My pup’s head is already crowning, but my Alpha mate pushes it back inside. Because his dead brother’s widow is having a son next door, and only a male pup inherits in the Blood-Moon Pack. Silas doesn’t even flinch. His hand is soft on mine. His eyes are softer. Nine months of soft. “Hold on, Sera. Just a little longer.” His voice is calm. Sweat runs into my eyes. Blood soaks the bed. Something is wrong. I’ve known since the second contraction hit thirty seconds after the first. The pain is too sharp. Too fast. A nurse walks in with a syringe. I think it’s the numbing shot. Then Silas lets go of my hand. Steps back from the bed. The needle goes in. He checks his watch. “Adjust the dose,” he says. Calm. Like he’s ordering coffee. “She has to wait until Elena births her pup.” The room tilts. “Elena’s crowning any minute,” he tells the nurse. “Buy me two hours.” I open my mouth. Nothing comes out. Whatever is in that syringe is already in my blood. My contractions stop mid-clench. Like a hand closed around my womb from the inside. The pain stays. The labor stops. My pup is stuck. I look at him. My mate. The Alpha who put his palm on my belly every night and talked to her through my skin. His face is blank. I don’t cry. I don’t beg. I memorize his face. Exactly like this. And I start counting everything I’m going to take from him. — They wheel me down. Down past the pack infirmary. Down past the healing suites. Down into the basement of the Blood-Moon’s private clinic. Maya is waiting at the door. Silas’s little sister. Twenty-three. Nails freshly done. A scalpel between two fingers like a cigarette. “Don’t blame my brother, sis,” she says, smiling. “Elena’s carrying our dead brother’s son. First male Blood-Moon pup of this generation. You get it.” I get it. I’ve known since the needle went in. But I let my face do what they want. Wet. Weak. Scared. “Even if you popped her out first,” Maya goes on, “she’d still just be a girl. Only male pups inherit the Alpha ring. That’s pack law.” She crouches. Taps my cheek with the flat of the blade. “Get the healer,” I rasp. “Please. She’s coming.” “She’s not coming for three more hours, sweetheart. The drug holds that long. Elena’s already in the birthing suite.” She stands. Brushes off her knees. “Be a good girl. When her son is breathing, you get yours.” To the enforcer at the door: “If she howls, gag her.” The door shuts. One bare bulb. Concrete floor. My dress is already soaked through. They took my phone at the gate. Radiation, Silas said. Bad for the pup. I curl onto my side. In. Out. Counting. Three months ago, Silas’s older brother Damon ran his bike into a rogue ambush on the north border. Left a mate three months pregnant. At the funeral, the Old Alpha gripped Elena’s wrist with both hands and wept into her sleeve. The Blood-Moon bloodline cannot die. Give us this boy. I stood there in black. Twenty-six weeks along. Put my hand on the old wolf’s shoulder. “Alpha, our pup will love you too.” He didn’t look at me. I should have known then. I did know then. I just didn’t want to. Another contraction rips through me. The drug is fighting it. My body is fighting back. I drag myself to the door. Pound on it. “Help me — please — the pup is coming —” A bored voice on the other side. “Shut up. Miss Maya said wait.” “My baby —” “If she dies, she dies. Shouldn’t have been a girl.” I slide down the door. I am not crying. I am making a list.
I don’t know how long I’m down there. Long enough that the blood under me goes warm. Then cold. Then warm again. Long enough that I almost stop fighting the drug. Then the door opens. Not Maya. Not the enforcer. Dr. Reed. The pack healer. He’s been my healer since the first month. He sees me on the floor and goes the color of paper. “Luna? Goddess — the Alpha said you were in the VIP suite —” I can’t speak. I point at my belly. He drops to his knees. His hand goes between my legs. He sucks in a breath through his teeth. “You’re fully dilated. Your water broke Goddess knows when. We need to move. Now.” He tries to lift me. The second I move, blood pours out of me in a hot rush. He almost drops me. “Help!” he shouts down the hall. “She’s bleeding out —” Nothing. This whole infirmary belongs to the Blood-Moon. Tonight they cleared it for Elena. Every nurse. Every healer. Every apprentice. All on the third floor. Holding her hand while she pushes out the future of the pack. His phone has no signal down here. He hauls me up. “Stay with me, Luna. Stay with me.” The stairwell is endless. Every step jolts the pup further down. And not out. The drug is still in me. Contractions come and go like a stutter. The worst way to have a pup. I can feel her wedged. “Doctor —” My voice is air. “Save the pup. Promise me.” “You’re both walking out of here. Don’t talk.” He kicks open the first-floor birthing suite. We both freeze. The room is empty. Not unstaffed. Empty. The birthing table is gone. The transfusion kits are gone. The herb cart, the emergency kits, the monitors — gone. Bare outlets where the machines used to be. Reed makes a sound like he’s been punched. “I checked this room six hours ago —” Heels on tile. Maya rounds the corner. Two nurses trailing her. “Doctor. What are you doing down here? Elena’s on three.” He points at the empty room. His hand is shaking. “Where is the equipment.” Maya’s face is beautifully innocent. She’s practiced this look. “Moved it up. Elena’s having a hard labor — the pup carries the Alpha bloodline, we need every tool on her. What if something goes wrong? You can’t birth an heir in a regular suite.” Her eyes drift to me. She smiles. “Oh. Is she in labor? She’ll have to wait. Elena isn’t done.” I look up at her. This girl I bought a fifteen-thousand-dollar Chanel bag for last spring. This girl who linked her arm through mine at every pack dinner and called me the best Luna the Blood-Moon ever had. I file her face away with Silas’s. The list is getting longer. — Reed sprints to the healer’s station. Rips open cabinets. Empty. Empty. Empty. “Silver-clamps — anything — gauze —” A nurse whispers, “It’s all upstairs. Alpha’s orders. Everything goes to Miss Elena.” He punches the cabinet. His knuckles split. He turns to me. Crying. “Luna. I’m sorry. I have nothing —” Maya pats his shoulder. “Don’t beat yourself up, doc. She hasn’t delivered yet. When Elena’s done, the tools come back down.” She glances at my belly. “And honestly? Even if the pup doesn’t make it — it’s a girl. The pack loses nothing.” I lift my head off the floor. I look her in the eye. I use the breath I’ve been saving. “You animal.” Her smile drops. She crouches down. Puts her mouth right next to my ear. Lowers her voice so only I hear. “Howl all you want, sis. After tonight you’ll be too weak to lift a glass. Elena’s taking your seat as Luna. My brother keeps you alive as a slave because he’s sentimental. Be grateful.” She straightens up. Beautiful again. Reed can’t take it. “Miss Maya, this is murder —” “Murder?” She laughs. “Doctor. She-wolves die in labor all the time. It’s tragic.” She turns to the enforcers behind her. “Take Dr. Reed somewhere quiet. I’ll watch my sister myself.” They drag him out. He fights them. Twists back to me. Shouting — “Luna — pinch here — hard — above the ankle — it can bring the contractions back — don’t give up —” The door slams. Maya locks it.
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