Chapter 8: The Price of His Choice

“Does being pregnant mean she can’t get wet?” Atlas sneered. “It’s because I’ve protected her so much that she thinks she can defy my orders.”

He draped his coat over Mara’s shoulders.

“We’re going inside. If she gives a damn about her own pup, she’ll find that token.”

Watching Atlas shield Mara as they walked away, Elena laughed, but her tears fell into the freezing pool.

She remembered the day she’d found out she was pregnant.

Atlas had held her, his eyes red with emotion.

“We’re finally having a pup. You won’t leave me again. I swear, I will never let you or our child suffer even the slightest harm.”

Now, because of one lie from Mara, he had struck his pregnant mate and thrown her into the water.

Then ordered her to search for something that was never there.

The guards stood on the bank, anxiously checking the time.

The senior guard had already sent someone to contact the elder on duty, requesting the order be revoked.

But with the naming ceremony the next day, all the elders were in the banquet hall preparing. No calls or pack links were getting through.

“Luna, please, find it quickly. You’re in your final month. You could go into labor at any moment.”

Even these men, who were too afraid to risk their standing, knew the danger she was in.

Atlas didn’t care.

Elena didn’t answer. She gritted her teeth, dove under the surface, and swept her hands along the pool’s bottom, again and again.

The sun set, and the night deepened. The water grew colder.

She didn’t find the token.

Her heavy abdomen dragged at her, each dive consuming what little strength she had left.

A werewolf’s recovery was faster than a human’s, but pregnancy had already pushed her body to its absolute limit. The long hours in the cold, starved of oxygen, quickly erased that advantage.

The guards on the bank grew more agitated.

“It’s been four hours. If this goes on, she’s going to lose consciousness.”

Elena’s hands were bleached white from the prolonged immersion.

Just as she felt herself about to collapse, the baby inside her began to kick violently.

At first, it was a rapid, frantic warning. Then it became waves of deep, sinking pain. A cold sweat broke out across her skin as a warm liquid flowed from between her legs, clouding the water around her.

One of the guards shouted, “That’s blood! Get the Luna out of there! Contact the Alpha now!”

The call connected quickly, but it was Mara’s voice on the other end.

“The Alpha is with the baby. He’s busy. He was very clear. If Elena doesn’t find the naming token, she’s not to come out.”

The call ended.

The guards looked at Elena, who could no longer stand, and finally chose to disobey.

“Get her to the hospital. If we keep following this illegal order, she and the pup will die.”

They lifted Elena from the water and rushed out of the pack house.

She glanced back at the lit window on the top floor.

Atlas was probably with Mara and their son, preparing for tomorrow’s naming ceremony.

As for her and her own child, they might not live to see the dawn.

By the time they reached the pack hospital, it was past midnight.

Elena’s abdomen was wracked with violent contractions, and her vision kept fading to black.

The doctor smelled the blood and immediately rushed her into a delivery room.

“The mother is hemorrhaging, and the fetal heartbeat is unstable. She’s going into premature labor.”

Elena grabbed the doctor’s sleeve.

“Save my baby.”

“We’ll do everything we can.”

“Where is the pup’s father?” the doctor called toward the door.

“If she loses consciousness during surgery, we need a relative or pack guardian to witness and consent to emergency treatment.”

The guards kept calling Atlas.

Once. Twice. Five times.

No one answered.

Finally, the call was declined.

The guard’s face was grim. “The Alpha is… unavailable right now.”

The doctor looked at him in disbelief.

“The Luna and her pup could both die. What could possibly be more important? We can’t delay any longer. You’ll stay and sign the guards’ testimony. I’m starting the surgery now.”