001: A FAULTY PREGNANCY

Valerie 

Today is my final full checkup before delivery.

 “Luna Valerie?”

Corvin, my colleague pushes the door to the ward open and walks in, a tablet tucked under his arm. His gaze flicks briefly to my stomach before returning to my face. As the head doctor of the pack’s hospital, he is responsible for me until my delivery.

 “The Alpha didn’t come with you today,” he notes. His tone is professional, though the faint scowl on his face betrays his disapproval. I plaster a smile on my face.

“No,” I reply quietly. “He’s…occupied.”

“I see,” he says dryly, scrolling through his tablet. “I’ll need to report directly to the Alpha regarding the pregnancy.”

My heart skips. Is something wrong with my baby?

“Corvin, I’m the mom,” I say firmly. “Besides, I'm a doctor just like you. If you noticed anything wrong, I'll understand it more than Sebastian. If there’s anything I need to know, tell me now.”

He lowers the tablet, sympathy clouding his expression. “Today’s scan shows an irregularity in the fetus.”

He taps the screen and holds it in front of me. “The pup’s gestation rate is concerning.”

I shake my head slowly. “That doesn’t make sense. I feel stronger than I’ve ever felt.” I pause to steady my breath. “Why?”

“I can't tell. There has never been a human Luna before.”

A human Luna. It's ironic how all problems I've had since for the past three years have been traced back to that. The pack has never accepted me because I am a human Luna. Now, even my unborn child is developing wrongly for the same reason.

Corvin must have sensed the shift in my mood, because he tries to rephrase his words. “We can’t be certain at this stage. This is extremely rare among werewolf pups, so there’s very little research. Further evaluations will be required.”

“And?” I lift my brows, waiting for the part he is clearly holding back. 

 “There is a possibility your pregnancy may be terminated,” he says at last. “There are standards the Alpha’s heir must meet. This will have to be considered.”

Instinctively, I wrap my arms around my stomach as dread washes over me. My fate as the Luna depends on this child I'm carrying. The only reason I haven't been chased out is because the members are waiting to see how great an heir I can produce. If something goes wrong, I'd lose my status.

“Alpha Sebastian will decide what happens to the child,” Corvin adds. “Bring him with you to your next appointment.”

A scoff rips past my throat. Sebastian left the pack with an entourage this morning, with that woman by his side. Celeste Blackthorne, his first love who returned six months ago. He couldn't care less about his wife, or the pack’s heir which I am carrying. The last thing he'd do is follow me to an appointment. 

Just as Corvin starts to leave, a panicked nurse bursts in, her forehead coated with sweat. Her eyes fall on me.

“Luna… Luna Valerie… Lord Caspian., Lord Caspian is…”

I don't wait for her to complete the sentence. I spring to my feet and run out the ward as fast as my heavy belly can allow, letting her lead me through the hallway. We get to the emergency room where a trail of blood leads me to my father in law. He's unconscious, blood dripping from different stabs wounds on his chest.

“He was attacked in his home and rushed here,” the nurse informs me. “Luna Valerie, I don't think there's anything we can do. He has lost a lot of blood.”

“Give me the defibrillator. Now!”

I position myself beside the limp body and start to press my hands into his chest with repeated pressure, muttering numbers under my breath. I can feel his ribs beneath my fist. I feel his heart rate slow down. The monitor beeps loudly with an increasing pace every second that passes, but I refuse to accept what that means. 

I refuse to accept that he's dying.

“Luna Valerie, it's too late,” a nurse mutters behind me. “We can't save him.”

I block out her voice, increasing my movements as tears gather behind my lids. “Breathe…” I murmur, more to myself than to the grey haired man lying before me. There's blood everywhere. Blood from his wounds. My heart rate picks up. “Breathe, father. You can't do this to me.” I snatch the defibrillator being stretched to me and place it against his chest hastily, calling out orders for the charge to be administered. But before I can do anything, the line on the monitor flattens. A loud noise floats into my ears. I have heard the monitor make that noise before. I never thought my father-in-law would one day be the patient behind it.

