When love turns into betrayal and trust is shattered, revenge becomes the only option. Experience this emotional short drama full of romance, secrets, and dramatic surprises.
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Short filmTranscript
00:00again. Damien's voice came from above me, low, horsky, burning with the heat of an alpha in rut.
00:08I had lost count by now. Three times, maybe? His arms were braced on either side of my head,
00:15veins bulging at his temples, every thrust hitting me with a force that felt more punishment than
00:20pleasure. I didn't dare make a sound. The patrol guards outside would hear. The entire pack would
00:27know that the wolfless, worthless Omega was being used as a painkiller by their alpha.
00:32Nobody knew I was Damien's fated mate. Or rather, he refused to let anyone know.
00:37A nobody from the slums whose wolf had never awakened. How could someone that pathetic ever
00:42deserve to be the fated mate of the pack's twin alphas? So for three years, I had been hidden
00:46away in the gray sector, a run-down district packed with crippled and discarded wolves.
00:50I was his dirty little secret. The third time ended and Damien finally got off me.
00:56I laid there gasping, my whole body trembling. All I wanted was to close my eyes and sleep.
01:02Then a pair of hands grabbed my waist again.
01:06Turnover.
01:06It was Damien's voice. But the hands were wrong. The Kalids were in different places.
01:11The ring he always wore on his left hand was missing. I was too exhausted. My brain was mush.
01:15I couldn't think straight. Four, five. He was rougher than before. His fingers dug ug into my waist
01:21hard. I thought they would break through the skin.
01:24Which felt better?
01:25He leaned down to my ear. His voice dropped to a whisper. There was something cruel and
01:30mocking in his tone that I had never heard from Damien.
01:33Hmm? Answer me.
01:38Six. Seven. My mind was coming apart. Every release ripped away what little strength I had left.
01:44In the haze, I turned my head and reached for his mouth. I wanted a kiss. Just one.
01:49My lips found his, but my eyes found him first. Damien's eyes were gray-blue, cold and still.
01:55The eyes staring down at me were blown wide, bloodshot, with a faint gold sheen of something
01:59savage. Caspin, Damien's twin brother, the one the whole pack called the rabid dog behind
02:04his back. My blood went cold. The scream stuck in my throat because his hand was already on
02:10my neck, his thumb resting right over my windpipe. Figured it out? Caspin grinned at me, wearing the
02:16same face as Damien. Too late, little waste. A small sound came from the far corner of the room.
02:22A wall lamp clicked on. Damien was sitting in an armchair, fully dressed. His shirt sleeves rolled
02:27up to his forearms, a glass of whiskey in his hand. He had been here the entire time. He had
02:32watched his
02:32brother take his mate, and he looked bored. Why? My voice came out wrecked, unrecognizable.
02:38Damien swirled his glass. Ice clinked against the amber liquid. You're my fated mate, sure,
02:44but so what? His tone was flat, his expression blank. You have no wolf, no family. You can't
02:49even shift into a full wolf form. What makes you think you deserve the Luna title? The moon goddess
02:54played a sick joke on me. He took a sip. Tying a waste of space to me as my fated
02:58mate,
02:58so I made the best of it. Your body calms our ferial episodes. Your blood works as a pain
03:04repressor. Beyond that, you have zero value. Caspin climbed off me and wiped his hands on
03:10the sheet. Basically, you're a sedative the two of us share. You think you actually deserve the mate
03:15title? My hands were shaking. Shaking so badly I couldn't grip the sheets. Three years. Three full
03:23years. I had skipped meals to buy herbs for Damien's pain relief tonic. I had pricked my
03:29fingers with a sewing meal to feed him my blood for the remedy. I had told myself that if I
03:34was
03:34good enough, useful enough, he would eventually claim me in front of the pack. My mate. My alpha.
03:41I had believed I was his future Luna. Turns out, I was never anything more than a tool he was
03:47too
03:47ashamed to mention. Next week, Serena will officially become the pack's Luna. She's from
03:52the Blackwell bloodline. Pure lineage. Powerful wolf form. The entire pack already believes she's my
03:58mate. Damien stood and adjusted his cuffs. He said it the same way he would read a memo. I won't
04:03correct them. Serena. A complete stranger was going to wear the Luna crown that should have been mine,
04:09and I wouldn't even be allowed to sit and watch. Damien walked to the door and glanced back.
04:15You will attend the ceremony. His eyes swept over my bruised marked body. There was no guilt in his
04:21gaze. No disgust. Nothing at all. You'll kneel in the last row of the gallery with the servants.
