* * *
Dread.
That's all she felt course through body and heart at the realization that she'd been betrayed.
Her womb had betrayed her.
Her heat shouldn't have blessed her at such a time, not with the horrors going on in their world. And like a fool, she believed that everything would be alright, that everything would be okay.
But it hadn't. The people outside her cage watched like hawks.
Inspecting, dissecting, and injecting. All of it.
The pain she had endured for the last few weeks had been hell on earth.
How could she wish the same for her own pup?
At first, she had contemplated just ending it all, giving in to the rouge calling that began to fester deep inside her. But that would leave her pup-less, and her wolf was ever more protective of such an innocent life.
The bond with her mate was close to nothing after what she'd endured before her imprisonment. Her body was weak and closed to starved.
She held the blanket over her shoulders and closed her eyes, praying to the goddess above that her pup would be alright, that they would survive the tortures that were yet to come. As well as trying to dream of being somewhere else--Anywhere else, other than the suppressive concrete flooring and silver laced bars.
*
The sharp scream echoed off the soundproof walls as it relieved some of the pain. Some, not all.
A pup having survived all these months in such harsh conditions had been both a blessing and a curse. Everything had been thrown to the mother wolf in terms of testing endurance.
Her thoughts always fell back onto the rouge calling, wondering if it had been the better choice than going through the final trimester. But the pup had given her such hope, a reminder of her mate's love that she couldn't let them go so easily.
She leaned back further onto the operating table and allowed the tears to let loose, all in the hope that the pain would stop soon. That there was an end to it all.
But there hadn't been any sign of relief.
Those outside the tall four walls had studied her wolf and senses to the core. And she could no longer hide her secret when the newfound attitude and defensiveness suggested that she was pregnant.
Those behind the pristine lab coats had celebrated, there would be a new specimen at no extra work or cost to capture.
It was antagonizing with her mate so far away and disconnected when this should be a joyous moment. She should be following a different ritual instead of being surrounded by those that didn't care if she was in pain or not.
However, the sudden wail of a baby steadied her breath. Her eyes narrowed to the nurse who held her child and the another who cut the cord that connected the mother to her pup.
Patches collected in her vision, and she attempted all she could to lay a proper glance at what her pup looked like.
"Luna...Your pup." The doctor had offered up, disgust trailing at each word they said to the dog on his operating table. The small bundle of life smelled so heavenly of newborn to the woman, causing her wolf to purr in delight as she soaked in the scent.
The moment was short-lived as those surrounding the birthing table were scrambling to take notes and samples from the mother and her child.
Hardly two minutes old, they injected her pup with a needle, causing the babe to howl out to its mother in a desperate plea.
Had Luna's hands not been strapped down to prior incidences...Then she would've ended the bitch who decide to prink her baby. But then the painstaking dread had sunk in again. Knowing that all her pup's life would amount to is this.
Nothing but blood samples, shifting when told and being constantly watched and studied.
Another tear escaped Luna's lashes as she attempted to calm her wolf. Still, a mother's love was everything, if not more powerful enough to rip apart these bindings.
And she had done just that.
Even in her state, she gathered up all her strength and yanked the doctor right down to eye level with her fangs elongated in warning. "My pup. Now." Was all Luna had ordered, her eyes pooling of pure darkness in demand, noting that this room would face a tremendous loss if she did not get her way.
Everyone in the room was higher ranking, so the male doctor took the bundle from the nurse and handed the baby off to its rightful place.
"Not male." Someone whispered off in the back, an intern perhaps, but Luna didn't care. Not when her daughter had finally graced this unfair world.
Her family would've loved this moment just as much as she was right now, having a daughter to add to the family name.
"Sage..." The mother whispered, sniffling due to the combined hormones and emotion in seeing the product of her and her mate's love.
But they would never meet. They would never know one another.
Unfortunately, one of the interns had tattled out to the doctor about Luna's plan following the birth.
And that was the last time mother and daughter would see one another.
______
Date: 10-01-2020
Time: 10:17
Words: 782
______
EDITED:
DATES: 07-18-2021
WORDS:876