The Rejected Substitute Luna

Chapter 13

Garrett’s Pov

I couldn't breathe inside that hall. The heavy air of the summit was suffocating me, but the real reason I felt like I was drowning was the woman sitting across the room.

Five years. Five long, agonizing years I spent believing my Jasmine was dead. I trapped myself in a dark prison of my own guilt, sitting alone in our empty room night after night, hating myself for being the fool who signed those divorce papers.

But tonight, seeing those deep, unforgettable eyes completely shattered my world.

I watched her through the crowd as the party moved into the lounge. When she stepped away from the noise and to the garden balcony, my feet moved on their own.

I didn't care about the Alphas watching me. I didn't care about political rules or polite manners. The only thing in the universe that mattered was the woman standing in the moonlight.

I tried to catch the sweet essence that belonged only to my Luna, but I couldn't.

She smelled anything but.

She was leaning against the railing, looking out at the dark forest in the distance.

"Jasmine."

Her body froze instantly at the sound of my voice. Before she could turn around or run away from me, I stepped up fast and placed my hands on the railing on either side of her body, trapping her against my chest.

Her presence wrapped around me, making my heart pound against my ribs.

"Alpha Garrett," she said sharply, pressing her back against the railing. Her voice was cold, trying so hard to sound distant. "You are crossing a dangerous line. Let me pass."

Her coldness felt like physical knives stabbing into my chest, but I could tell that she was affected by my presence just as much as I was affected by hers.

"No. I won't let you run away again, five years, Jasmine. I've lived in a living hell for five years. Every single night, I sit in our empty room, begging the Moon Goddess to bring you back. I know I signed those papers, but I was a fool. A stupid, blind i***t. I thought you didn't want me, but I should have fought for you. I should have begged you to stay"

I hoped my confession would soften her, but she didn't break. Instead, I watched her eyes turn into solid ice.

"You're speaking to the wrong woman, Alpha Garrett,

I'm Lila, Alpha Fred's fiancée. But even if your Jasmine were standing here right now, do you truly believe your tears would fix what you broke?"

Her words hit me so hard that I froze, staring down at her in shock.

"A man who signs divorce papers and throws a woman away like trash cannot ask her ghost to heal his broken pride years later.

Your guilt is your own burden to carry. Don't force it onto a stranger."

Hearing those exact words spill from her lips didn't push me away. It confirmed everything. A total stranger wouldn't speak like this.

I leaned my forehead against the railing right beside her head, feeling the warmth of her breath against my neck.

"I know I failed you, I know I don't deserve your mercy. But please, just tell me you're alive. Just let me hear you say it once."

Driven by a desperate, uncontrollable hunger to feel her, I raised my hand. My fingers were trembling as I reached out, tracing her face. I needed to break through her cold wall, needed to taste her, needed to prove to my wolf that she was real.

I grabbed her waist, pulled her body against mine, and forced my lips down on hers in a desperate kiss.

She tried to fight it for a couple of seconds, but I wouldn't let her. I caught her wrist, gentle but unyielding, and I held her there.

My mouth found hers as it had always known the way, and for one suspended second, she didn't move. My tongue traced the seam of her mouth, once, twice, asking, and then she opened for me.

Her mouth moved against mine, wet and warm, my tongue meeting her in a slow. I slid my hand into her hair, tilting her head back, deepening the angle until I could feel every breath she took, every tremble that ran through her. She made a sound, and I swallowed it, claimed it, gave it back to her.

Suddenly, footsteps slammed against the balcony floor, and the fist slammed across my jaw with terrifying force.

The power of the blow sent me stumbling backward, my back crashing hard against the wall. Pain exploded across my face, and the metallic taste of blood filled my mouth.

"Get your hands off my Luna!"

Fred stood between us, enraged, his shoulders heaving as he shielded Jasmine behind his body. His fists clenched tight.

I wiped the crimson from my lip with the back of my hand and stepped forward, glaring at the man who used to be my closest friend.

"Fred... you were my best friend for years, but five years ago, when my wife went missing, you disappeared. You didn't come to her memorial. You didn't call. You abandoned me when I needed you the most."

Fred didn't back down. He kept his body in front of Jasmine. "I have no duty to comfort a man who discarded his own Luna, Garrett."

"Is that why you stayed away?

Did you make her lose her memory just so you could keep her all to yourself?"

Fred’s eyes flashed with anger. "She's my Luna, Garrett. Leave her alone!"

"She's my mate" I roared, losing control. I pulled my fist back, ready to smash it into Fred's face and tear him apart for touching what belonged to me. But before my fist could make contact, a figure suddenly darted out from behind Fred.

She stood in front of Fred to shield him from me.

"Stop it, Alpha Garrett" She snapped. "Don't you dare touch him!"

I froze, my raised fist trembling in the air, my heart sinking. "Jasmine... step back. He is lying to you—"

"I'm not your Jasmine," she yelled. "I'm Lila. I'm Fred's wife, and I am the Luna of the Hemlock Pack. You have no right to lay a hand on my husband!"

Every word she spoke felt like a hammer smashing my heart, what she did next completely destroyed me.

She turned around toward Fred. She reached up with both hands, wrapping her arms around Fred’s neck, and pulled his face down to hers.

Right there in front of my eyes, Jasmine kissed Fred passionately on the lips.

The world around me shattered as I stood there like a statue, paralyzed by a level of agony I never knew existed.

My lungs refused to take in air. My wolf let out a long, painful howl of defeat inside my soul, drowning in heartbreak. Watching the woman I loved, the woman I had mourned for five years, kissing my former best friend ripped my soul into bloody pieces.

Jasmine broke the kiss slowly, resting her hand comfortably on Fred's chest, then turned back to look at me one last time, her eyes cold, distant, and utterly unbothered by my bleeding face.

"Come, my love," she whispered softly to Fred, taking his hand into hers. "Let us go back inside. We have wasted enough time on a madman."

Fred wrapped his arm securely around her waist, shooting me one last warning glare before turning around. Together, they walked away leaving me standing alone on the dark balcony.

I fell to my knees on the cold floor chest heaving as silent, bitter tears threatened to fall down my face.

She walked away with him.

But I know she's lying. She has to be. I know the taste of her lips, and I knew the fire in her eyes. Fred did something to her. He manipulated her, hid her, and turned her against me.

Fred thought he won, but I'm the Alpha of the Bloodstain Pack, and I'll tear the entire world apart before I let another man keep my wife.