My Baby and I Died in Labor While He Celebrated Hers Chapter 5

Celeste’s POV

Consciousness emerged slowly from the darkness. I felt warmth enveloping me, and the familiar scent of lavender filled the air. This wasn't that bloody water cell. This wasn't the freezing dungeon—

I was home. At the Fenris Pack estate.

"My baby..." I forced my eyes open, my voice rasping like a broken bellows. "How is my baby?"

A chair scraped nearby, and a warm hand pressed against my forehead.

"Celeste, my precious girl..." My father Montgomery's voice was thick with anguish.

"Daddy?" I struggled to sit up. "Where's my baby? Is she okay? Let me see her!"

Deafening silence.

My father's hand trembled slightly. His eyes held a grief I'd never seen before. "The doctors did everything they could... She was too small..."

*No.*

"I tried everything, but I still couldn't save my baby..." I buried my face in my hands and sobbed. "It's all my fault! If I hadn't been so stubborn, if I'd listened to you..."

"Her death is not your fault!" My father's voice turned fierce with anger. "It was the wolfsbane! If they hadn't injected you with wolfsbane, my people would have arrived in time to save you both!"

Wolfsbane.

The image of that nurse's cruel smile flashed through my mind, along with that syringe full of green liquid. I had told Caspian they'd injected me with wolfsbane. He didn't believe me.

*He thought I was acting. That I was lying.*

Rage boiled up inside me like magma. I clenched my fists. "I hate him. I hate Caspian Thorne with everything I have."

"That fool is probably searching everywhere for us right now, trying to kill us," I said with a bitter laugh.

A glint of satisfaction crossed my father's eyes. "I left a fake body in your place. That idiot probably thinks you and your daughter are both dead."

"From this day forward," my father's voice was low and commanding, "Caspian Thorne's life no longer includes my daughter or my grandchild."

I stared at him in shock. He had planned everything.

"We owe our survival to that Omega in the manor," he continued. "That girl was clever. Even though you never told her who I was, she sent the same message to every Alpha with a daughter your age: 'The lavender princess needs her guardians.' I knew immediately it had to be you—and that you were in danger. Your love for lavender gave you away."

Thinking of Lilith dying to save me, my heart shattered all over again. "She died because of me..."

"I've already arranged for her family," my father said gently. "They'll live in comfort for the rest of their lives. As for Cassius, the one who did this to you..."

A murderous light flickered in his eyes. "I've already killed him. They think he committed suicide out of guilt. Too easy a death for him. He deserved to be torn apart."

Cassius was dead. The demon who had tortured me had finally gotten what he deserved.

"Daddy, I was wrong..." I choked out. "Please forgive me. I shouldn't have hidden my identity for a man who wasn't worth it..."

"My foolish daughter." Dad pulled me into his arms. "How could I ever blame you? But I swear, I will avenge you. The Zephyr Pack dared to harm the Alpha King's only bloodline—they will pay for this."

---

Three days later, I stood on a quiet hillside.

Far from the noise of the city, ancient oaks surrounded the clearing, and sunlight filtered through the leaves in dappled patterns.

A small gravestone stood there in silence. The inscription read: **"Esme Pemberton, Beloved Daughter"**

Esme. The name I had chosen for her. It meant "beloved" and "precious."

"I wanted you to be loved so much, my darling," I whispered, tracing the letters with my fingertips. "To be cherished..."

I sat before the grave all day, until nightfall.

Moonlight bathed the stone. I closed my eyes and imagined a little girl running through a meadow, hair streaming behind her, laughter like silver bells. She would call me Mommy and beg for candy. When I was sick, she would tuck me in with her tiny hands...

But none of that would ever happen.

"From this day forward," I rose, cold fire burning in my eyes, "I am no longer that Omega who debased herself for love. I am the Alpha King's daughter. I am the future heir of the Fenris Pack."

---

A week later, my body had mostly recovered.

I was in my father's study, poring over intelligence on the Zephyr Pack. I needed to file a formal complaint with the Werewolf Council and bring Caspian down.

Then a DNA report caught my eye, and I went rigid.

The father of Genevieve's child—was Cassius.

I fought through my shock and kept reading. What I found next was even more horrifying.

That so-called "labor-delay" medication, according to the medical records, was designed to cause severe fetal asphyxiation. It wasn't meant to ease contractions. It was meant to suffocate a baby inside its mother.

And Genevieve had known all along.

Not only that—she was the one who had convinced Caspian to inject me. The wolfsbane had been her idea too.

My hands began to shake uncontrollably.

"So that's how it was..." A cold, mirthless laugh escaped me. "She killed my daughter to make her own child the heir. And that fool Caspian let her play him like a puppet."

I slammed the files on the desk. "Pathetic. Absolutely pathetic."

A dangerous gleam entered my father's eyes. "What do you want to do?"

"I'm going to take everything back with my own hands," I met his gaze, vengeance blazing in mine. "Everyone who hurt me and my child will pay the price."

"Genevieve. Caspian. The entire Zephyr Pack..." I spoke each name like a verdict. "I'm going to show them what happens when you cross the Alpha King's daughter."