04:28You'll bow to the new Luna. And if you make a scene, or if Serena or anyone else finds out
04:34you're
04:34my mate. He didn't finish the sentence. He didn't need to. Caspi had cut in. He bent down and patted
04:42my
04:42sweat-dripped face. I'll rip your tongue out myself. Little waste. The door closed. The room
04:50went dark. I curled up on the crumpled sheets. Every part of me felt crushed. The tears wouldn't
04:58come. Not because it didn't hurt. Because it hurt too much. So much that even crying felt pointless.
05:04I was their fated mate. I was supposed to be this Pax Luna, and I couldn't tell a single soul.
05:10I didn't know how long I lay on that bed. My thighs were still sticky. The air reeked of two
05:17Alpha's pheromones mixed together. So thick it made my stomach turn. My phone buzzing woke me up.
05:24A message from my neighbor in the gray sector. Five words. Nana's is not going to make it.
05:31I jumped off the bed barefoot and ran out the door, stepping over the mess on the floor.
05:36The shack in the gray sector smelled of blood. Heavy, rotten blood. Nana was curled up on her
05:41worn-out mat. Dark blood was seeping from the corners of her mouth, and her nostrils her body
05:46was seizing, jerking and sharp violent spasms. Nana! I dropped to my knees beside her scrambling
05:51to wipe the blood away. But it kept coming. The pack doctor was already packing up his kit ready
05:56to leave. The wolfspide has reached her bones. He barely glanced at her. Unless you can get
06:01Alpha blood for the antidote, she's done. Alpha blood. My mate. My Alpha, at least in name.
06:08His blood could save her life, but he wouldn't even acknowledge that I existed. I closed my eyes
06:13and reached for the thin thread of the mate bond between me and Damien. That bond had worn down to
06:18almost nothing after three years of one-heided draining. But it was still there, no matter how
06:22much he despised me. A mate bond was the moon goddess Mark. As long as both of us were alive,
06:27it couldn't be broken. Damien, please. Just one drop of blood. Nana is dying. The link went quiet
06:34for two seconds. Then Serena's sugary voice bled through the mind link. Damien, look at this one.
06:41Don't you think the lease neckline is prettier than the last dress?
06:48And then Damien's voice. So gentle, I almost didn't recognize it.
06:55They all look beautiful. You look beautiful in anything, my Luna.
07:00My Luna. He had never once called me that. I was his mate. But that title, those two words,
07:06he gave them to a woman who had no fated bond with him at all. I screamed through the link.
07:12Damien, I'm begging you! Shut up. That wasn't Damien. It was Caspian.
07:17His consciousness slammed into the link with open disgust. Using the old woman for sympathy again?
07:24Haven't you embarrassed yourself enough? An Alpha's mate living in the Grey Tech tour,
07:30crying and begging. If word gets out, how do you think that makes us look?
07:34It's not an excuse. She's really bleeding out. Enough, Ivy. Damien's voice came back.
07:40Colder than the night wind.
07:42Today is Serena's dress fitting. As the future Luna, every moment of her day matters more than
07:47whatever crisis you've invented. Stop acting crazy.
07:50The link was severed from his end. The backlash hit me instantly.
07:54Pain exploded inside my skull. I grabbed my head and collapsed.
07:59My ears ringing so loud I couldn't hear anything else.
08:02By the time I pulled myself off the floor, Nana had stopped seizing. Her hand was cold.
08:07She was looking at me. She reached into her shirt with shaking fingers and pulled out
08:12an old whistle carved from bone. She pressed it into my palm. Then her lips moved. No sound
08:18came out. Just a shape. Run. Her hand dropped. I held her body as it went stiff. I couldn't
08:24cry. Not because I didn't want to. The moment the link had been cut, it felt as though something
08:29inside me had been severed too. My tears along with it.
08:34Outside, the pack loudbeater was playing Serena's recorded message on a loop.
08:39Everyone is welcome to attend my ceremony with Damien. Next week, I will officially become
08:44the pack Luna. Luna. That seat was supposed to be mine, but I didn't even have the right
08:50to fight for it. Fighting required being acknowledged first, and I was not even allowed to exist.
08:56Some time passed. The door opened. Cold air rushed in. I squinted against it. A tall figure stood in
09:02the doorway, wearing a tattered cloak. Every nerve in my body went tight. I shot to my feet and stood
09:08in front of Nana's body. Who are you? He didn't answer. He looked at the body on the floor.
09:13Then at me. Then he walked to the corner, picked up the shovel leaning against the wall.
