Sophia offered an apologetic smile. "Luna, I'm so sorry, the Elder urgently needs these. I must deal with this now. With the Alpha beside you, I have every confidence. You'll be fine."

It's precisely because of Derek that I'm not fine! I screamed inwardly.

Before I could protest further, Sophia was already striding purposefully towards the guest wing.

Derek adjusted his hold, that infuriatingly confident expression back on his face. "Relax, darling. I've got you."

A vicious contraction robbed me of speech. I wrapped my arms around his neck and suddenly sank my teeth into the soft flesh of his neck.

"Hiss—" He sucked in a sharp breath, his muscles locking tight.

A petty thrill of revenge shot through me. This child was half his blood; why should I bear the pain alone?

But the fleeting victory was quickly drowned by despair. The feeling of knowing a trap lay ahead yet being forced to walk into it was suffocating.

No. I won't submit. Rebirth isn't meant for repeating mistakes.

I released my bite, leaning my head against his shoulder to gather my strength. If I couldn't find help, the pack’s clinic was my last battleground.

Inside the vehicle, Derek rubbed my back soothingly while constantly urging the driver, "Faster! Go faster!"

He played the perfect Mate, his brow furrowed as if sharing my agony.

I closed my eyes, a bitter twist forming on my lips.

Derek, are you truly worried about us, or just afraid your 'repayment plan' will go awry?

The harsh fluorescent lights of the delivery room made me squint.

Drawing on my past life's experience, I focused on controlling my breathing. Pain crashed over me in relentless waves, warping time.

Finally, I felt a release.

"Wah—" The infant's first cry was abruptly cut short.

Why did the crying stop? I struggled to push myself up just in time to see a nurse hurrying away with a swaddled bundle.

"My baby! Where are you taking him?" I tried to follow, but the witch doctor firmly pressed me back onto the bed.

Above his mask, his eyes held a false sympathy. "I'm so sorry, Luna. The child didn't survive. For your health, let the Alpha handle the arrangements."

My heart plummeted. So the entire clinic staff was in Derek's pocket. Whatever happened, they would feed me the same lie.

In my past life, exhaustion had claimed me, and I'd swallowed the lie whole. But not this time.

"I don't believe you," I stated flatly, locking eyes with the witch doctor. "Not a single word." My child was alive. This time, I would find him.

I slapped my palm hard against the back of his hand pressing me down. "I heard my baby cry! Where are you taking him?"

The witch doctor's hand reddened, but he only shook his head resignedly.

"Luna, another woman is delivering in the next room. You're overwrought, imagining things." His tone carried a deliberate patience. "You're young. Focus on recovering your strength. Children... there will be more."

The words were like a dull blade, slowly sawing through my memories. The witch doctor's face blurred, morphing into the stern visages of the Elders:

"Luna, losing a child is painful, but is destroying the family worth it?"

"The Alpha made this decision with great difficulty. A life debt must be repaid; it's our tradition."

"Arthur sacrificed his fertility saving the Alpha. This is the most fitting compensation."

Then Derek's perpetually impatient face:

"Emma, enough. Arthur sacrificed so much for me. This is my debt."

"A healthy child—it's the best recompense I can give him."

My fingers clenched the bedsheet, twisting the fabric. In this absurd world, only Derek's suffering seemed valid.

He bore the weight of his debt, losing sleep.

He endured the agony of giving away his own flesh and blood.

He was in such pain, such torment.

And I—his Mate—instead of gratefully handing over our child, chose to scream and rage day after day, disrupting the household peace, denying Derek his rest.

How utterly selfish.

The Elders could counsel detachment so lightly because it wasn't their child.

Derek could blithely promise another child because he wouldn't endure the pregnancy.

No one asked my consent.

No one cared about my pain.

The resentment of my past life and the fury of this one boiled within me, coalescing into a surge of unprecedented strength.

I lunged, grabbing the witch doctor by his collar, using the grip to haul myself upright.

"You say my child is dead?" My voice was a ragged whisper. "Then show me the body! If you have nothing to hide, why won't you let me see my own child?"

The witch doctor's face flushed crimson as I tightened my grip. A nurse rushed over, trying to pry my fingers loose.

"Cough... Luna is hysterical!" the witch doctor choked out. "Prepare a sedative!"

The nurse swiftly fetched a syringe while another pinned me back onto the bed.

The witch doctor adjusted the needle, its cold point glinting under the lights.

"You'll thank us for this, Luna," he murmured. "It's for your own good."

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!"