bChapter /bb250 /b

    ra’s POV

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    b38 /b

    55 vouchers

    The air in the room felt thick, heavy with both heat and the weight of what was about to happen. The steady hum of tension hummed in my earsb, /bpeting with the rhythmic pounding of my heartbeat.

    The moonlight crept through the curtainsb, /bcasting jagged shadows bacross /bthe walls. I felt like I was caught in an endless night, trapped in my own body, waiting for something… anything… to shift.

    I gritted my teeth, my fingers digging into the edge of the bed as another wave of pain hit me. A deep ache, sharp and unforgiving, started low in my back and surged like a tidal wave crashing over me.

    “Dorian,” I gasped, my voice barely a whisper, strained with the weight of the agony. “I can’t… I can’t do this.”

    He was there immediately, his hand brushing over my forehead, cool against the fire burning inside me. “Yes, you can, baby. You’re doing great. Just a little more.”

    His voiceb, /bso calm, only made the contrast to the chaos inside me. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to block out the pounding pain, but it was everywhere.

    “Think about our baby,” Dorian murmured, his words low and steady. “Think about how much we’ve waited for this. Just a little longer, ra… And we’ll be parents… the happiest parents alive.”

    Tears flooded my eyes, blurring my vision. He was right. This child–our child–was the only thing I’d been holding onto through the storm of everything else. But this pain? This was… too much.

    bI /bswallowed hard as another contraction gripped me, a flood of fire and pressure tearing through my body. “Ahh-!” I cried, my back arching against the bed, gasping for air between the tightening waves. Sweat beaded on my forehead, my body trembling violently.

    Dorian was by my side again, his cool cloth pressing gently against my forehead. He spoke again, voice soft yet firm. “Breathe with me. In… and out. Slowly. You’re almost there.”

    I barely registered that he had learned this from a book, that he’d studied breathing techniques for this moment. But it didn’t matter. It helped. It eased the tension in my chest, if only for a fleeting second.

    With each wave of pain, Dorian kept timing my contractions, his eyes never leaving me. And then–finally–1 could see the change in him. He knew it was time.

    “You’ve done amazing so far,” he whispered, kissing my forehead as bI /btrembled beneath him. “Just a few more pushes… then it’ll all be over.”

    “No… No!” I cried, shaking my head, tears streaming down my face. The pain was unbearable. “I can’t do this! Please, make it stop! I can’t… I just can’t…”

    “I know, I knowi.” /iHis voice was filled with a tenderness that made my heart ache. He reached for my hand, holding it tightly. “Squeeze my hand, if it’s too much. Just keep going. You’re stronger than you think. And I’m right here. Always.”

    I squeezed his hand so tightly, I could feel the bones in my fingers grinding against his. But I kept pushing. I

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    had no choice. The pain was too great, my body demanding release.

    “How much longer?b” /bI choked, voice breaking, exhaustion wing at my every thought.

    How much longer? Would I survive this? Could I?

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    55 vouchers

    “Soon. Very soon.” His voice, steady and unwavering, brought me nofort. The fear was too great, my mind too frantic.

    And then, there was the scream. My scream. The one that ripped through the room like a knife, a raw, desperate cry. The sound echoed beyond the walls, into the next room, where a crowd waited anxiously.

    I heard the sudden intake of breath, then… silence. Dorian froze, his face going pale in an instant.

    “Oh my God…” The voice from the other side of the door was barely a whisper, but it was loud enough to make my chest tighten.

    Belle’s voice trembled as she asked, “Is… Is that normal? She sounds like she’s being tortured!”

    An elder from the House of Light tried to calm her. “It’s normal, Princess Belle. This… this is what happens during childbirth.”

    “So is she okay? Is she going to be okay?” Belle asked, voice rising with panic. Her eyes darted around, looking for answers, but no one could offer any.

    The

    group

    stood still, locked outside, powerless.

    “This is ridiculous!” Wells suddenly burst out, his fury sharp and loud as he stormed to the door, confronting Dario. “You heard her! ra needs help! Let the doctor and nurse in!”

    Dario stood firm at the door, blocking their way. His jaw tightened. “The King said no one enters. I must follow his orders.”

    “Forget what the King said!” Wells snapped back. “If ra dies in there, we’ll never forgive you. Get out of the way!”

    Belle’s voice cracked. “bPlease/b… please…”

    Dario’s chest heaved. He wanted to move, wanted to help, but duty clung to him like a suffocating weight. He couldn’t break the King’s ordersb. /b

    Elder Medline stood, her voice low and dangerous. “If the Queen dies tonight, Dario… if she dies in that room, you’ll carry that guilt for the rest of your life. Do you want that?”

    The tension in the room thickened, suffocating. Dario’s hand gripped his sword, ihis /iface a mask of conflict.

    “I will protect this door. No one will pass.”

    The crowd fell silent. They had no choice but to wait, trapped by their own helplessness.

    And then, the sound–the cries from within the room. The cries of a newborn. A small, fragile sound that

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    held more power than any words ever could.

    Dorian, his face drenched in sweat, held a tiny baby in his arms, his eyes wide with awe bas /bhe bent down to show ra. Her face was flushed, covered in sweat, but there was a smile–no, a grin–breaking through the exhaustion.

    They didn’t notice Dario’s entrance, not until he was standing right behind them, eyes wide with disbelief.

    The child. The baby.

    It was human.

    Dario froze. The shock hit him like a p to the face. The Lycans… they didn’t give birth to human children. What… was going on?

    “Dario?” ra’s voice broke through his daze, her eyes meeting his.

    “What… What is going on with this child?” he demanded, voice low, almost a growl as he took a step back.

    Dorian and ra exchanged a look, confused, but their smiles never faltered. They had their child, and nothing else seemed to matter.

    But Dario… Dario wasn’t sure what he had just witnessed.

    AD

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