Chapter 7: The Longest Winter Night

Ella’s POV

My baby is getting bigger.

The guards bring food twice a day. Most of it tastes stale and cold, but I force myself to eat every bite anyway. Sometimes my stomach revolts and I end up throwing everything back up into the corner of the cell, yet I still eat again the next time they return.

I can’t let my baby starve because of me.

The guards stationed outside my room never remove their masks. I only know they are werewolves because of their scent. Sometimes there are three guards outside. Sometimes five. Sometimes even more.

I still can’t understand how Vera managed to gather this many people under her command.

Just how much influence does she have?

Sometimes, when the nights grow too quiet, I close my eyes and try reaching for my wolf again.

Nyra.

Please… answer me. I need you.

I whisper her name over and over inside my head while curling against the wall with my arms wrapped around my stomach.

But she never answers.

Not once.

Months drag on without even the faintest response from her.

Has my wolf abandoned me too?

Is this the curse of being weak? Watching everyone around me either die or forsake me?

Maybe even Nyra no longer wants me.

“Here’s your dinner. Enjoy,” one of the guards kicks the tray into the floor, snickering to himself as some of the disgusting contents spill out.

I glare at him.

If not for the chain around my ankle, I would have scratched his face and his buddies too.

As I forcefully scarf down the barely edible food, I remember the many times I have attempted escaping before…

Once, I pretend to faint so one of the guards would step closer enough for me to steal the keys hanging from his belt. Another time, I smash a plate against the wall and hide a shard beneath the cot so I can use it as a weapon against the guards.

But all of my attempt fails. Every single one.

After enough failures, hopelessness settles inside me like rot beneath skin.

I still don’t understand why Vera keeps me alive.

If she hates me this much, why not just kill me?

Why waste resources hiding an Omega nobody would even bother searching for anymore?

The strangest part is that during all the months I’m trapped in this place, Vera never visits me again.

The only source of news I get comes from overheard conversations outside the door whenever the guards get careless enough to speak near my cell.

As time passes, the air inside the room grows colder.

The stone walls trap the cold until it creeps into my bones and settles there. Some nights I wake up shivering so badly my teeth hurt from clenching together. The only thing they gave me to sleep on is an old cot with a thin blanket that barely blocks the freezing air.

Winter must have arrived already. I could only assume. This cell is too dark and the only window is the small slit way up the wall that I can't reach.

Every day is hell for me.

Still, every night before I sleep, I cradle my stomach and remind myself of the same thing.

Survive. Even if nobody comes for me.

Even if the entire world forgets me. I have to survive for this baby.

One evening, I sit on the floor while forcing down another tasteless dinner when voices drift through the other side of the door.

“Did you hear? The Alpha’s wedding is tomorrow.”

The spoon stops halfway through my mouth as I listen.

“Of course I heard. The whole pack’s celebrating it.”

“Heh. Vera really did it, eh? She’s finally going to be the Luna of the Bloodmoon pack.”

A sharp ache spreads through my chest.

Alden…

He’s really marrying Vera.

The guards continue talking while laughter echoes outside my cell.

“I heard the ceremony’s going to happen at the Grand Hall.”

“The Alpha must really love her if he’s throwing a celebration that huge.”

That night, I cry myself to sleep while holding my swollen stomach close.

The cold feels unbearable.

So does my heart.

**

I find myself standing in the middle of a forest.

Snow covers the ground beneath my feet while silver moonlight spills between towering trees. A freezing wind brushes past me and somewhere in the distance, I hear the sound of water flowing.

I look around until my eyes catch a sight of something magnificent.

A massive white wolf stands atop a rock ahead of me.

Her fur glows beneath the moonlight like fresh snow and her pale eyes lock onto mine with an emotion that almost makes my knees give out.

“Ella…”

My mouth parts in shock.

That voice.

“Nyra?” I whisper.

Ella…

The white wolf calls to me again. I can't be mistaken, it is really Nyra’s voice!

Does that mean this wolf… is this Nyra?!

I choke on my breath in disbelief.

For the first time in my life, I am finally seeing my wolf’s true form!

Tears sting my eyes almost instantly as I stumble toward her.

“Nyra!” My voice breaks. “Why haven’t you answered me? I kept calling for you! I thought you abandoned me!”

The white wolf lowers her head slightly.

“I’ve been trying to reach you.”

I stop walking.

“What?”

“Something is interfering with our connection.”

Confusion crashes through me.

“What are you talking about?”

Nyra’s form flickers faintly beneath the moonlight.

“I don’t know what it is yet. Every time I try to reach you, something keeps forcing me back.”

Fear curls inside my chest.

“Then what do we do?”

“I’ll find my way back to you.”

I quickly move toward her again.

“Nyra, wait!”

“You have to survive until then, Ella.”

The wind suddenly howls through the forest and Nyra’s figure begins fading like smoke.

“No!” Panic surges through me as I break into a run. “Don’t leave me again!”

“I’ll come back to you…”

I reach toward her just as the world around me shatters apart.

My eyes snap open.

I sit upright on the cot while gasping for air.

The dark cell greets me once again.

“Nyra?” I whisper shakily inside my head. “Nyra!”

No one responds.

My chest tightens painfully as I lower my gaze toward my trembling hands.

Was that really her I saw in my dream?

**

Several more days pass before the metal door finally creaks open one night.

At first, I think it’s just another guard bringing dinner.

