I woke up with sore and swollen eyes, realising that I had fallen asleep on the dirty floor of the empty basement. I touched my injured lip and flinched from the pain.
I could have been mistaken for a wretched and dirtied dog. The only light inside came through the single window high above the gray wall. The contractions came with suddenness again and I cried in pain, holding my tummy tightly. How long was I meant to stay in here?
Strangely, I felt something warm swirling down my legs. I looked down to see blood trailing down from between my legs. I froze in shock as realization washed over me. Had I lost my baby? Weary, I closed my eyes and laid back down on the cold hard ground, completely exhausted from every single thing I'd had to endure for this long. Regardless of the pain, I hadn't realized I had been too tired to fall back asleep. The next thing I heard was the door opening, and I forced my swollen eyes to look and see who was coming to my rescue.
"Luna," Isabella, my midwife, said as she lowered the tray she had brought in her arms to the floor where I lay.
I saw the pitied look in her eyes as she stared at my bloodstained clothe- and the glint of shame she felt just as she looked away.
"I'll get you some warm towels and pills to ease the pain," She said as she turned to leave just like that. Not that I expected her to do anything, not that she could. Alpha Kai was to be feared and revered even if it meant turning a blind eye to everything that was wrong.
"Will I lose my baby?" Was all I could ask. She didn't respond and simply went out the door, leaving the plate of food for me. It was a measly breakfast with only a sandwich and a cup of water.
Kai was wrong about one thing, I could never regret running away- and I would, over and over again if ever I was given another chance.
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Isabella came back shortly after I had eaten. She had fresh towels and a bowl in one hand, and a bottle of pain relievers in the other. I sat up straight and let her clean my legs as I rested my head back against the wall. Then she gave me the pills and told me I would have to run some tests to know the state of the fetus.
"Will Alpha Kai let me out?" I asked.
"It's unlikely that he does... for now," She said as she felt my temperature. "That's why I'll have to do the treatments in here."
"It doesn't matter if I lose my baby, then," I said.
"I'm sure it matters to our Alpha whether this child is born or not. It is his heir you are carrying after all," she said but I saw the question in her eyes.
Did she really think I had the luxury to be with other people, let alone another man? I tried to conceal the disappointment written on my face. "What if it's a girl?" I asked, half smiling because I knew how much it would anger him if I gave birth to a girl.
"Let's hope for the best, Luna Helena," she smiled and stayed with me for a while. She told me about the moon festival and all the children that had received their wolves.
I had witnessed the festival for years as I had never known any other place other than the Blood Moon pack my whole life. I knew the traditions and that they had to be respected, the elders made sure of that, and anyone who was caught "sinning"- as they called it- was to be either exiled or executed. That was why I had expected my execution when I got caught, but I knew the alpha had shown mercy because of the child. Now that I had probably lost it, I wondered what would happen to me.
She finally stood up after several minutes of telling me things I had no wish to hear, dusting the dirt off her clothes and saying her goodbyes. She would be back to run the tests later but until then, all I was left with was the empty basement with whitewashed walls and the stench of my despair.
I placed my hands above my bump, and muttered a prayer to the moon goddess in the old tongue. "Ashkå nüræ... if you are listening, help this lone wolf," I breathed tearfully.
I dropped my hands and lowered my eyes to the floor. It was the place Isabella had been sitting on, and just a few inches away laid a key. I assumed it was the one to the basement's door. Quickly, I reached for the metal object, grabbing it and hiding it in the tight space of my upper undergarment. Isabella would definitely come back to search for it, but hopefully I would be long gone by then.