Chapter 11 Kieran's POV. "This is a hospital. Please keep it down! The patient is about to come out!" The invisible grip crushing me suddenly loosened, and the corridor fell silent again. Moments later, the operating room doors opened, and a team of healers wheeled out a bed. On the bed lay Cecelia, her eyes closed tight behind an oxygen mask, her face so pale there was not a trace of color left. Everyone rushed forward as the healer's voice came through his thick surgical mask. "The patient just finished her postpartum recovery and is carrying another pup again. Her body is extremely weak, and she needs three months of strict bed rest with no stress. If she loses this pup too, it'll be much harder for her to conceive again." The Elders' hearts rose and fell with the healer's words. When he finished speaking, their hearts sank to rock bottom. As the healer left, they hurried after him to his office to ask about medication and recovery treatments. The empty corridor was suddenly left with just me alone. I snapped back to reality. 'Elise! I have to go find her!' I lifted my head and started wheeling myself toward the exit. However, the next moment, Lucian's guards forcibly blocked my path. "Alpha, you should go see your Luna first." "Get lost," I said coldly, not moving an inch as I stared down the man in front of me. The guard remained stubbornly dutiful, his words brooking no argument. "Sorry, Alpha, but if you won't go willingly, we'll have to escort you there ourselves. After all, she's carrying your pup. Even if you won't see her, at least see your pup." I froze for a moment. The guard was right. Even though I could not stand Cecelia, she was still carrying my pup, a child with half my bloodline. Soon, I was wheeled to Cecelia's hospital room, and just as the guard was about to knock, voices drifted out from inside. "Mom, your fake miscarriage plan was brilliant. It worked perfectly to keep Kieran here again." It was Cecelia, but her voice was slick with calculation. I had never heard her speak like that before. Every word she said was sharp as ice. "Do you think if I make the pups have little accidents from time to time, Kieran will eventually stay for good out of concern for them?" The last sentence slithered into my ears like venom, fangs sinking deep into my nerves. 1/3 Chapter +25 Bonus My entire body went rigid instantly. Blood rushed to my head before freezing the next second, all warmth draining from my limbs. Bone-deep cold shot up from the soles of my feet, climbing along my spine and numbing my fingertips while shattering something I had always believed in. Seeing this, the guard quickly pulled his hands away from my wheelchair and stepped aside to avoid being involved. Soon, Helena's smug voice came from inside again. "Of course. Have you forgotten who I am? Elise is gone, but these tricks will still keep Kieran in your hands." My eyelids twitched, hard. "But don't go too far. They are your pups after all. With Tyra, just give her a little fever and make her cry a bit. Never poison her or drop her again. She's still your child. And the one in your belly, don't risk too much with this one either." "Don't worry, Mom, I know my limits. But I already promised Kieran that I'd let him leave after we had our wedding ceremony. Even though I managed to keep him here temporarily with this fake miscarriage, what about later? Kieran will still want to go find Elise eventually. What do I do then?" "Relax, I've already worked it out with Elder Lucian. We've sent her far, far away, where she'll never come back. We'll never let Kieran leave again. Just focus on your pregnancy, and once this pup is born, all of the Wolfe family's assets will belong to you and your pups. My eyes narrowed dangerously, and veins bulged on the back of my hands as they gripped the wheelchair. So that was it. All this time, I thought all the various problems Tyra kept having were caused by Elise. It was actually Cecelia and her mother. They did it with their own hands. Those pale, weakened faces when Tyra got sick, those trembling nights when she curled up in my arms seeking comfort, those crazed moments when Elise was beaten senseless over her condition. All those countless nights when I abandoned the woman I loved, letting Elise get punished again and again, while I sat by Cecelia's or Tyra's bedside, holding their hands and listening to Cecelia's sobs and the pup's cries. Back then, those moments had shattered what was left of my heart. Yet, every single moment and that suffocating agony had all been part of their plan. The world suddenly went silent. The sharp smell of disinfectant in the corridor disappeared, and the distant murmur of voices from the nurses' station vanished, leaving only the thunderous roar of my blood rushing through my eardrums. My stomach turned over violently, and a metallic taste surged into my throat, though I swallowed it back down. "Kieran, why are you standing there? Why haven't you gone in?" 2/3