Then Vera steps inside.

She wrinkles her nose while looking me over.

“Wow,” she says with a laugh. “You somehow look even worse than the last time I saw you.”

I slowly clench my fists while fighting down the urge to throw myself at her.

“So what now?” I ask while stroking my stomach protectively. “Did you finally come here to kill me?”

Vera bursts into laughter.

“Oh no.” She lifts her hand toward me. “I only came to show you this.”

My breathing stops. A ring glints brightly on her finger.

It's unmistakably a wedding ring.

My chest caves inward.

So, it's true. She really married him.

Vera smiles as realization spreads across my face.

“That’s right,” she says proudly. “I’m officially the Luna of the Bloodmoon Pack now. Honestly, the wedding was perfect.” Her lips curl higher. “The honeymoon after that was even better.”

Tears begin burning my eyes but I force myself to glare at her anyway.

“Why are you telling me this?”

Vera tilts her head slightly.

“I already told you before. I’m going to take everything that belongs to me.” She slowly looks around the filthy room. “Watching you rot in here while I get everything I want is the best part of all this.”

Hatred burns through me so violently it almost chokes me.

Vera blows me a mocking kiss before stepping back toward the door.

“That’s all. I should head back now.” She grins. “My husband’s probably already looking for me. You know how newlyweds are. We just can’t get enough of each other.”

Then she leaves. The metal door slams shut behind her and darkness swallows the room once more.

I don’t touch the dinner left near the cot that night.

I just curl into myself while tears slide endlessly down my face.

Sleep eventually comes anyway, but it only makes everything worse.

Because all night long, images of Alden kissing Vera keep replaying inside my head like the cruelest form of torture imaginable.

**

Weeks pass after Vera’s visit, although I can barely tell anymore.

Sometimes I wake up thinking only a single night has gone by, only to realize the food beside the wall has already spoiled from being left untouched too long. Other times, I sleep and wake so many times in between that the days blur together until nothing feels real anymore.

Pain and sorrow hollow me out little by little until all that remains inside me is exhaustion.

I grow weaker with each passing day.

Some mornings, I cannot even lift myself from the cot right away. My body feels heavy while my stomach aches constantly beneath my trembling hands. Even eating becomes difficult. There are times when I stare at the food for hours because I do not have enough strength to reach for it.

One day, the cold becomes unbearable.

My entire body shakes violently while I curl against the old cot, but the thin blanket does nothing to keep the freezing air away anymore. My fingers feel stiff. My lips tremble nonstop.

I can’t stop shivering.

After what feels like forever, I force myself off the cot and crawl toward the cell door. Every movement drains what little strength I still have left.

“P-Please…” My voice cracks weakly as I grip the bars. “Please give me another blanket…”

The guards outside burst into laughter.

“You think this is a hotel?” one of them mocks before kicking the metal bars hard enough to rattle the entire door.

The sound startles me so badly I nearly collapse backward.

“Be grateful you’re even alive, traitor.”

Their laughter echoes outside while I remain curled near the bars with my arms wrapped around myself.

The cold keeps getting worse.

My fingers eventually grow so numb they no longer feel attached to me.

After that, everything becomes a blur again.

I drift in and out of consciousness while lying against the floor. Sometimes I hear footsteps outside the room. Sometimes voices. Sometimes nothing at all.

Then one night…

Or maybe morning.

I’m not sure anymore.

Pain suddenly tears through my stomach hard enough to rip a scream from my throat.

“Aahh…!”

My eyes snap open.

For one horrifying moment, I genuinely think something inside me is splitting apart.

I curl around my stomach while whimpering in agony. Sweat sticks against my skin despite the freezing cold surrounding me.

Then I feel something wet trickling down my thighs.

Did I… pee?

Confused, I shakily touch the wetness beneath me.

My breath catches.

Even in the darkness, I recognize the thick scent immediately.

Blood.

“No…” Panic crashes through me instantly. “N-No…”

My baby.

Something’s wrong with my baby!

Fear jolts enough strength back into my body that I drag myself toward the door and begin pounding weakly against the metal bars.

“H-Help…!” I cry out desperately. “Please help me!”

The guards curse outside.

“What the hell do you want now?”

One of them stomps toward the cell before roughly unlocking the door. Light floods into the room as it creaks open.

Then the guard suddenly freezes.

“Shit!”

The others rush over immediately.

I can barely keep my eyes open anymore but I still hear their panicked voices around me.

“Is she giving birth?!”

“What? Isn’t it too early for that?”

“I heard she’s only around seven months pregnant!”

“Looks like a premature birth. Call Vera!”

Another wave of pain tears through me and I scream so hard my throat burns.

Everything starts fading after that.

Voices echo around me while hands grab my body and drag me somewhere. My vision blurs too badly to make out faces. The ceiling above me swims in and out of focus while my stomach twists in agony over and over again.

“Hurry up and take the baby out!” I hear Vera’s voice somewhere nearby.

I try to move. I try to speak. But my body no longer listens to me anymore.

More panicked voices rise around me.

“She’s losing too much blood!”

“The child’s heartbeat is weakening!”

“Move!”

Something sharp burns through my body before the pain slowly begins fading into numbness. My eyelids grow heavier while the voices around me start sounding farther away.

Then somewhere in the middle of the chaos, I hear the sharp cry of a baby. Relief washes over me so suddenly that tears sting my eyes before exhaustion finally pulls me completely into darkness.