Chapter 1My water broke.
The pack healer rushed me to the birthing den.
But my Alpha mate Derek wouldn't let them take me in. Not even when I was already fully dilated.
I was sobbing so hard I could barely speak.
"Please - just let me push. The pup will die if we wait any longer!"
He just smiled and stroked my hair. Calm. Certain. Like my screams didn't reach him at all.
"Just a little longer, Stella. If the pup is born after midnight, he'll be an Aries. That's the only sign that can break Nellie's curse."
"We can't let that curse fall on Nellie. She's too fragile for that."
I opened my mouth to argue, but my body made the choice for me.
The pup was already crowning.
Derek's face hardened.
He pressed both hands against the pup's head.
And forced it back in.
The pain swallowed me whole.
Somewhere in the dark before I blacked out, something inside me went silent.
The kind of silence that never lifts.
Seven years of loving him in silence.
Three years as his mate and his Luna.
And it had all been a lie I told myself.
...
The pack healer beside me couldn't stand by any longer.
"If this goes on, we won't just lose the pup - we'll lose the mother too."
Derek's brow furrowed at that.
The pup kicked again. Sharp. Frantic.
I looked up at him.
"Derek, the pup can't wait until midnight. This is your pup too."
"How could you risk our pup's life over something Nellie said?"
I tried to say more, but he cut me off.
"Nellie wouldn't say that for no reason. Just hold on until midnight."
"Think about it - the pup's been in there for nine months. What's a few more hours?"
"Besides, the whole healing team is right here. Nothing's going to happen to you or the pup."
He said it so casually, as though the healer's warning hadn't registered at all.
Back when I first found out I was pregnant, the slightest sign of discomfort used to send him into a panic.
He'd corner every healer in the pack, desperate to know what to watch for.
He used to keep a running list on his phone of every potential risk, terrified of missing a single one.
He hadn't been that wolf since Nellie returned.
The day after my maternity shoot, he spent the whole afternoon taking mating-style portraits with her.
Just because she'd said she envied me.
When I went in for my glucose test, the healer said I shouldn't be alone.
But one call from Nellie, and Derek walked right out on me.
She had scraped her knee.
He told me Nellie had left the territory years ago, furious after his mother forced them apart.
She'd mated someone else just to force Derek to move on.
But that mating had been nothing but misery. She returned broken and divorced after years of abuse.
Derek took every piece of that wreckage and blamed himself for all of it.
Somewhere along the way, he decided he owed her everything.
I knew it was an excuse.
And I let myself believe it anyway.
I had told myself, foolishly, that once the pup came, some part of him might find its way back to me.
But here we were - and he was willing to bet our pup's life on one offhand whim from Nellie.
The thought sat in my chest like a stone.
The pup kicked again inside me. Harder and harder. Again and again.
I swallowed what was left of my grief and looked up at him.
"Derek, the pup is going to die."
"Just let me deliver. I'll take the pup and leave. You'll never have to see either of us again."
"Please! I'm begging you."
Chapter 2
Derek started to say something.
But Nellie appeared at my side, looking hurt as she turned to him.
"Derek, I didn't come back to destroy what you have with Stella. Let her deliver the pup. Those astrologers aren't always right, you know."
"And if something does happen, let the curse fall on me. I don't care what happens to me."
Derek pulled her into his arms. Oblivious to everyone else in the room.
"Don't talk like that. I promised I'd take care of you."
I watched them, my eyes burning.
A sharp, tearing pain ripped through my belly.
My wolf clawed at my insides, snarling to get out.
The pack healer rushed over to examine me. His expression turned grim at once.
"We can't wait any longer! Her fluid is dangerously low - the pup's losing oxygen!"
"Get her to the birthing den now!"
Derek shot them a cold look.
The pack enforcers stepped forward and blocked the doorway.
The healers exchanged uncertain glances.
Then one of them finally found the courage to speak.
"Alpha Winters, we can't wait. The pup is dying."
"We can still save him if we act now!"
One of the enforcers cut in.
"You can walk away if you want, but you're finished in this territory. No other pack will take you after this."
The healers heard the threat and froze.
They exchanged helpless glances, then turned to me - their expressions filled with quiet apology.
I forced myself upright.
Dropped to my knees in front of Derek.
"Please." My voice cracked. "Save my pup."
That caught him off guard.
For a split second, something like panic flashed across his face.
His wolf flickered behind his eyes - uncertain.
Nellie noticed.
She spoke up quickly.
"Let Stella deliver the pup. We'll just keep our distance after this. That way our paths won't cross."
Derek came over and helped me onto the edge of the bed.
He laid a hand on my belly and patted it gently - the way he used to whenever he talked to the pup.
