Chapter 3

Selene’s POV

Alexander meant what he said.

He had the guards lock Ella in her room, forbidding her from seeing her friends and taking away her toys. My sweet, spirited girl, confined like a criminal. I stayed with her that first night, listening to her cries and pleas until they gave way to exhausted whimpers.

By dawn, her skin burned with fever.

It only got worse.

On the second night, her tiny body was wracked with shivers, her cheeks flushed with an unnatural crimson. I held her close, whispering soft reassurances I wasn’t sure I believed anymore.

My baby needed help—desperately!

Panic rising in my chest, I ran to the guards stationed outside.

“Please!” I begged, gripping the nearest one by the arm. “Get the pack healers. Tell them the Luna commands their presence immediately! My daughter is sick—she needs help!”

The guard shifted uneasily. “I’m sorry, Luna. The Alpha’s orders stand. He said no interference—”

 “She’s a child!” My voice cracked. “She’s your princess! Are you so spineless you’ll let her suffer because of his tantrum? Or have you forgotten who you swore to protect?”

He winced but held his ground. “The Alpha’s orders supersede all, my lady. My hands are tied.”

Rage flooded my veins, white-hot and merciless.

I cursed Alex a hundred times in mere hours before turning back to the guards again, “Then call them inside, would you? He didn’t say she couldn’t be treated in her room, did he?”

He hesitated, then nodded. “As you wish, Luna.”

I felt my body ease up, while they ran the errands on my behalf, I couldn't dare to leave her side for one more minute.

“Please hurry!”

I returned to her bedside, just to be alerted by the guards in a few minutes that the healers were not available.

“What do you mean? We have royal healers always on standby! Where are they?”

The guard’s expression told me all I needed to know before he opened his mouth.

“They’re... unavailable, my lady. All the healers are attending to your sister.”

Angered by his audacity, I jammed my hands on the door of her room. “How dare you come back here with such excuses!”

“My lady—I”

“You will march back there,” I growled, my voice low and deadly, “and tell those healers that if they don’t appear in my daughter’s room within the next five minutes, they’ll wish they hadn’t been born. Do you understand me?”

He paled and scrambled away.

Anger welled in my mind; all my time as Luna, I had done so much for the pack; I had sacrificed my time, my health, my peace! To make sure the pack members and workers in the pack house never felt less, they were paid more than any wolf in neighboring packs; I deserve the respect; rather, they showered my sister in times of need!

I returned to Ella, brushing damp strands of hair from her face. Her breaths were shallow; her once rosy cheeks are now ashen. My chest ached as I watched her fragile frame shudder under the weight of her fever.

“Don't worry, baby, mummy got you.”

“Luna, you called for us.” Three healers hustled their way into my room in panic.

“What took you so long?”

All three of them fell on their knees. “Your sister demanded treatment; she had... a bad stomachache. We had no choice.”

I clenched my fists, trembling with suppressed fury. Natasha. Of course. The woman who had everything but still demanded more! She knew Ella was sick!

“Treat my daughter. Now,” I ordered.

They rushed towards her while I paced back and forth, tears occasionally pooling in my eyes, but I cleaned them before they dropped from my face.

I excused them so they could have enough time to discuss her illness. I could not let Ella see me cry or break down before her since she was already awake and would be treated and, most likely, injected.

Hours passed; each second felt like a lifetime. The door creaked open behind me, and I turned, hope sparking in my chest.

Alex.

Oh, moon goddess. Seeing him made me feel at ease for a fleeting moment. It’s good to know he still cared for his daughter and had come to check up on her. The man I knew was back.

He still cared.

But my hopes fell right through when I noticed he wasn't alone.

“Leave us,” I said sharply to the guards. They bowed immediately, then left.

Then I grasped myself as I watched both of them walk toward me, Natasha clinging to his arm, her face tilted up in that practiced look of vulnerability.

The closer he got, the more I noticed how unremorseful he looked, but rather, he was angry.                                                                                           

“What do you think you are doing?” he asked.

“Trying to save our daughter’s life. Or does that offend you somehow?”

“Save her?” Natasha’s soft voice chimed in, laced with mock sorrow. “You mean at the expense of others? I’m pregnant, Selene. Did you even consider what might happen to me without the healers?”

My eyes narrowed. “You look perfectly fine to me, Natasha. In fact, you look... better than ever.”

“Why are you saying that to me, sis? You sound so selfish. Just admit you don't want me to be treated.”

“What's wrong with you? Maybe I would know, because the healers said they tried to figure out what was wrong with you but they couldn't, so why don't you tell me? Maybe I would be able to tell what's actually wrong since it’s not my first pregnancy.”

“I—I,” she stuttered, unable to say another word. I had caught her in her own lie.

“Talk to me, Natasha. I would like to know.”

She held onto Alex's hand, her hand resting on her abdomen. She faked her usual tears, “How would you know? You don't know what it feels like to have a male puppy, do you?” She cried out again, this time in a more dramatic tone.

“Enough!” Alex snapped. “Natasha’s condition is delicate. You don’t understand—”

Taking a deep breath, I looked up to Alex.

“Our daughter is sick, and this time around I had put so much effort into doing it on my own, but I need help. Alex, Ella is—”

Natasha suddenly swayed, her knees buckling. “Alex!” she gasped dramatically, collapsing against him.

“Natty!” Alex grabbed her in an attempt to stop her from falling; he tapped on her cheeks continuously, trying to wake her up while she pretended to be unconscious.

“See what you've done!”

I would have suggested he tickled her rather than acting this concerned; his hatred for me had clouded his vision; he could not tell she was pretending.

Before I could respond, one of the healers emerged from Ella’s room, her face grim.

“Luna,” she said hesitantly.

“What's it? How is she?”

Her solemn expression conveyed that the worst had happened.

“Y-your daughter…she's not waking up.”