Chapter 4

The pain became unbearable, and I could no longer straighten my back. I curled on the cold stone floor, trembling as another contraction tore through my abdomen.

“I am truly going into labor. My pup is only seven moons old; it is far too early, and something could happen to him. This is your child too, Cassian. Please, let me go to the pack healer.”

Another vicious wave of pain surged through my belly, and terror seized me as I wondered whether the fall had harmed my unborn pup.

For the life growing inside me, I swallowed every last shred of pride I possessed. I reached for Cassian’s trousers and clung to the fabric with trembling fingers.

“Please, give me your moonstone. I can send the healer a mind-link myself. Please, Cassian…”

“This is your own blood and heir.”

Cassian kicked my hand away and stared at the pool of amniotic fluid beneath me with undisguised disgust.

The pain had already drained most of my strength, leaving me crumpled on the floor like an abandoned animal.

Cassian crouched beside me and seized my chin, his fingers tightening around my jaw as his cold eyes bore into mine.

“Why are you still pretending? You are addicted to these little performances, Emilia. If I do not teach you a lesson tonight, you will eventually believe you can trample all over my authority and humiliate me whenever you please.”

He straightened and looked toward the servants.

“Put her in the privy.”

His gaze fell toward the soaked floor, and his expression twisted with revulsion.

“Have two servants clean this mess. The stench is disgusting.”

Two low-ranking pack servants immediately seized my arms and dragged me toward the privy attached to the chamber.

“Help me…” I cried weakly, struggling against their grip. “Please, send for the pack healer. Someone, please…”

A young she-wolf who had been serving the moonwine looked troubled as she watched me being dragged away.

“Alpha Blackthorne, she truly does not look well. Perhaps you should let her go to the healers. She is carrying your pup, after all.”

Darius immediately grabbed the young she-wolf by her hair and struck her across the face.

“What business is it of yours? Who gave you the right to question my brother’s decision?”

The girl’s face went pale. She lowered her head at once, forcing a frightened smile and no longer daring to speak.

Several older she-wolves nearby laughed.

“Little one, you are still too inexperienced. These are merely the tricks mates use when they want to control their Alphas. Believe me, if Alpha Blackthorne sends her back to their chambers, she will recover soon enough.”

Sabrina, meanwhile, wore the smug expression of a she-wolf who had already claimed victory.

“Luna Emilia, Alpha Cassian is doing this for your own good. He only wants you to remain in the privy until you have cleaned yourself up, so you will not disgrace him before the other packs.”

She deliberately swayed her graceful waist before settling comfortably onto Cassian’s lap again. Then she looked directly at me, the corners of her lips lifting in a silent, triumphant smile.

The meaning in her eyes was unmistakable.

You lost.

The heavy wooden door closed between us.

Beyond it, the Winter Moon Feast continued with music, laughter, and the clinking of goblets, while I was left alone in the darkness, humiliated and forgotten.

I sank onto the cold floor with my back against the wall and struck the door with every bit of strength I had left.

“Help…”

The sound barely escaped my throat before the thick door swallowed it.

Pain tore through my body like thousands of iron claws raking through my flesh. I desperately tried to remember everything the pack healer had taught us during the pregnancy lessons, forcing myself to breathe slowly despite the terror threatening to overwhelm me.

The contractions were coming closer together now.

I had to remain calm.

I had to deliver my pup.

Calm down, Emilia Whitmore. You can do this.

Your pup needs you.

Tears mixed with sweat as another scream tore from my throat until my voice became hoarse.

The lower part of my abdomen felt as though it were being ripped apart from within, and soon the sharp scent of blood filled the tiny privy.

I did not know how long I had been trapped there. Time had become meaningless beneath the endless waves of pain, each contraction more agonizing than the last.

It hurt so badly.

Something was wrong.

My pup could not come out.

Panic seized me as my heart hammered against my ribs. I clenched my teeth and looked down to find blood steadily pooling beneath my robes.

I could not die here.

My pup could not die here.

With trembling hands, I reached for the frosted glass panel beside the door and smeared my blood across it, forcing my shaking fingers to form a single desperate message.

SOS

Then I pressed both bloody palms against the glass, leaving unmistakable handprints where anyone outside might see them.

A moment later, a wolf who had just stepped out of the neighboring privy stopped dead.

“Cassian!”

His frightened voice carried through the chamber.

“Something is wrong! There is blood on the privy door. Your mate may truly be giving birth!”

When I heard those words, a fragile spark of hope flickered inside my chest.

Someone had finally realized that I was not pretending.

My pup, please hold on.

Mommy will save you.

But outside the door, Cassian was still drunk enough to mistake my suffering for another one of my supposed schemes.

“What is the meaning of all that blood?” he scoffed. “She must have somehow brought a flask of red wine in there and spilled it. How could a pup only seven moons along possibly be born tonight? She is acting again.”

The wolf hesitated, but fear had begun creeping into his voice.

“Cassian, at least open the door and look. I am not saying the worst has happened, but you should be certain before it is too late.”

Cassian remained silent.

Sabrina’s soft voice soon floated through the chamber from the warmth of his arms.

“Emilia has pulled this trick before. She once insisted that Cassian banish me from his service because she was jealous. You do not know how she behaves when she feels neglected. She is simply angry that Cassian chose to spend the Winter Moon Feast with us instead of sitting beside her, so now she is creating trouble.”

The wolf outside the privy fell silent.

No one argued with Cassian again.

My fragile hope flickered once, then slowly began to die.

Another unbearable contraction ripped through my stomach, dragging me back into the agony I had momentarily forgotten.

No.

I could not give up.

My precious pup, Mommy will save you.

I tore off my outer cloak and stared at it for several heartbeats before an idea came to me.

If they refused to open the door, I would find another way to make someone see my distress.

With trembling fingers, I dipped them into the blood beneath me and began scrawling a desperate message across the pale fabric.

HELP. I AM IN LABOR. SEND THE PACK HEALER.

I gathered what little strength remained in my body and struggled toward the small ventilation opening high above the privy wall.

My legs shook violently as I climbed onto the stone basin, using the wall to steady myself. Somehow, I managed to push open the narrow wooden shutter.

I stretched upward and tried to force my bloodstained cloak through the opening, hoping the wind would carry it beyond the chamber and into the sight of another wolf.

But the agony in my abdomen made it nearly impossible to straighten my back.

The fabric caught against the wooden frame.

I bit down hard on my lip, refusing to cry, and pulled with everything I had.

At last, the cloak slipped free and disappeared through the opening.

Then my foot suddenly lost its footing.

My body lurched backward.

Bang!

I crashed onto the stone floor.

The violent noise echoed through the privy and finally jolted the wolves outside into silence.

My vision blurred as I struggled to breathe.

Through the ringing in my ears, I faintly heard a voice on the other side of the door.

For the first time that night, Cassian no longer sounded amused.

“Emilia…”