The Rejected Luna’s Prince By Aurora Archer Chapter 78

The Rejected Luna’s Prince By Aurora Archer

Chapter Epilogue 1

(Caspien)

Willa and Emmett through me through a loop. I felt a different kind of love, a different flavor of protectiveness. I loved my parents and admired them more than anyone.

Holden and Griffen I loved in a way, as well. They were sturdy, always there, and outside of my parents, the only people I could trust to give me their honest opinions. The only ones that weren’t scared of me, at least.

I was protective, and so was Atlas, but I knew that came with the territory of being an Alpha and a royal at that.

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I had never felt fear quite like this, though. It was similar to when Emmett was sick, but back then, I held on to some ignorant hope that he would be okay – and he was.

Seeing Willa like this, she looked, she looked close to death. Her hair was damp with sweat; her full pink lips were paler than her skin. She swallowed and her eyes seemed to roll back.

“Breath, baby.” I motioned for the nurse to hand me another cold compress that I pressed to her head, trying in vain to wipe her dark tendrils away from her forehead.

Her head lulled forward, and she gripped my arm, but it was a whisper of the strength she possessed only hours ago. I would take the yelling, the screaming, over this. I would take anything over this. She seemed defeated, so consumed by the pain that I could barely reach her. I wish I could do something, take it away if only a little.

She already yelled that she saw me practically die so I could deal with this. I would have laughed if I hadn’t been so scared. I wanted her to s.cream to hit me to curse me. Anything that showed me she was still in there, but this just seemed wrong. They all a*s*sured me this was normal, but nothing about it seemed natural. Who had the idea of condemning women to t.orture just to give new life? I would have to talk to them about it.

“Is she okay?” I asked the nurse, scanning her face for any sign of worry, but she just wore a pleasant smile.

“Perfectly normal. She’s close.” She smiled widely and it grated me.

How dare she smile while my mate was in such pain? An older version of myself, before I met Willa, would have snapped at her and banned her from the room, possibly from the pack.

“Baby?” I asked Willa and her head lulled towards me.

A doctor and more nurses came in on cue. I guess she was really close. I just wanted this to be over for her.

“Are you ready, Dad?” The doctor asked, and I looked at him. Ready for what?

S*hi*t.

Wait. We were going to have another kid. A baby. I didn’t think about that part. I forgot what all of this was for, I was so focused on helping Willa through the anger, the pain, and the slight resentment of me impregnating her that I would ignore in the future, I forgot what we were doing.

We were having another baby.

A baby.

What if I broke it?

s**t.

My heart started to race.

“Are you okay, Alpha?” The doctor’s brows tugged together.

“Y-yes,” I swallowed.

I was not f*uc*king okay, but I had to pretend until Willa could regain her senses. We couldn’t both panic. I could wait until she was okay again so that it would be my turn.

“Luna, I’m going to need you to push on your next contraction, do you hear me?” The doctor asked and Willa nodded slightly, it sent relief washing through me, she was in there.

She moved to sit up, and the doctor tried to stop her.

“I’m not giving birth laying on my f*****g back.” She spat, her voice raspy.

I shrugged at the doctor, and he was smart enough not to say anything to her. I helped her position herself on her hands and knees. She told me before that she wanted to squat, that it would help, but she seemed too weak, so this would be an okay compromise.. I hoped, at least.

“Ahhhhh.” She cried, her beautiful face contorting, at least some of the color returned to it. I would take flushed and red over the deathly pale.

I stood and tried to collect her hair, tying it up again in another bun. I kept re-doing it. I didn’t know how many hair ties were stuck in there at this point. I moved to ma*s*sage her lower back; she leaned down, her teeth clenched.

“Breathe.” The doctor said, and she shot him a look over her shoulder.

“When you have a baby crawling out of your d**k hole you can tell me what to do.” She seethed, “I’m in charge.”

The doctor looked to me, and I shrugged, not bothering to hide my smile.

“She’s in charge,” I said, and the doctor nodded.

“Okay, here we go.” The nurse said, still smiling. I was glad Willa was facing away from her.

Willa cried out again, and her head fell to the pillow. I grabbed another cold compress and patted it against her face.

“I love you; this is almost over. You are doing amazing,” I whispered, hoping none of those things set her off. She nodded once into the pillow.

“One more time,” The peppy nurse said, and I grasped Willa’s hand. She squeezed so tight it hurt, but I let her, I would do anything to ease this pain, even a fraction.

A cry pierced the room, and my heart stopped. Willa smiled and settled onto the bed, breathing deeply for the first time in hours.

“Congrats, Alpha, Luna.” The doctor held up a pink blob with a ma*s*s of black hair, “It’s a girl.”

We knew that for months, but the confirmation…

Holy s**t, I had a girl. A boy was one thing, but—a girl.

I felt nauseous. The room spun, and the only thing tethering me here was Willa’s damp almost limp hand to mine.

“Are you okay?” I asked her, a smile spread across her face, her eyes were still closed, but she seemed content.

“Help me flip over,” Her voice was so low I barely heard it.

I helped her adjust herself on her back with the help of a few nurses. They changed the sheets somehow or part of them. It was magic.

“Are you ready to meet her?” Someone came up holding a bundle.

That’s right, the baby.

The baby. Our baby. A baby.

I swallowed. Willa grabbed my hand and squeezed it, “You first,” Her voice was calm and rea*s*suring.

