My Baby and I Died in Labor While He Celebrated Hers

Celeste’s POV

36 weeks pregnant, I was thrown into the dungeon by my own husband.

When my water broke, I desperately reached out through the mate bond, calling for him—only to discover that he had severed it with his own hands.

They lashed my swollen belly with leather whips. They injected wolfsbane into my veins. And when my baby's head began to crown, they shoved her back inside me.

All because his sister-in-law Genevieve was also in labor today—and her child had to be born as the pack's heir.

I crawled out of that dungeon, drenched in my own blood, only to find him blocking the doorway.

I knelt at his feet, clutching at his trousers, begging. "The baby is innocent. Please... just let me deliver her..."

He kicked me away in disgust. "Wait until Genevieve is done."

Later, fireworks lit up the sky. The entire pack celebrated the birth of Genevieve's heir.

I was dumped in a water cell, watching my blood slowly turn the ice-cold water crimson, feeling my daughter grow still inside me.

Only after he'd gazed adoringly at the newborn in Genevieve's arms did he finally remember me. He sent someone to fetch me from the dungeon.

But his servant returned white-faced, voice trembling:

"Alpha! The Luna... she and the baby... they're both dead!"

The frigid stone wall pressed against my spine. At 36 weeks along, my belly had swelled to the point of bursting, and the baby inside churned restlessly.

The dungeon reeked of decay and mildew. Water droplets seeped through the walls and dripped onto my hair, each one ice-cold and piercing.

"Caspian..." My lips trembled as I tried to reach my husband through the telepathic bond that connected werewolf mates. "Please... the baby's coming..."

Silence answered me. No—the bond had been severed.

I could barely comprehend it. That sacred thread of consciousness that allowed us to share emotions, that profound connection—he had cut it himself.

A violent cramp ripped through my lower abdomen, as if someone were tearing out my organs with red-hot tongs. I looked down in horror to find my skirt soaked through.

My water had broken.

"Help! Is anyone there? Please, help me!" I screamed with everything I had. "The baby's coming!"

Still, only silence.

Another wave of agony tore through me, wrenching an anguished moan from my throat. The baby couldn't wait any longer. She was fighting her way into this world.

"Caspian! Please hear me!" I used the last of my strength to cry out. "This is your child! Our child!"

Finally, footsteps echoed down the corridor. Hope surged through me like a lifeline.

It was Cassius descending the stairs—one of Caspian's most trusted Betas. His eyes glinted with a malevolence I'd never seen before, and a cruel smile played at the corners of his mouth.

"Cassius! Thank God—get Caspian, tell him I'm in labor!" I reached out with trembling hands. "Hurry! There's no time!"

But he didn't move. Instead, he studied me with detached amusement, like I was some pathetic creature caught in a trap.

"Please!" I was ready to fall to my knees. "The baby can't wait!"

"Such a pity." Cassius clicked his tongue, shaking his head with mock sympathy. "Upstairs, Lady Genevieve has an entire team of top-tier medical professionals attending to her as she prepares to deliver the true heir of the Zephyr Pack."

"And your child?" He let out a contemptuous laugh. "You're just some Omega with no known lineage. Genevieve is the daughter of the Taiga Pack's Alpha. Her child will symbolize the alliance between our packs. Don't you understand? Your existence was a mistake from the very beginning."

So the love I thought we had... it had only ever been my own delusion.

"Please..." I gripped the iron bars until my knuckles went white. "Even if you don't want me, the baby is innocent... Just let me deliver her, I'm begging you..."

Cassius stared at me for a long moment, then pulled out his phone.

"Fine. Let me show you just how hopeless your situation is."

The call connected almost immediately. I heard Caspian's familiar voice, cold and distant: "What is it?"

"Alpha, the woman's going into labor. Looks like she's in quite a bit of pain." Cassius's tone dripped with schadenfreude.

A few seconds of silence on the other end. My heart nearly stopped. Maybe, just maybe, he still had some shred of humanity...

"Caspian..." I called out weakly. "It's me... Please save our baby..."

Then another voice came through the phone—sickly sweet, making my skin crawl:

"Darling, the doctor says everything looks wonderful! The baby is perfectly healthy! Honestly, giving birth isn't even that painful. Oh, I'm craving strawberry cake—may I have some?"

It was Genevieve.

The words hit me like a bucket of ice water, and the brutal reality finally sank in. She was enjoying the finest medical care, casually requesting cake, while I lay discarded in this godforsaken pit like a dog.

Caspian's voice grew even colder. "She's just putting on an act. Don't fall for it. Proceed as planned. And keep her quiet—I won't have her disturbing Genevieve's delivery."

"No! Caspian, you can't do this!" I screamed, hysteria clawing at my throat. "I'm not acting! The baby is really coming!"

But the line had already gone dead.

Cassius pocketed his phone, his smile turning predatory. "You heard the Alpha. His orders are clear. So before the nurse arrives with the labor-delay injection, you're going to pay for that little stunt you just pulled."