CHAPTER ONE

Silva’s POV

I had never seen so much blood before.

It was pouring between my legs like a river that had finally broken free from its dam, soaking the furs laid beneath my trembling body.

I could barely breathe or think, all I could focus on was the pain as I clutched the sides of the birthing cot, my knuckles turning white as the sharp copper scent filled the room like a scream no one else seemed to hear.

I gasped, clutching my swollen belly as another contraction ripped through me.

The pain was much, much worse than anything I had imagined childbirth to be. My nails clawed the floor, searching for anything that would just help anchor me.

"Liam..." I whispered, voice shaking.

"Please... I can't… I'm bleeding too much, please sign the papers. Let them do the C-section… ahhh….”

Across the room, my mate was watching calmly. There was no trace of panic or worry on his face, instead, he was laughing. His eyes sparkled with a madness I hadn’t seen before, his lips curled into a smile that chilled me to the bone.

"C-sections are for the weak, Silva!”

He said smoothly. "You know that. A child born by the blade is a child cursed, and I won’t have a cursed heir in my bloodline.”

I was sobbing now, as another wave of agony crashed over me and I couldn't decide if the physical pain was worse or the emotional anguish.

The doctor, pale and trembling, looked from me to Liam.

“Alpha, with all due respect—"

"Shut up!” Liam snapped. "You’re here to assist the birth, so don't you dare try to dictate me. She has failed to bear me an heir for three years. If she fails now... she will no longer be fit to be the Luna, and I'll banish her from the pack."

I sobbed, helpless and shaking.

“Liam, no! Please, I’m trying—”

“Try harder,” he barked.

“She’s bleeding out!” the midwife cried.

“Alpha, have mercy. If she keeps pushing, there’s a high risk of nerve damage. She may lose her ability to walk—”

“Then she can crawl like a fucking dog!”

Liam snapped, running a hand through his hair.

“She doesn’t need to walk, she just needs to give me my heir.”

My vision blurred as another contraction twisted my insides into knots. I tried to focus on something else, but nothing helped.

My limbs were becoming colder with every second.

My throat was hoarse, but I screamed again as another contraction ripped through me. My body gave in before I could make a choice.

The pain was unbearable, but I pushed until the sharp, high-pitched wail of a newborn pierced the heavy air.

A boy… my boy!

Tears spilled down my cheeks, not from pain but from relief. I had done it. My son was here, and he was alive.

“Let me see him,” I rasped, trying to lift my head. “Please... let me hold my baby.”

But before I could even glimpse his face, Liam yanked him from the midwife’s arms.

“Liam?”

I tried to sit up. “Please, let me hold him.”

He ignored me for the first few moments. And when he turned his face toward me at last, there was no warmth in his eyes.

“You have done your part.”

“Wha- what? No!” I cried, reaching out, but my body refused to co-operate and my arms collapsed beside me.

At that moment, the door creaked open, and Emilia entered.

I blinked through the sweat and tears clouding my eyes to see Emilia, my step-sister, walking into the room. Was she here to see me and the baby? But why! She had never cared to honour our relationship before now…

Her long hair was braided over one shoulder, and what surprised me more than her presence was the fact that her belly was round and swollen, like she was heavily pregnant.

What the hell? She wasn't even mated–

Before I could think, Liam walked straight to her and placed our newborn in her arms.

“Perfect, isn't he?” He murmured. “Our baby is going to be so healthy now.”

Our baby?

I froze.

Emilia smiled down at the newborn, cradling him against her breast, and my stomach turned.

“Why is she here?” I demanded. “Why does she have my son? He’s mine!”

I watched, helpless and broken, as Liam leaned forward and kissed Emilia on the lips, deeply and possessively, right in front of me.

My heart was being stabbed by blades.

“No...” I whispered. “Liam, what–”

"Don’t act so surprised," he said casually, turning back toward me. “

“I told you already, your purpose has been served. That child was yours, but not anymore.”

“No, give him back, please! I haven’t even held him yet! My son, give me my son–”

Liam turned to the midwife instead, ignoring me completely. “Take the placenta, Emilia will need it for the tonic. And make sure to preserve the heart, we'll be needing it soon.”

“What—what are you saying?” My voice cracked, but there was no one to answer my questions.

I tried to get up, panic burning through my veins, but my legs gave out. I collapsed to the cold floor with a cry. I could feel nothing below my hips. The warning from the midwife echoed in my skull: she might never walk again.

“Ahh!! Help me… help me, Liam! I'm your Luna, your mate! What the hell are you doing… is this a joke…?”

My voice was close to tears now, but Emilia simply sat down on the edge of the bed, cooing at my baby. Liam knelt beside her, brushing her hair back like a doting lover.

"You won't shut up, will you! You were only a means to the end, Silva Coldberg. Emilia and I have been preparing for a long time, but her body is weak and frail. The doctor told us her child wouldn’t survive unless we could arrange a special tonic, made from the fresh placenta of a blood relative.”

“How dare you–”

“Shut your trap, you ungrateful bitch. Emilia and her baby is the only reason youstill around! If you can't be thankful, at least be quiet.”

I shook my head violently, disbelief crashing into rage. “You’re insane. That’s my son! You can’t—you can’t!”

But Liam just tilted his head, smirking coldly.

“You think I care about your opinion?”

I screamed as I dragged myself across the blood-slick floor, crawling despite the numbness in my legs. My fingernails scraped the stone, my arms trembling from the effort.

“Give him back!” I shrieked. “He’s not a damn cure, he’s a child! My child! If you don't want him, just give him to me, I'll take him with me and go far, far away from here! For God's sake, what madness is this!!”

But no one listened. Emilia was now looking down at the baby like a hungry wolf, while the midwife numbly obeyed Liam’s commands. Who would save my child now when Liam, his own father, was grinning like the devil?

“Finish it,” he barked. “We need his heart for Emilia’s baby to survive once he's born.”

“No!” I howled. “Please!”

I reached the foot of the bed, my arms buckling under me as my vision swam. I saw the glint of silver: a blade.

I looked at the midwife’s trembling hands, seconds before the blade whizzed through the air, and my baby stopped crying.

Forever.

“No…” I whispered, shaking, broken, my body collapsing completely.

Liam stood over me.

“You served your role, Silva. Now it's better for you to accept your fate and die.”

Emilia giggled softly.

“That's right! Sorry, sister. But your baby had to die so that my son could live and rule.”

My mind couldn’t keep up. I wanted to scream, to destroy everything in the room, to bring him back, but I was barely conscious.

"You're lying," I mumbled, tears mixing with blood on my face.

"This... this is madness..."

"Call it what you want, I couldn't care less.”

Liam said, wiping his hands with a cloth.

Darkness crept in around the edges of my vision, but I forced my eyes open, staring at the cradle where they laid my child, with his chest carved open.

My son never even had a name.