09:17He lifted Nana's body onto his shoulder and carried her outside. I think I understood what
09:22he was going to do. He dug a hole in the frozen ground behind the hill, filled it in,
09:27set up a plank of wood as a marker. Why are you helping me? I asked.
09:32Six months ago, in the alley behind the market, you saved my life. He turned and disappeared into
09:38the dark. I stood in front of the fresh grave, gripping the bone whistle Nana had left me.
09:42The sharp edges of the bone had cut into my palm. That was when I felt it. A tiny flutter
09:48deep in my belly. Something stirring in my blood. Faint and timid, nudging against my
09:53skin from the inside. I pressed my dirt-covered hand against my stomach. Two. Two faint heartbeats.
09:59I was pregnant. Carrying my Alpha's children. Funny, wasn't it? He refused to claim me as his
10:06mate, but he had left his bloodline growing inside me.
10:11In the distance, the main house was blazing with light. A golden countdown sign for the
10:17wedding was glowing on the front porch. I knew Damiathian Cassibian would never let these children
10:23be born. A secret mate they treated as a tool found to be carrying their pups. That wasn't just a
10:28scandal
10:29that would make the entire pack question Serena's luna status. They would kill these babies the same
10:34way they had killed every last shred of my dignity without blinking. I had already lost Nana. I would
10:41not lose them too. I looked down at the blood-stained bone whistle. I thought about the cloaked wolf who
10:47had just buried Nana for me. I raised the whistle to my lips and I blew it with everything I
10:53had
10:53left. The whistle's sound didn't carry far. The winter wind swallowed it whole. Nobody came. Not that
11:03night, at least. Three days later, the night before the luna coronation, two guards dragged me out of my
11:10shack in the gray sector. And shoved me into the servants' changing room in the pack's main house. Put this
11:20on.
11:21One of them tossed me a gray linen robe. Tomorrow you stand in the last row of the gallery, with
11:26the servants.
11:27You kneel and bow to our new luna. No looking up. No talking. No looking at the alpha. I took
11:32the rough fabric and
11:33said nothing. What a joke I was this pack's alpha's fated mate. The luna crown should have been on my
11:38head.
11:38Instead, I would be wearing slave clothes kneeling on the ground watching a woman with no mate bond sit in
11:44my seat.
11:46The door locked behind me. I crouched on the floor. One hand pressed against my belly without thinking three days
11:53in those two heartbeats. Had grown a little stronger, tiny stubborn. Pushing outward, the door swung open. Not a guard,
12:00Serena. She wore an ivory velvet robe, her hair loose, her feet in satin slippers. Two personal attendants trailed
12:08behind her. So you're Ivy. She tilted her head and looked me over. The wolf-less waist from the gray
12:16sector? She sniffed the air and wrinkled her nose. You smell disgusting. I have no idea why Damien even
12:23knows someone that pathetic. Her eyes narrowed, studying me. I kept my head down. I didn't dare speak.
12:32If she found out I was Damien's real mate, Casterbin had promised to rip my tongue out.
12:37Serena didn't push further. Her gaze dropped to my neck, where Nana's bone whistle hung on a cord.
12:45That's interesting.
12:47She reached out without warning and ripped the cord off my neck.
12:52Give it back!
12:53I jumped to my feet and grabbed for it. The slap knocked me back to the ground.
12:58Serena shook out her hand, then held the whistle up and studied it. She smiled.
13:03Do you know Dead Man's Valley? That ravine behind the hill? The one full of bones?
13:09I'm going there tomorrow morning for a purification ritual before the coronation.
13:15She spun the whistle between her fingers.
13:21I'll toss this filthy thing down there for you. Consider it the future Luna cleaning up the trash.
13:28Tonight, you stay on your knees right here. You don't get up until I say so.
13:33She turned and walked out. I stayed kneeling on the cold stone floor. Blood trickled from the
13:40corner of my mouth. The next morning, I ran to Dead Man's Valley. It was a deep ravine cut into
13:44the
13:45far side of the hill. The rock walls on both sides were streaked with old dried blood. I dug through
13:49the rubble at the mouth of the valley, tearing through loose stones and broken bones. My fingers
13:53were sliced open. Blood dripped onto the rocks. I knew you'd come.
13:58Caspian's voice came from behind me, amused, entertained. Before I could turn around,
14:02something cold wrapped around my ankle. A silver-laced chain. The second the silver touched
14:06my skin white, smoke hissed up from the contact point. The burning pain hit me so hard it felt as
14:12though someone had pressed a red, hot iron against my bones I screamed and collapsed.
