Would you have healed Damon, or let him face what he did? And is Rhys the right choice for Wren? Tell me where you stand in the comments.
In her past life, Wren was starved to death by Damon, the Alpha who was supposed to protect her. Now she's been reborn as an Omega with a rare healing gift, and Damon has been reborn too. This time he is the one who is broken.
Damon is left crippled by a wolf-form injury, and the only person who can save him is the woman he destroyed. Wren refuses. Instead she turns her power toward Rhys, the rightful heir who has been quietly poisoned for years. Meanwhile Sable keeps spinning her lies, but they are starting to fall apart.
Watch the full episode to see whether Wren accepts the fated bond or walks away from it for good. Stay until the end.
What do you think Wren should do? Join the discussion below.
#TheAlphaILetBreak #FullEpisode #WerewolfRomance #AlphaAndOmega #FatedMates #RebornRomance #RomanceDrama #AlphaRegret #OmegaHealer #RevengeStory
Tags:
werewolf romance, alpha and omega, fated mates, reborn omega, reincarnation romance, rejected mate, healer omega, alpha regret, second chance romance, revenge romance, romance drama full episode, werewolf series, relationship drama, The Alpha I Let Break
In her past life, Wren was starved to death by Damon, the Alpha who was supposed to protect her. Now she's been reborn as an Omega with a rare healing gift, and Damon has been reborn too. This time he is the one who is broken.
Damon is left crippled by a wolf-form injury, and the only person who can save him is the woman he destroyed. Wren refuses. Instead she turns her power toward Rhys, the rightful heir who has been quietly poisoned for years. Meanwhile Sable keeps spinning her lies, but they are starting to fall apart.
Watch the full episode to see whether Wren accepts the fated bond or walks away from it for good. Stay until the end.
What do you think Wren should do? Join the discussion below.
#TheAlphaILetBreak #FullEpisode #WerewolfRomance #AlphaAndOmega #FatedMates #RebornRomance #RomanceDrama #AlphaRegret #OmegaHealer #RevengeStory
Tags:
werewolf romance, alpha and omega, fated mates, reborn omega, reincarnation romance, rejected mate, healer omega, alpha regret, second chance romance, revenge romance, romance drama full episode, werewolf series, relationship drama, The Alpha I Let Break
Category
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FunTranscript
00:02My name is Wren Ashford.
00:06In my last life, I knelt at the bottom of Widow's Ridge and saved Damon Cain, alpha heir of the
00:12Iron Claw Pack.
00:13The second my hand touched his skin, the moon goddess lit the bond between us. He was my mate.
00:17Three months later, under a full moon, in front of the entire pack, he rejected me because Sable Vos, his
00:22childhood sweetheart, had thrown herself off that same ridge over him.
00:25When the bomb tore, I coughed blood for three days. Then he put me in the silver pine cells. I
00:31starved to death down there.
00:33I opened my eyes, and I was back at the bottom of Widow's Ridge on the day he fell. This
00:38time, I don't reach out.
00:40I'm the Nightingale. I am exactly the person on this continent who can put a broken wolf back together, and
00:45he is never ever going to get me.
00:46In my last life, I starved to death. Last cell in the silver pine block. Iron cage. Stone floor. 61
00:52days.
00:53So, when I opened my eyes and smelled wet moss and blood on the rock face, I knew exactly where
00:59I was.
00:59The day Damon Cain fell off Widow's Ridge. He's lying three steps from my boots.
01:0426. Alpha heir of Iron Claw. The most promising wolf in the Northern Reach. Right now, there isn't one whole
01:10thing in him below the neck.
01:11In my last life, at exactly this moment, I knelt. I pulled his collar open, I put my bare hand
01:17on his collarbone, and the moon goddess lit the bond between us in that one second.
01:21Three months later, under a full moon, in front of 700 wolves, he tore it in half. This time, I
01:27put my hands in my pockets.
01:28Wolves come crashing through the treeline. Beta Torrin is in front.
01:31Brent! You're Dr. Ambrose's assistant. Move! Save him!
01:33I keep my eyes down. I let my voice shake.
01:35Beta, I'm an Omega. Last week I tried to set a rabbit's leg. The rabbit died on the table.
01:38Dr. Ambrose sent me down here to gather herbs as punishment. That's the only reason I'm here at all.
01:42Torrin stopped. And it isn't the rabbit. It's Sable Voss. Damon's girl since they were kids. The one who's never
01:46let a single she-wolf close enough to breathe on him.
01:48A year ago, at the annual gathering, a she-wolf dropped her scarf. Damon bent down and picked it up
01:53for her.
01:54Sable put her glass down hard enough to crack the table.
01:57A wolf keeps himself too. Any male who claims me will have one female in his eyes. One. That was
02:01a cheap little move and you took it. Fine. I'll go find someone else.
02:04Damon tore the scarf in half in front of everyone.
02:06Putting on a show. You should be ashamed of yourself.
02:08The she-wolf burst into tears. Eight words ended her. Her mating contract was withdrawn within the month, and no
02:13one in the reach said her name out loud again.
02:14But that night, behind the rock garden, I watched Damon laugh and tapped Sable on the nose.
02:19You dropped her scarf on purpose. And you waited until I was walking past. You.
02:23She asked you for directions today, so yes, I did it on purpose. And you'd spoil me for it anyway.
02:27I was standing ten steps away, and I went cold all over. Now Torrin looks at me. Then, at the
02:33unconscious air.
02:34I take out my silver needles and aim one very seriously at Damon's chest.
02:38But he's hurt pretty badly, so I'll give it a go. A wolf and a rabbit can't be that different.
02:41Stop!
02:42He coughs. Rubs his nose.
02:44You know what, you've got a point. We'll wait for Dr. Ambrose. You four, back to the pack house. Now!
02:48I slide the needles back into my sleeve. Not this life. He doesn't deserve my treatment.
02:56Then the rain comes down. Still, none of them know what to do.
02:59I'm the only one down here who knows what's actually wrong with him.
03:02Three ribs. Bruised lung. Right tibia in pieces. Seventh vertebra split.
03:07And one thing Dr. Ambrose will never find. His shift line is severed.
03:11That's the road his wolf comes out on. Cut it, and the wolf stays locked in there forever.
03:16In my last life, I got him into a cave twenty minutes before the rain.
03:19I put my coat over him. I didn't sleep a wink all night.
03:22This time, I only pull my own coat a little tighter. The rain gets heavier.
03:25The lean-toon tauren rig goes over in the wind. Lift him! Find cover!
03:30He doesn't know how to carry a wolf with a split spine. Every step, those broken ribs grind.
03:33Damon's still unconscious, and his face keeps tightening anyway.
03:37The fever starts. He mumbles a name over and over.
03:40Sable. Sable.
03:42Such devotion.
03:43The road's washed out. Dr. Ambrose won't make it before dawn. Rent, I'm asking you. Please.
03:48If I refuse again, I start looking suspicious. I pick three stems out of my basket.
03:52Crush these. Squeeze the juice into his mouth. It'll bring the fever down.
