EPISODE 17
Daniel had made his choice.
Between me and Helen, he chose her. He thought he had done the right thing. Choosing life, choosing the child Helen carried. I, of all people who had lost so many, who had felt the unbearable emptiness of losing what could have been my children, should understand him choosing Helen.
Surely, I should understand, right?
He convinced himself that this was the right decision.
In addition, he was still angry with me. Angry that I had lain with another, that I carried a child that wasn’t his. That, despite doing something unforgivable to me, slipping abortion herbs into my food, ensuring that my body could never hold another child to term, I was still his.
I had always been his, as if an object he could possess, and I should have only ever carried his child. The thought of another’s blood funning through my veins disgusted him, and he refused to acknowledge the life growing within me.
So, of course, in the end, he chose Helen.
At least with her, he was sure the child was his.
Even though the ritual, the one where she would have consumed the last of my unborn children to complete the rite of becoming the next Alpha, could not be completed, at least the child she carried belonged to him. That was enough. He was still Alpha, and as long as my child was not yet born, he remained in control.
And if that moment ever came…, he could always deal with a newborn.
So he carried her away.
I watched them go, my face void of expression as their figures disappeared beyond the doors. The silence that followed was deafening, a void of nothingness that threatened to consume me. Then, a laugh bubbled up from my throat.
t was low and bitter, dripping with mockery.
laughed at him, at myself, at the cruel joke the Moon Goddess had played on me.
The scent of blood still lingered in the air, thick and suffocating. I turned my gaze downward to where Helen had fallen, where her pain had spilled onto the floor in the form of blood and fluid. My stomach churned, but I did not look away. Instead, I stepped forward, my bare feet carrying me toward the door without hesitation.
did not run. I did not flee as I had done before.
nstead, I walked toward the pack’s altar.
The place where we had once stood, where we had made our bond beneath the blessing of the Moon Goddess. This was where mated wolves came to complete their eternal vow, where dreams and promises were woven together into an unbreakable bond.
had not heard the words he spoke that day, but I had believed that once upon a time, Daniel had at least been true to his words. Or maybe that was just how I saw it through my eyes at that
noment.
he Rejected Luna Rises
1/3 81.7%
And now, that memory only brings pain.
I had thought, foolishly, that if Daniel had chosen me this time, I would have forgiven him, I would have told him the truth, that the child I carried was his. That despite everything, he had the right to know, to raise our cub as a family. I had been willing to forget all the pain, to star anew, to live as others did.
Happy and whole, full of love.
But Daniel had always chosen Helen. Even at the very end.
The altar stood before me, bathed in the cold glow of the moon. The statue of the Moon Goddess loomed overhead, her expression unreadable, her judgment unseen. I climbed the stone steps, my breaths were slow and measured. My fingers trembled slightly as I reached into the folds of my dress, pulling out the small silver dagger I had hidden there.
One final choice. One final act.
I knelt before the statue, pressing my palm flat against the cold stone floor.
Then, without hesitation, I drew the blade across my palm.
The pain was sharp, but it was nothing compared to what I had already endured. It could not compare to the many times my womb had been torn open just to take out my unborn, dead children. It could never match the agony I felt every time I mourned the loss of a child.
Blood welled up instantly, warm and thick, and I let it fall, let it drip onto the feet of the Moor Goddess, an offering, a plea.
“I beg to break our bond,” I said firmly, watching as the blood soaked the stone floor. “Give m justice! Make the person who killed my children suffer! Moon Goddess, if you can hear me, place judgment on those who dared to hurt my cubs!”
Thunder rumbled overhead, a violent roar that shook the heavens. A crack of lightning split the sky, illuminating the temple in a blinding flash of silver light. The air itself seemed to tremble, a force unseen but felt in the marrow of my bones.
And then, I felt it.
The bond, our bond, snapping.
A pain unlike any other tore through me, sharp and searing, ripping something vital from my very soul. My breath caught in my throat, my vision blurred, but I did not waver. I remained kneeling my hands clenched into fists, my nails digging into my skin as the remnants of our connection shattered around me.
It was done.
Daniel had felt it too.
Even from a distance, I knew he had felt it, the severing of our mate’s bond, the finality of it.
He had chosen Helen, and now, I had chosen myself.
If nobody wanted me, then I would decide to be on my own.
The moment it happened, Daniel staggered, his breath hitching as the pain struck him. He looked up at the sky, now rumbling with thunder as if heralding the beginning of a great storm. He might have gone outside to check the weather, but the healer called him in before he could.
EPISODE 17
2/3 83.39
8:46 pm DDDD
He turned to the healer, confusion flashing in his golden eyes. But before he could even process
it, the healer spoke.
“Alpha…” The healer’s voice was grave, hesitant. “Helen has gone into labor.”
Daniel stiffened. But the healer wasn’t finished.
“The baby… it was not alive.”
