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.