14:16Caspian gripped the other end of the chain, and dragged me across the rough stone. Ground 10-15
14:21feet, maybe more the skin on my back. My arms and my shins shredded against the rocks.
14:27K-silver dust ground into the open wounds. The pain was so intense I couldn't breathe,
14:32but I kept both hands over my stomach. I didn't let go once Damien was standing nearby. He was dressed
14:37for the coronation black suit white shirt. Without a single wrinkle his mate was being dragged in
14:42front of him torn apart by silver chains, and his face showed nothing he could have been watching.
14:47A stray mutt on the roadside. Ivy. He spoke his tone was flat official.
14:53From this moment, I formally sever the mate bond between us. You don't deserve to be my mate.
14:58You don't deserve to be this Pax Luna. You never did.
15:05Every word landed on me with the force of a blade splitting open my chest. The moment the mate bond
15:11snapped something deep inside my soul was ripped away. The pain was beyond anything I had ever felt
15:16worse than the silver burning through my flesh. A thousand times worse. The mark the moon goddess
15:21had carved into my soul the day I was born. He crushed it with his own hands.
15:25Throw her down.
15:27Damien turned around and straightened his cuffs.
15:30The ceremony's about to start. Serena is waiting.
15:33Caspian hauled me by the chain to the edge of the cliff. Then he kicked me in the back. I
15:38didn't
15:38scream on the way down. I hit the bottom of the valley and felt three ribs snap. My left shin
15:45bent
15:45at an angle that shouldn't have been possible. The silver chain was still wrapped around my ankle,
15:50still burning. The stench of rotting bones filled my nose and mouth. Through my blurring vision,
15:55I saw something white. Nana's bone trussle, wedged in a crack between two old bones. I dragged myself
16:01toward it with my one working hand. Inch by inch, until my fingers closed around it. The moon carvings
16:07on the bone whistle began to burn. Scorching hot. The heat poured from my palm into my veins,
16:14flooding through my limbs, rushing up my spine, slamming into the top of my skull. Something cracked.
16:20A seal. My back arched off the ground. A sound ripped out of my throat that did not belong to
16:28a human. The bones scattered across the valley floor blew outward from the force of it. My eyes
16:33turned solid gold. I got to my feet and started walking toward the pack square. The coronation
16:39was already underway. Thousands of wolves were gathered around the altar, torchlight flickering
16:44across their eager, reverent faces. At the center of the altar, Serena stood draped in a white Luna
16:51ceremonial robe. She was walking slowly toward the moonstone, a sacred rock that had stood for a
16:55thousand years. The stone only responded to a true mate. Only the Alpha's fated mate could make it glow,
17:00confirming the Luna title. Everyone was waiting for that moment. Damien and Caspian stood on either
17:06side of the altar. Black suits. Gold crests. Their Alpha Oris pressed down on the crowd. Their faces were
17:11calm. Everything under control. When Serena's hand touches the moonstone, she will officially
17:16become this Pax Luna. The Elder's voice rang across the square. Serena raised her hand. Her
17:21fingertips were less than an inch from the stone. The stone exploded. No warning. The massive white
17:29rock split down the middle with a blood-red crack, then shattered completely. Ash rained down across the
17:36square. The stone had rejected her, because she was not the mate. The stone knew. The moon goddess knew.
17:45Screams erupted across the square. Serena stumbled back two steps, her whole body shaking. She stared at
17:53the ash on her fingers. Damien shot to his feet. For the first time in public. His composure cracked.
18:04Nobody could answer him, because the full moon above them changed color. The white light bled red,
18:09inch by inch, until the entire moon hung in the sky the color of fresh blood. A blood moon. The
18:15Elder's
18:15legs gave out. He collapsed to the ground. This is the moon goddess's punishment. She rejected Serena,
18:25because the Alpha's true mate is not her. The crowd erupted. Damien and Caspian both went rigid.
18:34Then the real horror began. The entire Pax mind link was hijacked, forced open. Every single wolf in the
18:43pack, from the lowest omega to the highest ranking Alpha, had the same vision explode inside their
18:48heads at the same time. They saw me, Damien's fated mate, being passed between him and his twin
18:54brother. Used. Discarded. They saw me on my knees, begging the Alpha for a single drop of blood to save
19:00my dying Nana. And the answer that came back was, Today is Serena's day. They saw me chained at the
19:06ankle with silver-laced links dragged across jagged rock for 15 feet, skin shredded, bone exposed. And
19:15they saw Damien standing there in his spotless white shirt, his face completely blank, saying,
19:21Throw her down. The ceremony's about to start. Serena is waiting.
