CHAPTER 3: FIRST DANGER

Stone edges slammed into my ribs, my knees, the back of my skull.

The world spun in a dizzying blur of torchlight and cold mortar. I tried to curl inward, locking my arms around my lower belly, but gravity dragged me down the flight.

Every impact sent a blinding spike of white heat through my spine.

I slammed onto the flagstones at the bottom landing, the air exploding from my lungs in a choked gasp.

High above me, heavy boots thundered down the hallway.

"Elira!" Kael's voice roared down the stairwell.

A sharp, tearing sensation ripped across my abdomen. Cold sweat broke out across my face as I tried to roll onto my side.

Blood — warm, thick, and dark — was already soaking through the linen of my dress.

“The baby.”

"Help!" Vera's voice rose in a high, hysterical sob from the landing five steps above me. "Kael, please! She pushed me! She said Ethan's child didn't deserve to live!"

Kael rounded the corner at a full sprint.

He didn't look at the bottom of the landing where I lay broken. He lunged straight for Vera, dropping to his knees, his massive hands hovering over her shoulders in terror.

"Vera. Don't move." His voice was laced with panic. "Where are you bleeding?"

"My stomach... Kael, my stomach." Vera wept, clutching his tunic. "She came at me out of nowhere!"

Kael's head snapped down toward me.

The storm-grey eyes that had once looked at me with quiet fondness were completely gone, replaced by the lethal rage of an Alpha defending his territory.

"Kael..." My voice was a raspy thread. Blood pooled beneath my hip. "Kael... I didn't... please... Dr. Hana..."

Kael leapt down the remaining steps, dropping to one knee beside me.

The moment his fingers brushed my shoulder, the mate bond exploded between us like ignited oil. A wave of intense, involuntary electricity surged through my veins.

His scent — cedar, rain, raw Alpha authority — flooded my senses, creating a cruel, agonizing pull that made every cell in my battered body ache to lean into his chest for protection.

For a fraction of a second, as his eyes locked onto my pale face, Kael hesitated.

His hand tightened over my wrist, the instinctual pull of our bond making his breathing hitch as he felt my soul thrashing in agony beneath his palm.

"Elira..." he breathed, his wolf surging to the surface, recognizing his mate's distress.

"Kael! The baby — it's too early!" Vera let out a choked, agonized scream from the steps above, clutching her stomach.

The pull between us snapped like a brittle thread.

Kael's face hardened into cold stone as duty overrode the bond.

"Shut up, Elira!" Kael roared, unleashing the full weight of his Alpha aura to suppress my protests.

The command slammed into my mind like an iron bar, locking my jaw shut, stifling the sob in my throat. "Look at what you've done. She is carrying Ethan's legacy."

He pulled his hand back, severing the physical contact. The withdrawal left a hollow, burning void in my chest that hurt worse than my cracked ribs.

He stood, turning his back on me completely, and scooped Vera into his arms.

"Guards! Get Dr. Hana to the Alpha suite, now!" Kael shouted, sprinting up the stairs with Vera in his arms. "If anything happens to this child, I will hold everyone in this keep accountable!"

The guards scrambled after him.

None of them looked back.

Beside the torch on the upper landing, Elder Thomas stepped into the dim light. He didn't rush to help either of us.

The old wolf stood clutching his carved oak staff, his sharp eyes lingering on the puddle of blood forming beneath my dress. A cold, satisfied smirk touched his lips before he turned and followed Kael up the stairs.

Silence settled over the dark stairwell, broken only by the steady drip, drip, drip of rain.

I lay alone on the cold stone.

Slowly, agonizingly, I dragged my hand down between my legs. When I pulled my fingers back, they were slick with deep crimson.

A ragged, silent sob tore through my throat. I dug my nails into the grout between the flagstones, dragging my shattered body forward inch by inch toward the lower corridor.

It took me twenty minutes to crawl through the dark hallway leading to the back doors of the infirmary.

When I finally reached the physician's door, I dragged myself up using the iron latch and slammed my palm against the oak wood.

"Hana..." I gasped, my forehead resting against the frame. "Hana, please..."

The door swung open. Dr. Hana took one look at my blood-soaked dress and caught me before my knees buckled. She pulled me inside, barring the door, and half-carried me to the central examination table.

"The baby..." I choked out, tears burning down my cheeks. "Hana, save the baby..."

Hana's hands worked quickly, pressing her warm palms over my lower abdomen, channeling her diagnostic aura into my body.

After three agonizing seconds, her hands began to tremble. She opened her eyes, and the profound pity in her expression delivered the final blow.

"Oh, child..." Hana whispered, her voice cracking. "There's no heartbeat. The fall — the trauma fractured the sac. The child is gone."

The room seemed to tilt on its axis.

“Gone.”

Before I could speak, sharp, frantic knocking rattled the infirmary's main entrance.

"Dr. Hana!" a guard shouted through the door. "By order of Alpha Kael! Report to the Alpha suite immediately! Lady Vera has gone into early labor!"

Hana froze, looking from the door back to my blood-soaked body on the table.

"Did you hear me, Doctor?" the guard yelled. "The Alpha says if you are not in Lady Vera's room in two minutes, he will have you executed for treason!"

Hana swallowed hard, her face torn with guilt. "Elira... I can't leave you like this —"

"Go," I whispered.

My voice didn't sound like mine anymore. Flat. Lifeless. Stripped of every shred of warmth.

"Elira..."

"Go to her, Hana," I said, my silver-grey eyes staring blankly at the stone rafters. "Go see the Luna's miracle."