Blood Moon Reckoning

Chapter 5: Devon's Birth

“You’re thinking too much again,” Elena remarked one evening, breaking Estella’s reverie as they sat together in front of a flickering fire. Estella had been staring at the flames, her thoughts lost in the turmoil of the past few months.

“I’m always thinking,” Estella murmured in response, her fingers absentmindedly tracing the outline of her stomach. The baby shifted within her, as if responding to her touch. She still marveled at the life growing inside her - an innocent child who would soon be born into a world that felt entirely hostile. “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to stop.”

“You’ll have to, eventually,” Elena replied with a knowing smile, handing her a cup of warm herbal tea. “For your own sake. And for the child’s.”

The village they lived in was small, so small that it didn’t even appear on most maps. It was a quiet place, nestled between mountains and thick forests, where life moved at a slower pace. Here, no one knew her as Estella Erylis, daughter of one of the most powerful families in the Vesper Pack. To the villagers, she was simply Estella, the herbalist who was Elena’s niece.

Her knowledge of herbs and natural medicine was well-regarded, though Estella had taken care to downplay her skills. She sold simple remedies - ointments for burns, teas for sleep, salves for pain- but she never spoke of her deeper understanding of medicinal compounds. To do so would risk drawing attention, and the last thing she needed was for someone to recognize her.

Still, even in this hidden corner of the world, Estella couldn’t shake the constant feeling of being watched. Every time a new customer entered the shop, her heart raced with fear that someone from her past might walk through the door. What if Carlos found her? Or worse, Margaret?

The thought of Margaret still burned in her chest, like a festering wound that refused to heal. Her best friend - no, former best friend - had not only betrayed her but had orchestrated her downfall. Estella could still see Margaret’s cold eyes as she presented the damning evidence of Estella’s supposed infidelity. The CCTV footage of Estella stumbling, drunk, into the arms of an unknown man at her bachelorette party was a lie, a setup. But no one cared. No one had believed her.

“How could I have been so blind?” Estella muttered under her breath, bitterness lacing her words.

“What’s that, dear?” Elena asked from across the room, glancing over her shoulder as she stirred a pot of soup.

“Nothing,” Estella sighed. “I was just thinking about… the past.”

Elena gave a sympathetic look but said nothing further. The older woman had heard enough about Estella’s troubled past to know when to leave her to her thoughts.

As the days grew shorter and the nights colder, Estella found herself focusing more and more on the impending arrival of her baby. She had always wanted to be a mother, but not like this. Not alone. And certainly not under these circumstances.

But life has a cruel way of twisting fate.

It was on a particularly stormy night, with rain beating against the windows and wind howling through the trees, that Estella’s labor pains began. The first wave hit her suddenly, sharp and overwhelming, as she was lying in bed trying to read one of the old books Elena kept on the shelf.

“Elena!” Estella gasped, clutching her stomach as the pain rippled through her. “It’s time!”

Elena rushed to her side, her calm demeanor never wavering even in the face of such urgency. “Breathe, Estella. Just breathe. We’ve been preparing for this moment for months.”

The hours that followed were a blur of pain, exhaustion, and determination. Estella felt like she was being torn apart, her body betraying her as wave after wave of contractions wracked her frame. But through it all, she held on. She held on for the life inside her, for the baby that was about to come into the world.

At long last, after what felt like an eternity, the cries of a newborn filled the small cottage.

“You did it,” Elena whispered, her voice filled with pride as she handed the tiny, squirming baby into Estella’s arms. “You’re a mother now.”

Estella gazed down at her son, her heart swelling with a mixture of love and awe. His small face was red and wrinkled, his eyes tightly shut, but he was perfect. He was hers.

But when he finally opened his eyes, Estella froze.

Ruby.

His eyes were a deep, unsettling shade of ruby red, a color that sent a shiver down her spine. She had never seen eyes like that before, not in her family or anyone else she knew. Carlos’s eyes had been amber, and hers were a bright, vivid blue. So where had these ruby eyes come from?

“Ruby,” Estella whispered, more to herself than to Elena. “His eyes… they’re ruby.”

Elena leaned in to get a closer look, her expression thoughtful. “Interesting,” she said softly. “I’ve seen many things in my time, but this… this is unusual.”

“What does it mean?” Estella asked, her voice trembling with both wonder and fear. “Is it a sign?”

“Perhaps,” Elena replied, her eyes narrowing as she studied the baby. “There are legends, old stories about children born with such eyes. But they are just that - stories. For now, all you need to know is that this child is special, and he will need your protection more than ever.”

Estella nodded, though her mind was spinning with questions. Who was this child? And who was his father?

Her thoughts drifted back to that fateful night before her wedding, to the bachelorette party Margaret had insisted on throwing for her. Estella had been so excited, so eager to celebrate with her closest friends, but something had gone terribly wrong. She had gotten drunk, far more drunk than she ever intended, and the next thing she remembered was waking up in a strange bed, her clothes disheveled, and her mind foggy.

Margaret had been there, smiling like a cat that had caught the canary, and soon after, the accusations began. The CCTV footage, the whispers, the lies- it had all been part of Margaret’s plan.

But who was the man in the footage? Estella couldn’t remember his face and thought that it was Carlos. The only thing she could recall was a tattoo, a b****y rose etched into the man’s back. That image had haunted her ever since, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t piece together the rest of the night.

Now, as she looked into her son’s ruby eyes, a sense of dread filled her. Could that man have been the father? Was Devon a product of that night, of Margaret’s cruel betrayal?

The thought made her stomach churn.

“Elena,” Estella said quietly, her voice shaking. “Do you think… do you think Devon’s father is… someone powerful?”

Elena’s gaze softened, and she placed a reassuring hand on Estella’s shoulder. “What matters now is that you are his mother. Whoever his father may be, he is your child, and he will need you more than ever. The past is behind you, Estella. Focus on the future, for both you and your son.”

Estella nodded, though her heart remained heavy. She held Devon close, breathing in his soft, newborn scent, and made a silent vow.

She would protect him, no matter what.

But as she gazed into those ruby eyes, she couldn’t shake the feeling that the past wasn’t done with her yet.