Lila
It began like a knife twisting low in my belly. At first, I thought it was another cramp, the kind I had grown used to as the days dragged on. But then the pain surged outward into my back, sharp and unforgiving, stealing the air from my lungs.
I doubled over, clutching my stomach, a cry tearing from my throat before I could bite it back.
The back door of our cottage loomed behind me, but my knees gave way before I reached it. I caught myself on the fence, nails scraping wood, breath sawing in and out as the contraction tore through me like fire.
Sweat burst across my brow in an instant. My body was no longer mine; it was a storm, and I was nothing but wreckage caught inside it.
“Lila?” Ronan’s voice cut through the haze. His hands gripped my shoulders, steadying me.
Another w
