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.