03:56As for needles, I'm really not good enough for this. I'd probably-
03:58Ten minutes later, Damon's face goes slack.
04:00The fever break, the wolves cheer, and tauren looks at me like a man grabbing a rope.
04:03It worked. Rin, do the needles.
04:05The smile freezes on my face. I reach out anyway, and my brain is sprinting.
04:09Two inches from his collar. His eyes snap open. Blood red.
04:14Drop me!
04:15He shoves me flat. Gravel slices my palm open.
04:17If it weren't for you, I would never have lost her.
04:19I don't move. He came back too. And the strange thing is, my first feeling isn't fear.
04:23It's a relief, because it means he will never, ever let me touch him.
04:26Sir, I think it's the fever talking. Are you alright?
04:28He coughs blood. Looks at my blank face. Then at the cave walls. And something in him stalls.
04:33Sir, you're badly hurt. Let win.
04:35Damon goes quiet. When he looks at me now, it's like looking down a well.
04:39You can scheme all you want. This time you don't get a single red.
04:42Footsteps outside.
04:43Beta! Doc Ambrose is here!
04:46The longer Ambrose examines him, the worse his face gets.
04:50Sir. The most I can do here is stabilize you and get you home.
04:57No.
04:58He gets one word out and vomits blood, and I watch the exact second he realizes something is wrong.
05:05This isn't right. Last time I woke up, it didn't hurt like this.
05:11Nothing was blocked like this.
05:13I laugh somewhere inside my chest.
05:15That's because last time, I had 300 year moon root in your mouth inside the hour.
05:21Take him away!
05:22Moon root grows on the shaded side of cliff faces.
05:25A 50 year root is worth a silver mine.
05:28The one in my sleeve is 300 years old.
05:30I tuck my sleeve down and say nothing at all.
05:34I tell my family everything. My older brother Caleb frowns at me.
05:37Rent, be honest with me. Do you have feelings for the heir?
05:40I don't know whether to laugh, Caleb, or hit him.
05:42I spent eight years at the hollow getting my lungs fixed.
05:45I've been home three months.
05:46Because he falls off a ridge and my little sister just happens to be standing under it?
05:50I have met him exactly once.
05:52My mother Marin finally exhales.
05:56Grid, that one is not for you.
05:57My father Owen makes a noise in his throat.
06:00If my daughter mates anyone, he'll be steady and clear-headed and able to carry a thing without crushing it.
06:06Dad, that wolf does not exist.
06:10Rice Kane. I taught that boy for half a year.
06:14If his wolf hadn't gone silent, the heir's seat would never have gone to-
06:17Marin smacks his arm.
06:19Between us, doesn't leave this house.
06:23Damon spends most of them unconscious.
06:25Rare medicine goes into that room like water into sand.
06:27Sable arrives with her eyes already red and throws herself at the bed.
06:30Damon, you're awake. I was so scared.
06:33Damon grips her hand.
06:34I didn't let another female touch me.
06:35His eyes cross mine.
06:37Sable, don't leave.
06:39Sable blushes on cue.
06:40In front of everyone, the door opens.
06:42Luna Vivienne walks in.
06:44How is he?
06:45Ambrose goes to one knee.
06:47Luna, he'll live.
06:49The bones will knit.
06:51But his shift line is severed.
06:53He will never take wolf form again.
06:54Every wolf in the room stops breathing at one.
06:57That's not possible.
06:59Cold sweat on his forehead.
06:59That's not how it goes.
07:00And I'm the only one who sees it.
07:02Sable Voss, who was holding his hand a second ago, slides her fingers out.
07:05One at a time.
07:12Vivienne grabs the back of a chair.
07:13Her knuckles go white.
07:15Damon is her only son.
07:17However, a wolf who can't shift, can't be alpha.
07:20That trip was private.
07:23Fewer than five wolves knew the route.
07:26Somebody put my son on that ridge.
07:28When I find out who, I will take their skin.
07:32Her eyes rest on Sable's face for half a second.
07:34Sable stops moving entirely.
07:36They nearly laugh.
07:38Because there are exactly three wolves in this room.
07:40You know what happened.
07:41Damon.
07:42Sable.
07:43Me.
07:43Day.
07:44Sable was hiding in his truck.
07:45They reached the edge of the cliff.
07:46He asked when he was finally going to make her his wife.
07:48It took too long to answer.
07:54I gave you everything and I never asked for the title.
07:57If you don't want me, fine.
07:59I'll find someone who does.
08:01She ripped their moonstone token off her throat and threw it over the edge.
08:04Caught on a branch thirty feet down and swung there.
08:07There.
08:07No token.
08:09You go your way, I'll go mine.
08:10Went over the edge to get it.
08:13Branch snap.
08:16The driver lost concentration.
08:18It was an accident.
08:20They both died in the fall, mother.
08:22Let it go.
08:23Day will finally breathe.
08:25I can see it.
08:26Vivian is already suspicious.
08:27Publicly, he's injured.
08:29Nothing more.
08:30And I want that wolf back, whatever it costs.
08:32He sweeps out.
08:35Ambrose lowers his voice so only I can hear.
08:37Two people alive can mend a shift line.
08:40The old one they call the wanderer.
08:42The young one they call the nightingale.
08:44Say it silently to myself.
08:45No, they can't.
08:45Was born with bad minds.
08:46Wasn't expected to make it to adulthood.
08:48Eight years ago, wandering old wolf said,
08:50Take her to the hollow and maybe.
08:51Met someone there.
08:51Became the only apprentice he ever took.
08:53That was the wanderer.
08:54And the one this continent calls the nightingale?
08:55That's me.
08:56How else does an Omega put an Alpha Air back together overnight?
08:58Room empties.
08:59It's just the two of us.
09:00I pack the case.
09:02Grabs my wrist.
09:03Through the sleeve.
09:04I know you can fix me.
09:06Something drops in my chest.
09:08They say you were taught by someone at the hollow.
09:11And that you came home with a root.
09:14One that puts my wolf back.
09:16That is the exact lie I told him in my last life to explain myself.
09:19I nod.
09:20That's true.
09:21The eyes light up.
09:22And something complicated moves behind them.
09:24You love me that much?
09:26You'd pull a stunt like this just to get my attention?
09:29Excuse me?
09:30Give me the root.
09:32I'll set you up in a house.
09:34Two nights a month.
09:36You never go near Sable.
09:37I open my eyes wide.
09:39Delighted.
09:40Sir!
09:40That's so generous of you!
09:42And I let my face fall.
09:45It's just...
09:46Last month the Ridgeback boy went under the water at his naming ceremony.
09:49My mother owed his mother a life.
09:51The root's gone.
09:52I fed it to him.
09:53The whole reach knows about that boy.
09:54I told the roots whole story.
09:55Where it came from.
09:56Where it went.
09:56Nearly and completely.
09:57Damon stopped.
09:58My wolf.
10:00My wolf!
10:00No!
10:01That's not...
10:02That can't...
10:05Half of what I told him was true.
10:07I did use the root.
10:08Just not on the Ridgeback boy.
10:09I gave it to Rhys Cain.
10:10The firstborn heir.
10:11The one they call Broken now.
