Chapter: 003

Olivia's POV

I didn't know how long I had been unconscious. When I opened my eyes, Cyrus was standing outside the cave in the darkness with the healer and Vanessa.

I lunged forward. The silver chains burned sharply at my arms and I hissed through my teeth, but I didn't stop. I grabbed the bars and forced myself to look at him.

"Cyrus. Listen to me. Vanessa and the healer have been working together. I saw them exchange a look in the hospital room. The healer contradicted my doctor. My doctor told me silver is dangerous for my pregnancy, and this healer told you it was safe. Doesn't that seem strange to you?"

He didn't answer.

"And the knife. Vanessa cut herself and put it in my hand. The healer was there. She saw it. Ask her. Ask her what really happened."

"And you're sure this silver isn't going to harm my Luna?" Cyrus asked, turning to the healer as if I hadn't spoken.

The healer nodded.

"It will only delay childbirth. After the third day she will be able to leave the cave."

"Don't leave me here." My voice cracked. "This is a plan. It's all Vanessa's plan, Alpha Cyrus, please!"

"You're still trying to blame Vanessa and pull a stunt?" He shook his head. "In fact, you need this time out. Stay here and think about all that you've done."

He turned to leave.

"Cyrus! Please…Alpha Cyrus. Don't leave me here."

He was already gone. The healer followed after him without a single glance back.

Vanessa stayed, she stood there, staring at me with triumph glinting in her eyes.

"This is pure silver," she said softly. "Do you think you can survive three days in this cave? When I give birth to my pup, you will die with your pup."

I forced myself to stay calm.

"You think this makes you Luna?" I said. "Cyrus will never love you the way he loved me. He's only keeping you close because of Dorian's pup. The moment that child is born, he'll see you for what you are."

Her face changed. The smugness twisted into something uglier.

"You think he loved you?" she hissed. "He never loved you. He pitied you. A rogue wolf with nothing, clinging to him like a stray."

"And yet he married me. He chose me. Not you."

Her hands curled into fists.

"I have always had eyes on Cyrus," she said, her voice rising. "But I ended up with Dorian. And nine months ago, after Dorian died, I discovered I was pregnant. But then you had to go get pregnant too."

She stepped closer to the bars, close enough that I could see the hatred in her eyes.

"That won't stop me. I'll be the Luna of this pack and still have Cyrus as my Alpha. You're nothing. You were always nothing."

There it was.

She had said it out loud in her own words and I had what I needed. Now I just had to survive long enough to use it.

Vanessa turned to leave, satisfied but I wasn't finished.

I couldn't overpower her physically but I still had one thing she didn't know how to control. I reached for my bracelet.

The moment my fingers touched the metal, I felt it. That faint, flickering pulse. The last trace of the power I had locked away five years ago. The wolf I had silenced. The blood I had denied.

I focused on it. I pushed.

The bracelet responded.

The aura surged outward. Golden light filled the cave, and the force of it dragged Vanessa toward the bars. She stumbled, her hand flying out to catch herself, and her palm touched the silver.

She screamed. A sharp, piercing sound that echoed through the darkness.

Cyrus came running back in, his eyes wild with panic. He looked at Vanessa, then at me.

Without a single word, without even asking what happened, he rushed toward me and shoved me backward.

I fell. My body hit the cold stone floor, and a sharp, searing pain shot through my stomach. I cried out, clutching my belly, gasping for breath.

"What is wrong with you?" Cyrus shouted. "When are you going to give up harassing Vanessa like this? She's carrying my brother's pup! She's pregnant! And you keep attacking her!"

My own husband still didn't see that I was pregnant. He had pushed me to this cold floor, and yet he was worried about another woman.

Vanessa was sobbing now, her hand clutching her chest where she had touched the silver. "I'm sorry, Cyrus. I'm so sorry. I just wanted to talk to her. I wanted to make peace. But she attacked me again. I don't know why she hates me so much."

He pulled her into his arms, cradling her like she was something precious. "It's okay. I'm here. You're safe now. I won't let her hurt you again."

I watched them through the blur of my tears, my body trembling with pain and heartbreak.

"She's using you, Cyrus. She's been using you this whole time. She confessed everything to me. She only wants you for power. She doesn't love you."

He turned to me, his eyes cold and hard.

"I've heard enough of your lies. You will remain here. And when Vanessa's pup is born, then I'll decide what to do with you."

He turned away, his arm still wrapped around Vanessa. She looked back at me over her shoulder, her lips moving silently.

Rest in peace, Olivia.

The words sent a chill down my spine.

I watched them walk away. I watched the man I had given up everything for hold another woman in his arms.

I remembered the day I left the palace. My father's voice, heavy with warning, telling me I would regret it. My mother's tears. My brother Cassian standing in the doorway, silent, his jaw tight.

I remembered learning to cook for Cyrus. Burning meals. Cutting my fingers. Crying in frustration because I wanted to be the one to feed him. I wanted to be the one who cared for him.

I remembered sealing my wolf inside my bracelet. Giving up my name. Giving up my power. Becoming no one so that I could be his.

And this was how he repaid me.

By looking down on me. By believing another woman's lies. By locking me in a silver cave to die.

But I would not let my pup die.

Not like this. Not when I had fought so hard to bring him into this world.

I looked at the bracelet on my wrist. The one thing I still had. The one thing Vanessa and Cyrus didn't know how to control.

I pressed my hand against it and closed my eyes.

I reached for the power inside. The wolf I had silenced. The blood I had denied. I pushed against the silver. I tried to break the chains.

For a moment, I felt it respond. A  faint pulse of my Celestial Wolf stirred inside me, reaching back.

Then the silver pushed back.

The chains burned hotter against my skin. My power flickered, dimmed, and scattered like smoke in the wind. I gasped, my whole body trembling as the silver drained what little I had managed to summon.

I wasn't strong enough. I pressed my hand to my belly, fighting to breathe, fighting to hold on. I could feel my pup inside me.He was fighting too, he was holding on.

I had to find another way.

I had to…but then a  sharp, stabbing pain tore through my abdomen.

I cried out, doubling over, clutching my belly. The pain was unbearable. Worse than anything I had ever felt.

I looked down and gasped when I saw blood.

"I'm bleeding!" I screamed, my voice ragged and desperate. "Cyrus! I'm bleeding! Please, I'm bleeding!”