CHAPTER 7

~ELENA~

“I…” I tried to speak, shaking my head, but my voice vanished before it left my throat. My whole body had gone cold, all the heat gathered in my chest.

A sharp kick from my baby stole my breath. I gasped and instinctively clutched my belly only for another fierce kick to follow- The fear was shared between us.

My head was spinning. My heart thundered against my ribs, wild and frantic, and my eyes felt like they were bulging from their sockets, so wide, I began to feel hurt in them

“Lock her up,” Emmet’s voice rang out, cold and final as if he had been contemplating on it.

“No!” I cried out, my voice cracking. “I’m innocent!”

“Innocent?" Elder Marcus’s voice came, laced with mockery and disgust before turning to Emmet. "I would advise you, Alpha, to throw away the wine I gifted you last night. Who knows- she might’ve poisoned it too by now.”

“I didn’t do anything! This is all a setup!” I screamed, pointing at Stephanie. But she only looked at me with a cruel smirk, her silence more damning than words. When she felt the attention going to her, she frowned at once, almost looking scared and innocent.

The guards moved toward me, and I stumbled backward away from them.

“I am... innocent!”

But Emmet began to trudge - towards me. The look in his eyes drained every ounce of strength from my limbs. His eyes were dark, the lines in his forehead, countable. He spiled wrath as his feet pounded nearer.

I fell back on my knees, shielding my face with trembling hands, bracing for what was coming as an attack -but instead, all I felt was his grip- rough, strong grip on my arm. He yanked me to my feet and dragged me against his body.

“I’ve heard enough of your lies,” he growled, his lips close to my ear. And without another word, he led me to the dungeons himself.

He ignored my sobs. My pleas. The way I kept whispering his name, hoping something- anything- would break through to him. Breaks through that soft part of his heart that he had earlier let out. But he had turned back to stone.

Once he unlocked the cell door, he shoved me forward with so much disgust, as if I had soiled him by mere touch.

I staggered blindly into the darkness, and before I could find my footing, I slammed hard into the cold, brick wall. Pain exploded through my skull once more. I groaned. My whole body trembled. Slowly, I crumpled to the ground, sobbing, clutching my belly as the throbbing ache clawed its way back through me.

“My father has been nothing but good to you!” Emmet’s roar echoed around the cell, making the walls shake. I curled tighter, tears streaming down my cheeks.

“Please,” I whimpered, “I didn’t do it...”

“Don't speak again, Elena. Don't!”

He stormed forward, squatted beside me. I folded closer to the wall. That didn't stop him from grabbing a fistful of my hair, jerking my face toward his.

Tears blurred my vision. But even through them, I saw it- that raw, twisted rage in his eyes. It wasn’t just anger. It was betrayal. Disgust.... Pain.

Another kick I feel again within my womb. This time, fierce and extremely hurtful. I spread my palm over my abdomen to ease the pain but still I didn't dare looking away from his burning eyes.

“I thought there might be some innocence in you. Something… worth saving," His tone drops to a whisper, his hand coming to cup my jaw with a gentle touch. That kind part of him. Please come back.

We both went quiet.

"I thought I could see you differently," his tone was low and heavy. "But every single time, you prove me right- You prove me right of everything I perceive of you.

You’re not my mate, Elena. You never were. You’re nothing but a slave now. And that’s how you’ll be treated.”

He pushed my head roughly from his grip and got up.

“I don’t want to ever see your face again.”

Then he was gone, his footsteps echoing away, leaving nothing behind but silence and despair.

“Emmet…” I whispered, but my voice was so weak I wasn’t sure I’d said it out loud. I was alone.

But something was wrong. Deeply, horribly wrong.

The pain in my abdomen intensified -sharp, fiery bolts and then… moisture. A growing wetness between my legs.

I reached for the blanket wrapped loosely around me, tried to lift it, but before I could, I felt a rush- a warm, thick splash beneath me. My heart dropped.

" No. No, no, no…" I whispered, trembling. My water just broke.

“It’s not time…”

A scream tore from my throat as a new wave of pain struck, fierce and deep. I tried to steady myself, crawling up the wall.

That’s when I heard Gotha's voice. As she tried holding the gate, her fingers trembled. So did her voice as she cried out, “Mistress!”

“Gotha…” I gasped. “My baby… my baby is coming.”

Her scream echoed through the dungeon as she turned and ran back.

"Don't go.... please..." I cried bitterly trying to move, to reach the wall, but I could barely keep myself upright. A wave of dizziness crashed into me like a tide, and I sank down again, breathing fast, faster, too fast. Perhaps, I was breathing my last?

If help didn’t come soon… I would die here. Forgotten.

But then, footsteps echoed. The gate creaked open. Someone rushed in. I was gently lowered onto my back, and warm hands steadied me. Gotha had come back with a midwife.

“Stay with me,” the midwife urged, her voice trying to anchor me. “Keep your eyes open, Elena. Keep breathing.”

But everything was growing distant. Blurring. My heart raced like it wanted to escape my chest. My life was slipping out of me. I couldn’t hold on much longer...

* * *

By dawn, I was sitting on the cold stone floor, my back resting against the wall, my hair damp, my entire body still soaked with sweat. The cell was filled with the smell of new life and in my arms… were two tiny, beautiful miracles.

My sons.

It was still a shock- how the healer hadn’t known that they were two in my belly throughout my traditional ante-natal check ups. I hadn’t known. But the moment I saw them, so small, so perfect- I felt a joy so sharp and pure it shattered the darkness. I laughed at them with genuine happiness, tugging at their small hands.

“They’re premature… yet so strong,” the midwife said, wrapping them carefully. “We'll have to take special care of them so they don’t fall ill, Elena. It's a drizzling season.”

“I will,” I whispered, smiling through tears.

No prison could steal this moment. No accusation could take them from me. They were mine. Mine...

“They’re your strength now,” Gotha whispered with assurance, a motherly gentleness in her tone. “I’ll go inform si... the alpha.”

My heart seized.

Emmet.

Right - he was the alpha now.

I wasn’t ready. I didn’t know how he would react -if he would even care. Would he believe they were his? Would he… look at them and feel what I felt?

I'm not sure if I still care.

Up to this moment, my optimism for him had died. This experience had killed something in me. My emotions were gone. I was only prepared for the worst he'll do.

When he finally stepped into the cell, my breath caught. I couldn’t bring myself to meet his gaze.

Not after everything.

I clutched my babies tighter, his shadow casted over us.