Chapter 3

I dug my nails deep into my palms, using the sharp pain to cling to consciousness. In my previous twenty—year search across wolf territories, I'd never found my stolen child. If Arthur left with my baby today, history would repeat itself. As the needle touched my skin, I suddenly widened my eyes, looking past him. "Derek? What are you doing here?" The witch doctor's head instinctively snapped towards the door. Now! I slammed my shoulder into the nurse holding me. As she gasped and loosened her grip, I snatched the syringe from her hand. The metal needle gleamed coldly. Without hesitation, I drove it into the witch doctor's shoulder and jammed the plunger down hard. "If you love sedatives so much, why not try one yourself?" His pupils dilated in shock, but it was too late. His knees buckled, and he crumpled to the floor like a puppet with its strings cut. I tore the IV line from my wrist, hauling myself up by gripping the edge of the delivery bed. The antiseptic smell of the hallway hit me. Among the passing figures, Derek was conspicuously absent. A fresh wave of nausea gripped me—couldn't he even bother to keep up the charade? Was he that desperate to hand over our child? I hadn't taken three steps when the nurse I'd shoved scrambled after me, grabbing my arm, her voice shrill. "Luna! You've just given birth! You need rest. Running around like this just makes more work for us!" In the SilverMark Pack, medical resources were scarce, and medicine men and nurses held high status, commanding respect from ordinary pack members. Her words found immediate support. A woman in a blue dress nearby chimed in, "Yes, Luna, the clinic is so busy. Don't cause trouble. Focus on getting well." Bolstered, the nurse grew more severe. "Your actions could worsen postpartum bleeding." "Worsen?" I let out a cold laugh, suddenly turning to the blue-dressed woman. "You're waiting for a family member?" "My daughter-in-law," she beamed. "The pack witch doctor thinks it might be twins!" "Then you'd better watch closely," I raised my voice, ensuring it carried down the corridor. "This clinic steals healthy newborns to sell to hunters." The nurse paled, her voice rising in protest. "How dare you accuse us of such a thing!" I sneered. "Then why won't you let me see my child? Why are you so insistent he's dead?" The nurse floundered, her grip loosening slightly. "We... we just didn't want you distressed!" My eyes welled up, my voice trembling with genuine anguish. "Then let me see my child! Alive or dead, I want proof. If you have nothing to hide, why won't you let me see him?" "You keep stopping me—isn't that proof enough? What use is such a tiny child? What reason could there be except selling him to hunters?" A ripple of unease spread through the onlookers. A young man tightened his arm around his pregnant partner, eyeing the nurse warily. The blue-dressed woman's smile vanished. She suddenly grabbed the nurse's arm. "My daughter-in-law went in three hours ago! Why no news?" "This is against protocol..." the nurse stammered, backing away. "What protocol is more important than a mother seeing her child?" I seized the moment, wrenching free of her grasp. "I am the Luna of SilverMark Pack! If my child can 'die unexpectedly,' what about the children of ordinary pack members?" Panic flared like wildfire. More family members surged forward, demanding to see their loved ones. In the ensuing chaos, I dragged my weakened, post-birth body out of the clinic, stumbling towards the building on the corner marked with a wolf's head crest. Outside the Shadowhowl diplomatic outpost, the guard stared in shock at my blood-stained state. I grabbed his leather armor, tears streaming uncontrollably. "Contact my father immediately—tell him my cub has been stolen!"