Chapter 4

They bound my feet and hoisted me upside down from the metal suspension rack.

A deafening roar erupted in my head as the pup thrashed violently within my womb, and dark spots danced across my vision. Tears ran down my forehead, lost in the damp, sweat-matted strands of my hair.

“Kaelen, please come back and look at me. Can you truly be this heartless?

“Kaelen, I really can’t hold on anymore. The pup is going to…”

As my consciousness began to fracture, a hallucination of Kaelen appeared before my eyes. He smiled as he walked toward me, gently kissing my brow just as he used to, his voice a soothing whisper.

“I will protect you and our pup from now on. Don’t cry.

“I would cast everything aside for you—even my own life.”

I reached out with a trembling hand, but my fingers grasped nothing but empty air as the darkness threatened to swallow me whole.

Suddenly, a searing bolt of agony from the rope digging into my lower abdomen forcefully yanked my mind back to reality.

A moment later, the maids roughly untied me from the iron frame, letting my back slam heavily onto the floor with a force that felt as if it would shatter my bones. The rope binding my belly cut deep into my flesh, amplifying the excruciating contractions.

The more I curled inward, the tighter the rope dug, as if it were trying to ruthlessly crush my internal organs.

Right then, a tearing, downward pressure ripped through my lower body, and I raised a shaking hand to beckon Martha.

“Quickly... I am really about to give birth…”

Daisy, a maid who had just stepped into the room, suddenly clamped her hands over her mouth and screamed.

“Martha, the pup... the pup is crowning! We need to get her to the hospital right now!”

Martha’s face drained of all color, but she merely paced in frantic circles on the spot.

I stared at her, my body completely paralyzed by exhaustion and pain.

“I beg of you! If we wait any longer, the pup will be gone!”

Suddenly, she raised her hand, her eyes hardening into cold steel.

“Fetch a bone needle. Sew her shut first.”

“No!” Daisy threw herself over the edge of the bed, spreading her arms to shield me.

“The Luna and the pup will lose their lives! If you want to do this, you’ll have to step over my corpse first!”

“Do you dare defy the Alpha’s direct commands?” Martha barked sharply.

“But look at all the blood!” Daisy cried out, her voice breaking into heavy sobs. “Martha, how can you be so utterly ruthless?”

“If we cross the Alpha and Miss Natalie, none of our lives will be spared!

“Bind her up! Don’t let her interfere!”

Two maids rushed forward, violently dragging Daisy toward the iron suspension rack.

They slapped heavy tape over her mouth as her eyes turned bloodshot from her frantic struggles to break free. In the chaos, the heavy iron rack was knocked over, crashing down with a sickening thud directly onto her back.

She curled onto the floor, her body convulsing violently before she lay completely still.

Enduring the agonizing, tearing pain below, my eyes burned red as I whimpered around the room.

“Save her... she is innocent…”

In the next instant, thick tape was slapped over my mouth, sealing my desperate pleas away.

Armed with the needle and thick thread, Martha callously lifted the hem of my dress, driving the long needle straight through the delicate flesh of my lower body.

An excruciating shockwave of pain instantly paralyzed my entire body, feeling as though a jagged blade were slicing me open alive.

I shook my head weakly, tears mingling with cold sweat as I shivered violently, growing cold from the severe blood loss.

Deep inside my womb, the rhythmic heartbeat of my pup was growing fainter and fainter.

The maids pinned my hands and feet down like iron weights, leaving me completely unable to flinch.

“Luna,” Martha murmured, her face a completely blank mask as the needle continued to pierce through me.

“Forgoing any numbing agents is for your own good. Delivering a pup is far more painful than this. Consider this an adjustment period. We will take you to the hospital the moment the Alpha returns.”

My strength faded entirely, leaving me utterly defenseless as my breathing grew shallow and weak.

Just then, the bedroom door was violently kicked open.

“What do you think you are doing? Stop this instant!”