EPISODE 10
I woke up to the scent of damp earth and the faint flicker of candlelight dancing across the wooden walls. My body felt light, as if I had drifted through a dream and was only now returning to reality. A dull ache pulsed in my limbs, but it wasn’t pain that unsettled me, it was the sharp worry in the eyes watching me.
Julio sat beside me, his brows furrowed in concern, while Yvette stood nearby, arms crossed but with an uncharacteristic softness to her expression.
“You’re finally awake,” Julio murmured, his voice quieter than usual.
I swallowed thickly, trying to shake off the lingering haze. “What… happened?”
Before either of them could answer, Adam, stepped forward. He studied me carefully before letting out a deep sigh.
“Maurice,” he said, his voice gentle but firm, “you’re pregnant.”
I froze.
Pregnant?
No. That couldn’t be right.
A sharp pang shot through my chest as memories of the past clawed their way into my mind. The night of the argument. The fall. The unbearable pain. I had been sure that the child hadn’t survived. And even if I had somehow been wrong about that, Daniel would have made sure of it.
Just as he had done before.
Just as he had always done.
Adam tilted his head, sensing my turmoil. “You seem surprised.”
forced myself to take a breath.
I… I thought I lost the baby,” I admitted, my voice barely above a whisper. “I was certain I had
miscarried.”
Adam frowned, glancing at Julio and Yvette before shifting his gaze back to me.
That’s what confuses me. You only arrived here three months ago, but based on the cub’s development… this isn’t a recent pregnancy. It’s further along than it should be.”
A shiver ran down my spine.
had never told them the full extent of what had happened to me. About the countless niscarriages I had endured. About how each one had been forced upon me, a cruel punishment hidden behind Daniel’s cold hands and my father’s ministrations.
I was hurt before,” I said vaguely, my fingers curling into the thin sheets beneath me. “I thought hat was the end of it. That’s why I left my pack… because the person who hurt me was someone important to me.”
Silence settled in the room.
Julio’s jaw tightened, and Yvette exhaled slowly, her eyes dark with understanding. They didn’t ›ress me for more, but the weight of what I left unsaid filled the space between us.
Adam, oblivious to the full story, continued thoughtfully. “If you did miscarry, then what was
The Rejected Luna Rises
7/2
AC 70
8:44 pm DDDD
taken from you wasn’t the cub. It’s possible that what they removed was something else, a tumor, maybe, from an old injury or trauma. But not the child.”
My breath hitched.
“It’s persistent,” Adam said, shaking his head with something almost like admiration. “Stubborn, like its mother. The Moon Goddess must have seen your suffering and protected this child.”
I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. I had spent so long believing that Daniel had stolen every chance I had of becoming a mother, that he had stripped me of something I could never get
back. But he hadn’t.
My child survived.
Against all odds, against everything Daniel had done.
Tears blurred my vision, but Adam’s expression turned serious. “Maurice, listen to me carefully. This pregnancy… it will be your last.”
I blinked, my heart stuttering.
‘The cub is strong, but your body has endured too much,” he continued. “Even if you make it through this birth safely, I’m afraid another one would be impossible.”
I let out a shaky breath.
Just one. One child,
That was all I would ever have.
But as I placed my hand over my stomach, feeling the warmth that I had once believed was lost forever, I realized it was enough. As long as I could bring this child into the world, as long as I could protect them, love them, and give them the life I never had, it was enough.
A soft, genuine smile touched my lips.
‘That’s fine,” I whispered. “As long as I have this one.”
For the first time in a long while, I felt something close to happiness. I was no longer just surviving, I was living for something. For someone.
And so, I did everything I could to ensure my body was strong enough to carry my child safely. I ate well, took the herbs Adam gave me, and let myself rest when I needed it.
Day by day, I grew stronger, and with each passing moon, my belly swelled. The others in the back, even those who had once been wary of me, began to treat me with warmth and protectiveness. I wasn’t just another rogue anymore. I was family.
Then, in the eighth month of my pregnancy, five months after I had left the Amethyst Pack, my past caught up with me.
barely had time to react before the warning howl of one of the scouts echoed through the trees. The pack burst into motion, their movements swift and disciplined. Yvette was at my side in an nstant. We exchanged glances before stepping out of the house to take a look.
The first sign was the scent. Faint at first, but unmistakable. The sharp, dominant musk of an Alpha, tinged with the metallic sting of control and rage.
Daniel.
Panic crashed through me like a tidal wave. My fingers clenched instinctively around my
EPISODE 10
213 48.3%
8:44 pm D DDD
stomach, as if I could shield the life growing within me from the monster who had nearly destroyed it.
But I could only stand there, frozen, my heart pounding in my chest.
He had found me.
Daniel had found me.
8:44 pm DDDD
