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.

Janette POV:

The Pack Medical Center smelled of bleach and lies.

"Your hormone levels are erratic, Janette," Dr. Evans mumbled, typing away. "It's consistent with Omega Hysteria."

"I'm grieving, not hysterical."

"Garrison thinks you might be a danger to yourself."

Right on cue, Sarah, the Alpha's assistant, walked in with a stack of files.

"The Alpha requested you sign these today," Sarah said.

I opened the folder. Transfer of Property Rights. Power of Attorney. And buried in the middle of a fifty-page rider: Dissolution of Mating Bond - Preliminary Agreement with a clause for 'Unfit Mental State'.

My heart slammed against my ribs. He was trying to legally commit me and strip me of my status simultaneously.

"He said it's just a formality," Sarah said, tapping her pen. "Standard asset protection while you get... help."

She exchanged a knowing look with the doctor. They were going to lock me up.

Garrison was arrogant. He thought I was the stupid little Omega who just signed where the 'X' was.

"I need the digital pad," I said softly. "My hands are shaking too bad for a pen."

Sarah sighed, annoyed, and loaded the docs onto a tablet. "Fine. Just thumbprint the bottom."

I took the tablet. My mother taught me the pack's digital archive system inside and out. I knew the backend of this software.

There was a loophole. If the 'Alpha Consent' field was pre-authorized, the dissolution became effective immediately upon the Omega's signature, bypassing the waiting period.

Garrison hadn't signed it yet, wanting to hold it over me. But his digital key was cached on this tablet. Sarah used it for everything.

"Screen's frozen," I lied.

Sarah leaned over. "Give it here."

She tapped the screen aggressively. In her haste to refresh the page, she hit the 'Auto-Fill Alpha Credentials' prompt that popped up.

A green checkmark appeared next to Garrison's name.

He had just technically consented to a no-contest divorce.

"There," she shoved the tablet back. "Sign it."

I pressed my thumb down. Document Executed. A phantom weight lifted off my chest. Legally, I was free.

"Done," I whispered.

"Good." Sarah snatched the tablet. "Go home, Janette."

I didn't go home. I went to my mother's cottage.

I dug into the dirt with bare hands, hunting for roots. Nightshade. Foxglove. And the purple mushroom that stops a heart just long enough to fool a doctor.

My mother taught me to heal. But she also taught me that the only difference between medicine and poison is the dose.

I returned to the mansion late. I walked into the master bedroom and stopped dead.

Keyla was spinning in front of the mirror, wearing my ceremonial Luna robe.

Garrison sat on the bed, watching her with hungry eyes.

"It fits you much better than it ever fit her," he said.

Keyla giggled. "Smells a bit like wet dog, though."

I gasped. They turned.

"Oh, Janette," Keyla smirked. "Sneaking around like a rat."

"What are you doing here?" Garrison demanded.

"This is my room. That is my robe."

"Not anymore," Garrison said coldly. "Keyla is moving into the master suite. Her apartment is being... renovated."

A lie.

"Where am I supposed to sleep?"

"The guest room down the hall. The small one." The servant's quarters.

Keyla rested her head on his shoulder. "And Janette? I have a list. My laundry needs hand-washing. The silk is delicate."

"You want me to be your maid?"

"You need to contribute," Garrison said, eyes dead. "Since you can't shift, can't hunt, and can't give me strong pups... you can serve those who do."

The insult hit like a physical blow. My inner wolf went silent. Not in fear, but in ambush.

"Fine," I said.

I walked to the windowless room, sat on the cot, and pulled the poisonous roots from my pocket.

This wasn't a home. It was a cage. And I was going to burn it down.

Janette POV:

The 'Pack Unity' party was just an excuse to parade Keyla around.

I was in a grey maid's uniform, holding a tray of champagne.

"Oops!"

Tiffany, Keyla's lackey, stuck her foot out.

I crashed. Glass shattered. Laughter erupted.

"Clumsy," Tiffany sneered.

Keyla saw her moment. She dropped her plate and stumbled back, clutching her stomach.

"Ah! She pushed me! Janette pushed me!" Keyla sobbed, collapsing into Garrison's arms. "I... I think I'm pregnant! She tried to hurt the baby!"

The crowd gasped. Pregnant? The betrayal twisted like a knife. But I smelled the lie. No second heartbeat. Just the scent of deceit.

"I didn't touch her," I said, blood dripping from my palms.

"Liar!" Tiffany shouted.

Garrison turned to me, eyes flashing red. "You dare?"

He hauled me up and shoved me back. I crashed into a table, smashing an antique vase.

"That was my mother's!" Garrison roared. "You destroy everything!"

"Smell her, Garrison! She's lying!"

"Silence!"

The Command clamped my jaw shut. I tasted copper.

"You are a danger to my heir. To the isolation room."

He dragged me to the basement. Not a cell. The silver room.

The air shimmered with silver filings.

He threw me in. "Maybe a night in the silver will purify that rot in your soul."

The door slammed.

I fell, coughing. The dust settled on my skin like fire ants. Every breath was razor blades.

I curled up, covering my face. My wolf howled in agony.

Hours later, the door opened.

Garrison stood there, fresh suit, looking annoyed.

"Get up. Tonight is the memorial fundraiser for your mother."

I froze.

"The Dixon family is sponsoring it," he said. Keyla's family. "You will attend. And you will publicly thank Keyla for her generosity."

He wanted me to thank my mother's murderer.

"Why?" I croaked.

"Unity," he said. "And because if you don't... you stay in here forever."

I pulled myself up.

My hatred solidified into something cold and hard.

"I'll go," I whispered.

"Good. Clean yourself up. You look like a mess."

As I limped to the showers, I made a promise: That was the last order he would ever give me.