Chapter 21 Theo's Birth
The head healer, Iris, looked up from between Celeste's legs, her face grim. Blood soaked the sheets, too much blood. Celeste's screams had turned to weak whimpers, her strength fading with each contraction.
"The baby is breech." Iris's voice cut through the chaos. "And the cord is wrapped. I need to turn him manually or we'll lose them both."
"Do it." Adrian's voice was hollow. "Save them."
"Your Majesty, if I turn the baby wrong, the cord could strangle him. If I don't turn him, neither will survive the birth." Iris met his eyes. "You need to understand what I'm saying. I might have to choose."
The words hung in the air like a death sentence. Adrian's face went white. Through the bond, Lila felt his absolute terror, his mind fracturing at the impossible choice forming.
"Save the baby." Celeste gasped, reaching for Adrian's hand. "If you have to choose, save our son."
"No." Adrian gripped her hand. "I won't lose you."
"You have to." Tears streamed down her face. "The kingdom needs an heir. Promise me, Adrian. Promise you'll save our baby."
Eighteen hours the labor continued. Lila stayed despite the guards trying to remove her, despite Councilor Thorne appearing to demand she leave. Adrian needed her. She felt it through the bond, felt him holding onto her presence like an anchor while his world fell apart.
Celeste's screams grew weaker. The healers worked frantically, their magic glowing blue as they tried to turn the baby, tried to save both lives. Blood soaked through sheets faster than servants could change them. The metallic smell of it filled the room, mixed with fear and desperation.
"I'm losing her pulse." One healer called out. "She's fading."
"The baby's heartbeat is dropping." Another answered. "We're running out of time."
Adrian stood frozen, holding Celeste's hand, his face carved from stone. Through the bond, Lila felt his agony. This was his fault. His child endangering his wife. His inability to love her making her seek comfort elsewhere. Everything that led to this moment traced back to decisions he'd made.
"Your Majesty." Iris looked up, her hands still working. "I need your decision. The baby is in distress. The Queen is losing too much blood. I can save one with certainty or risk both trying to save them together. You must choose."
"Save them both." Adrian's voice broke. "There has to be a way."
"There isn't." Iris's voice was gentle but firm. "Not with the complications we're facing. So I'm asking you as your healer and as someone who cares about you. Who lives and who dies?"
Celeste's eyes found Adrian's. "Our son. Promise me."
"I can't lose you." Adrian's tears fell onto their joined hands. "I can't watch you die."
"You won't love me, but you don't want me dead." Celeste's laugh was weak and bitter. "I'll take it." She looked at Iris. "Save my baby. Let me do one thing right in this disaster of a marriage."
"No." Lila moved forward before she could stop herself. "There's another way."
Everyone turned to look at her. Iris frowned. "What way?"
"My healing." Lila's voice shook. "I have some ability. Not much, but enough. I can help stabilize Celeste while you work on the baby."
"You're not trained." Iris protested. "You could do more harm than good."
"I'm a wolf. We have natural healing ability when it comes to pack." Lila moved to the bedside. "And Celeste is my sister. That makes her pack." She looked at Adrian. "Let me try. Please."
Adrian studied her face, then nodded once. Through the bond, she felt his desperate hope mixed with terror.
Lila placed her hands on Celeste's chest, over her heart. She closed her eyes and reached for her wolf, for the small healing gift her father had called useless. Energy flowed from her into Celeste, warm and golden, stabilizing the failing heartbeat.
"Her pulse is strengthening." A healer called out, surprised.
"Keep doing whatever you're doing." Iris ordered Lila, then turned her attention fully to the baby. "I'm turning him now. This will hurt."
Celeste screamed. Lila poured more energy into her, feeling her own strength draining but not stopping. Through the bond, Adrian fed her his wolf's power, letting it flow through their connection into Lila and then into Celeste.
"The cord is free." Iris's voice carried relief. "He's turned. One more push, Your Majesty. One more and you'll meet your son."
Celeste gathered what remained of her strength. Pushed with everything she had left. A baby's cry split the air, thin and weak but alive.
"It's a boy." Iris held up the tiny infant, no bigger than both her hands. "Prince Theo. Small but breathing."
Healers swarmed the baby, cleaning him, checking him, wrapping him in soft blankets. Adrian moved between Celeste and the infant, torn between wife and child. Lila stepped back, letting her healing fade, nearly collapsing from exhaustion.
Maya caught her. "You did it. They're both alive."
Against all odds, both survived. Celeste lay pale and weak but breathing. Baby Theo wailed in a healer's arms, tiny but furious at being born. The room exhaled collectively, crisis averted by the narrowest of margins.
"Let me see him." Celeste's voice was barely a whisper. "Let me see my son."
Iris brought the baby to her. Celeste cradled the tiny bundle against her chest, tears streaming down her face. "Hello, Theo. Hello, my beautiful boy."
Adrian stood beside them, one hand on Celeste's shoulder, staring at his son with wonder and terror. This tiny creature, this fragile life, was his responsibility now. His heir. His future.
"Thank you." Celeste looked at Lila. "You saved us both."
"I just helped." Lila's voice was weak. "The healers did the real work."
"You gave me strength when I had none left." Celeste's eyes held genuine gratitude. "You saved my baby's life." She looked at Adrian. "Our baby's life."
Three days later, when Celeste had recovered enough to allow visitors, Lila went to the nursery. She told herself she was just checking on her nephew, making sure he was healthy. But part of her needed to see the child who'd nearly killed her sister. Needed to understand what this tiny creature meant for all their futures.
Theo lay in an ornate cradle, sleeping peacefully. He was so small, his features still forming, but already she could see Adrian in the shape of his nose, the set of his jaw.
Lila reached down, touched his tiny hand with one finger. Theo's eyes opened.
Ice-blue. Exactly like Adrian's. Exactly like the eyes that haunted her dreams.
And then she felt it. Not the mate bond. Something different. A connection snapping into place between her and this infant. Recognition. Acceptance. Theo's wolf, tiny and undeveloped, reaching out to her wolf and claiming her as pack.
As family.
The sensation was overwhelming. Lila gasped, nearly pulling back. But Theo's hand wrapped around her finger with surprising strength, holding on. His eyes stayed locked on hers, ancient wisdom in an infant's face.
He knew. Somehow, this three-day-old baby knew she was connected to his father. Knew she belonged to their pack. Knew she was important in ways he couldn't possibly understand but accepted anyway.
"He likes you." A servant spoke from the doorway. "He's been fussy with everyone except the King. But he went quiet the moment you touched him."
Lila couldn't speak. Couldn't process what she was feeling. This bond was different from the mate bond but no less powerful. Theo had claimed her as his, and her wolf had accepted without hesitation.
She was bound now. Not just to Adrian through the mate bond. But to his son through pack bonds that ran deeper than blood. There was no escaping this family, even if she'd wanted to.
Theo yawned, his tiny mouth opening wide, then settled back into sleep. But his hand stayed wrapped around Lila's finger. Holding on. Refusing to let go.
Just like his father.