CHAPTER 136: NO, THE CHILD.

CHAPTER 136: NO, THE CHILD.
~Livia’s POV~

The moment the Shadowborn slipped back into the chamber, I already knew something was wrong. They never returned this quickly. Never returned this quietly.

I straightened on the throne, chin lifted.

“Well?” I demanded. “Speak. Tell me Ava screamed. Tell me she cowered. Tell me she finally understands who controls her fate.”

The hooded figure knelt.

“My Queen…” His voice slithered like smoke. “We reached the rogue pack… as commanded.”

“And?” I snapped. “Do not make me repeat myself.”

“We found her,” he continued. “Asleep. Vulnerable. Alone.”

A slow smile spread across my face. “Good. Very good.”

“But…”

The word froze me.

My fingers tightened around the edge of the throne. “But… what?”

The Shadowborn hesitated. I could sense it, the fear. Even they knew not to keep me waiting.

“Speak!” I barked.

He flinched. “The child… the one inside her… it reacted.”

My smile vanished.

“Reacted?” I echoed. “How does an unborn child react? Explain yourself before I rip the truth out of you.”

The creature swallowed. “There was a… force. A burst of power. Ancient. Unfiltered. It repelled us.”

My heart lurched. “Repelled you?” I repeated in disbelief.

“Yes, my Queen. We could not touch her. The shadows were pushed back.”

“By what?” I hissed. “Ava has no such ability. She is nothing. Weak. Helpless. A mistake that should have died years ago.”

The Shadowborn looked up slowly. “It was not Ava who resisted us.”

A cold heaviness crawled up my spine.

“Then who?” I demanded. “Who in that miserable rogue pack could overpower you?”

Another pause. Another breath I did not like.

“The child,” he whispered. “Her child is protected… by another’s power. Another’s claim.”

My world went still.

Kieran.

Of course.

Of course that wretched prophecy would try to cling to life even while he lay in a coma. Even unconscious, he defied me. Even unable to move, he fought me.

I stood so fast the creature stumbled backward.

“Are you telling me,” I said slowly, voice trembling with rage, “that an unborn heir—Kieran’s heir—is strong enough to resist the Shadowborn?”

The creature nodded once.

My pulse thundered.

“And you…” I pointed at all three of them “...you ran? You returned empty-handed?”

A second Shadowborn stepped forward.

“We could not proceed, my Queen. The child bears the mark of the True Alpha. The old blood.”

My throat tightened.

The True Alpha bloodline.

Kieran’s bloodline.

The prophecy.

My prophecy.

I clenched my fists. “No,” I whispered. “I am queen now. I rule. I decide who lives and who dies. Not Kieran. Not Ava. And certainly not a child that cannot even draw breath yet.”

The Shadowborn remained kneeling, silent.

I paced in front of them, fury curling in my chest, twisting, suffocating.

“That child,” I said, “is my greatest threat. If it lives, the pack will turn against me. They will abandon the queen they crowned and run to the golden heir they waited for. I will not allow that. Do you understand?”

“We do,” they murmured.

“Then why are you still kneeling?” I snapped. “Why are you still breathing? Go back. Go back and finish what you failed to do.”

The leader shook his head slowly.

“It is not possible, my Queen. The child’s protector is stronger than us.”

“Protector?” I echoed. “Who protects an unborn child? Explain!”

The creature lifted his empty gaze toward me. “His father. His bond. His spirit.”

A chill sliced through me.

Kieran.

He was in a coma—barely alive—yet his spirit shielded Ava from across territories?

Impossible.

Impossible… and yet true.

Shadowborn never lied.

I swallowed hard, anger burning up my throat. “So even dying,” I whispered, “Kieran chooses her. Even dying, he raises his sword against me.”

A strange sound bubbled in my throat, half laugh, half rage.

“Fine. Let him protect her,” I said. “Let him bleed his soul dry. Because when he wakes, if he wakes, he will find everything gone. His council. His throne. His warriors. His pack. All mine.”

The Shadowborn bowed their heads but did not move.

My glare snapped toward them.

“What now? Why are you still here?”

The leader shifted uneasily. “There is… more, my Queen.”

“More?” I hissed. “What more could there possibly be?”

“The child…” he whispered. “Is no longer only in Ava’s care.”

I stilled.

Slowly, I stepped forward.“What did you just say?”

The creature bowed deeper.“The child’s aura is split. A second force surrounds it. Someone else has touched it. Someone else has laid claim.”

My stomach knotted.

“Who?” I asked. “Who else dares? Speak!”

“We could not see the face,” he answered. “But a foreign power has mingled with the heir’s shield. Someone has reached the child. Someone not Ava. Not Kieran.”

My pulse stopped.

“You mean…” I said slowly, “Someone else has access to my enemy’s heir?”

“Yes, my Queen.”

My breath shook.

Who?