Janette POV:

I trailed muddy water onto the mansion's marble floor.

I went straight to the guest shower, scrubbing my skin raw.

The door banged open. Garrison stood there, wet and smelling of Keyla's perfume.

"You blocked me," he growled. "I tried to tell you to prep the room for Keyla's gifts."

He grabbed my arm.

I swung. Smack. My palm connected with his cheek.

He froze.

"Janette?" Keyla appeared, eyes narrowing. She threw herself against the doorframe. "Ah! She's hurting him! Garrison, watch out!"

Garrison's eyes bled crimson.

"You dare?"

He shoved me. My head cracked against the tile.

"You are out of control," he snarled.

He pulled out his phone. "I have the photos, Janette. Do you want the Council to see them?"

"No," I choked out.

"Then you will be punished." The Command dropped. "Go outside. Kneel in the rain. Stay there until I tell you to move."

My body jerked, obeying.

I walked out into the storm and knelt on the sharp gravel.

I looked up at the master bedroom window. The light turned on. They were watching.

I knelt for hours. But inside, a spark ignited. Something ancient.

My inner wolf bared her teeth.

Let them watch, she whispered. Because when we stand up, we will tear their throats out.

Tomorrow was the yacht party. The lawyers had the files. The hidden camera was sewn into my dress. The vitals-masking herbs were in my blood.

This was the last time I would ever kneel.

The Siren's Call superyacht gleamed under the harbor lights.

I stood by the railing in a white dress that looked like a shroud.

Garrison was drinking. Keyla was holding court.

I caught Keyla's eye and walked toward the dark stern. I released a tiny amount of pheromones. Not submission. Mockery.

She followed.

"Thinking of jumping?" Keyla asked, holding a martini.

"I was thinking Garrison will get bored of you," I said calmly. "He told me. He just needs your family's money."

"Shut up!" Keyla hissed. "He loves me! He covered for me when I poisoned that old hag!"

Got her. The camera button on my dress blinked.

"He knows you killed the Healer?"

"He knows everything!" Keyla gloated. "And he didn't care. Because I am his future."

She stepped closer. "You're just a stray dog, Janette."

"At least I'm not a murderer."

"I am the Luna!" She shoved me. Hard.

I didn't fight it. I tipped backward over the low railing.

"No!" I screamed for the witnesses.

As I fell, I grabbed the railing for a split second, ripped my wedding ring off, and flung it into the dark water.

Then I hit the freezing ocean.

I sank. Darkness swallowed me.

A shadow moved in the deep. A submarine drone. Shadow Claw tech.

I reached out.

Goodbye, Janette.

Garrison POV:

The party noise was grating.

I felt an itch under my skin. The bond.

"Garrison!" Keyla appeared, breathless.

"Where is Janette?"

"She... she's gone. I saw her by the railing. She was crying. She said she couldn't take it anymore."

A sharp pain pierced my chest.

"Janette!" I roared, running to the stern.

Empty.

"Garrison," Keyla handed me a damp piece of paper. "She left this on the deck."

I can't do this anymore. You win.

I stared at the black water.

"Where's her ring?" I mumbled. "She never takes it off."

My wolf woke up and howled. A sound of pure loss.

Mate?

Silence.

"She wanted to leave you," Keyla whispered.

The pain dulled into a throbbing ache.

Keyla led me to the lounge and poured a drink. "To new beginnings."

I drank. It tasted bitter.

Minutes later, the room swam.

"Keyla... I don't feel right."

"Shh," she cooed. "Just let me take care of you."

She dragged me to her apartment.

She pushed me onto the bed.

"Say it," she whispered. "Say I'm your Luna."

My brain was fog.

"Luna," I whispered.

Keyla smiled.

My wolf curled into a ball and snarled. Not her.

I woke up with a splitting headache.

Keyla was naked beside me.

"Good morning, Alpha," she purred.

I scrambled back, falling off the bed.

"What the hell?"

Memories flashed. The yacht. The bitter drink.

I saw a glass with blue residue on the nightstand. Blue Lotus. Hypnotic.

"You drugged me," I accused.

"I helped you relax!"

"By raping me?"

"You called me your Luna!"

I looked at her. Without the glamour, she looked ordinary. Her scent was rotten.

My wolf paced, searching for the bond. Finding nothing.

Janette.

The realization hit like a freight train. I didn't love Keyla. I loved the idea of her. The pull had always been Janette.

"Get dressed," I said coldly.

"Garrison, wait-"

"I said get dressed!" The Command slammed into her.

"I am leaving to find my wife."

"She's dead! She's fish food!"

I grabbed her chin. "If she is dead, I have no mate. And I will never take another."

I stormed out.

Please, I prayed. Let her be alive.

But the cold, empty space in my soul told me I was too late.