A lightning dark sky was replaced by charged clouds and was followed by a woman's scream.
The room was bright, lit by candlesticks.
Armed men dressed in black tunics with the emblem of the crescent moon guarded the place.
Cassie screamed again when pain swept through her body with a feeling that it was ripping through her.
Something was wrong.
It was not yet time, only a spell cast on her for the capture accelerated the moment. She contracted, biting her lip with a terrible perception of what was going to happen.
*God, please don't. Not now ...*
She was lying on a table in the centre of the room, surrounded by women, who prevented her from escaping. Her body writhed in painful contractions in her abdomen and back. They were becoming frequent and intense. The baby was going to be born.
Ah, sir, that was not a false alarm. She screamed again in horror when she felt the bag break.
*Richard...*, thought with despair.
-The baby will be born. Come on, push.
She bit her lip so hard she tasted blood.
James Macgrover further away just watched.
He was going to take the baby away as soon as the child was born. There was nothing she could do to stop it.
-Mayra, please ...- a young girl became stiff.
The gipsy stared at her indifferently.
- There's no point fighting. The bag burst. Push yourself. - a woman ordered without showing any emotion.
-No !!! -she shouted again in despair. It was just like in her visions.
That nightmare had become real. She couldn't keep her cool. The baby was still two months away, but what terrified me the most was the baby's movement. The musculature of the lower abdomen contracted once more.
-Power yourself. I think I can see the child's head. - Mayra exulted.
Cassie tried unsuccessfully to kick her to get the woman away. Strong hands immobilized her by the ankles.
*Rick, where are you? I need you...*
.-I'll kill you.- she swore as she gripped the sheet tightly. - I swear I'll kill you. Get away from me.
She was breathing hard with fear.
There was no way to protect her beautiful baby from that monstrous man. Cassie was scared, nervous and angry. All this and a little more. What were they going to do with the child? She was breathing too fast. The air did not seem to reach the lungs.
-Breathe. Slow down. Let's go. Inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth. It won't be long now.
Cassie was sure she was suffocating. Without protection from the wolves, Philip easily managed to win as Glenhouse's defensive walls. She still didn't know if Faith was still alive or her niece. The pressure increased in the spine region.
-Not so, you fool. Push when I tell you to. Push when the contraction eases.
-No!- Cassie gasped.
She experiences horror, knowing that she would no longer see a child, looking at Philip's hateful countenance. He hated that man. He was a monster.
*Richard!*
-Please, Phil... Don't do that. - she pleaded however bitter it was.
Despair now enveloped her in its grip of terror. As soon as the attack began, the guards had protected women, old men, and children in the hope of buying time. An escort of Scarlet men was already available on the outskirts of the forest surrounding the castle.
Richard.
Rick had to be among them. Only he could prevent Philip from disappearing with their son.
She wondered if it would make any difference to her husband after she was born as the coven regent's natural daughter. In three months, he hadn't even looked for her. Exhaustion began to overwhelm her.
-He is arrested. Come on, push.
-Don't hurt the baby. Please ... - she shouted at the height of distress.
It was useless to resist. The child was going to be born. Nothing in the world would change the tragic situation. Tears welled up in her eyes.
-Hell. The child is sitting.- a brief feeling of compassion threatened to strike Mayra.
She almost helped the child, tried to hold the buttocks and back that were hanging. It could kill or encourage a little one to breathe and choke on the liquid in the placenta.
-Come on, push. You are a goddamn wolf. - the woman was impatient. - The head is stuck. Scream, but push, unhappy.
Cassie bit her lip again. She didn't have the strength for that anymore. Maybe it wasn't so bad that she or a child died. Phil needed both her and the child for the ritual.
-I need the child alive, Mayra. It serves me nothing dead. -Philip complained angrily.
Throughout the castle, his men led by Valerius advanced, causing destruction and terror. He was impatiently waiting for the moment to have the child. In your power. Her blood was powerful enough to put the Pieces of Four together.
-Please, Philip. Do not do it.
Cassie was crying. Did he intend to sacrifice the child?
*Rick, where are you?*
Her thought echoed without response in an oppressive silence.
-Come on, breathe slowly. Deep. And push. It doesn't take much. The baby will be born.
-I can not.
- Get it! - the gipsy was starting to get nervous. - He's Morgan's son. She won't let the child die. It will bring that child into the world.
She noticed the body retracted with a new contraction when the girl pushed again hard.
There was a kind of momentary relief from the pain and Cassie left her head hanging over the pillows without any force.
A quantity of hot liquid soaked the sheets under the young woman as the cold enveloped her.
