The Rejected Substitute Luna

Chapter 11

Jasmine’s Pov

Garrett’s voice shattered the silence in the hall.

Hundreds of people gasped in shock, turning their heads toward him. Everyone's eyes in the room locked on the Alpha of the Bloodstain Pack as he stumbled towards me like a madman.

Jenny's hand shot out, fingers clawing for his arm, but he shrugged her off with a single, brutal shove.

My heart pounded so hard against my ribs that I could barely breathe, and the air in my lungs turned to ice.

For a brief second, the sheer desperation in Garrett’s eyes almost made me freeze. I saw the tears threatening to spill, the raw agony on his face, and the violent shaking of his hands.

Calm down, Jasmine.

I already knew that he would recognize me but I'm not the girl that he remembers and that plays to my advantage because the face may be Jasmine but l'm Lila through and through.

I forced myself to calm down, and then just as I’d rehearsed a hundred times in the mirror, I lifted my gaze to him, smiled slightly, and then looked at him with confusion.

I was no longer the defenseless, heartbroken girl who had walked out of his house five years ago. I was a mother now. I had a son back in the Hemlock Pack who needed me to stay safe, and a foster mother waiting for me out there.

Most importantly, I lost my best friend because of him. I couldn't break. I couldn't lose control.

As Garrett reached the bottom of the steps, extending a trembling hand toward my face, I took a sharp step backward, placing Fred’s broad frame directly between us.

Fred blocked Garrett’s path, his eyes narrowing with dangerous warning.

"Alpha Garrett," Fred's voice boomed across the silent room, sharp and demanding. "Control yourself. You're stepping way out of line."

Garrett stopped but ignored Fred completely, his eyes locked on me from over Fred’s shoulder, pleading, desperate, and filled with five years of unanswered grief.

"Jasmine..."

I took a slow, deep breath, burying every drop of my personal agony deep down inside my chest.

When I stepped out slightly from behind Fred, my expression was as cold and smooth as marble. I tilted my head up, looking Garrett straight in the eyes with indifference.

"I don't know who this Jasmine is, Alpha Garrett," I said, keeping my voice elegant and steady. "You've mistaken me for a stranger. My name is Lila, future Luna of the Hemlock Pack. I ask that you treat me with respect due to a visiting luna."

My words hit him like a physical blow. Garrett winced as if I drove a blade straight through his chest.

"No... no, don't lie to me," he whispered, shaking his head frantically in denial. "I would know those eyes, that face from anywhere in the world. Jasmine, please-"

He touched my shoulder, and the familiar sparks that used to explode between us were gone, and so was my wolf, and with that, my hate for him grew.

It grew so much worse because he didn't just take our relationship and my best friend, but he also snatched the life out of my wolf, leaving her weak and helpless.

“Let go,” I said, but he continued touching me in disbelief. I guess it's normal to feel that way if you tried to kill somebody and you find out that they are alive, because I refuse to believe that he missed me.

“You're still angry with me, and that's why you lied to me, right?” He asked me with something close to pain in his eyes, but he lied to me so many times that I refuse to believe anything in his eyes.

“My husband mentioned that I somewhat look like someone he knew, but I'm not her and I'm sorry for your loss,” I said, trying to pull away from him, but he wouldn't let me go.

"No way." Garrett's arms tightened around me, his face pressed into the crook of my neck; his hot, rapid, desperate breath fanning across my skin and making my body tremble. "There's no way two women in this world look exactly alike. You are Jasmine."

His words made me snicker. I lifted my chin toward Jenny, who still stood frozen a few yards away, her face a war between rage and disbelief. I pointed at her and said, "Why couldn't there be? Look around, Alpha Garrett. There's a woman standing right over there who looks exactly like me."

Garrett froze, then he frantically tried to explain to me, “Jasmine, let me tell you-”

"Enough," Fred interjected loudly, stepping closer and placing his hand on Garrett’s shoulder, holding him back. "My Luna has given you her name. The Bloodstain Pack invited us here as guests for the Summit. If you continue to harass my Luna in front of every leader on the continent, I will consider it a direct insult to the Hemlock Pack."

"Stop playing these stupid games with me, Fred, because both of us know that this is Jasmine." He said, glaring at Fred, who didn't seem fazed because we already knew that he would react like this.

A murmur of agreement rippled through the surrounding crowd of Alphas.

Whispers began to echo through the room.

"Is Alpha Garrett losing his mind?"

"She looks like Luna Jasmine though..."

"He's mistaking Alpha Fred's wife for his dead Luna."

"Could she be his dead Luna?"

"He has never shown this much emotion in the last five years..."

Garrett looked around at the judging eyes of the crowd, his jaw clenching so hard a vein throbbed in his neck, and he took a shallow breath of fear and discomfort.

"Honey, calm down." Jenny glided forward, her arm sliding around Garrett's with practiced ease. "Jasmine died five years ago, and you saw her body yourself. You've got the wrong person."

She turned to me, her smile as thin as a blade's edge. Her voice dropped to something almost tender. "I'm so sorry, Luna Lila. Garrett just misses his ex-Luna so terribly. Please forgive him."

Ex-Luna?

So is she already Garrett's Luna?

"Of course," I held her gaze without a blink, without a waver. "If it doesn't bother you that you're a dead ringer for his ex-Luna, then it certainly doesn't bother me."

When I saw the smile on Jenny’s face freeze, I laughed.

“This isn't over.” Garrett broke off our talk. He gave me a pointed look, but I refused to give him the last word after everything he put me through.

“Ohh, but it is because I don't know who you're talking about, but it can't be me, and I won't let you harass me,” I said, walking away with Fred by my side.

But deep down I know that it's only going to go downhill from here.