The Rejected Substitute Luna

Chapter 7

Jasmine's POV

I blinked, slowly opening my eyes, only to find myself in an unfamiliar room.

Before I could even try to sit up, the door opened, and Fred stood in the doorway.

"Jasmine," He said, his deep voice dropping to a rough whisper, and he walked over to the bed quickly but carefully, as if he was afraid I might break. "You're finally awake. You've been asleep for two whole days."

I felt like I had been hit by a truck, both mentally and physically, and hearing him say that I've been asleep for two days had me sitting up straight in the bed as reality kicked in and everything came rushing back.

"Clara. Where... where's Clara?" I grabbed his strong arm with my trembling fingers, ignoring the sharp pain in my shoulder.

"Fred... please," I choked out, my voice raw and dry. " Please tell me she's okay."

Fred stared down at me, and I froze. The hopeful look he gave me a minute ago disappeared, replaced by sadness. He reached out and gently placed his hand over my small, shaking ones.

"Jasmine, I'm so sorry." He whispered softly, his voice thick with emotions. "When we found you, you were alone in the river. You had been swept downstream and ended up in my pack, and my warriors brought you back. Then we got word that someone was murdered, and she seems to have matched your description and was wearing your jacket..."

The words felt like a stone crushing my skull and multiple things stabbing at my heart.

"No," I breathed out, shaking my head frantically in denial. "No, no, no. She promised me she would stay safe. She can't be dead!"

A suffocating wave of grief hit my chest. It felt like my heart was being violently ripped out of my body, and I pulled my hands away from Fred and curled my body into a tight ball, burying my face in the pillows.

I let out a loud scream of pure heartbreak.

Clara is dead. My best friend, my sister. She died a brutal, terrifying death just so I could run away.

She had sacrificed everything for a worthless, rejected nobody like me.

"It should have been me," I sobbed loudly, my whole body shaking as the grief overwhelmed me. "Why did she have to die instead of me?"

Two strong arms wrapped around my trembling frame as Fred pulled me tightly against his chest and just held me close, rocking me gently back and forth while the grief and heartbreak took over my heart and soul.

"Listen to me, you need to breathe. Look at me. You can't let this sorrow destroy you. You have to stay strong and survive, if not for you then for the sake of the child you are carrying."

I froze instantly in his arms as my sobbing stopped, and I slowly pulled back to look up at his face.

"What... what did you just say?" I whispered blankly with shock.

He slowly moved his hand down and placed it over my flat stomach. "The pack doctor examined you while you were unconscious. You're re two months pregnant."

My breath hitched, and my hands flew to my stomach, touching the place where Fred’s hand had just been.

A baby.

I was pregnant with Garrett's child?

"When you jumped off that cliff, your wolf knew," Fred continued, his voice full of deep awe. "She shielded around your womb. The rocks and the wild water bruised your body, but your baby is safe and healthy."

An overwhelming mix of emotions washed over me. I felt so much love for the tiny spark of life growing inside me. But at the same time, a cold, dark realization began to settle into my mind.

This baby belongs to the man who just heartlessly rejected me and threw me out like garbage.

"There's something else you need to know," Fred said, his voice turning cold. "My trackers investigated the entire area. The rogue wolves who attacked you, they didn't just come from nowhere."

I wiped the tears from my eyes, looking up at him. "What do you mean?"

"Someone from your pack paid them to ambush you. The investigation traces the entire plot straight back to the Bloodstain Pack. You were the target, and they wanted to kill you."

I figured it out when Clara told me to remove my jacket and take hers, but I don't have enemies, and I thought it was highly impossible for someone to just want to kill me.

Garrett.

It has to be Garrett.

He must have wanted me dead so that I could never obstruct his future with Jenny. He signed the divorce papers and rejected me, but that wasn't enough for him. He wanted to erase my existence so he could live happily ever after with his Jenny without any guilt or shame.

"He tried to kill me," I whispered, my voice shaking with anger. "He used those rogues who tore my friend to pieces."

"My trackers believe so," Fred said, confirming my suspicions. "However, even though the current investigation has pointed to the Bloodstain Pack, that doesn't mean Garrett is the killer. I know him and I don't think you would ever do something like that."

Fred is right, but if it wasn't Garrett, then who could it have been? Who could have smuggled rogues into the Bloodstain Pack without being detected?

"Don't tell him," I asked. "Don't tell anyone. I don't want to go back there, and I know you trust your friend, but I don't, so I beg you not to tell him or anyone that I'm alive."

"I haven't and I won't until you decide to."

I don't have anything left for me back there because the man that I love tried to kill me, but then if Garrett and Jenny want me dead, then anyone associated with me is in danger.

My mind instantly flew to my foster mother, Willa.

I can't let another person I love die because of me. Clara is already gone. I refuse to lose Willa too.

"I'm going back. I'm going to sneak back into the Bloodstain Pack territory tonight, and rescue my mother, then I'll make them pay for what they did to Clara!"