Six years kept him alive，Now I let him die

Chapter 3

Jasmine's POV:

Lawrence was up early the morning of the Moon Goddess Festival. He went into the kitchen himself and made breakfast, coffee, steak, and eggs.

"Babe, it's going to be a long day, and once the festival starts, we probably won't have time to eat, so make sure you have a good breakfast."

After yesterday's blowup, Lawrence must have felt guilty because he suddenly turned all sweet on me. For the first time ever, he didn't come up with some lame excuse to go see Mia. He actually came home.

I gave a faint nod.

"Just leave it there."

Lawrence, clearly unsettled by my coldness, glanced at his watch with a mix of awkwardness and irritation. "Sweetheart, the Moon Goddess Festival opens in an hour. I have to attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony. I'll head off first."

I nodded again.

Then he left in a hurry.

I rose slowly and walked to the bedroom. I put on the moon-white gown I had prepared long ago, and gathered everything I would need.

By the time I reached the festival grounds, the place was packed.

Mia stood beside Lawrence in her sea-blue gown, playing the part of Luna at her Alpha's side, basking in the crowd's attention.

She swayed her hips, her breasts bouncing with the movement. Lawrence's eyes glazed over with lust, following her every sway.

They were locked in each other's gaze, oblivious to anyone else around them.

One of Lawrence's friends gave a low laugh. "Damn, Lawrence, you're playing with fire. If Jasmine found out, she'd lose her mind."

Lawrence swirled the whiskey in his glass, completely unconcerned.

"So what? She wouldn't dare leave me. I'll just toss her a few sweet words and she'll come around."

Mia smirked at Lawrence's casual dismissal of me. "Jasmine's shifting ability is so weak, she'd never survive outside the pack. She wouldn't dare."

Mia and Lawrence's friends were having a good laugh at my expense.

They never once stopped to think why I, once a powerful white wolf, had become so weak. All because I'd made a pact with the healer, trading my life force for Lawrence's. He not only survived, but came back stronger than ever.

They didn't care about any of that. They just laughed.

I was a joke to them.

"Jasmine's here."

I walked into the venue, heading toward Lawrence. My moon-white gown swept across the floor, and every eye turned to follow.

I held my head high and stepped up beside him.

Mia's eyes flickered coldly. "Jasmine, you're late."

"I wasn't feeling well." I blinked wide and innocent, the same look Mia always used. "You're not mad at me, are you, Lawrence?"

In front of the crowd, Lawrence was all charm, taking my hand with practiced warmth. "Feeling better now, sweetheart? I was so worried about you this morning."

"Much better."

I smiled.

Mia shoved past me and pressed herself against Lawrence. "Lawrence, my stomach's acting up too."

He went all soft and concerned for her in an instant.

I watched, my smile still in place. I knew exactly what she was hinting at.

She was pregnant. And she claimed the pup was his.

But Lawrence, bound to my life force as he was, couldn't father children anymore.

Which meant the pup in Mia's belly wasn't Lawrence's at all.

"Now, please welcome Alpha Lawrence and his Luna to the stage for the ribbon-cutting."

The host's voice echoed through the venue.

"I'll go with you," Mia said, already stepping forward. "The ceremony needs wolf-spirit energy, and Jasmine just said she's not feeling well. She should rest."

I opened my mouth to say I was fine, but Lawrence had already made up his mind.

"Good idea." He turned to me, not even pretending to care. "You're not well, Jasmine. The ceremony's important. I don't want people talking about you. Mia will take your place today."

He took Mia's hand and led her up to the stage.

Down below, the pack stared in disbelief. Murmurs rippled through the crowd. Some looked at me with pity. Others with contempt.

"Luna Jasmine couldn't even do the ribbon-cutting? Her wolf-spirit must be that weak?"

"Maybe that's why Alpha Lawrence still doesn't have an heir."

"Pretty face is all she's got. Without wolf-spirit, she's nothing, worse than a low-rank wolf. Honestly, what does Alpha Lawrence even see in her?"

On stage, Lawrence and Mia stood side by side, more like a true Alpha and Luna of Moonspring Pack than he and I had ever been.

I watched them from below, their easy intimacy on full display, while the pack's whispers pricked at my ears like needles.

Mia leaned into Lawrence, throwing me a smug smile.

She was sure I wouldn't dare to step up. She was sure I'd do what I'd done for the past six years—let her have everything.

She was wrong.

I used to have to hold back my wolf spirit to keep Lawrence alive. But not anymore.

I gathered my skirt and walked toward the stage, one step at a time.

The murmurs around me faded. Heads turned. Eyes that had been filled with pity shifted to confusion, then to shock.

