The Ugly Truth

Astrid's POV 

  Darius and Iris used to be inseparable. Back in school, everyone thought they were the golden couple and perfect together. But when fate bound me to him instead, when he found out I was his fated mate, everything changed. Or at least, I thought it did.

 After we married, Darius never spoke to Iris again, or so I believed. He made everything about me which felt good, being placed above Iris for the first time.

    Due to her illness, I was used to all the attention being on her, I was used to coming second to her.

  Now, standing outside the room, I could barely breathe. I almost stormed in to demand answers.

  Why was he here? He was supposed to be taking care of whatever emergency they'd called him for and not be in a hospital room.

 “And natural labor?”

  “What does that even mean?” I thought, the words not making sense to me. Then I paused, “Did he mean… last night?”

  A shiver ran through me, anger and fear twisting deep inside. Had I really almost let him put our babies in danger?

 Was that why he touched me that way to force my body to give in? 

To save Iris?

 Did he know about my mother’s insane plan for the cord blood?

  Several questions crashed over me, one after another, until I couldn’t tell which hurt more. The fear, or the realization that I might already know the answer.

 My fingers dug into my palms until I felt the sting of my own skin breaking. 

 The man I’d trusted with everything. The man I thought loved me, and I was willing to do everything for, had betrayed me in the ugliest way imaginable!

“We don’t have much time. Iris needs their cord blood immediately,” my mother emphasized, cutting my thoughts.

I went cold all over.

Of course. Of course it was about Iris again.

It always has been. But hearing it out loud still made me want to throw up.

  "Has the lab made any progress on creating an alternative?" Darius asked. "I don't want to risk the babies and Astrid if we don't have to."

  For a moment, just a moment, I felt almost grateful. At least he was trying to protect our children.

Until my father spoke.

  "Who cares about Astrid?" His voice dripped with irritation. "Iris is the one who matters. She's dying, Darius. Your mate bond might be with Astrid, but we all know where your heart truly lies."

 The silence that followed was deafening. I pressed closer to the door, my heart pounding so hard I was certain they'd hear it.

  Then came Iris's voice, soft and shaking. "Darius... do you actually love her now? Astrid, I mean. After all this time together, the babies... have you grown to care for her?"

 The room fell so silent that if a pin dropped, we'd all hear it and it had nothing to do with our supernatural hearing. I waited, every cell in my body begging the Moon Goddess for him to say yes. For him to tell her he loved me, that our marriage had become real, that our children were conceived in love and not conspiracy.

 "You know I only married Astrid for the blood," Darius said finally, each word a knife to my heart. "For you. It's always been for you, Iris."

  Hot tears burned my eyes, spilling down my cheeks. Everything, every kiss, every tender moment, every time he'd held me and whispered my name, all of it had been a lie. My husband had been pretending this whole time, playing a role just to save my sister.

 Inside me, my wolf howled in agony, the sound reverberating through my bones. She begged me to run, to protect our pups, to get as far away from these people as possible.

 "Mom, C-sections are really safe these days, right?" I heard Iris ask, "Astrid and my nieces will be okay, won't they? I don't want them hurt because of me."

  "Of course, sweetie," Teresa replied smoothly. "Everyone will be fine. The procedure is routine. We'll take the cord blood during delivery, and Astrid won't even know. She'll think it's standard medical practice."

  I couldn't listen anymore. My legs moved before my mind caught up, carrying me away from that door, away from the shattering of every illusion I'd held onto. I ran back to our house as fast as my pregnant body would allow, legs shaking with each step.

  I burst into our bedroom and grabbed a bag, throwing some clothes in . My hands shook as I stuffed in whatever I could reach. I had to escape before they could hurt my babies. Before they could take what they wanted and discard me like I was nothing.

"Luna

 I jumped. James stood in the doorway, wiping his hands on his apron. He was the gardener and the only person who still called me Luna without pity in his voice.

 "I'm fine," I lied, trying to smile through the tears running down my face.

  His weathered face softened with genuine concern. His eyes flickered to my hastily packed bag, to my tears, to the way I held my belly protectively. "If you ever need help, Astrid," he said quietly, deliberately using my first name, "any help at all, just say the word." 

 I nodded, pretending I hadn't heard him, pretending I wasn't about to break into several pieces.

 He left quietly and I turned to continue packing. But before I could grab another thing, the bedroom door burst open. 

  Iris came in, sitting in a wheelchair. Her smile was too calm for someone dying.

   I didn't hide my confusion, seeing how she was in the hospital room a few minutes ago and given her present condition, she couldn't have gotten here so fast.

 “Astrid. What’re you doing? Are you leaving?” she asked, her brows raised as she watched me. Her arms crossed in front of her.