I was almost out of control. The room spun in the corners of my vision, my wolf pushing closer to the surface, begging to take over. My hands curled into fists, my breathing fast and sharp.
“Still got that runt temper, huh?” one of them laughed, leaning back in his chair like this was all so kind of ga.
I stopped just short of him, my chest rising and falling hard. My fists clenched tighter. “Say that again.”
“Runt,” another sneered. “You think you’re scary now? You were the weakest wolf in the pack. Always holding Elliot back. Everyone knew it. No wonder he left you.”
They didn’t know anymore. They didn’t know how many hours I trained after everyone went ho, or how many tis I collapsed behind the training center because I wouldn’t let myself stay weak. I forced my wolf to grow, to fight, to survive. I wasn’t that weakling anymore.
I lunged. My fist collided with the first guy’s jaw, snapping his head sideways. The others shouted, stumbling to their feet, but I was already on the next, kicking his knee out from under him. He grunted and fell hard. For a second, it felt good. This was justice.
“Jasmine, stop!” Mindie’s voice cracked as she tried to stop . She was still bleeding, barely able to stand. “You’re going to get us both fired!”
“I don’t care!” I shouted.
“That’s obvious,” said a low voice behind .
A hand gripped my arm from behind. I turned. It was Elliot. His eyes burned with fury, but there was a sense of smugness underneath that didn’t look right.
He leaned in. “Throwing punches in a club? Is this what you’ve beco? Street mutt...you disappoint .” He looked at from head to toe and shook his head.
My breath hitched. “Shut up asshole! Let go of .” He didn’t. Instead he tightened his grip on my arm, causing to wince.
“You’re wasting your ti with jobs like this,” he said, voice calm now, almost soft, like he was trying to be reasonable. “Is this the best you could do? You don’t belong here, Jasmine.”
“I’ll go where I can earn a living,” I snapped.
“I gave you a way out,” he said smoothly. “You just didn’t take it.”
My wolf growled low in my chest. “You an to beco your dirty little secret while you parade around with the Lycan Princess?” I hissed.
Elliot smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Who else would want you? You think too highly of yourself, Jasmine. You would be dead without .”
“I’d rather die than crawl back to you.”
His smile slipped, and I could see the temper flaring just under the surface. “You always loved playing the victim.”
I yanked my arm from his grip. “You, out of all people, don’t get to insult .”
My chest heaved as I stared at Elliot, still burning with rage. But as the noise and shouts from the crowd faded into the background, sothing ugly clicked in my head.
His friends didn’t just happen to be here. Not in this pack’s most exclusive club. Not on a night where I’d just started working.
I looked at him. The smugness in his eyes, the arrogance in his posture. It told everything I needed to know.
“You sent them here, didn’t you?” I said, my voice shaking with rage.
Elliot’s expression flickered for the briefest second. Then he smiled. That slow practiced smile I used to mistake for charm.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said smoothly. “My friends go where they want. You just happened to show up.”
“Bullshit.” I stepped closer. “You sent them to harass . You wanted to humiliate !” The realization made furious.
Elliot didn’t even flinch at my accusation. Instead, he rely smirked at . But all of a sudden, his eyes darted lower, and his smug deanor vanished. His smirk was replaced with a terrifying scowl, and his eyes darkened with sothing raw and ugly.
“What the hell is that?” he snapped, his voice dropping.
I realized he must have seen the hickey on my collarbone. The hickey Gareth had left on on that fateful night we t. I instinctively lifted my hand to cover the mark, but it was too late. He grabbed my arm forcefully.
“Who the fuck did you let touch you, Jasmine?” he growled. “Who did you spread your legs for?”
“That’s none of your business,” I said coldly. “Let go.”
He scowled. “Like hell I will! You’re my fated mate. I don’t care who touched you—I’ll kill him.”
I pulled my arm out of his grip. “You rejected , rember? You picked status and power over . You don’t get to act jealous now.”
“You were marked, Jasmine,” he snapped. “That doesn’t just go away because you decided to sleep around. Besides, I rejected you for your own good. You wouldn’t have been able to handle being Luna with all your deficiencies. My decisions will give you an easier life. Think about it.”
Elliot continued, “Look at how you behave at the slightest hint of trouble. Dressing like that, clinging to powerful n, acting like you’re in heat. You’ve made a ss of yourself. You would have disgraced in public eventually.”
I bristled with anger. “If you truly believe so, then stop clinging to . You’ve rejected , now act like it! If you ever co near again, I swear I’ll scream. I’ll have you arrested.”
He sneered. “On what grounds? I am the man who is Ashborne’s future Alpha. No one will take your side.”
I tilted my head, smiling coldly. “Are you sure about that?”
He raised a brow. “What’s that supposed to an?”
“I could tell your fiancée who I really am,” I said softly. “Who you really are.”
That wiped the smirk off his face.
I stepped in closer and whispered icily. “Does Isabella know you marked soone else before her? That you offered to buy in secret, like a dirty little habit? I wonder what she’ll say when she finds out what kind of man she’s marrying.”
His lips curled back in a snarl. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“Try .”
He took a step toward and grabbed again.
Then the air changed.
A sudden stillness swept through the room, like soone had sucked all the oxygen out. The music stopped mid-beat, conversations died on parted lips, and glasses hung suspended in midair. Every sense sharpened as a powerful Alpha aura flooded the space—overwhelming the atmosphere. All around , people froze. Heads turned at once, drawn instinctively toward the source.
Beside , Elliot stiffened. His eyes widened, and his face drained of color as his wolf instinctively lowered itself in submission.
I didn’t need to look to know who it was. That kind of presence belonged to only one man.
Still, I turned.
And there he was.
Gareth Laken. His eyes glowed silver under the club lights, focused on Elliot’s hand on my arm.
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