-I got it. It's a boy! - Mayra smiled contentedly and her face tightened.
The mother with all that horror was bleeding.
She wasn't going to survive. Mayra took a knife that was heated by the fire and cut the umbilical cord before holding the child, wiping his nose and mouth. The baby let out a high-pitched, furious cry of protest. Mayra sighed as she wrapped the little one in warm blankets for the first time with remorse.
-James, Phil!.... - Her voice was doubtful.
-The baby ... Leave the baby ... - Cassie despite the enormous fatigue showed a weak smile on her dejected face. –I want to hold ...
Indifferent to his mother's requests, Phil approached and looked at the newborn. A boy. Had a chance to have an heir of his blood to inherit his lands and inherit his legacy. Only much more was at stake. Power. He longed for the original forbidden power.
The child was the light of the creation of the ritual. He watched the child capture its animal nature. He was not just a wizard. He had the curse in his blood like the damned father.
He was a half-breed. His blood was not pure.
-Give me a child, Mayra.
The count held out his arms to an indecisive gipsy. Very pale Cassie had finally passed out.
-Phil, she will die ... - Mayra protested mortified. - Your daughter is dying!
Philip contracted like angry features. He pulled the child violently from the woman's arms, indifferent to the disorienting cry. The boy was screaming furiously now.
-It is not my daughter. Willian's daughter ... - he spoke dryly. The damn girl has always rejected us since she learned of her origins.
The gipsy stared at him in disbelief. Despite everything, she loved Morgan. She had made many mistakes because of that love. The boy was the son of the man she loved. Richard Morgan would never forgive her if something happened to the little one. The boy's mother was forgotten in a pool of blood, life draining away quickly.
She was a wolf, but wolves did not heal when deprived of food. She was not safe in the Scarlet castle and Morgan had argued with his wife after learning that the girl was the daughter of his enemy.
Mayra did not hesitate once to tell this. She knew that Cassie was going to reveal the truth, but was jealous and rejected and anticipated.
She watched with remorse as the child was handed over to the soldiers without any care. God, he was born just now. It needed to be heated and fed.
-You're going to kill the child, Phil. You need a love dry to take care of the boy. The ritual will not work if the child is dead. - she appealed.
She was a woman. She had seen the mother's desperation to know that the child would be taken out of her arms as soon as she was born. The girl had resisted until the end believing in a miracle that did not happen.
The wolves had not arrived in time.
-JAMES!PHILIP!
The unfortunate man without paying attention was leaving the room with his men after reaching goals without looking at his dying daughter. It was unbelievable. It took a few moments for her to make up her mind.
She ran to Kassuim, holding the knife that previously separated the umbilical cord between mother and son. She couldn't believe what she was doing.
-Come on, wake up. You're not going to die like that, you unfortunate. You are a goddamn wolf. Wolves have healing skills. It can heal. Try to heal yourself. Your child needs you. You need to buy time until Rick arrives.
Mayra had the impression that it was shaking a lifeless body. She was very cold. There was an enormous amount of blood. Determined, she gripped the knife tightly, sliding the blade around her wrist.
-Wake up. Try to react. Blood. You can heal if you drink.
The gipsy screamed desperately. It was too late.
The girl did not react. In distress, she brought her cut wrist to her red, cracked lips, leaving the blood running through her half-open mouth.
-You're going to tell Richard that I'm sorry, do you hear? - she was crying herself. - Come on, you damn wolf. You need to drain my veins. Human blood, Cassie. It will provide enough strength for you to heal. Drink it.
Mayra was sure it was too late.
It had taken too long to decide to correct an endless list of errors.
It was not possible to live and face Morgan knowing that she was responsible for the death of his only son. A child he had never even seen.
It's all your fault.
-KASSUIM!
A muffled cry escaped the gipsy as she leaned on the bed next to the half-dead woman. Still, the smile lit up her face.
Sharp fangs penetrated her skin, deepening in her flesh. She leaned heavily against a table that served as a makeshift bed.
Her last thought was for the pack leader.
That he could forgive her. Closing her eyes, she felt herself falling to the floor. Even so, she still heard the furious growl followed by an agonized howl that ran through the deadly silence of that deserted tower.
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The ancient writings were lost, but the ancient prophecy spoke: "the birth of a child with a teardrop of surrender".
Someone with enough power to bring life back to those who died cursed.
The sorceress walks among wolves.
The harvest needs tribute.
Innocent blood must be spilt.
The baby would have a mark, blessing or curse, born when a black moon ascends to the heavens ... "
I can offer what you most want. A life with those you love. Don't ask for anything that big. Or difficult.
Behold the sands of time, past and future...