
00:56:26Or maybe I just stopped seeing anyone else.
00:56:29He stood twenty feet away.
00:56:30Cain.
00:56:31My breath caught before I could stop it.
00:56:34He looked wrong.
00:56:35Hollowed.
00:56:36His black hair was longer.
00:56:39Uncamed.
00:56:40Shadows carved bruises beneath his eyes.
00:56:42His suit.
00:56:43Expensive.
00:56:44Tailored.
00:56:45Hung loose on a frame that had lost too much weight.
00:56:48But his eyes.
00:56:49His eyes were fixed on me with a desperation that made my skin prickle.
00:56:53I noticed his hand pressed flat against his chest.
00:56:56Against the place where the brand would be burning.
00:56:58Moonlight spilled through the skylights above.
00:57:01The moon fire was hurting him.
00:57:03Even now.
00:57:04Even here.
00:57:05Good.
00:57:13Aera.
00:57:14I've been looking for you.
00:57:15Every day.
00:57:16Every lead.
00:57:17I've been...
00:57:18Mr. Blackwood.
00:57:19I don't believe we have anything to discuss.
00:57:21Something splintered behind his eyes.
00:57:23Blaine's arm tightened at my waist.
00:57:25A silent question pressed through where our wolves touched.
00:57:29Want me to handle this?
00:57:30I covered his hand with mine.
00:57:32I'm okay.
00:57:33Please.
00:57:33Five minutes.
00:57:34Just let me explain.
00:57:35There's nothing to explain.
00:57:37We're strangers now.
00:57:39Less than that.
00:57:40Aera.
00:57:41I turned slightly.
00:57:42Letting Lane step into view.
00:57:44Letting see the way Lane's hand rested on my hip.
00:57:47The way I'm into is without thinking.
00:57:49This is Lane.
00:57:50My partner.
00:57:51Lane extended his free hand.
00:57:53His expression was pleasant.
00:57:54His eyes were not.
00:57:56Kane didn't take it.
00:57:57His gaze moved from Lane's face.
00:57:59To his hand on my body.
00:58:01To the easy way we stood together.
00:58:04Understanding broke across his features.
00:58:07Slow.
00:58:07Brutal.
00:58:08Complete.
00:58:09No!
00:58:12You can't.
00:58:13I'm still your...
00:58:15We're still...
00:58:15You're nothing to me.
00:58:17You were my past, Kane.
00:58:19He's my future.
00:58:20I turned my back on the man who had once been my entire world.
00:58:24Lane guided me through the crowd.
00:58:26His body a wall between me and whatever was happening behind this.
00:58:29I didn't look back.
00:58:31I didn't need to.
00:58:32Behind me, the brand flared.
00:58:34I felt it through some echo that hadn't quite died.
00:58:37Moonfire answered the moon's call.
00:58:39Kane's strangled sound of pain followed me across the ballroom floor.
00:58:44I kept walking.
00:58:52Kane caught me in the lobby.
00:58:56Ira, wait!
00:58:58I stopped.
00:58:59I turned.
00:59:01Kane stood ten feet away.
00:59:03His chest heaved.
00:59:04His hand was clamped over the brand.
00:59:06And even from here, I could see moonfire bleeding through the fabric of his shirt.
00:59:11Five minutes.
00:59:12That's all.
00:59:14Just hear me out.
00:59:15Mr. Blackwood.
00:59:17There's nothing left to say.
00:59:19Please.
00:59:20I know I don't deserve it.
00:59:21I know I have no right.
00:59:25But I, I need you to hear me.
00:59:27I need to-
00:59:28What you need stopped being my concern a long time ago.
00:59:32Something behind his eyes shattered.
00:59:34And then, he dropped.
00:59:39Kane Blackwood, alpha heir of the Shadow Wolf Pack.
00:59:42One of the most powerful wolves of his generation, sank to his knees on the cold marble.
00:59:49Gasps scattered through the crowd, spilling from the ballroom doors.
00:59:53Is that Blackwood?
00:59:54On his knees?
00:59:55For the half-blood?
00:59:57The one he threw away?
00:59:59I looked down at him.
01:00:02This was the man who'd left me bleeding in a blizzard.
01:00:06Who'd handed our child's life to another woman.
01:00:09Who'd said half-blood like it was a disease.
01:00:12Now, he knelt at my feet.
01:00:14Head bowed.
01:00:15Shoulders trembling.
01:00:17I'm sorry.
01:00:19For everything.
01:00:20For every time I chose her over you.
01:00:23For every time I looked right through you for the pup.
01:00:27Our pup.
01:00:28I'm sorry.
01:00:30I will be sorry until the day I die.
01:00:34I waited for something to move inside me.
01:00:37Nothing.
01:00:38Just silence where the pain used to live.
01:00:40He lifted his head.