19:26Every wolf in that square now understood the truth. For three years, their Alpha had hidden his
19:31fated mate in the Grey Sector. He had used her as a pain repressor and a tool to relieve his
19:36rut.
19:36Then he had handed the Luna Throne to a woman who had no mate bond with him at all.
19:40Thousands of wolves grabbed their heads at the same time. Some threw up on the spite. Young pups burst
19:46into screaming sobs. The adults stared at the twin Alphas on the altar. The awe was gone from their eyes.
19:53All that was left was disgust, fear, and doubt.
19:58Who did this?
19:59Damien roared, his Alpha aura blasting outward at full force.
20:05Who hijacked the Pack Link?
20:09His aura had a wall, an invisible wall that was 10,000 times heavier than anything he could put out.
20:15It was coming from Dead Man's Valley. Every pair of eyes turned toward the hill.
20:20The ground was shaking, a low rumble at first, then harder. The stone tiles under their feet cracked
20:28apart. I stepped out of the fog in my wolf form. Pure white. It was my first shift. My body
20:35was barely
20:36holding together. But my wolf was two full sizes bigger than any Alphas, and that was enough to freeze
20:42every wolf in the square. The Elder dropped flat on the ground. His voice broke apart mid-sentence.
20:49Moon. Moon Goddess's daughter. White Wolf Bloodline. She is. She has always been. The Alpha's true
20:59mate. The real Luna.
21:01I walked onto the shattered altar and swept my gaze across the thousands of terrified faces below.
21:08Then, I locked eyes with Damien and Caspian. Both of them dropped to their knees at the same time.
21:14They didn't choose to. Something buried deep in their blood. Something that overrowed every Alpha
21:19command. Forced their bodies down against their will. Their knees slammed into the broken stone.
21:24Caspian fought it. Veins bulged in his neck. His teeth ground together so hard I could hear it from
21:30where I stood. He couldn't lift a single finger. Damien's face had gone white. Deep inside his soul,
21:36the mate bond he had severed with his own hands was tearing back through him. Every ounce of pain I
21:41had
21:41felt when he cut me off was hitting him now, multiplied. He raised his head. His eyes were shot through
21:50with
21:50red. Ivy? He finally recognized me. I didn't answer him. I turned and looked at Serena. She was backing
21:58away, clutching her hand, her face frozen in disbelief. But I wasn't focused on her face. My
22:06nose had caught something. A faint scent drifting from her sleeve, witching herbs. Black thornberry extract.
22:13Odorless and tasteless. Long-term use created a false sense of mate bond dependency in Alphas towards a
22:19specific person. I shifted back to human form. Elder, check what your future Luna has been hiding in
22:28her sleeve. My voice was quiet, but every wolf in the square heard it. The Elder was still on the
22:33ground, but two enforcers had already rushed forward. Serena screamed and stumbled backward.
22:40Don't touch me. I'm the Luna. Damien, do something. Nobody listened. An enforcer ripped her sleeve open.
22:54A small vial of thick black liquid rolled out and hit the stone tiles. The cat popped off.
23:02A sharp, sickly sweet smell spread across the square instantly. The Elder's face went green the
23:09second he caught the scent. Black thornberry. This is a witching drug.
23:19She has been drugging the Alpha. That is why he bonded with a woman who has no mate bond with
23:26him.
23:26It was never fate. It was the drug. Dead silence. Then the square exploded.
23:33She's in the Alpha. No wonder the Moonstone shattered. That woman was a fraud. She used
23:38witchcraft on our Alpha. That's treason. Serena's face went from white to gray. She turned to Damien.
23:44Her lips trembled. Damien, you believe me? I didn't. I would never. Damien didn't look at him. He was on
23:50his knees in the rubble, drenched in sweat, his eyes locked on me. Seize her. The Elder's voice came from
23:54behind. On the charge of treason, Serena Blackweck is to be detained immediately.
24:01Two enforcers grabbed Serena by the arms and dragged her away. She thrashed and fought,
24:06the screams cutting through the night. Damien! You said you loved me! You said I was your Luna!
24:14Damien didn't move. I looked down at the two of them, both still on their knees. Honestly,
24:19I could barely stand. The first shift had drained almost everything I had. The two heartbeats in my
24:25belly were pounding hard, protesting everything I had just put my body through. But I held on long
24:30enough to look Damien in the eye. You told me I didn't deserve to be your Luna. Now you know
24:36the
24:36truth. You were too blind to see it. Someone drugged you, and you couldn't even tell what was real. But
24:42even without the drug, you never once looked at me. Did you? Damien's throat moved. He opened his mouth.
