1

The frantic thudding of their footsteps echoed off the forest floor. The sound of heavy breathing and the sharp crack of the branches whipping against their bare arms were clearly audible to the trained ears of the royal guard. Even the smell of fear and the panicked beating of their hearts were all detectable to their pursuers. 

They’d lost track of time— couldn’t distinguish if they’d been running for hours, days, or their whole lives, but they knew it wouldn’t be long until they were caught. 

Just a little more. 

They just needed to go a little farther, and they could at least save their baby.

12 hours earlier

“My lady, try to relax. Remember to breathe.”

MiSun attended her mistress as well as she could. This was the first birth the young beta had ever witnessed, and she didn’t quite know what to do. Honestly, the lady in waiting was very worried that she would either faint or vomit at any moment. 

MiSun sat at the bedside of the nobleman and his wife, who was now deep in labor, and she  dabbed the expectant mother’s brow with a cool towel to keep her as comfortable as possible. While MiSun sat anxiously wishing for all this to be over, she looked around the luxurious room with its long curtains framing the floor to ceiling windows, the handwoven carpets that were carefully laid upon the floor, and the deep mahogany four poster bed where her mistress currently lay in labor. And she also studied the people within:  Lady SooAh slightly writhing and groaning in pain, the nobleman who kissed his wife’s forehead and whispered quiet encouragements in her ear, and the ancient midwife, Mother HyunYi, who slowly circled the room as she prayed to whatever spirits she believed in to help keep the mother and baby safe throughout the birthing process. 

Who would have known that the real threat sat among them, wiping the sweat of the mother-to-be?

“Lady SooAh, it’s time to push.” 

The midwife’s aged, croaky voice was a stark contrast to the soft sounds of discomfort coming from the woman in labor on the bed. 

Finally! This was the moment SooAh had waited for her whole life— the moment she would become a mother and have a pup of her very own to love and cherish. Even during the painful contractions, images of nursing her baby, hugging and kissing her baby, teaching her baby to walk, and a whole lifetime of images passed before SooAh’s eyes. 

Although the cramping was almost unbearable at this point, no complaints passed her lips. Instead she only uttered short prayers of petition and thanksgiving:

Please gods, keep my baby safe. I already love my baby so much. Thank you gods. Thank you.

The old woman situated herself in front of the mother-to-be and explained how she was to push. Holding on to her husband and lady-in-waiting’s hands, SooAh did as she was told— bearing down when she was instructed to bear down, breathing and resting when she was instructed to breathe and rest. The minutes passed in this way, until finally the crushing pressure was relieved, and SooAh threw her head back in exhaustion. 

The excitement in the room was palpable, but in the few seconds between when the old woman tugged the baby free and the mother asked to see her child, the midwife, having delivered hundreds of babies over the last 60 years, caught a glimpse of something she prayed she would never see again, yet something she had painstakingly prepared herself to handle if she ever did. 

Fixing her expression, the old woman carefully swaddled the newborn in a blanket. She trained her eyes and her scent to hide any sadness or fear, and plastering a smile on her face, she finally spoke, 

“It’s a boy, Lady SooAh and Lord JiHoon. Congratulations.”

SooAh reached out her hands, and all of the pain and exhaustion she felt just moments ago were completely forgotten. 

“A boy!  A little boy!” SooAh half cried and half laughed, as she grasped the tiny bundle in her arms. Her husband, by her side, tried to hold back his own tears.  

“OH! Let me see him!” squealed MiSun, but as she craned her neck to look at the little boy, the old woman sternly called out her name. 

“MiSun… you will have time to see the baby in just a minute, right now I need you to go fetch me more warm water and clean towels.”

“But Mother HyunYi, I only want to see the baby for a second.”

“Not yet. I need them now—  unless you want your mistress to lose more blood and go into distress.”

“Of course I don’t want that halmeoni, but it’ll only ta…”

“NOW MiSun.” 

And with that tone of finality from Mother HyunYi, MiSun resigned herself to seeing the baby later on. Hell, considering her position in the household, it was very likely MiSun would be caring for the baby the majority of the time anyway. There would be plenty of time to study his tiny nose and teeny toes when she got back, but just as she stood to leave, MiSun thought she noticed something very strange— something shiny. Was it the baby’s eyes? It couldn’t be. It must have been the sun reflecting off something within the room... because there was no wolf in the world with eyes that color.

“MiSun, hurry please!” 

The old woman interrupted the young maid’s train of thought, and shaking her head, MiSun made her way out of the room. 

The moment the door closed the old woman sprang up— adrenaline giving her energy and speed that belied her 70 plus years. 

“Lady SooAh and Lord Jihoon, please listen to me very carefully. Your lives and the life of your son depend on you doing exactly as I say.”

The couple were shocked by the sudden change in demeanor from the old woman.

“Halmeoni, what are you talking about?” SooAh clutched her baby deeper into her chest.

The old woman was scavenging through the large medical bag she had brought with her and took out a smaller pouch made of old, stiff leather. Opening the pouch she took out a necklace, from which hung a very large amethyst with strange symbols carved into it.

^^^ To be continue... ^^^

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