10:13Damon's older half-brother.
10:14The day my father said his name at the dinner table.
10:16All of it came back.
10:17That year, under a full moon, Damon recognised me as his mate.
10:19Three months later, under the same moon, in front of 700 wolves, he opened his mouth.
10:23I, Damon Cain of Ironclade, reject you, Wren Ashgrove, as my mate.
10:28Because Sable Voss had thrown herself off Widow's Ridge for him, and they never found a body.
10:32The whole Reach agreed.
10:33The Omega pushed her way in and killed that poor girl.
10:35When the bond tore, I coughed blood for three days.
10:39Then he put me in the silver pine cells.
10:4261 days.
10:43On the 61st, I couldn't keep scratching the count into the stone.
10:46My family were stripped of their names and driven out as rogues.
10:50After I died, he didn't give me back to the Earth.
10:51He locked me in a cold room and said the goddess didn't deserve to take me.
10:54So, I drifted.
10:56For two years.
10:57Two years later, in the South, he found Sable Voss.
10:59Alive.
11:00Amnesiac.
11:01He held her and wept into her hair.
11:02That night, I watched her climb out a window to meet another man.
11:05A real woman tames a man.
11:07Even if he's the most powerful wolf on the continent.
11:10I faked one death and he spent a lifetime on it.
11:13He killed that Omega for me.
11:15Threw her whole family out.
11:16Now I crook one finger and he hands me the Lunar Seat.
11:19The knife went in right after that sentence.
11:21Sable's eyes went wide with disbelief.
11:22Then she dropped.
11:24The man she was holding turned and bowed toward the end of the hallway.
11:27Alpha.
11:28Sebel Voss is dead.
11:29A second shadow dropped off the roof line.
11:31Alpha.
11:32Damon Cain died tonight.
11:34By his own blood-swearing guard.
11:35At the end of the hallway.
11:36A man in a wheelchair.
11:37So pale, his whole body shook and he cocked.
11:39Rhys Cain.
11:39Damon's older, half-brother.
11:40Same father.
11:41Different mother.
11:41He did not look thirty years old.
11:43I assumed he just wanted the throne.
11:45Then I watched him track down every scattered ash grove and clear our name.
11:48I watched him gut the Reacher's rotten books.
11:49Strip the pack house of its excess.
11:51Hold the whole thing together on a body that was falling apart.
11:53Then he handed the seat to a cousin and stepped down.
11:55He also put me in the ground.
11:56By the time I was almost gone, all I knew was that he was very sick and it wouldn't be
11:59long.
11:59There was one line I didn't hear.
12:02Alpha.
12:03Shall we lay you beside Miss Ashgrove?
12:06I woke up too late.
12:07I didn't protect her family.
12:09She'll hate me for it.
12:10He sat a long time with a small portrait he'd drawn without permission.
12:12Beside her.
12:13Not with her.
12:14We never spoke the rites.
12:16I won't put a mark on her name.
12:17So on those two days off, I put on a mask and went to Ravenscar.
12:19He recovered my body.
12:20He cleared my family.
12:21He buried me.
12:21A debt like that gets repaid.
12:23The guard blocks the gate.
12:24The hollow.
12:25You've heard of it.
12:28Ten minutes later, a girl walks me into the back courtyard.
12:31It's a huge courtyard and there's only one kind of tree in it.
12:34White hawthorn that blooms at night.
12:36Almost impossible to grow.
12:38I don't see hawthorn like this very often.
12:40The man in the chair turns around so fast the wheels skid.
12:42I don't know if I imagined it.
12:44Something went across his face that looked like joy he didn't trust.
12:47The hollow has a reputation, but not that kind of reputation.
12:51I walk over and take his wrist without asking.
12:53Cade moves to stop me.
12:54Rhys stops him with one word.
12:55Cade.
12:56I read his pulse and look at him properly.
12:58Thin, but not that grey I remember.
13:00Then my fingers stop.
13:01This isn't illness.
13:04You've been poisoned.
13:05Cade comes off the wall.
13:06You can read that off a wrist?
13:08Can he be saved?
13:09The goddess herself couldn't save him.
13:11The light goes out of Cade's face.
13:12Rhys is completely calm.
13:13He even smiles a little.
13:14Then it doesn't matter.
13:15Seeing you once was enough.
13:16Wolfbane.
13:17Microdoses.
13:18Mixed into something warm.
13:19Eight years of it.
13:20Whoever's doing this is extremely patient.
13:22Every bit of colour leaves Cade's face.
13:24Eight years ago.
13:25That's when the Lunar started sending his nightly tonic.
13:27One cup.
13:28Every night.
13:29He drank it an hour ago.
13:30Cade turns to the door.
13:31I'm going to open that woman's throat right now!
13:34Stand still.
13:34He doesn't raise his voice.
13:36Cade stops like he hit a wall.
13:37If we break this tonight, all we have is one cup of soup.
13:39Pour it out and we have nothing at all.
13:41I'll keep drinking it.
13:42I look at him.
13:43Good.
13:44This one isn't enduring.
13:45He's waiting.
13:48You drink it.
13:49I'll turn it into water.
13:50I take a small wooden box out of my coat.
13:52The second it opens, the Hawthorne scent in that whole courtyard is drowned out.
13:58Is that...
13:59300 year moon route.
14:01Cade sits down on the step.
14:02Hard.
14:02I grind off a pinch.
14:03A very small pinch.
14:04And fold it into the mix.
14:06You're too far gone.
14:07A wolf that's been starved eight years.
14:08Feed it a miracle all at once and the miracle kills it.
14:11We go slowly.
14:12Who are you?
14:13I push my hood halfway back.
14:15The Wanderer has taken exactly one apprentice in his life.
14:18They call me the Nightingale.
14:21Cade drops the cup he's holding.
14:23I put 19 needles down Reece's spine.
14:26When the last one goes in, the little finger on his left hand twitches.
14:31Eight years.
14:32Cade forgets how to breathe.
14:33Reece looks down at his own hand for a long time.
14:36Do it again.
14:37No.
14:37That's everything your body can take today.
14:39Neatingale.
14:39What do you want for this?
14:40My hand stops on the needle case.
14:42Live.
14:42Live long enough to take back every single thing they stole from you.
14:44That's my fee.
14:45He looks up at me and keeps looking for a beat too long.
14:48Alright.
14:48Cade comes running back in with a sheet of paper.
14:51The Lunar sent invitations.
14:52Three days.
14:53Pack house.
14:54She's calling it a garden banquet.
14:55It's a choosing.
14:56Cade hands it to me.
14:57I read it.
14:58I feel my own face go strange.
15:00The Ashgroves are on the list.
15:02In my last life, he came to this banquet.
15:04He even shifted right there in front of the whole room.
15:06One shift and the rumor died on the spot.
15:08The air.
15:09Finished.
15:09He was pale that day.
15:10And it suited him.
15:11Half the room went pink.
15:12This time, the chair beside the Lunars is empty.
15:15My son is buried in pack business today.
15:17Just as well.
15:18All ladies here.
15:19We can speak freely.
15:20Every wolf in this hall was born reading a room.