01:00:42Tears tracked down his face.
01:00:45Kane Blackwood.
01:00:47Who had never cried in front of anyone.
01:00:50Weeping on a hotel floor.
01:00:51Give me another chance.
01:00:53I'll do anything.
01:00:54Whatever it takes.
01:00:55I'll spend every day proving.
01:00:57You can't.
01:00:59You can't make this right, Kane.
01:01:01You can't take back what you said.
01:01:04You can't unfeel what you didn't feel.
01:01:07You can't erase three years of making me invisible in my own home.
01:01:12I know.
01:01:13But if you just let me try at me.
01:01:15And you can't bring back our child.
01:01:17Kane's whole body folded.
01:01:19His hands hit the floor.
01:01:20His shoulders curved inward.
01:01:23Shaking.
01:01:24Broken.
01:01:25The brand blazed brighter.
01:01:27I could see the crescent noon now.
01:01:30Glowing through his ruined shirt.
01:01:32His spine arched with the agony.
01:01:34Muscles locking.
01:01:36But he didn't move.
01:01:37Didn't stand.
01:01:39Just knelt there.
01:01:40Burning.
01:01:40While strangers watched.
01:01:42He looked up at me.
01:01:44Wrecked.
01:01:45I loved you.
01:01:48I loved you.
01:01:50And I was too stupid to know it.
01:01:52Too blind.
01:01:53Too.
01:01:59I didn't know until you were gone.
01:02:01And there was just nothing.
01:02:03This silence where your heartbeat used to be.
01:02:05I hear it all the time now.
01:02:07The quiet.
01:02:09The quiet.
01:02:10It's the only thing I hear.
01:02:12My wolf stirred.
01:02:14Somewhere deep down.
01:02:16Some scarred over part of me remembered this man.
01:02:19Remember of the bond.
01:02:20The pull.
01:02:22But the bond was ash.
01:02:24And I was free.
01:02:34I could feel the pain rolling off him in waves.
01:02:38Moonfire and grief and two years of drowning in what he'd done.
01:02:42I'm sorry you're hurting.
01:02:44But that's not my weight to carry anymore.
01:02:47I turned to Lane.
01:02:49He was watching me.
01:02:50Steady.
01:02:51Patient.
01:02:52No jealousy twisting his features.
01:02:55No anger.
01:02:55Just quiet presence.
01:02:57Waiting for me to choose what came next.
01:03:00I reached for his hand.
01:03:02Our fingers laced together.
01:03:04His wolf pressed against mine.
01:03:06Warmth.
01:03:07And safety.
01:03:08And the unspoken promise of something real.
01:03:11I pitched my voice to Carrie.
01:03:13Let Kane hear.
01:03:14Let everyone hear.
01:03:16This is Lane.
01:03:17My partner.
01:03:19My equal.
01:03:22My future.
01:03:24Kane made a sound.
01:03:25It seemed like something inside him was dying.
01:03:29You're my past, Kane.
01:03:31Stay there.
01:03:33I turned away.
01:03:35Lane walked beside me.
01:03:36His thumb tracing slow circles over my knuckles.
01:03:40Behind us.
01:03:40I heard it.
01:03:41I heard it.
01:03:42Kane's voice.
01:03:44Shredded and begging.
01:03:45Ara.
01:03:46Please.
01:03:47Don't do that.
01:03:50I kept walking.
01:03:52The lobby doors swept open.
01:03:55Night air hit my face.
01:03:57Cool and clean.
01:03:59The moon hung overhead.
01:04:01Full and silver.
01:04:03And watching.
01:04:04Behind me, the brand flared.
01:04:07Kane's scream of agony echoed through the marble halls.
01:04:10I felt it through some ghost of connection that hadn't quite died.
01:04:15White hot.
01:04:16Searing.
01:04:17Relentless.
01:04:18I didn't look back.
01:04:20The car waited at the curb.
01:04:22Lane opened the door.
01:04:24His palm warm on my lower back as I slid inside.
01:04:27Through tinted glass, I caught one last glimpse.
01:04:31Kane was still on the floor.
01:04:34Security hovered.
01:04:35Unshurtened.
01:04:36The crowd watched from a distance.
01:04:38No one touched him.
01:04:40No one helped.
01:04:41He was alone.
01:04:43Just like I'd been.
01:04:44In the snow.
01:04:46In the hospital bed.
01:04:47In that cold, empty house with its cold, empty nursery.
01:04:53Now he understood.
01:04:57Lane settled beside me.
01:04:59The engine perked to life.
01:05:01Where to?
01:05:02I leaned into his shoulder.
01:05:05Breathed in cedar and wood smoke and home.
01:05:09Take me back.
01:05:10Take me back.
01:05:11Too sure to be continued.
01:05:12Too long.
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