"Luna Jasmine… she's going up?"

"Didn't she say she wasn't well? She hasn't set foot on that stage in six years."

I climbed the steps and walked to the center, right between Lawrence and Mia.

"Jasmine?" Lawrence's brow furrowed, annoyance flickering across his face. "What are you doing up here? I told you Mia would stand in."

"That's not your call to make." My voice wasn't loud, but the microphone carried it clear across the venue. "I am the Luna of Moonspring Pack. This is the Moon Goddess Festival ribbon-cutting. Only the Alpha and his Luna have the right to stand on this stage."

Mia's smile froze. She tried to hold it together, but it was already cracking. "Jasmine, weren't you feeling unwell? I was only helping."

I turned to her, my gaze calm, untroubled. "Standing beside my husband. Accepting the pack's blessings. Holding the scissors that belong to the Luna. Mia, on what authority did you step up here? As my sister? Or as the woman who wants to take my place and marry Lawrence?"

A wave of gasps rippled through the crowd. Hundreds of eyes locked onto the stage.

Mia's face flushed crimson, then went pale.

She clung to Lawrence's arm, her knuckles white. "Lawrence… look at her… how can she say such things about me…"

Lawrence's expression darkened. He let go of Mia and stepped closer to me, lowering his voice to a threatening whisper. "Jasmine, don't make a scene. With so many people watching, do you want to embarrass the pack?"

"The only one embarrassing the pack is you." I didn't back down, holding his gaze. "If you tell her to step down right now and declare that only your Luna will cut the ribbon with you, this ends here. Otherwise..."

I tilted my head slightly, scanning the stunned faces below, my voice dropping.

"Otherwise, I'll tell everyone how you abandoned your wife on the eve of your sixth anniversary to crawl into her bed."

"Enough!" Lawrence's voice cracked, a flicker of real panic in his eyes.

He shot a glance at the crowd below—his parents, the elders, the entire pack, all watching, all listening. His jaw tightened, and the mask of calm finally fractured.

He turned to Mia. "…Step down."

Mia froze. She clearly hadn't expected those words. Her eyes went wide, her voice sharpening. "Lawrence?! What did you just say?"

"Step down." His voice was strained, barely holding together. "The ceremony requires the Luna… it's tradition."

Mia's lips trembled. She shot me a venomous glare, then turned to Lawrence, trying one last time to soften him. "But… my stomach… Jasmine, she..."

"Mia." I said her name evenly, not loud, but edged with authority. "This is the Moon Goddess Festival cutting stage. You are not the Luna. Standing here is an insult to the Moon Goddess herself. Shall I call for the elders to judge?"

Mia's face went white.

Whispers broke out below. Some of the older wolves murmured among themselves. "The Luna is right… only the Alpha and his mate can do the cutting… what is Mia doing up there?"

"Don't tell me she and the Alpha are..."

"Don't be ridiculous. The Alpha isn't like that."

Mia's fists clenched. Her lips parted, then closed. Nothing came out.

Red-eyed and defeated, she released Lawrence's arm, stumbled back two steps, then hurried off the stage with her head down.

I turned to Lawrence and extended my hand.

"The scissors."

Lawrence stared at me, with shock, anger, confusion all warring in his eyes. Maybe, at that moment, he finally realized I had changed.

After a long pause, he placed the golden scissors in my palm.

I took them, turned to face the crowd—hundreds of faces looking up at me.

Moonlight washed over me, catching the edge of my moon-white gown as the night wind lifted it. I raised the scissors, my voice steady and clear, carrying across the entire venue:

"I, Jasmine, Luna of Moonspring Pack, in the name of the Moon Goddess, cut open the curtain of this harvest year."

A roar of cheers erupted from below. Wolves raised their glasses high, the festival bonfires blazed to life, painting half the night sky red.

And Lawrence stood beside me, his face shifting in the firelight, watching me with wary eyes.

I knew what he was thinking: why had I changed so suddenly?

What he didn't know was that this was only the beginning of what I had planned for him.

After the ceremony, I stepped off the stage and walked into the crowd, meeting the looks of awe—and fear—that now followed me.

I glanced down at my right wrist. Beneath the layer of foundation, a faint red line was slowly surfacing.

The bond was loosening.

The healer had been right. On the Moon Goddess Festival, the life contract would begin to waver.

Then Mia approached me, all smiles.

"Jasmine, I'm a little thirsty. Would you like to come with me to get some juice? I'd love to have a word with you."

Not a trace of her earlier humiliation or resentment showed on her face.

"Sure."

I accepted gladly. I needed Mia's retaliation.

I needed her to push me into the sea. That was how I would fake my death.