The nurse placed the tiny bundle into my arms. She was barely bigger than my hand.

My entire world shifted again. It grew and expanded and made room for this little thing. She scrunched up her nose and opened her mouth, and my heart shattered. It was one of the sweetest things I’ve ever seen.

Willa sat up and winced. I couldn’t look up, though. Everything I belonged to this tiny red blob.

“She’s adorable,” Willa said from far away. I moved the baby towards Willa so she could see. She ran the back of her finger down the baby’s cheek.

I knew she was pregnant. Goddess did I know. I prepared for this mentally, but nothing could actually prepare me for this moment. This was real, this baby was tangible, our family was growing, and my heart expanded with it.

“You did well,” Willa whispered. It didn’t escape me that she was comforting me even though I had never seen someone in so much pain as when she gave birth to our perfect daughter. I couldn’t speak though, I had no words.

The baby squirmed, and my stomach dropped. I had never seen anything so fragile.

What if I broke her?

We won’t, I think it’s called instincts or something – Atlas said

Shut up

She’s perfect, we have another pup

I can’t argue with that

That’s a first

She blinked once. Bright blue eyes peered out under thick lashes. She closed them shut against the light.

I tentatively put our baby in Willa’s arms. She snuggled up onto her mother’s chest, and my mate rubbed her back. I leaned forward and put my arm around Willa, my other hand resting on her chest over her steady heartbeat. Our baby reached for my finger and wrapped her tiny hands around it.

Tears pricked my eyes. I had never been part of anything so innocent. This was pure love.

“Welcome to the world, Princess,” I whispered, and Willa blinked back tears.

(Willa)

I knew that Caspien would be a great dad. He already was to Emmett. I hated to compare, I really did since I’ve come so far, but there was a part of me that couldn’t shake it.

The comparisons were good, though. They always were. Caspien made me realize from the first day that not everyone that promised love and affection because of the mate bond would leave me. Rachel showed me that not every ex was against me; she ended up being someone I could rely on and trust.

Having Caspien by my side during the pregnancy and labor was shattering in the best possible way.

Once Emmett was born, I thought of nothing but him until I needed to decide on my future, and even that was based on his needs.  I never let myself think of a second chance or a chosen mate, and that’s why Caspien so thoroughly shocked me when I saw him in the diner.

Part of me always yearned for a doting person by my side. My parents helped a lot, more than they needed to when I was pregnant, of course. But it was so different having Caspien there. He was my partner; he was what Nolan should have been. The complete lack of support the first time around only made me appreciate Caspien more.

He was affectionate and caring. Not just for me, but for our baby. He was, in short, everything that I dreamed of, everything that both of my children, our children, deserved. I couldn’t have asked for anyone better, I didn’t think anyone this perfect for me existed.

“What?” Caspien’s brows furrowed, looking into my eyes.

“I’m just happy you’re here,” I said. I knew I couldn’t put into words what I felt, not at this moment anyway. Sleep tugged at me and my body ached.

“I’ll have our parents wait to meet her until you get some rest,” he said, stroking the side of my face. My eyes fluttered shut, surrounded by the warmth that was Caspien and our new baby sleeping soundly on my chest.

(Caspien)

My parents brought Emmett down to meet his little sister. I convinced them to hold off for almost two hours. Willa’s parents were coming later this evening. I think they understood boundaries better, or maybe it was because they already got to do the infant-grandchild phase.

“Where is she?” My mom burst into the room, tugging Emmett behind her.

“Where do you think, love?” My dad said, shaking his head, “Probably with mom or dad.” he motioned to us, picking up Emmett.

“May I?” My mom asked, and Willa handed her over with a smile.

Emmett peered down from my dad’s arms, and my mom held my daughter up to meet my son.

“Why is she so squished?” Emmett laughed, frowning.

“You looked like that too,” Willa said with a smile, “She will look more like a baby in a day or two.”

“I like her,” Emmett said, reaching a gentle hand towards her. Our daughter wrapped her fingers around one of Emmett’s. I always thought Emmett was so small, but seeing this, I couldn’t comprehend just how tiny thing little thing was.

“Absolute perfection,” my dad breathed, his eyes widened in awe. I had rarely seen that expression on him, even though he showed a much softer side when it was just our family away from his previous Alpha duties.

“Did you decide on a name?” My mom asked, not taking her eyes away from our little bundle.

“Yes,” I said.

“Lilith Grace Dracos.” Willa looked at my mom, who finally tore her eyes away from the baby.

“Really?” Her lip wavered, “Grace?”

“Emmett got my dad’s middle name. It’s only fair.” Willa shrugged, “And if we have more, I’m sure my mom and Rendell can get some names in there,” She gave my dad a tired smile.

“I’m just honored to be here,” My dad shook his head, tears pooled in his eyes.

“Thank you,” My mom whispered, stroking a finger down Lilith’s cheek, “It’s an honor, I can’t even-”

“You don’t have to,” I cut in, “We wanted her to have you as her namesake or part of it,” I said.

I knew my mom was still a bit touchy about the subject. She was adopted, and even though she was accepted into her new family and, of course, Luna of Crescent Moon, I think there was always a small part of her that felt like she didn’t belong.

“Family is stronger than blood,” I repeated words I had heard from her ever since I could remember.

My mom grabbed Emmett’s hand and gave him a k*iss on his cheek, looking back at her first granddaughter.

“It is,” She said, tears finally spilling down her cheek.