15:22Redstone's alpha's wife just says it out loud.
15:24Our Isolid's spoiled rotten.
15:25I'll be the first to say it.
15:27Pedigree doesn't matter to us.
15:28We just need someone who'll let her win.
15:30The smile locks on Vivienne's face.
15:32Redstone has been Ironclaw's steadiest ally for a decade.
15:34This woman brought up her daughter three times last year alone.
15:37Now it's the other way around.
15:38Vivienne's eyes come around the table.
15:40And land on me.
15:41My heart kicks once.
15:42This is Owen's girl.
15:43From the ledger house.
15:45Good age.
15:46Is she promised?
15:47In her head.
15:47My father is a small wolf.
15:48And I should be on my knees for the offer.
15:50My palms go wet.
15:51Marin sets her glass down.
15:52Back straight.
15:53And opens her mouth.
15:53Damon's voice cut in from the doorway.
15:55The Ashgrove girl is common blooded.
15:57She isn't fit for that seat.
15:59Damon doesn't look at his mother first.
16:01He doesn't look at me at all.
16:03He looks at Sable Voss in the corner.
16:05And his whole face goes soft.
16:06There was a time Sable would push to the front of any room where that title was mentioned.
16:11Today she is in the last seat against the wall.
16:13And she has not said one word.
16:14Vivienne's instincts are perfect.
16:16She opens her mouth to cut him off.
16:17Too late.
16:17In this life I will take no one but Sable Voss.
16:21Dead.
16:21Silence.
16:22I watch Sable bite down on her lower lip.
16:25And what goes across her eyes is not happiness.
16:26It isn't Damon she doesn't want.
16:27It's that Damon has lost his rule.
16:29Last life after he went over she could have gone for help in ten minutes.
16:32She said nothing.
16:33She waited until the pack house noticed he was missing.
16:35And sent Torrin out with a search line.
16:38Thank the goddess.
16:40If you died I wouldn't have stayed either.
16:42I was going to go for help I swear.
16:44But it was so far and so steep.
16:46And I panicked.
16:47And I passed out on the road.
16:51My son is not himself since the injury.
16:53Vivienne's face is a closed door.
16:55This banquet is over.
16:56Everyone pretends they heard nothing and starts leaving.
16:58Before Vivienne goes she looks at me for a long moment.
17:01I put the last needle away.
17:04First real session.
17:05How does it feel?
17:06Rhys presses his lips together.
17:08Numb.
17:09And it hurts a little.
17:11That's right.
17:12Eight years in, eight years out.
17:14We take it back an inch at a time.
17:16I look up.
17:16The wind moves the branches and the white flowers come down.
17:18And we're looking at each other.
17:19I look away first.
17:22Why are you staring at me like that?
17:25Nethengale.
17:26You look like someone.
17:29Like who?
17:30He tilts his head.
17:31And smiles. Barely.
17:33Your eyes.
17:34They're exactly hers.
17:36My smile catches.
17:38My fingers close on the hem of my coat without asking me.
17:41Then.
17:42Why aren't you with her?
17:44Look at me.
17:45I don't get to let her know.
17:48My legs won't hold my weight anymore.
17:50That's why I can't shift.
17:51Something sits down heavy in my chest.
17:53When I've healed your legs, you can go and tell her.
17:55He nods.
17:56Still smiling.
17:57I will.
17:58Cade is snickering by the wall.
17:59He clears his throat.
18:00Speaking of.
18:01The Luna's out shopping for a mate for the air, isn't she?
18:05Personally, I think our alpha's face holds up just fine against that one.
18:09Nethengale.
18:09Wouldn't you say?
18:11That's when I actually look at him.
18:12Today he's wearing a pale grey turtleneck.
18:14Sleeves rolled neatly to the forearm.
18:15Even his hair's been done.
18:16His eyes land on me.
18:17And my breath catches.
18:18He doesn't look well.
18:19It doesn't hide how good looking he is.
18:20He's clearly dressed for this.
18:21Nothing like the guy who usually just throws on a coat and sits under some tree.
18:24I figure he's getting some practice in.
18:26But whoever he's actually trying to impress.
18:28I look away.
18:28And my voice drops.
18:30You look good.
18:32I'll come back in three days.
18:34I didn't get three days.
18:35Because that night, the Luna's order came to my father's door.
18:37Physician's assistant, Wren Ashgrove, is to move into the pack house effective immediately and attend the air personally.
18:45Maron exhale.
18:48I knew it.
18:49She marked you at that banquet.
18:51Caleb's hands close.
18:54Can't she just not go?
18:56I'm on the pack physician's roster.
18:58It's an official order.
18:59There's no version of this where I don't go.
19:00I move in that afternoon.
19:02Damon's eyes darken when he sees me.
19:06Since you're here, put away whatever cheap little tricks you brought.
19:10I am never going to claim you.
19:12He won't let me stand within three steps of him.
19:14Perfect.
19:15Ten days.
19:16Viviana's people watch the gate and I'm not allowed past the territory line.
19:19So I water the plants.
19:21I bother the pack cats.
19:22I read.
19:23I do not go near him.
19:24But it's getting cold.
19:25With nobody watching him, is he sitting under that tree in one layer again?
19:29And, I said three days.
19:31Does Rhys think I'm not coming?
19:33I shake it off.
19:35There's one other bad thing about the pack house.
19:37Sable Vos comes every single day.
19:39And every time, she makes a point of taking me into Damon's room with her.
19:44Wren, help me get his back.
19:47Damon stops.
19:48Sable, you never used to let another female put a hand on me.
19:51Her eyes are wet in under a second.
19:52Your mother hates me.
19:54Maybe we were never supposed to happen.
19:56Damon pushes himself up and grabs her wrist.
19:58That's not true.
19:59She's softening.
20:00The day my wolf comes back, the first thing I do is make you my wife.
20:03Sable's eyes go to his spine before she can stop herself.
20:05Her sobs hitch.
20:08Damon, loving someone doesn't mean you have to have them.
20:11Rent's clever and she's decent.
20:13Maybe you should just do what your mother-
20:15Damon's face goes cold in stages.
20:16Sable, you don't want me anymore.
20:19Her smile locks up.
20:20Of course she wants him.
20:20She wants the air.
20:21She does not want a broken wall.
20:22Sable.
20:23Of course I do.
20:24I step outside and wait.
20:25A while later she comes out.
20:26Sable.
20:26He's been in too much pain to sleep.
20:28I've lit something in there to settle him.
20:30Remember, go in and check on him in 15 minutes.
20:33She really didn't need to tell me.
20:34I'm the physician's assistant.
20:35Watching him is literally my job.
20:36She turns to go.
20:37Miss Voss, wait.
20:38I make my voice small and soft.
20:41The Luna gave me ten moonstones last week.
20:43I can't accept something like that.
20:45You're the one he loves.
20:47They should be yours.
20:48Sable actually stops.
20:49I don't think she expected me to go that low because it says one thing out loud.
20:52I'm not competing for the seat.
20:54The old Sable would have been unbearable about this.
20:57The new Sable is trying to get as far from Damon as she can and her face can't decide what
21:01to do.
