My breath caught in my throat as they advanced. These wolves were unaware of the reason behind the deserted territory. It wasn’t because it was uninhabitable—it was because the Alpha had forbidden anyone from coming near. He wanted to keep me hidden, waiting for the day I would give birth to his heir. He’d planned everything meticulously, preparing to announce to all the packs that our child would be the Lord of the Nine Realms.
But Lila and her pack didn’t believe me. Their claws gleamed in the moonlight as they drew closer, and I felt a rising panic. I shouted, desperate to make them see reason. “I’m really the Demon Alpha Luna! If you don’t believe me, ask the Alpha yourself!”
They ignored me. Their claws flashed, slicing through the air into my limbs. Agonizing pain shot through my body as, one by one, my limbs were severed. I could feel my strength draining, my vision blurring. The only thing keeping me conscious was the life force of the Demon Alpha still burning inside me.
Lila laughed, covering her mouth with her hand as she looked down at me, now reduced to a broken heap. “Look at her—no hands, no legs, and still trying to protect her enormous belly like some kind of kingpin!”
I gritted my teeth, glaring at her through the haze of pain. “You’ll regret this,” I hissed.
Her eyes flickered with amusement. “In the Nine Realms, no one makes this wolf regret anything.”
Then, with a wicked grin, she stepped forward and plunged her claws into my belly, tearing through my skin like it was nothing. I gasped as the pain threatened to overwhelm me, my consciousness slipping in and out. But even through the fog, I saw it—the moment she pulled my son from my womb, his tiny body covered in blood, yet fighting, his hands flailing in protest.
Lila stared at him in surprise. “A mortal’s child, and yet so full of life?” She scoffed. “But in the end, you’re nothing but a mongrel. You’ll taint the bloodline of the Demon Wolf Pack, and I won’t allow it.”
Fear surged through me. “Please!” I begged, my voice barely more than a whisper. “He’s the Alpha’s child—don’t hurt him.”
Lila’s smile twisted into something darker. “The Demon Alpha’s child? How ridiculous. No mortal could carry his heir without being torn apart.” The others laughed, their voices echoing cruelly around us.