Chapter Thirteen
The pain came in waves–ripping through my back, my thighs, my core–until I wasn’t sure if I was dying or birthing.
There was no midwife. No healer. Just me, curled on the cold tiles of the guest wing hallway, blood slipping between my legs, tears mixing with sweat as I screamed for someone–anyone.
Not Damien.
He was gone.}]
And Elara?>
She never returned.
lin
By the time the guards found me–t
-faint and barely clinging to consciousness–the damage had already begun. My wolf had gone into overdrive, trying to preserve us both. But she couldn’t stop the bleeding. Couldn’t ease the fear clawing through my chest.“]
I gave birth alone.
Under fluorescent lights, in the infirmary of a pack I was never truly welcome in, I brought life into a world that had tried so hard to extinguish mine.
A girl.
Tiny. Fierce. Screaming like she knew what I’d been through to get her here.
I held her against my chest, sobbing into the crown of her head.
“My Ayla,” I whispered. “You’re the only good thing left.”
I waited for Damien to come.
Hours passed.}
Then days.
And when he finally walked through the infirmary doors, he had the stench of another woman on him.
He didn’t even reach for the baby.
Just stood there, shadowed by guilt–or maybe indifference–as I nursed his child with trembling hands.
“I buried my brother yesterday,” he said coldly.
I blinked. “Marcellus?”
He nodded. No emotion. No softness. Just a flat statement, like it was an inconvenience more than a tragedy.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. And I was. Despite everything.“]
He didn’t acknowledge it. Didn’t look at Ayla. Just continued like I hadn’t spoken.
“His death leaves a power vacuum in the Nightfang Pack. As the next Alpha in the bloodline… I have to go. They need leadership.”
My heart started to pound. “You’re leaving?”
“I don’t have a choice.“D
“You do.” My voice cracked. “You have a daughter. You have me.“}
He stepped closer, eyes hardening. “I have a duty. One that goes beyond personal matters. The Nightfang pack is part of my legacy.”
“And what about our legacy?” I hissed, clutching Ayla tighter. “What about the life we made?”
Damien looked down, jaw clenching.”
Then, like ripping off a bandage->
“Elara was marked last night.”
The room spun.
“What?” I choked.
“She’s my brother’s widow,” he said, as if that excused it. “It was the only way to solidify the transition. The Elders agreed. They see her as… stabilizing.”
I stared at him. At the face I used to love. The mouth I used to kiss. Now twisted with ambition and excuses.
“You marked her,” I whispered. “You marked Elara.”
He didn’t deny it.
And in that moment, something inside me shattered. Not with a bang–but with a silence so heavy it felt like death.
I didn’t cry. Didn’t scream.”
I just turned away, pressing Ayla against my chest like a shield.
“I’ll send someone to escort you to the Nightfang lands,” he said after a moment. “You’ll have your own space–separate from Elara and I. It’ll be easier that way. Cleaner.“2
Easier.E
Cleaner.
Like I was a mess to be tucked away.”
Like I was
a mess to be tucked
away.
I hadn’t burned my entire life for him.”
Like
He
reached for the door.
And paused.}
“You
were never meant for
I looked Over my shoulder,
this, Selene. Maybe
eyes dull.
it’s better
if you
u just… go home.”
“I don’t have a a home.“>
He nodded,
like that was
somehow my fault.
Then he
left.”
-D
But what he didn’t know–what he
never suspected–was that
something inside me had begun to wake up.”
Not just
the
Luna.
Not just
the warrior.
But
the heir.
And
if he thought
he could cast me
aside
like a discarded
pawn while
he built a
throne on my
broken back…
He had по idea what was coming.
い