24:48I didn't let him speak. From today, you and I have nothing to do with each other. I straighted up
24:54and
24:54turned around. On my first step, my legs buckled. On the second, my vision went black. On the third,
25:02my knees hit the stone. I didn't hit the ground. Someone caught me. One arm wrapped around my waist
25:09from behind. The other hand cradled the back of my head, steady, precise, as if he had calculated
25:14exactly when my third step would give out. I caught a faint scent. Pine and frozen earth. Familiar.
25:19The cloaked wolf. Caspian finally broke free of the suppression and surged to his feet.
25:24Let her go! She's ours! Yours?
25:26The cloaked wolf's voice was calm, almost polite. But the moment he spoke, the temperature across the
25:32entire square dropped. An alpha aura far more terrifying than Damien's rolled outward. Every
25:37wolf in the square, including the twins, buckled. Not to their knees. Their legs just went soft.
25:42Pure instinct. Screaming at them to submit. The wind caught the edge of his cloak and pulled it open.
25:49Underneath was not rags. It was a black jacket. A silver wolf head crest was pinned at the collar.
25:55The elder's face changed instantly. That crest. That's the rogue king's crest. A wave of ghast swept
26:05through the square. The rogue king. Leader of the largest exile alliance in the northern territories.
26:09He belonged to no pack. He answered to no elder council. His followers were the most savage cast
26:14out alphas from every corner of the continent. Rumor said he had wiped out two mid-sized packs
26:18on his own. Rumor said his wolf form was pure black. As large as the ancient wolves. And this
26:24man was standing in the middle of their square. One arm around my waist. His other hand brushing the
26:29blood-mad hair from my face. Stay awake. You can't sleep yet. He looked down at me.
26:34His voice was low. My mind was barely hanging on.
26:39Are you here to repay a debt?
26:43My lips moved, but my voice was almost gone.
26:46Tally six months ago. All I did was pull you out. You don't have to.
26:52This isn't about a debt. He pulled me closer. I'm here to take you home.
26:58Damien got to his feet. The calm was gone from his face.
27:02What replaced it was something I had never seen on him before. Panic. His voice was raw.
27:09She's my mate. She belongs to this pack. You have no right- Excuse me?
27:13The rogue king lifted his gaze. His eyes were pure black. No light in them at all.
27:19You severed the mate bond yourself. You threw her into Dead Man's Valley.
27:23She's free now. On what grounds do you claim she's yours?
27:27Damien had nothing to say. Caspian charged forward.
27:31Don't you dare play games with me!
27:33The rogue king didn't even glance at him. He tilted his head half an inch.
27:37A black wolf shadow shot out from behind him. So fast, the human eye could barely track it.
27:42Caspian's body flew 20 feet through the air and slammed into the wreckage of the altar.
27:46Blood sprayed from his mouth on impact. Nobody in the square moved.
27:50The rogue king looked down at me. He pulled off his black cloak with one hand and wrapped it around
27:55my body. The cloak was huge. It covered me almost entirely. It smelled of pine and frozen earth.
28:02It was warm. Let's go. He said. I had no strength left to answer.
28:07But my fingers found the edge of his cloak and held on. I didn't let go. He carried me and
28:12turned
28:13towards the hills. Thousands of wolves parted to make a path. Not one of them dared to step in his
28:18way. Damien stood where he was. He watched another alpha carry me away. His hands were clenched into
28:24fists. His nails had broken the skin of his palms. Blood dripped between his fingers. But he couldn't
28:33take a single step. His wolf was howling inside him, slamming against his consciousness. The
28:39remnants of the mate bond were burning through his soul. He had severed it himself. Now the backlash
28:45had come. The crackling of a fire woke me up. I opened my eyes. Rough wooden beams crossed the
28:52ceiling above me. The air smelled of burning pine resin and faint herbal medicine. I was lying on a bed
28:58covered in thick animal plebs. My wounds had been treated. The silver burns were covered in dark green
29:04salb. My broken ribs were wrapped and stabilized. My left shin was splinted tight between two wooden
29:11blades. I moved my fingers. Two faint fluttered came from my belly. Still there. They were still there.