21:02Keep them.
21:03If the Luna wants you, why fight it?
21:05They're falless.
21:06Not one mark on them.
21:08They say ten of them can light half a room at night.
21:11Set into a collar, they'd be extraordinary.
21:13I admire you.
21:14I mean that.
21:15I'd like us to be friendly.
21:16Please.
21:17I know exactly what she is.
21:18She hesitates.
21:19They're valuable.
21:20I didn't want them lost.
21:21They're in his room, right?
21:22I'll get them.
21:23I push the door open a crack for her.
21:24Instant she turns her head.
21:25I press a point at the base of her skull and put it through the locket.
21:28I let myself smile.
21:29She went way too heavy on the dose.
21:31I smelled it from outside the door before I even walked in.
21:33She drugged the room with an aphrodisiac, trying to get me and Damon into bed together.
21:37Did she genuinely think a physician's assistant couldn't smell it?
21:39I go back to my room and grind herbs.
21:41Slowly.
21:42An hour later, Vivienne comes to see her son.
21:44She asks me how he's doing first.
21:45Then I walk her down the hall.
21:46The door opens and the smell rolls out.
21:48Vivienne stops dead.
21:48Two people on that bed.
21:49One of them is her son.
21:50The other is the she-wolf she despises most in the world.
21:53You.
21:53The two of you.
21:56This isn't what it is.
21:57It's you!
21:59Rin Ashgrove.
22:00You set this up!
22:01Every head turns.
22:02I don't move.
22:03Luna.
22:04How would I know when Miss Fox arrives or how long she stays?
22:06And in any case, they love each other.
22:08Why would I need to arrange anything?
22:10Sable's fists close in the blanket.
22:11Damon is in visible pain and his voice comes out like syrup.
22:14Damon.
22:14Mother.
22:15We couldn't help ourselves.
22:16It's done now.
22:17Let her into the pack house.
22:18Fine.
22:19Fine.
22:19Fine.
22:20Sable Vos enters this house.
22:22Second rank.
22:23Sable goes white.
22:24As for the future Luna's seat?
22:26She turns to me.
22:27Damon lunges and grabs my wrist to throw me out of the room.
22:29Nothing between his hand and my skin.
22:31The world goes off like a struck bell.
22:32And in his skull, his wolf howls one world with everything it has.
22:35Mate.
22:36Mate.
22:37Damon looks down at his own hand.
22:39Not one wolf in that room is breathing.
22:41He lifts his head.
22:43Slowly.
22:43Disbelief first.
22:44Then something worse.
22:45A joy that actually shines.
22:47Mate.
22:48You're my mate.
22:49The goddess.
22:50The goddess gave you to me.
22:52He starts laughing and his eyes are wet.
22:53I knew it.
22:54I knew this wasn't where it ended.
22:55She sent you to me.
22:56Vivian's shoulders drop an inch.
22:58She almost smiles.
22:58Then there's nothing left to discuss.
23:00On the bed, Sable Vos has gone the colour of paper.
23:02And I pull my wrist out of his hand.
23:03One inch at a time, my voice comes out flat.
23:05Flatter than I expected.
23:06I, Ashgrove of Ironclaw, reject you Damon Cain as my mate.
23:10The room empties of air.
23:11The smile comes apart on his face, peace by peace.
23:13You can't.
23:15It takes both of us.
23:16Both of us swear it.
23:18I haven't accepted.
23:19You can't just-
23:20He reaches for me again.
23:21Frank Ashgrove.
23:22Do you have any idea what you are turning down?
23:24I do.
23:25Last life under a full moon.
23:26This man used that exact sentence to break every bone I had.
23:29I'm just handing it back.
23:30Wheels on the hardwood outside.
23:31And a very calm voice comes down the entire length of-
23:33She doesn't need his acceptance.
23:35She's already promised.
23:37Rhys Cain rolls to a stop in front of all of us.
23:41Cade is behind him.
23:42And he winks at me.
23:43Vivian looks at him.
23:44Even she has to admit it.
23:45If that wolf hadn't gone silent, her son would never have seen the heir's seat.
23:48Then she steadies.
23:49So what?
23:49He's broken.
23:50Alpha of Ravenshahr.
23:52What is this?
23:52Rhys doesn't blink.
23:53I don't mean to intrude.
23:54My intended hasn't come home in some days.
23:56I'm here to collect her.
23:58Cade holds out a flat wooden case.
23:59Vivian opens it.
24:00The whole room inhales.
24:01It's the Alpha King's blanket.
24:02Vivian reading.
24:03Her voice going thin.
24:04Weck Ashgrove of Ironclaw is hereby named intended Luna to Rhys Cain.
24:07Alpha of Ravenshahr.
24:08The right's to be spoken at the next full moon.
24:10The further she read, the whiter she gets.
24:11Sable is staring holes through me.
24:13The thing she was going to escape has landed on her head.
24:15And the one who was already halfway into the fire just got lifted out of it.
24:18Why her?
24:18Daemon's voice detonates behind us.
24:20Has he lost his mind?
24:21That Rint is the only card he has left.
24:22The King gave him one!
24:24And he spent it on a mating contract?
24:25Therese takes my hand.
24:26We leave.
24:27Cade turns around in the passenger seat, grinning.
24:29So, Nightingale?
24:30Didn't our alpha time that perfectly?
24:33Rhys looks at him.
24:34Just look.
24:34Cade covers his mouth.
24:35And gets out of the car.
24:36Just a high.
24:36You knew I was-
24:37I knew.
24:39You worked it out because I stopped coming.
24:41I'm careful.
24:42I genuinely cannot think of where I slipped.
24:43I-
24:43So the Rit was about your leg.
24:45You spent your last card on your leg.
24:46That's-
24:47And something in my chest goes tight in a way I don't like.
24:49Rhys goes still.
24:49Don't worry.
24:51Keep my secret and I'll keep treating-
24:52You didn't have to.
24:53I reach for the door handle.
24:54He catches my wrist.
24:55Rhys.
24:56If the legs never come back, that's alright.
24:58I wanted to see you.
25:00I stop.
25:00The calmest wolf I have ever met has gone red at the tips of his ears.
25:02When I was 13, Owen Ashgrove taught me for half a year.
25:05I saw you then.
25:06I have remembered your eyes for 17 years.
25:09I knew you the first time you walked into my courtyard.
25:11You were trapped in that house and I had no other way.
25:13I know you don't want this.
25:14I won't hold you to it.
25:15But if you did want it-
25:16And if I did?
25:19He says it slowly.
25:20Every word weighed.
25:21Full rights.
25:22Elders present.
25:23Under the moon.
25:24Nothing skipped.
25:24Nothing shortened.
25:25If you want to call it using me, call it that.
25:27I'll take it.
25:28And I won't be around forever anyway.
25:33If you get tired of me, I can always go a little earlier.
25:35Don't!
25:35I clamp my hand over his mouth.
25:37Don't you dare finish that!
25:38Who says that about themselves?
25:39The way he looks at me is almost too bright to hold.
25:41I go red and look out the window.
