Rise of the Forbidden Luna

Chapter 27: The Secrets of the Infirmary

The sterile, bitter scent of crushed eucalyptus and antiseptic flooded my senses as the heavy glass doors of the infirmary slid open.

True to his possessive vow, Alpha Ethan had not let me step out of the master suite without his shadow looming directly over me. He marched beside me through the pristine, white marble corridors, surrounded by a tight vanguard of elite enforcers. His large hand was anchored firmly on the small of my back, his intense warmth bleeding through my clothes. The sheer forced proximity made my pulse race frantically, a fresh wave of early morning pregnancy nausea fluttering deep in my belly. I clenched my jaw, swallowing down the sickness and locking my icy mask of indifference in place. He cannot suspect a thing, I reminded myself.

We stopped in front of the highest-security medical suite at the end of the wing. Two armed guards bowed instantly, throwing the double doors open.

My breath caught completely in my throat as my eyes landed on the bed. "Dad," I whispered, the cold facade I had built completely shattering as raw, unadulterated emotion flooded my chest.

Marcus lay beneath the white linens, hooked up to monitors. His face was still heavily bruised and pale from the dungeon trauma, but his chest was rising and falling in a steady, healing rhythm. I broke away from Ethan’s grip, sprinting across the room and collapsing on my knees beside the mattress. My hands shook violently as I clutched his calloused, scarred fingers against my cheek, hot tears stinging my eyes.

"Aria..." Marcus croaked out weakly, his eyelids fluttering open as his fingers weakly squeezed mine back. A wave of profound relief washed over his battered features, but the moment his gaze drifted past my shoulder, his entire body suddenly went rigid with terror.

He was staring directly at Alpha King Ethan, who stood towering in the doorway, his gold-flecked amber eyes watching our reunion with a quiet, unyielding gravity.

"He is safe here, Father," I murmured softly, trying to soothe the frantic spiking of his heart monitor. "Ethan pulled us out of Richard’s territory. He ensured the Richard and his cohorts will pay for what they did to us."

Ethan let out a low, solemn breath, his gravelly baritone vibrating through the room. "I will leave you two to speak in privacy. I must consult with the head physician regarding his recovery metrics." He gave me one final, deeply possessive look that turned my blood to liquid fire before stepping out of the suite, the heavy doors clicking shut behind him.

The exact second the latch locked, the weakness vanished from my father's eyes. Moving with a sudden, desperate strength, Marcus lunged forward, his trembling fingers clamping around my wrist with an iron grip that made me gasp. He pulled my ear straight down to his cracked lips, his breathing ragged and terrified.

"Aria, listen to me very carefully," Marcus whispered fiercely, his eyes darting toward the closed door in absolute panic. "There is a dark lore that every pack whispers about,

It is an ancient, unbroken generational curse on the Lycan King’s bloodline."

My heart stumbled violently against my ribs, cold dread crashing through my veins. "What are you talking about, Dad?"

"Every woman who carries the firstborn heir of the reigning Lycan King dies the exact moment she gives birth," Marcus hissed deathly softly, a cold sweat breaking across his battered forehead. "It happened to Ethan’s mother. It happened to his grandmother, and the one before her. The royal crown is fueled by a dark curse that demands the life of the mother in exchange for the firstborn's power. It has never been broken, Aria. The moment my body is recovered enough to walk, we must flee this palace and leave Ethan's territory forever, before he can ever make you his true mate."

A suffocating, icy horror seized my chest, completely paralyzing my lungs. I sat frozen on my knees, the room tilting dangerously on its axis as my father's words echoed like a death sentence in my mind.

Marcus stared into my wide, horrified eyes, entirely unaware of the crushing truth. He didn't know that his desperate warning was already too late. He didn't know that I was already carrying Ethan's child.

My hand instinctively slid beneath the heavy linen sheets, my fingers trembling violently as I flattened my palm over my stomach in pure, unadulterated terror. I am already pregnant, the terrifying whisper screamed inside my soul. I am carrying his firstborn heir. If this curse is real... I am already a dead woman walking.