29:19The tears hit me all at once. I had held it together in Dead Man's Valley. I had held it
29:24together
29:25on the altar. But now, finally, I broke. You're up? The door opened. The rogue king walked in carrying
29:35a bowl of hot soup. He had changed into clean clothes. No military jacket. Just a plain black
29:41long-sleeved shirt and worn jeans. His hair was tied back loosely. He didn't look anything close to the
29:47terrifying rogue king. He could have passed for a regular alpha who had just walked out of the
29:51kitchen. Where am I? The Northern Territories. My territory. He set the bowl on the wooden stool
29:57beside the bed. You're safe. I stared at the soup. Why should I trust you? You don't have to. He
30:04leaned
30:04against the doorframe. Arms crossed. But right now you've got three broken ribs, a fractured left leg,
30:10silver burns all over your body, and two pups in your belly. Where exactly do you think you'd go?
30:15I opened my mouth. Everything he said was true.
30:21Drink the soup, he said. It's not as good once it gets cold. I hesitated. Then I picked up the
30:26bowl.
30:27Bone broth. Thick and rich, with chopped herbs mixed in. Slightly bitter. But the warmth hit my
30:33stomach and my whole body loosened up. What's your name? I asked. Ronan. That's it? No last name?
30:39No pack? Rogues don't have packs. His voice was even.
30:43I was exiled from my original one. Why? Killed someone I shouldn't have. He didn't explain further.
30:49I didn't push. We sat in silence for a moment. You know I'm pregnant? I looked at him.
30:56I can smell it. Two of them. And you're not worried about the trouble? Taking in another
31:01alpha's mate? Pregnant with his pups? Damien won't let this go. Ronan glanced at me. His black eyes
31:08held no complicated emotions. Just calm. When you saved me in that alley six months ago,
31:13did you know I was the rogue king? No. Then why did you do it? You were dying.
31:20Exactly. He nudged the soup bowl toward me, telling me to keep drinking. Same reason.
31:27I lowered my head and buried my face in the steam rising from the bowl. The tears mixed with the
31:33hot broth and I swallowed them both down. Two months later, I gave birth to two pups in Ronan's
31:39cabin in the Northern Territories. The delivery nearly killed me. My body was already weak. The
31:45silver poisoning made it worse halfway through. I passed out completely. One of Ronan's healers
31:51delivered them. When I woke up, two tiny bodies were curled against my chest. A boy and a girl.
31:57The boy had gray-blue eyes. Damien's eyes. The girl had a faint ring of gold around the edge of
32:02her
32:03pupils. The same gold my eyes had turned when I shifted. They were so small. So small that I was
32:09afraid a single turn in my sleep would crush them. Ronan was standing in the doorway, arms crossed as
32:15usual. Got names picked out? The boy is Asher. The girl is Selene. Selene? He raised an eyebrow.
32:23I knew what he was thinking. Luna. The title that had been taken from me. That's not why.
32:29I pressed a kiss to my daughter's forehead. It means moonlight. The moon was shining through the
32:34window when she was born. Ronan didn't say anything. He walked over and looked down at the
32:39two pups. Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out two small braided cords. He tied one
32:45around each of their ankles. Northern Territories tradition. He said. Any pup born on my land is under my
32:52protection. Nobody takes them. Not for any reason. I looked up at him. You know Damien will come for
33:00them eventually. I know. He's not just any alpha. He has an entire PAX army behind him. I know.
33:07And that doesn't scare you? Ronan tilted his head down. The firelight reflected in his black eyes.
33:13Twelve PAX have put a bounty on my head at the same time. His voice was casual, as if he
33:18were talking
33:19about the weather. One more won't make a difference. Damien found us on the day the pups turned one
33:24month old. He had actually located the Northern Territories a month earlier. But Ronan's wolves
33:29had driven every one of his scouts back. This time he came himself. No army. Just him and Caspian.
33:35They were standing in the snow outside the cabin. Both of them looked terrible. Damien had lost at
33:41least 20 pounds. His cheeks were hollow. His skin was gray. And his lips were cracked. The mate
33:47bond backlash had been tearing him apart for months. Caspian wasn't much better. His left
33:52arm was strapped to his chest. Word was that Ronan's wolf had broken it at the altar, and
33:57it still hadn't healed. I stood behind the window, holding Selina in my arms. Asher was asleep
34:03on the bed. Ronan had his back to me, sharpening a hunting knife. He didn't look up.
34:08Want to see them?
34:09No.
34:12Then I'll go run them off.
