Three years ago, I had lost my wolf. Since then, my body couldn't carry a strong Alpha child.
Even so, I still took the risk.
I thought that if I could give birth, Kael Brooks might show me some care for the baby's sake.
But I lost that gamble.
The small life left my body. There was no movement. No heartbeat. No warmth.
The child was gone.
My hands shook as I picked it up from the blood. It was tiny, barely formed, with faint hair. Even then, Kael's scent was there.
Tears fell onto my hands and mixed with the blood.
"I'm sorry... baby. I'm so sorry..."
I failed to protect it.
My phone lit up at that moment. The ringtone I had set for Kael rang out.
I reached for it and answered with shaking hands.
"Kael," I said, my voice rough. "We lost the baby. Where are you?"
No reply came from Kael.
Instead, loud applause and cheers burst through the phone.
Then a woman's voice followed, soft and clear. "Thank you all for coming to my award ceremony tonight."
It was Aria Smith, the popular actress held dear by everyone in the pack despite being a mere Omega.
Her voice was choked with emotion as she spoke. "There were times I wanted to give up. But I was fortunate because I always had the strongest Alpha behind me. Thank you, Kael. Thank you for staying with me."
Applause followed, mixed with whistles. Voices in the crowd called them a perfect match.
So that was where he was.
While I was losing the child and struggling through the pain, he stood beside another woman.
"Whose call is that?" Kael's voice came through at last, edged with impatience.
"It looks like Selena," Aria replied. "I picked it up, but she didn't say anything. Kael, should we cut the cake now?"
"Yes. Ignore her. Come cut the cake," Kael replied firmly. "It's your day. Don't let anyone ruin it."
The call ended.
Silence filled the bathroom.
"Don't let anyone ruin it..." I repeated and looked at the dark screen, trying to lift the corner of my lips, but I didn't have the strength left.
In his eyes, Aria was the one who needed care, while I was nothing more than someone who forced this bond on him through a family pact.
He didn't even know about the pregnancy.
A few months earlier, I had taken the report to him, hoping to tell him.
He hadn't looked up from his work and had only said, "I'm busy. I don't have time for your reports. If you need money, ask my assistant."
I had hidden the paper behind me back then.
Looking back, that report meant nothing.
Lowering my gaze, I looked at what I held in my hands. It had already lost warmth.
Should I tell my family?
My eyes settled on the contact labeled "Father" on my phone. My finger stayed there for a moment, then I let out a quiet, bitter breath and pulled back. They wouldn't care.
Even though I was their real daughter, lost for over a decade and only brought back a few years ago, I meant nothing to them. In their eyes, I was just someone rough and unrefined, someone they could use to secure ties with the Brooks family and gain what they wanted.
The one they truly valued was Chloe White, the girl who had taken my place.
If they found out I had lost the child, and that my place beside Kael was no longer secure, they would only feel I had failed in my role and disgraced the Crescent Pack.
A long time ago, I had already lost any place I could call home.
"This is better," I whispered, brushing my finger over its small face. "Don't blame me. I'll take you somewhere quiet."
Going to the hospital wasn't an option.
If I stepped inside, they would find out the truth, that I had no wolf.
That truth was something Kael's family couldn't accept to be exposed.
Back then, to save his life, I had gone to a witch and let her transfer the poison from his body to mine.
My wolf had shielded me and absorbed the poison for me.
Holding onto the sink, I forced myself up. My legs shook, and pain spread through me.
I found a wooden box and placed a soft scarf inside it.
Carefully, I put the baby in and closed the lid.
After that, I changed into a long black dress and walked out without shoes, carrying the box.
Rain poured down outside. Water struck my body, cold and sharp. Getting soaked like this would only make things worse for me, but it didn't matter anymore.
I went to the corner of the garden and knelt in the mud. Using my hands, I started digging. My fingers broke open, and blood came out.
I kept going without stopping. I dug, set the box down, and covered it with earth.
At last, I placed a stone over the mound.
Rain soaked through me as I sat there, my eyes fixed on the villa glowing with light in the distance.
A cough tore through me, and dark blood spilled from my mouth. The silver poison had reached my heart.
The witch had warned me that once the black blood appeared, I would only have three months left.
"Three months..."
I watched the rain wash the blood away and let out a quiet, hollow smile.
My life was finally nearing its end.
Kael didn't return that night.
By the following day, the news spread. Aria had taken a drink at the after-party that contained wolfsbane and was sent to the hospital because of an allergic reaction.
Kael stayed with her the entire night, never leaving her side.