Our Pack Lands

The day she took everything from me, it was raining. Jackson and I were in our office. I was reading a book and he was looking over the pack's financial records when his Beta, Micheal, had mind linked him. There was a guest who needed tending to urgently in the packhouse waiting area. In the moment, I didn't question it. Instead, I let him kiss me on the cheek, tell me he would be back soon and walk downstairs. When there was still no sign of him half an hour later, I wandered into the waiting room to find Crystal, his first mate bundled up in a blanket, sitting by the fireplace. "Oh Jess," She had said so innocently, "He's just gone to get me some hot chocolate, I'm sure he will be back soon". It took no longer than a week from when she walked into our home on that rainy afternoon, for me to be replaced. I could still see the look of guilt on Jackson's face when he told me I needed to leave. He was doing to me exactly what she did to him. Maybe he didn't betray me quite the same, but it still hurt to be someone's second choice. His second chance mate- when he was my first. "I'm sorry Jess," he paused for a second and looked down, so conveniently Crytsal chose that moment to place her hand lovingly on his shoulder. "I, Alpha Jackson Morrow, reject you, Jessica Morrow, as my mate and Luna of my pack". As he spoke, all I could hear was the word "my" over and over again, as if we hadn't built this pack into something great together. Two years, I devoted myself to him and our pack, and just like that, I could be thrown to the side. Fortunately for me, my father was the Alpha of a nearby pack and new laws had just been put in place. In the event of a divorce between an Alpha and Luna who have merged packs the Luna can reclaim what was hers before the mating, and if desired, become the Alpha herself. "I, Jessica Morrow, accept your rejection." As the words left my mouth, pain exploded throughout my body. The urge to crumple to the floor and sob was strong, but my desire to claim back what was mine was stronger. I just needed to keep my cool long enough to get me and my pack out of there. "I drew up the separation contact, we can make an announcement and my pack and I will be out of here before Monday." "That's not necessary," Crystal had started to say. No doubt she was hoping to take not just my mate from me but my pack as well. I had a suspicion she wasn't back because she loved Jackson, but there was no way I could tell him that he loved her blindly. When I first met him, Jackson was broken. He met Crystal in his pack's infancy. He had only been the alpha for a couple of weeks when he found her. He swore the first year with her was perfect and that he never saw it coming. They hadn't been at the annual Alpha ball longer than an hour when he felt the pain. Distressed, he searched for her frantically. Only to find her bent over the bathroom sink, moaning with some other alpha inside of her. He still wanted to make it work, even afterward, but the other Alpha was more powerful, so she picked him. Looking back at it now, if I was smart I would have paid more attention to the pack newspapers. Read the article about the taking over of nearby packs by the rogue army a little longer. So I could find out who the different Lunas and Alphas were and what happened to them after their packs were reclaimed. Then I could have anticipated Crystal and maybe everything would be different now. But just like Jackson, I was too blinded by love to notice. Our pack grew strong in the two years we had been together. It had doubled in size and our warriors were feared for their brutality. So rogue attacks were rare and I had no concerns about the up-and-coming rogue army. "Good work Jess," he interrupted her. "I'll call all the pack members to the assembly room and we can give them an address." Jackson gave me a forced smile. I mouthed thank you back and avoided looking at Crystal who glared at me from behind him. He didn't really deserve a thank you though. That night was the last time Jackson ever went against Crystal to help me. It took about an hour for all the pack members to arrive at the assembly point. I looked up at Jackson one last time and then turned on my heels and started towards the Gammas quarters.