34:15Wait. I hesitated for one second. Then I put Selina down, pulled on a jacket, and opened
34:21the door. Damien saw me and froze. His eyes went to my face first. Then they swept down
34:26over my body. I wasn't the starving skeleton from the gray sector anymore. The food in the
34:31Northern Territories was good. Ronan's herbal remedies had done their job. My skin had color
34:37again. My body had filled out. My eyes were bright. Then his gaze locked onto a spot near
34:44my chest. I hadn't brought the pups outside with me, but he could smell them. Milk. And
34:51underneath it, a bloodline scent identical to his own.
34:55Ivy.
34:56His voice cracked.
34:57You were pregnant? No. You had them. You had our pups!
35:01I didn't answer his question. What do you want?
35:04To bring you home.
35:05Home? Back to being your drug? Your sedative? Back to kneeling in the gray sector where nobody
35:11can see me?
35:12No.
35:13Damien stepped forward.
35:15I found out the truth. Serena had been dosing me and Cassian with Black Thornberry for three
35:20straight years. The things I said to you, the things I did, half of that was the drug controlling
35:25me. Half? I smiled. What about the other half? Damien's lips moved without sound for
35:31a moment. The other half was my own prejudice and my own cowardice. His voice dropped so low
35:36I almost couldn't hear it. I know an apology means nothing. I don't deserve your forgiveness,
35:41but those pups, they carry my blood. Let me be clear. My voice went cold.
35:46They are my children, not yours. You wanted them dead before they were even born. Have you
35:53forgotten?
35:56At the edge of Dead Man's Valley, you told Caspian to throw me down. You said the ceremony
36:01was about to start. You said Serena was waiting.
36:06That wasn't me. That was the drug.
36:08You just told me the drug was only half. Damien looked gutted. Every bit of air seemed to leave
36:13his body. Caspian stepped forward. We can make it up to you. Make it up to me? I turned to
36:19him. You told me
36:20you'd rip my tongue out. You dragged me across rocks for 15 feet with a silver chain and now you
36:24want to
36:24make it up to me? Caspian opened his mouth. Closed it. He had nothing. Go home. I step back and
36:30grip the
36:30door handle. The bond between us is gone. I have no pack. I have no alpha. And I don't need
36:36one.
36:37My children are protected. You don't need to worry about them. I shut the door. Outside, the snow kept
36:45falling. They didn't leave right away. They stood in the snow outside the cabin for the entire night.
36:51The next morning, Ronan opened the door and looked at them.
36:54You leaving or not?
36:55Damien lifted his head. Frost clung to his eyelashes. His lips had turned purple from the cold.
37:00Let me see the pups. Just once. Ronan turned and looked at me. I was holding both pups.
37:07I looked down at Asher, S. Gray, blue eyes. Those eyes were identical to Damien. S. I was quiet for
37:13a long time. One minute. Damien S. Steps were careful when he walked in. He was trying not to
37:19wake anyone. He saw Asher and Selene. Two tiny pups, nestled together in a fur blanket, sleeping soundly.
37:26Damien raised his hand. He reached toward Asher's face. His hand stopped in midair. His fingers
37:33were trembling. He didn't T-touch him. He pulled his hand back and took a step away.
37:42His voice was barely there. Fragile in a way I had never heard from him before. Then he turned and
37:47walked out of the cabin. At the doorway, Caspian had seen them too. The man the entire pack called
37:53The Rabid Dog, was standing in the snow, staring at the two small babies inside. His eyes were red,
38:00but he said nothing. They left. They disappeared into the Northern Territory's blizzard. Ronan shut
38:06the door and tossed two logs into the fire. They'll be back, he said. I know. What are you going
38:11to do?
38:12I looked down at the two pups in my arms. Selene yawned in her sleep. A tiny, perfect yawn.
38:18Asher's small hand was wrapped around my finger, gripping tight.
38:23I don't know, I said honestly. But I'm never going back. I looked up at Ronan. Firelight played
38:29across the side of his face. He didn't offer any comforting words. He just nodded. Then he pulled
38:35a small blanket from the cabinet and laid it over Selene.
38:38Winters are rough up here, he said. Can't let the pups get cold.
38:42Outside, the blizzard had stopped. Moonlight broke through the clouds and spread across the snow.
38:47I pulled both children a little closer. For some reason, I thought of Nana. The shape her lips had
38:53made right before she died. Run. Nana, I made it out. I didn't know what would come next.
39:01Damien wouldn't give up. Neither would Caspian. Their blood was in my arms. Their obsession was
39:07carved into their bones. But I wasn't the same waste from the gray sector anymore. I had my wolf.
39:13I had my children. From today on, I was just Ivy. The white wolf. And I had my own life
39:18to protect.
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