25:43You are not going to waste away.
25:45I'm the Nightingale.
25:46I'm keeping you alive for the rest of your life.
25:49After that night, it's settled.
25:50My parents are worried I'm being pushed.
25:51Caleb says it to his face.
25:53If she doesn't want this, I will fight every wolf in this room to stop it.
25:57I want it.
25:58I glance over at Reece.
25:59His ears are red again.
26:01Ten days later, Kaye kicks the door open.
26:05Damon Cain shifted.
26:06Last night, ran the east trail line for two miles.
26:08The whole pack saw it!
26:11That is not possible!
26:12With that shift line, the Wanderer himself could not put him back together.
26:14There is no version of this where he shifts.
26:16I look up and Reece is looking at me.
26:17He stands up out of the water.
26:19It runs off his shoulders.
26:20You care very much about him.
26:21I sigh and go over.
26:22No regrets.
26:22Don't want anyone seat.
26:23Like you.
26:24Want you.
26:24That's the whole list.
26:25I'm fairly sure I say this in my sleep now.
26:27Sit down.
26:27Your legs have only just started healing.
26:29You don't get to stand around.
26:30He catches my wrist and pulls me back half a step.
26:32Are you finished?
26:33I'm finished.
26:35I need to watch him shift.
26:37With my own eyes.
26:39The next day, Daemon presents himself to the Lycan King.
26:42Reece uses the writ to thank the King.
26:44And takes me in with him.
26:45Lady Redstone is there.
26:46Luna.
26:48We heard the air has recovered.
26:50We've brought something small.
26:52And takes it anyway.
26:53Everyone in this hall has always bowed to power.
26:55And Redstone is still the daughter she wants most.
26:59I'm not watching them.
27:00I'm watching Daemon shift.
27:02To kill the rumor for good, he shifts.
27:04Right there in front of everyone.
27:06The wolf is magnificent.
27:08Claws click against the floor with every step.
27:10Steady on his feet.
27:11Every step sounds solid.
27:12And every step is hollow.
27:14I already know what this is.
27:16I tap the arm of his chair.
27:17Twice.
27:17He picks it up immediately.
27:18We're glad the air has healed.
27:20But broken bones need time.
27:22Caution's due.
27:23Since we're all here, why not let the King's physicians look him over once more?
27:26Before Vivienne can answer, Sable comes off the wall like something bit her.
27:30What would you know?
27:32The Nightingale of the Hollow fixed him herself.
27:34Nobody alive is better than her.
27:36What do you think your court doctors are going to find?
27:38Reese and I look at each other.
27:39And both of us are smiling with our eyes.
27:41The Nightingale is standing in this hall right now.
27:43And the way Sable is scrambling to shut this down just handed me the answer.
27:46I lean down to his ear.
27:48Two weeks?
27:50That wolf has two weeks left in him.
27:54Daemon smiles.
27:56Mother.
27:57I have my wolf back.
27:59Because of Sable.
28:01Vivienne has to turn to her.
28:02Name your reward.
28:03Sable steps forward.
28:04And she is the picture of resolve.
28:05Luna.
28:06I want nothing.
28:07I only want him.
28:10To have a good life.
28:11Her voice catches.
28:12Perfectly.
28:13Even if...
28:13Even if he claims someone else one day.
28:15As long as he's happy...
28:18I'll take it.
28:19She thinks she's been extremely clear.
28:21I pinch the inside of my own palm to keep my face still.
28:23I can practically hear her.
28:26His wolf is back.
28:27The Luna will never take me now.
28:28I don't want to be tied to a broken wolf mate.
28:33I'm not marrying damaged Gids.
28:35Daemon does not hear one syllable of it.
28:36He takes her hand like she's just saved his life.
28:39Mother.
28:40She's earned it.
28:41You already agreed to let her into the house.
28:43Set a date.
28:44Today.
28:45I watch the panic go across her eyes.
28:46Worth the trip.
28:48On the way out.
28:49Sable catches up with us.
28:50She gets a proper look at Rhys' face.
28:52And something greedy crosses hers.
28:53Then her eyes drop to the chair.
28:54And it curdles into contempt.
28:57Oh.
28:57I completely forgot.
28:59The alpha of Ravenscar has trouble with his legs too.
29:02The Nightingale and I are close.
29:04I'd have introduced you.
29:05Sadly she comes and goes as she pleases.
29:06She's probably out of the reach by now.
29:08Some wolves are just born lucky.
29:09The heir had her hands on him.
29:10You?
29:10I don't think the goddess has that in mind for you.
29:12I smile with absolutely nothing behind it.
29:14What a shame.
29:14Still.
29:15Now that his wolf is back.
29:16I imagine your own arrangements are moving right along.
29:18Congratulations.
29:19Sable nearly cracks a molar.
29:20That night the King's decree comes down.
29:22Damon Cain.
29:23Heir of Ironclaw.
29:24Will take Isoled Thorn of Redstone as his lunar.
29:27Sable Vos enters the pack house the same day.
29:30At second rank.
29:31The date is set for two weeks out.
29:32Two weeks.
29:33I actually laugh out loud.
29:34What a beautiful date.
29:37By the rights, tonight belongs to Isolde.
29:40But Damon only ever thinks about one female.
29:42He goes to Sable's door first.
29:44He pushes it open.
29:45There's someone sitting on the bed in Sable's ceremonial dress.
29:48It isn't Sable.
29:49The girl drops to her knees and starts shaking so hard she can barely speak.
29:52Sir.
29:52I'm Pella.
29:53I'm Miss Vos's attendant.
29:57She wouldn't do it.
29:58She wouldn't come.
29:59Do you think I would ever sit in this room on purpose?
30:02Do you think I would ever sit in this room on purpose?
30:05No.
30:06There is no world where Sable doesn't want me.
30:10You wanted her place.
30:12You did something to her.
30:16No.
30:16His hand closes on the girl's throat.
30:19The courtyard is still full of guests.
30:21They hear it.
30:21They come.
30:22Pella is going grey by the time Damon realises the door is wide open.
30:25Dozens of wolves in the doorway and not one of them speaking.
30:27He lets go.
30:28Pella prostrates herself on the floor.
30:31Then pulls a folded sheet out of her collar.
30:34It's true.
30:35She left this for you.
30:37Please.
30:38Leave it.
30:39He rips it out of her hand.
30:40And his face sets line by line.
30:44The letter says.
30:45My blood is low and your mother despises me.
30:47But entering that house at second rank breaks a rule my family has kept for four generations.
30:51I know what it is to be caught between two things.
30:53I won't be the reason you and your mother stop speaking.
30:56Don't come looking.
30:57If you have, we'll be glad of it, even if the one standing beside you is someone else.
31:01I loved you the whole time.
31:04By the time you read this, I'll have thrown myself off Widow's Ridge.
31:07I loved you the whole time.
31:09Take care of yourself.
31:12Damon's hands are shaking.
31:13This is her last letter.
31:15The courtyard is silent.
31:17Then somebody speaks.
31:17Very quietly.
31:19That's strength and that's devotion both.
31:21She really was something.
31:23She never once writes the word love.
