The Vanished Luna: Returning to Reject the Alpha

"Not guilty."

With those two words, my husband, the Alpha, acquitted his mistress of poisoning my mother.

I had the toxicology reports. I had the receipts. But Garrison didn't care.

He looked me in the eye, his hand resting possessively on Keyla's back, and told me to stop making a scene.

That was just the beginning of my hell.

He moved Keyla into our master suite and forced me into the servant's quarters.

"Since you can't give me strong pups," he sneered, "you can serve those who do."

I became the maid in my own home, washing Keyla's silk lingerie while she wore my Luna robes.

When I tried to fight back, he used the Alpha Command to silence me and locked me in a room filled with silver dust that burned my skin like acid.

He even drugged me and offered me to a rival Alpha just to secure a timber deal.

He thought he had broken me. He thought I was just a weak Omega who would eventually fade away.

But he forgot that my mother taught me everything about poisons.

On the night of the yacht party, I didn't just jump into the dark ocean to escape.

I jumped to be reborn.

I flushed my wedding ring, severed the bond, and let the icy water swallow Janette the victim.

Garrison thought I was dead.

He didn't know that the ocean wouldn't kill me. It would awaken my true bloodline.

And when I came back, I wasn't his wife anymore.

I was a White Wolf, and I was going to burn his pack to the ground.

Chapter 1

Janette POV:

The wooden gavel struck the sound block. It sounded like a gunshot.

"Not guilty," the Elder announced. His tone was dry as dust.

I sat frozen. My knuckles turned white as I gripped my skirt. Keyla stood in the dock, looking like a delicate, innocent flower in her white dress. But the scent coming off her was cloying-synthetic vanilla masking something rotten and metallic.

She turned her head. Caught my eye. A corner of her lip curled up. A micro-smirk.

She had won.

She'd poisoned my mother with Wolfsbane. I had the toxicology reports, the black market receipts-none of it mattered.

Because Garrison stood beside her.

My husband. My Alpha.

He placed a protective hand on Keyla's lower back. Possessive. Intimate. He didn't look at me once.

"This session is adjourned."

The gallery murmured. I could feel their pity and disdain prickling my skin. To them, I was just Janette: the broken, shiftless Omega accusing the Alpha's childhood sweetheart.

My legs felt like lead pipes as I stood.

"Garrison."

He stopped near the exit but didn't turn.

"We need to talk," I said, voice trembling.

He finally looked at me. His amber eyes were cold. "We will discuss this at home, Janette. Not here. Don't make a scene."

He guided Keyla out. She practically skipped, her arm brushing his.

The drive back was a blur of misery. When I entered the grand foyer, Garrison was already pouring a drink.

"How could you?" I didn't bother with my coat. "You saw the receipts. You know she did it."

He swirled the amber liquid. "The evidence was circumstantial. Keyla is important to this pack. Her family's trade routes are vital for our financial stability."

"My mother is dead!" The scream tore from my throat. "She killed the pack Healer! Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

Garrison slammed the glass down. The sound cracked through the room like a whip. He stalked toward me with predatory grace.

"Your mother was old," he said, towering over me. "She was sick."

"She was poisoned!"

"Enough!"

His voice dropped an octave, vibrating with a subsonic growl that rattled my teeth. The Alpha's Command.

My knees locked instantly. My jaw clamped shut. Biology overrode will.

My inner wolf, heavily sedated by the 'supplements' Garrison's doctor forced on me, curled into a terrified ball in the back of my mind.

Garrison leaned down, invading my space with the scent of sandalwood and rain. It used to smell like safety. Now it smelled like a prison.

"You will stop this nonsense," he whispered. "Keyla is innocent because I say she is innocent."

He tucked a stray hair behind my ear. His touch was ice.

"If you continue to spread these lies, I will release your mother's medical records. I will tell the pack she had 'Wolf Hysteria.' I will say she poisoned herself in a fit of madness."

Tears blurred my vision. He would destroy her reputation even in death.

"You won't get a funeral for her," he threatened. "No rites. Just a hole in the dirt. Do you understand?"

He released just enough pressure for me to move. I nodded stiffly.

"Good." He straightened his jacket. "Tomorrow, my assistant will bring you some papers. Asset transfer agreements. We need to consolidate the properties your mother left you. For the pack."

He wanted the herb gardens.

"Go to your room, Janette."

He turned his back.

I stood there until the paralysis faded into a dull ache.

I reached for the bond-that sacred tether between mates. It was silent. Dead air.

He wasn't my mate. He was a monster.

I wiped my face. If he wanted a war, I wouldn't fight him in his rigged court. I'd fight by disappearing. And when I came back, I'd be the nightmare.