"Be good for Daddy. Just stay with Mommy a little longer, okay?"
"Wait while my son dies?"
I shoved him away.
Grabbed the water glass from the bedside table.
Hurled it at him.
Nellie screamed and threw herself in front of him.
"Derek, watch out!"
The glass clipped her cheek. Left a streak of blood.
Nellie pressed a hand to her face and folded into Derek's arms.
"Derek... it hurts."
Derek held her steady.
Then turned to me with eyes like ice.
"Are you out of your mind?"
I sagged against the bed, feeling the pup thrash inside me.
Each movement felt weaker than the last. Like he was spending the last of his strength begging me to save him.
"I'm crazy?" My voice came out raw. "Derek, he's going to die if we don't do this now!"
His eyes were fixed on Nellie's injured face.
His voice left no room for argument.
Alpha command bled into every word.
"Nellie said we wait until after midnight. That's enough."
"Look at Nellie's face. This is what happens when you go against her."
He turned away from me and gave the enforcers their orders.
"Keep her here. She doesn't go anywhere near the birthing den until midnight."
"Yes, Alpha."
He scooped Nellie into his arms and shot a glance at the healers.
"What are you waiting for? Look at her face. Treat her. And make sure it doesn't scar - her appearance means everything to her."
The room emptied out.
Only the enforcers and a few pack nurses remained.
I lifted my eyes to the clock on the wall.
Midnight.
The nurses rushed me toward the birthing den, but one of them cried out.
"They took all the healers with them! Someone get a healer!"
"The pup's heart rate is crashing - we need a healer now!"
"She's hemorrhaging - where the hell is the pack healer?"
Chapter 3
My vision began to fade.
Somewhere nearby, the pack nurses' voices grew more frantic.
"Where are they? She gets a scratch on her face, and they pull the entire healing team?"
"Stella's dying here - somebody get Alpha Winters!"
I heard the words.
Whatever hope I'd been clinging to died.
Then everything went dark.
When I came to, I was sprawled outside the pack house.
Shards of glass dug into my back.
From inside, I could hear Derek and Nellie laughing together.
Intermittent bursts of laughter drifting out.
I tried to push myself off the ground, but the movement drove the glass deeper into my hands.
When I looked down, tiny cuts covered my hands and arms. Bits of glass embedded in my skin.
None of it mattered.
I just needed to know where my pup was.
"My pup."
The words scraped out of my throat, barely more than a rasp.
"My pup."
I shoved the door open.
The living room floor was littered with glass.
Derek's gaze swept over me. Over the blood and the cuts.
Something unreadable flickered in his eyes.
Then his gaze shifted to Nellie's face. To the barely visible scratch.
His voice turned cold.
"Stella, you're being ridiculous. You had a pack nurse pull the healers away from Nellie."
"Go apologize to Nellie, and we'll call it even."
I stared at the Alpha I'd loved for ten years.
He looked like a complete stranger.
The glass cutting into my feet was nothing next to what was tearing through me.
My wolf whimpered low in my chest.
"You're right. I was wrong. Mating you was the mistake."
"Give me my pup. And I'll give you a divorce."
Derek's expression faltered.
"He was stillborn."
A ringing filled my ears.
"What?"
"He was already gone when they took him out."
"You're lying!" I cut him off.
"You're lying!"
"I'm not."
"That's impossible."
I was shaking all over. My wolf was pacing, snarling, desperate.
"That's impossible."
"Stella, don't do this."
Derek reached for me.
I slapped his hand away.
His jaw tightened.
"We'll have another pup. His astrological chart clashed with Nellie's anyway. Even if he'd lived, he would have been cursed."
"We'll try again once you've recovered. You can have all the pups you want."
I let out a hollow laugh that quickly broke into a sob.
"I don't want another pup. I want him."
My voice broke.
"Derek, give me my son."
Derek's patience wore thin.
"Calm down, Stella."
"Calm down? Fine. I'm calm."
I looked him in the eye. Silently pleading.
"Now where is my pup?"
He wouldn't look back.
"I gave him to Nellie. Let it go."
The words didn't register at first.
Then I was screaming.
A raw, broken sound that came from somewhere deep in my wolf.
"Why did you give my pup to Nellie?"
"He died because he clashed with her."
Derek paused.
"It was bad karma. We can't just bury him. Nellie had the pack mystic handle the remains. To ward off the bad luck."
Nellie looked sympathetic.
But I could see the satisfaction underneath.
"Stella, I didn't want this."
"But after clashing with me, the pup died carrying dark energy. If it isn't handled properly, it could bring bad luck to my future."
"Get away from me!"
The words tore out of me.
My wolf surged forward - claws nearly breaking through my skin.
"What gave you the right to do that to my pup?"
