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Elsa's POV

Pain. That's all there was now. Just wave after wave of it tearing through my body like my insides were being ripped apart. I thought I knew what hurt felt like before this, broken bones from my first shift, training fights, losing my parents. But this? This was something else entirely.

I gripped the sweat-soaked sheets, my knuckles white. Another contraction hit and I couldn't stop the scream that tore from my throat. The midwife, Martha, I think her name was, kept wiping my forehead with a cool cloth but it didn't help. Nothing helped.

"How much longer?" I gasped between contractions, my voice barely recognizable.

Martha's face was grim. "You are still only ten percent dilated, Luna. It could be hours yet."

Hours? What the fuck! I wanted to cry. I had already been at this for what felt like forever and my body was giving out. Something was wrong, I could see it in her eyes even though she tried to hide it.

The next contraction nearly knocked me unconscious. I bit down on the pillow so hard I tasted blood, but the scream came anyway. My whole body was shaking, covered in sweat, and I felt like I was drowning.

"I need Riguel," I whispered, surprising myself. "Please, call my husband."

Martha froze. "Luna, you know the traditions. The Alpha cannot see you until after you have given birth."

"I don't give a damn about traditions right now!" The words came out harsh, desperate. "I'm scared, Martha. Something's wrong. I need him here."

She looked conflicted, glancing at the door like someone might burst in and punish us both. But then her face softened and she nodded, pulling out her phone with shaking hands.

My heart pounded as it rang. Once. Twice. Then he answered.

"What?" Riguel's voice was breathless, annoyed. “I am busy right now, call me once she delivers my pups.”

Relief flooded through me just hearing his voice, he must have thought he hung up, but then I heard something else in the background. A woman laughing. Not just any woman, I knew that laugh.

That had to be Mira, my step-sister.

"Don't worry about her," Riguel was saying, and his voice had that low, intimate tone that used to make my heart race. "The Luna is just a breeding vessel anyway. Once she pops out some sons for me, I can get rid of her and make you my Luna instead."

The phone was on speaker. Every word he said echoed in the birthing room.

I felt like I'd been punched in the stomach. Actually punches would have hurt less than this.

Breeding vessel.

Get rid of her.

Make you my Luna.

The room started spinning. I couldn't breathe. Martha cut the call and stared at me with wide, horrified eyes but I couldn't focus on her face properly.

Then another contraction hit, harder than any before, and this time it wasn't just pain, it was pure rage. White-hot fury that burned through every nerve in my body.

I screamed. Not from pain this time, but from anger. From betrayal. From the need to prove that I was more than just a vessel for his precious heirs.

"Luna!" Martha was moving frantically, positioning herself. "The baby's coming!"

I pushed with everything I had, channeling all my heartbreak into this moment. My vision went blurry but I kept going, kept fighting.

Then I heard it, a baby's cry.

My first son.

Martha barely had time to clean him before another contraction hit. I was sobbing now, from pain and exhaustion and the knowledge that my husband, my mate had been planning to throw me away like garbage the whole time.

"Another one's coming!" Martha shouted.

I pushed again, screaming until my throat was raw. Another cry filled the room.

My second son.

"One more, Luna! Just one more!"

I thought I was done, that my body had nothing left to give. But Riguel's words were still echoing in my head, breeding vessels, getting rid of her, and I found strength I didn't know I had.

I pushed one final time, putting every ounce of rage and betrayal behind it. The world went white for a moment.

Then, a third cry.

Triplets. All boys.

Martha was crying as she placed them in my arms one by one. Three perfect sons. Three heirs that would automatically make Riguel the Lycan King.

The irony was cruel. I'd given him exactly what he wanted, the power he craved - and he'd already decided I was disposable.

I held my babies close, their tiny bodies warm against my chest. They were so beautiful, so perfect. I loved them already with a fierce intensity that surprised me.

But underneath that love was something darker. These boys, my sons, were Riguel's ticket to ultimate power. And I'd just handed it to him on a silver platter.

The betrayal cut deeper than any physical pain I'd endured tonight. I'd thought we were partners, mates, a team. But to him I was just a means to an end. A breeding vessel, like he'd said.

I kissed each of my sons' foreheads, tears dripping onto their blankets. Outside, I could already hear the celebration starting. Word had spread fast. The Alpha's sons had been born. Three heirs in one night.

Soon Riguel would come in here, probably still smelling like my step-sister, and he'd take credit for this miracle. He'd play the proud father while planning my downfall.

But he didn't know that I'd heard him. Didn't know that I knew exactly what he thought of me.

As I held my sons close, listening to their soft breathing, I made a silent promise. I wouldn't let him destroy me. Use and dump me.

These boys deserved better than a father who saw people as tools to be used and discarded. And I... I deserved better than a mate who never really loved me at all.

The celebration outside grew louder, but here. Right here it was just me and my sons. The three most precious things in my world.

The three things that had just made my betrayer a king.