31:25And every line of it is love.
31:27How many like that are there left?
31:29Even Vivienne's face gives.
31:31The only ones not moved are the Redstones.
31:33And me.
31:34Because I have read this letter before.
31:35The same handwriting.
31:36The same sentences.
31:37That letter is what put me in the cells.
31:39And that letter is what turned the two of them into the great love story of the Northern Reach.
31:43Not this time.
31:43Footsteps outside the pack house.
31:44Not wheels.
31:45Footsteps.
31:46Every head in the courtyard turns at once.
31:48Reese Kane walks in.
31:49On his own legs.
31:50Plain grey shirt.
31:51Hair combed back.
31:51Neat.
31:52That sickly look.
31:52Bon.
31:53Solid muscle under the shirt now.
31:54Strength in every line of him.
31:55Eight years of illness.
31:56Wiped clean off his face.
31:57Like it never happened.
31:58Nobody moves.
31:59Is that the alpha of Ravensar?
32:01He's standing?
32:02Then someone notices something else.
32:04Who's that his men are holding?
32:05She looks familiar.
32:06Reese finds me in the crowd.
32:07And from the second he walked through that door.
32:08I knew.
32:09Everything landed exactly where I put it.
32:12Reese raises his voice just enough.
32:14My people stopped someone trying to cross the eastern line tonight.
32:16Turns out she's an acquaintance of the heirs.
32:18So I brought her over.
32:19He lifts his chin.
32:20Guards let go.
32:21The woman clamps both hands over her face.
32:23Which of course makes everyone crowd closer.
32:26Somebody screams.
32:27Boss.
32:28You went off the ridge.
32:29There's no point anymore.
32:30Sable's breathing goes ragged.
32:32I hadn't.
32:32I was still on my way.
32:34Reese looks politely confused.
32:35So you were on your way to the ridge when my people intercepted you?
32:37She nods hard.
32:38Yes.
32:39Exactly.
32:40Then why does someone going off a glyph need luggage?
32:43A guard drops a duffle.
32:44The zip splits.
32:45Moonstones.
32:45Gold.
32:45Earrings.
32:46All over the floor.
32:47Damon recognises one of them.
32:48That moonstone comb was a gift from his mother.
32:51He passed it straight to Sable.
32:55All that.
32:56On the way to die.
32:57Doesn't it get heavy?
32:58The colour comes off Sable's face in layers.
33:00Damon's breathing is horrible to listen to.
33:01His voice comes out through his teeth.
33:02You faked it.
33:05You faked your own death to get out of taking me!
33:08Why?
33:09He crosses the floor in three strides and grabs her wrist.
33:12And then, Damon goes down.
33:14Sweat breaks across his face.
33:15Both hands lock around his own heart.
33:17It hurts!
33:19My heart!
33:20My wolf!
33:23The ceremony detonates.
33:25Damon passes out from the pain.
33:27Then the pain wakes him back up.
33:29Every physician in the reach comes.
33:32Every one of them ends up on the floor.
33:35The pulse is empty.
33:37His wolf is burned out.
33:41Damon throws the nearest object at the wall.
33:43Lies!
33:44Every one of you!
33:46Useless!
33:47Seven physicians.
33:48Seven identical answers.
33:50The air has been shifting on a banned compound.
33:55It's called bone fire.
33:57It spends everything the wolf has left and buys you 14 days on your feet.
34:01When it runs out, the wolf is gone.
34:04Not weakened.
34:06Gone.
34:08Not even the wanderer could bring it back from here.
34:11The room stops.
34:13And the person who brought him that healer was Sable Vos.
34:17Damon turns his head.
34:18Very slowly.
34:18His eyes have gone completely black.
34:23You knew.
34:26That wasn't the Nightingale.
34:27You paid a fraud.
34:30You knew I was never coming back so you bought yourself two weeks.
34:32The cliff was a lie.
34:33All of it was you trying not to take me.
34:34He drags himself forward, reaching for her.
34:37Sable just takes the mask off.
34:38What exactly did I do wrong?
34:40Who wants to take a broken wolf?
34:41I was going to be Luna of the Northern Rege.
34:43You couldn't even hold onto your birthright.
34:45What gives you the right to expect me to take you now?
34:47The one pure thing he's been holding in his chest for 10 years.
34:50Finally says what she actually means.
34:52Damon's eyes are streaming.
34:53You think I'm broken?
34:54Do you remember how?
34:56You threw the token off the ridge.
34:58I went over that edge because of you!
35:00Vivienne's head comes around.
35:01She has just heard what actually happened that day.
35:03She points at Sable and cannot keep her hand still.
35:05You... you dare!
35:06The slap lands hard enough to turn Sable's head.
35:09You watched him go over and you didn't call for help?
35:11One hour earlier and that wolf could have been saved!
35:13Damon even now tries to cover for her.
35:15She tried.
35:16She went for help and passed out on the road.
35:18I take an earring out of my sleeve.
35:21About that.
35:22This looks like it belongs with that comb.
35:23Is it yours, Miss Force?
35:25Vivienne looks.
35:25It came from my own collection.
35:27Damon's voice is gone.
35:27Yes, I gave it to her.
35:28Where did you get it?
35:29I frown.
35:30Honestly puzzled.
35:31That is odd.
35:32Last week my ride broke down at the territory line and I took another.
35:34The driver said a lady from the pack house had ridden with him a while back and dropped
35:37an earring.
35:38He didn't want to keep it.
35:39He asked if I recognized it.
35:41Since it's yours, here.
35:42I put it in Sable's palm.
35:44That was the car that took her down off the ridge.
35:46Nobody in the room makes a sound.
35:47Something tears open behind Damon's eyes.
35:49If you got in a car then you never passed out on any road.
35:51You just didn't want anyone to know you'd been in my truck.
35:53You didn't want anyone to know it was you.
35:54So you left me at the bottom of that ridge and made sure nobody came.
35:56Sable lifts her head.
35:58And her face is calm in a way that's genuinely frightening.
36:00Damon.
36:01Everyone looks after themselves.
36:03Everyone.
36:03Damon's eyes roll back.
36:05Blood hits the floor.
36:06He's gone.
36:10Sable Vos attempted to murder the heir and deceived the king's court.
36:13Sentenced.
36:14They drag her out and she's still talking to herself.
36:17I didn't do anything wrong.
36:18I just wanted to climb a bit higher.
36:20It's his fault for being useless.
36:21I didn't do anything wrong.
36:23Redstone withdraws before the sun is up.
36:25Garrick Thorn is extremely polite about it.
36:28The heir's old injury has flared up.
36:29He should rest.
36:30There's no rush on a mating.
36:32No rush means never.
36:33Isolde is never crossing that threshold.
36:35Vivian and Damon spend the next weeks turning the continent over for a healer.
36:39They get the same answer every time.
36:41No.
36:42And then they remember us.
36:43Rhys is busy.
36:44The king never stopped feeling guilty about setting his firstborn aside.
36:48Now the wolf is back.
36:49And a third of the northern reach is back in his hands.
36:51The day I go with him to court, an attendant is already waiting to take him to Vivian.
