Betrayed By My Alpha: Reborn For Revenge

Fae's POV:

"Help!" My voice scraped out of me, raw and weak, swallowed almost instantly by the soundproofed walls of the private medical wing. "Somebody, please!"

No one answered.

My trembling fingers fumbled for the emergency call button clipped to the bedrail. I squeezed it, again and again, waiting for the reassuring beep.

Nothing.

My gaze followed the cord. It dangled uselessly over the side of the bed, the end clean and sharp where it had been cut.

Panic seized my throat, tight and suffocating.

A contraction ripped through me, a brutal clenching that stole my breath and dragged me from the haze of exhaustion.

My eyes flew open.

The room was sterile white and cold. Too cold. My water had broken, soaking the thin sheet beneath me, the fluid chilling against my skin.

I was alone.

The thought hit me with the force of a physical blow, colder than the sweat on my brow. No doctors. No nurses.

No Colten Shields.

My mate. My Alpha. The man who should have been beside me when our child came into the world.

I reached for him through our mind-link, a desperate, silent scream.

Colten?

Silence.

Not just silence, but a void. A dead wall where our connection should have been.

He had severed it.

My heart hammered against my ribs, a frantic bird trapped in a cage of bone. The pain of the contraction was nothing compared to the icy dread flooding my veins.

I was in labor. I was trapped. And my mate had cut me off.

Another contraction tore through me, forcing a guttural cry from my lips. My baby was coming. And I was utterly, terrifyingly alone.

The door clicked open.

Relief washed over me so intensely my limbs went weak. But it wasn't a nurse who stepped inside.

It was my stepsister, Heidi.

Her face was a perfect mask of concern, her wide, innocent eyes taking in the scene.

"Fae! Oh, thank the Goddess I came to check on you. What's happening?"

"The baby," I gasped, reaching a hand out to her. "It's coming, Heidi. You have to get a doctor. The bell is broken."

She rushed to my side, her cool hand brushing the damp hair from my forehead. Her touch was gentle, soothing.

"Don't worry, sister," she murmured, her voice as sweet as honey. "I'm here now."

She moved back to the door, and I watched, expecting her to run for help. Instead, I heard the distinct, final click of the lock.

A sliver of ice pierced through the fog of pain.

"Heidi? What are you doing? Why did you lock the door?"

She turned, and the mask of concern dissolved. In its place was a smile, a slow, chilling curve of her lips that didn't reach her eyes.

"Because," she said, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper, "I don't want anyone interrupting our last moments together."

The words didn't make sense. My mind, clouded by pain and fear, couldn't process them.

She glided back to the bedside, her movements graceful and predatory. She leaned in close, her breath warm against my ear.

"Did you really think he loved you, Fae? Colten?" she whispered, the name a venomous caress. "He never loved you. He loves me."

My world tilted. The white room swam before my eyes.

"No," I choked out. "You're lying."

Heidi laughed, a low, triumphant sound. She reached into the pocket of her pristine dress and pulled out a small, dark glass vial. She held it up to the light.

"You've had such a difficult pregnancy, haven't you? No appetite. So weak." She tutted, a mockery of sympathy. "This special blend of herbs, just a few drops in your food every day, made sure of that. It's also made sure your precious pup will never draw its first breath."

The memory slammed into me. The "fortifying" broths Heidi had insisted on bringing me herself. The way she'd watch me drink them, smiling that same sweet smile.

A new kind of pain, sharp and final, lanced through my abdomen. It wasn't the pain of life, of a baby fighting its way into the world.

It was the agony of death.

A tear, hot and thick like blood, traced a path down my temple. "Why?" The word was a shattered remnant of a scream.

Her beautiful face twisted into a mask of pure, ugly envy. "Because you have everything I've ever wanted! Your name! Your bloodline! The position as Colten's Luna!"

Her hand, no longer gentle, pressed down on my swollen belly. Her touch was a brand of ice and fire.

"This child," she hissed, her eyes gleaming with a feverish greed, "is the last bond between you and him. Once it's gone, and you're gone, everything you have will be mine."

I tried to push her away, to fight, but my body was a traitor. The poison and the labor had stolen all my strength.

With a fluid motion, she produced a dagger from the folds of her skirt. The blade was silver, gleaming wickedly in the sterile light. Its edge was coated with a dark, viscous paste.

Wolfsbane.

My breath hitched. A death sentence for any of us.

I looked into my sister's eyes, the eyes I had trusted my entire life, and saw only a stranger. A monster.

One last time, I threw my consciousness against the dead wall of the mind-link, a final, desperate plea.

Colten!

Only emptiness answered.

Heidi savored the look on my face, the utter, soul-shattering despair. She drank it in like fine wine.

"Goodbye, my dear sister," she whispered, and raised the dagger high.

I closed my eyes, a single, silent prayer to the Goddess on my lips.