I don't stop trying to resuscitate him.

“Two hundred joules!” I scream to the nurse in charge of the defibrillator, tears spilling down my cheeks. “You're too slow. Do as I say.”

She does nothing. Nobody does anything. They all stare back at me, their expressions clouded with pity. I fling the device to the floor and continue with CPR. If they don't want to save him, I will.

“Time of death, 1:47 pm,” someone announces. Two hands wrap around my arms, pulling me away from the lifeless body. I writhe against them, my vision turning blurry.

“He's dead, Luna,” someone says. “You did all you could.”

He's dead. The word echo in my ears. How can that be? He was fine just this morning. He couldn't shut up about how he couldn't wait to meet his grandchild. He apologized for his son's recent neglect of me. How can someone so vibrant die without a heads up?

“Luna Valerie,” Corvin’s voice floats into my ears. “You should rest. This stress is not good for your baby.”

I shake my head, shoving him away. He can never understand the effect Lord Caspian’s death has on me. Caspian was my only ally in this pack. When the elders protested having a human Luna, he stood against them and welcomed me. He went against his cruel wife who hates my existence just to make sure I never felt alone. When Sebastian's first love returned to the pack and caused our marriage to start going downhill, Caspian did all he could to talk sense into him. For the past three years, he was the father I never had. I can't let him go so easily.

“I'll inform the Alpha of his father's death,” Corvin continues. “Wait here till he comes.”

I wince, placing a hand under my belly as the nurses pulls a white sheet over my father-in-law's body. Tearing my gaze away, I glance down at myself, at the blood all over me. A knot forms in my stomach.

Corvin stands a few feet away, speaking into his phone. Seconds pass. He lowers it into his pocket and turns back to me.

“The Alpha is away, Luna Valerie,” he says, then quickly adds. “But I left a message for him. As soon as he returns, he'll rush down here.”

“I'm sure he'll make his way back as soon as he hears about his father's death,” Corvin tries to soothe me. “In the meantime, we can alert Lady Helen so she'll…”

He doesn't get to finish his sentence. The door bursts open. Helen, my mother in law, storms in. Her eyes fall on her husband's covered corpse, and her knuckles turn white.

I stand upright instinctively, wiping my tears. Helen takes slow steps towards the bed, pulling the sheet away from his face silently.

“Cas…Caspian?” She stutters. My lips quiver. I bet his body is cold now, and she can feel it. She might have been horrible to me, but no one could deny that she loved her husband. The only times they fought, I was always the cause of it. 

“I'm sorry, Lady Helen. He was found in the Pack hall and brought here unconscious,” Corvin explains. “We tried our best, but–”

“What did you do to him?”

The ward turns silent. Helen's gaze is fixed on me, fierce and filled with disdain. She storms towards me, grabbing the collar of my overall. “What did you do to my husband?”

Dumbstruck, I stare at her with wide eyes. Her husband died, and the first thing she could do was accuse me of foul play? I have been in the hospital all day. I did all I could to save him, yet she thinks I'm responsible for his death?

“Lady Helen.” Corvin tries to intervene, but he doesn't dare lay a hand on the Alpha's mother. “The Luna only tried to help. She didn't –”

“You human filth,” Helen cuts in, her eyes blazing. “Caspian took you in like a daughter. He cared about you so much, yet you killed him.”

I open my mouth to speak, but words fail me. Expelling a heavy breath, I palm my stomach in desperation as my baby kicks. Helen's anger heightens. Her eyes water, hurt etched on her features. 

I tell myself that she doesn't mean a word she says. Her husband is dead, and she's venting her anger on me. But I know the truth. She has never liked me. She genuinely believes I did something to Caspian.

Shoving me away, Helen barks out instructions for the doctors on ground.

“Perform an autopsy. I want to know the real cause of my husband's death. Have the Luna thrown into the dungeon. And you.” She glowers at me. “Prepare for a council hearing. Your deception in this pack ends today.”