36:56She's at his side the second the door opens.
36:58Plain clothes today.
36:59No jewellery.
36:59Tears on her face.
37:00For the first time, she looks like an actual mother.
37:02Tell me who healed you.
37:04He is your brother.
37:05All those years you were sick, we sent you your medicine every single night.
37:08If you know anything, save him!
37:11I nearly laugh in her face.
37:12We sent you your medicine every single night.
37:15Rhys's eyes are perfectly clear.
37:16I won't lie to you, it was the Nightingale of the Hollow.
37:18And when Miss Vos brought her healer in, she made sure one look and I'd have told you she was
37:21a fraud.
37:22Vivian lights up.
37:24Can you find her?
37:26Rhys looks at me.
37:27Neither of us says anything.
37:28Vivian's legs go.
37:29Her attendant catches her.
37:31Rhys takes my hand.
37:32If there's nothing else, I'll take my intended home.
37:34We turn.
37:35Behind us, Damon starts screaming.
37:37You're lying!
37:39The guards at the door close the exit in one movement.
37:42Rhys puts himself in front of me.
37:44His voice doesn't change at all.
37:45What exactly is this?
37:47Damon doesn't hear him.
37:48He wheels straight at me and there is nothing behind his eyes but one idea.
37:52You're the Nightingale.
37:53You can fix me.
37:55Vivian's head snaps around.
37:57I don't deny it.
37:58Damon laughs.
37:59It's not a good sound.
38:01I've been so stupid.
38:02Every single thing in this life went wrong from the second you didn't kneel down.
38:06Why?
38:08Why didn't you save me this time?
38:11I look at him.
38:13Save you.
38:14Get spat on by the entire reach.
38:16Get rejected in front of 700 wolves.
38:18And starve to death in your cells.
38:21He lunges.
38:23Sable poisoned everything.
38:24But before that, can you honestly tell me you never wanted me?
38:28I squeeze the hand of the extremely jealous wolf standing next to me.
38:32Never once.
38:34Damon shakes his head over and over.
38:36That's not true.
38:38Give me one more chance.
38:39And I'll make all of it up to you.
38:41What do you want?
38:42The Luna's seat?
38:44Take it.
38:45I look over at Vivian.
38:46And I smile.
38:47You might want to stop talking.
38:49I'm a physician's assistant.
38:51I can't fix your wolf.
38:53He throws himself at me.
38:54Rhys puts an arm around my waist and moves us half a step.
38:57Damon hits the floor and still reaches for the hem of my coat.
39:00No.
39:01You can-
39:02You did it last time.
39:04He had 2pm.
39:05Please.
39:06Vivian drops down beside him, terrified.
39:08What are you saying?
39:10What last time?
39:12Somebody get a physician!
39:13Damon knocks his mother's hands away.
39:15Then he looks up and something in his face closes.
39:18If you don't fix me, do you really think the two of you walk out of this room?
39:25He starts laughing.
39:27Every guard in this hallway is blood sworn.
39:29To me.
39:30Something in me goes very quiet.
39:32A private blood sworn guard.
39:34That's bold even for you.
39:35That's treason.
39:36Enough.
39:37Yes or no.
39:39I smile.
39:39I heal the sick.
39:41I heal the poor.
39:42I heal anyone in the reach who needs it.
39:43Not this beast.
39:44Not something that bites the hand that saved it.
39:46I hold his eyes.
39:47There was never anything wrong with Rhys's legs.
39:49You and your mother put Wolf Blaine in his cup.
39:51Every night.
39:52For 8 years.
39:53And because of you both, he never shifted again.
39:568 years.
39:56Not once.
39:58Vivian stops breathing.
39:59Damon just laughs again.
40:01You are so clever, Rin.
40:02And so what?
40:03Why was he always standing in front of me?
40:05He isn't even her son.
40:07Why did he get the seat?
40:08As long as he was breathing, my father never once looked at me.
40:11My blood is better than his.
40:12That seat was always mine.
40:13He drags himself closer.
40:14I took his legs and his wolf.
40:17I can take the both of you just as easily.
40:19Steel comes out.
40:21The doors come off their hinges.
40:24Try it.
40:24The Lycan king is standing in the doorway.
40:26Every drop of colour leaves both their faces.
40:28Father, it isn't.
40:29They've set me up.
40:30Aldric closes his eyes.
40:33Write it down.
40:34Luna Vivian Cain.
40:35Eight years of poison administered to my firstborn.
40:38Stripped of the Luna's title.
40:40Sent to the silver pine cells.
40:42Damon Cain.
40:43Attempted murder of his brother.
40:44Keeping a private blood swear guard.
40:46Conspiracy against this house.
40:48Stripped of the airship.
40:49Stripped of the Cain name.
40:50Confined for life.
40:51You could hear a needle drop.
40:52Mother and son sit down on the floor together.
40:54And neither of them has any colour left in their face.
40:58One day.
40:59A Luna and an heir.
41:00Both gone.
41:01The reach comes apart at the seams.
41:03The king wants to hand Rhys the airship immediately.
41:05And Rhys hesitates.
41:07I can see straight through him.
41:08Are you afraid you can't carry it?
41:10Or afraid I can't?
41:11He exhales.
41:13Both.
41:14That seat is very heavy.
41:16I'd rather just be an ordinary wolf with you.
41:18Meals.
41:19Seasons.
41:19Watching you get old.
41:21Look at me.
41:21You don't need to worry.
41:23You'll be extraordinary at it.
41:24I've seen it.
41:25I know you can.
41:26Last life he held this entire reach together for a full year.
41:29On a body that was falling apart.
41:30Rix.
41:31Go and do the thing you were made for.
41:32I'm a healer.
41:33I have never once been able to walk past someone who was dying.
41:36And I never will be.
41:37But I'll be right there.
41:38You carry yours.
41:39I carry mine.
41:39And we walk together.
41:40Rhys nods.
41:41Every Hawthorn in that courtyard is in bloom.
41:44Elders present.
41:45Full rights.
41:46Nothing skipped.
41:46Exactly as he said.
41:47Under the moon.
41:48He takes my hand.
41:49I, Rhys Cain of Ravenscar, take Wyn Ashgreve as my Luna.
41:51Not because the goddess arranged it.
41:53Because I chose her when I was thirteen.
41:54I look up at him.
41:55I, Wyn Ashgreve, take Rhys Cain.
41:57And this time, I picked him myself.
41:59Then he steps back.
42:00The sound of a body remaking itself goes across the whole courtyard.
42:03The wolf that has not come out in eight years stands up.
42:05Enormous.
42:06Black.
42:06A collar of pure silver at the throat.
42:07All of Ravenscar throws its head back and howls.
42:10I put my hand into the silver at his throat and swing up.
42:12Halfway along the tree line.
42:14He stops, lowers his head, and sets his teeth against the back of my neck.
42:17It doesn't hurt.
42:18Under this same moon, in another life, I died in an iron cage and nobody remembered my name.
42:22Same moon.
42:24I didn't save the man who deserved to break.
42:26I saved the one who deserved to live.
42:28And he claimed me for the rest of it.