IS HE DEAD

MAYA

My unborn baby was dead.

The news traveled round the pack like wildfire within hours. Sympathizers flooded into the palace courtyard from every corner of the territory, carrying flowers, candles, and mourning wreaths. But instead of coming to my quarters, they all went straight to Maria to say sorry to her.

It was as if she was the one who had lost a child. The noblewomen, the elders, and the pack guards all gathered around her in the grand parlor, comforting her, wrapping their arms around her shoulders and offering deep condolences for the "tragedy in her royal home." Only about a few people—mostly lower-tier servants who felt pity for my pale face—actually came to my bedside to offer me a quiet word of comfort.

Maria played the part of the grieving senior wife perfectly. She acted so sober, wiping away fake tears with a lace handkerchief whenever anyone stepped through the front doors. But the moment the guests left and the heavy oak doors shut behind them, her face turned cold as stone.

She walked into my room, looking down at me lying helpless on the bed.

"Maya, put yourself together," Maria scoffed, smoothing her silk dress. "I will still give you the money I promised so you can pack your bags and leave this territory. But don't think you're escaping me completely—I will be visiting you wherever you go."

I turned my face toward the wall, clutching the bedsheets tightly in my fist. Yeah, I get it, I thought bitterly, tears burning behind my eyelids. You will be visiting to screw my vagina with your claws, keeping me trapped as your secret toy while taking all the glory of this palace for yourself.

While the rest of the world coddled Maria, Alpha Edward stayed close to me. Every single night, he crawled into my bed and cuddled me tightly against his chest, holding my trembling body until dawn. We were the ones who had lost a child, not Maria. The pain in his chest was real, I could hear his heavy heart beating wildly against my ear as he wept silently into my hair in the dark.

He believed with all his heart that an evil eye had entered our home. First, his sudden, unexplainable blindness stripped him of his power, and now the devastating loss of our unborn child threatened to tear his soul apart. It was just too heavy for him to bear alone.

The book... I had put it far under my bed, shoved into the dusty darkness where I wouldn't have to look at its dark scaly cover again. I believed in my heart that I killed my child myself, and it was that cursed book that gave me the twisted weapon to do it. I had only read those Arabic pages to find a solution to our misery, to heal my Alpha and understand my spirit, but the book killed my baby instead. I swore I would never touch it again.

For three long, agonizing months, I mourned my child. I stayed in that cold room, barely eating, watching the seasons shift through the window.

Today marked the end of those three months, and I woke up feeling a strange, quiet resolve in my chest. I have decided to move on. Maybe it was finally time to pack my few belongings and move out of this toxic house forever, away from Maria's dark control and the painful memories lingering in every corner.

I sat up on the edge of the mattress, looking over at Alpha Edward sleeping beside me. His face looked tired, lined with deep stress, his blind eyes closed under pale lids. He was so wholly dependent on me for everything now, for his food, his clothes, his dignity, and his safety. I couldn't just abandon him to Maria's mercy without giving him his life back first.

I have to fix this, I told myself, a sudden wave of determination taking over my fear.

I got down on my knees, reached deep under the bed, and pulled out the heavy leather tome. I brushed the dust off the cover, my hands shaking slightly as I carried it back to the mattress. I brought out the book just to command the dark spell to leave his sight. Once it is done, once he can see clearly again and protect himself, I am leaving this palace for good.

I opened the book to the exact same page I had been studying weeks ago. I sat down beside sleeping Edward, took a deep breath, and stared into the sweeping Arabic script like always.

The familiar dizziness washed over me, a hot vibration rising from my spine straight into my eyes. I focused every ounce of my reincarnated spirit on Edward's face. I pictured the dark, invisible veil covering his eyes, and with all the strength left in my soul, I projected a silent, powerful command into his mind.

Break the curse! Leave his sight right now!

I stared at his face, waiting for his eyelids to flutter open, waiting for him to gasp and tell me he could see my face again.

Instead of the spell leaving his eyes, a violent, terrifying surge of energy exploded from the book and slammed directly into Edward's body like a physical blow.

His eyes snapped open, completely white and lifeless, and his entire body convulsed. Before I could even scream or reach out to grab him, Alpha Edward fell hard off the edge of the bed onto his face.

BANG!

His forehead hit the hard, tiled floor with a sickening thud that echoed through the quiet room. Blood instantly bloomed across the pale tiles beneath his head. He twitched once, let out a soft, rattling gasp, and then became completely still.

"EDWARD!" I shrieked, dropping the book and dropping to my knees beside him. "Edward, wake up! Please, wake up!"

I rolled his heavy body over, cradling his bloody head in my lap, but his face was completely limp. He wasn't breathing. He didn't have a pulse. He had lost consciousness completely.

"HELP! SOMEONE HELP ME!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, my voice echoing down the stone corridors.

Footsteps thundered outside, and within seconds, the bedroom doors burst open. Maria ran in first, followed closely by two guards and the senior pack doctor.

"What happened?!" Maria gasped, her eyes widening as she saw Edward lying motionless in a pool of blood on the floor, with the open Arabic book resting just inches away.

The doctor rushed forward, dropping his medical bag onto the tiles. He slid two fingers onto Edward's neck, pressing firmly against his artery, while pulling back his eyelid with his other hand. The room fell into a suffocating, dead silence for five agonizing seconds as the doctor checked for any sign of life.

Slowly, the doctor lowered his hands. His face turned ghost-white, and he looked up at Maria and me with wide, terrified eyes.

"He is gone," the doctor declared, his voice trembling violently. "Alpha Edward is dead."