As soon as Della spoke, everyone present finally understood the truth.
Had she followed the instructions properly, she might’ve had a healthy child. But her greed had doomed her.
The scandal made the wolf clan a laughingstock yet again. Rumors spread that Jacob was impotent, and that his wife had not only cheated on him but even resorted to using a crude fertility folk remedy from the lowly rat clan.
Jacob, already in a foul mood, would only grow more cruel to Bella after this humiliation.
A month later, just as I was shopping for cloth to make clothes for my babies and preparing to head home, I saw Bella cradling a basket- to her chest and sneaking into a secluded alley.
Word on the street was that Bella had lost her mind. She was said to be snatching children from around the wolf clan.
I didn’t give it much thought. With a cheerful heart, I returned home, eager to welcome my soon–to–hatch little ones.
But the door to my room stood wide open, and the incubator was empty.
All three snake eggs were gone.
Panic surged through me. I suddenly remembered the green cloth covering Bella’s basket–it looked exactly like the handkerchief I’d left on my writing desk.
A grabbed the dagger Draco had given me for self–defense and sprinted toward the alley where Bella had disappeared. Deep inside, I found a dilapidated courtyard, where her eerie voice echoed.
“Babies, don’t be afraid. Mommy’s right here with you.”
