Chapter 4

Another contraction, a savage, bone-gnawing pain, ripped through me, and I could hardly breathe.

They forced me down onto the cold stone altar.

The Binding Stone, reeking of evil, was pressed hard against my lower abdomen, sending a piercing chill through my body.

Martha began to chant the ancient, venomous spell, her voice a low drone from the depths of hell.

I felt a cold power invading my body, like a thousand vipers slithering through my veins.

My birth canal felt as if it were being sealed shut by an invisible magical lock.

My pup's head had already crowned, but now it was trapped, unable to enter the world.

The evil force, intertwined with the pain of the mate bond, threatened to tear me apart.

"Kael, please, come back and save us. Are you really going to let our pup die under a curse?"

"Kael, I'm begging you..."

On the edge of consciousness, I thought I saw Kael walking toward me, smiling, his eyes full of the same tenderness they once held.

"Elara, I swear I will protect you both for the rest of my life, my Luna."

"Elara, I would go to war with the world for you, even if it cost me my life."

I reached out a trembling hand, trying to touch his face, but the phantom was always just out of reach.

The evil energy of the Binding Stone violently yanked me back to brutal reality.

How pathetic. He had brought me to this, and yet he was still all I could think about.

The black magic had completely sealed my birth canal. My body convulsed in agony.

Every contraction was a battle against the dark power, the gut-wrenching pain nearly making me pass out.

The more I struggled, the stronger the dark aura of the Binding Stone became, as if it meant to drag both me and my pup into the abyss.

The tearing sensation between my legs was unbearable.

I finally broke. I looked weakly at Martha. "Please... stop this damned magic... my pup is innocent..."

"Stop! I'm begging you, stop!" Lily, the young Omega maid, suddenly burst into the room.

Her eyes were filled with tears as she tried desperately to push Martha away.

"The Luna is dying! Can't you see?!"

Martha's face was grim. She continued chanting the wicked spell, her eyes devoid of pity.

"Continue the incantation. It's the Alpha's command. This ritual is to make the Luna understand her place."

"No!" Lily, ignoring her own lowly Omega status, threw herself in front of the altar, shielding me with her body.

"The Luna and the Alpha's heir will die! This is a dark art cursed by the Moon Goddess!"

A murderous glint flashed in Martha's eyes.

The black magic's backlash had already begun to corrupt her. "A low-ranking Omega like you dares to question the Alpha's will?"

"But the Luna is bleeding! The pup is suffocating!" Lily cried. "The Moon Goddess will send down her wrath!"

"The Alpha will never forgive this! Do you want us all to be exiled as rogues?"

"Seize this meddling Omega! Don't let her interfere with the sacred bloodline purification!"

Two high-ranking pack members lunged forward, using their superior strength to overpower the slender Lily.

They sealed her mouth with a strip of rawhide.

Her bloodshot eyes bulged as she struggled, letting out desperate, muffled sobs.

A heavy ritual mallet was lifted high and brought down hard on Lily's small frame.

She curled up on the floor, her body spasming. She soon lost consciousness, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth.

Enduring the feeling of my abdomen being torn apart by the evil magic, I let out a furious, red-eyed roar.

"Let her go! You monsters, corrupted by black magic!"

But in the next second, I found I could no longer make a sound.

The power of the blood ritual was fully unleashed.

The Binding Stone's vile energy spread through every inch of my body.

I felt my wolf being ripped apart.

"Luna, I suggest you save your strength."

"Miss Chole said this is an ancient bloodline purification ritual. It will ensure your pup becomes the purest of Alphas."

Martha was emotionless, the Binding Stone in her hand still pressing deeper into my womb.

"We are not using anesthetic, to maintain the sanctity of the ritual. The pain of childbirth will purify the pride in your heart. Just endure it, and wait for the Alpha to return and inspect the results."

I felt my soul being consumed by darkness.

The life-link to my pup was slowly breaking.

My baby, your mother might not make it. In the next life, I pray you find a father who loves you.

Just as my consciousness was about to be swallowed by an endless darkness, the door was blasted from its hinges by an immense wave of Alpha power.

As the door shattered inward, a voice roared with Alpha authority and raw fury, "What are you doing? Stop!"