4: Rage

Jasmine 

I didn’t even understand how I could be so calm. On the inside my soul was fracturing into a million jagged pieces, but my exterior remained perfectly still.

“What nonsense are you spewing right now?!” he yelled, voice thundering through the small cottage, aura flaring in pure shock.

“Reject me,” I repeated, holding his furious gaze. “If you’re getting a new partner, who says I can’t do the same?”

Before the final syllable could even leave my lips, Garrett lunged.

His large hands grabbed my arms with a terrifying, bruising force, yanking me flush against his rigid chest. His face was inches from mine, dark eyes completely consumed by feral, unhinged wrath.

“You don’t mean that,” he growled. His eyes had completely changed color—that frightening, bottomless black bleeding through the irises as his beast clawed at the surface, struggling desperately for control.

Garrett frightened me when he was like this.  

Was it possible? To be so scared and yet so in love with a person?

“I don’t want to be yours anymore, Garrett,” I breathed out, refusing to flinch even as the pressure of his grip threatened to leave marks on my skin.

“Is there someone else?” he roared, fingers digging into my arms as he shook me tightly, chest heaving against mine. “Is that it?! Tell me who it is! I’ll kill him, I swear it. Whoever it is you think you’ll go be with—I will murder him.”

I looked up into his fractured, desperate gaze, my heart breaking all over again at the sheer irony of his fury. He was terrifyingly beautiful like this, a storm of raw, unbridled possessiveness, but it was a hollow prison.

“There is no one else, Garrett,” I whispered, the exhaustion finally pulling at my voice. “There doesn’t need to be. This is about you. I don’t want a life like that. You honestly want me to stay by the side, tucked away in the shadows, and watch you live your life with my sister? Watch you walk her into the light while I wait for you in the dark?”

“I don’t want to be your dirty little secret anymore,” I whispered.

Garrett’s grip softened just a fraction, jaw clenching as he stared down at me. The unhinged rage in his eyes flickered, replaced by a raw, pleading vulnerability that nearly looked real. He stepped closer, pressing his forehead against mine, breath hot and uneven.

“Just trust me, Jasmine,” he urged, voice dropping into a desperate, intense register. “You have to trust me. You cannot leave this pack. You cannot leave me.”

He sounded so incredibly earnest. For a fleeting, agonizing second, it felt like he really did need me—like his entire existence would collapse into ash if I walked away. He spoke as if I were his oxygen, his anchor, the only thing keeping his chaotic power from tearing him apart from the inside out.

But I loved him.

 He rested his forehead against mine.

I would watch his display with Giselle from the sides, while at night Garrett came to me.

**

I stared at the screen that morning. I had passed the first round of screening.

All that remained was the written entrance exam. When the official acceptance notification flashed on my screen, I stared at it for a long, quiet time, my heart hammering against my ribs.

Garrett had shut me down the moment I brought it up. Forbade me even. Being a wolf-less, illegitimate girl I had no place there, he said. But I went on anyway. Stubbornly. Quietly.

I chose the day with precision: the pack summit. It was a massive event miles away where the Alpha family and high-ranking members, including Garrett would be bound to council meetings for hours. At a gathering like that, no one wanted a maid around. It was the perfect cover to slip out unnoticed.

It was my first time in the capital. I had saved every spare coin for months, refusing to take a single cent from Garrett. I couldn’t bring myself to take his money or any of the black cards he left at my disposal.

Then everything went wrong.

A shadow darted from an alley. A heavy hand slammed into my shoulder. My bag was torn away. The thief vanished into the deluge before I could even scream.

Everything I owned went with him—my savings, my personal papers, my exam tag. The only proof I had that I belonged there at all.

I stood in the downpour, my mind spinning into blind panic. What do I do now? How do I get past security? My hands were shaking so violently I could barely grip my phone as I walked aimlessly down the street, cold rain drenching me to the bone.

Someone bumped into me, and my old phone slipped from my numb fingers, crashing onto the wet pavement.

“Oh, sorry pup, are you okay?”

I squatted right there on the sidewalk and began bawling my eyes out. The screen was shattered, water seeping into the casing. It was dead. Everything was gone.

I sat on the curb, completely soaked, shivering, and sobbing hysterically into my hands.

“You look like a drowned cat,” a soft, amused voice murmured above me.

I looked up through blurred vision. A tall, impeccably dressed man holding a large black umbrella was crouching down beside me. His aura was distinct and commanding, yet remarkably gentle, an Alpha, but one whose power felt calm and protective rather than suffocating.

“What happened to you?” he asked softly.

The dam broke. Tears spilled over as I tried to explain. My voice came out in broken, frantic pieces.

He listened without interrupting, then tilted his head.

“The only thing I kept hearing was ‘college.’”

I nodded, wiping uselessly at my soaked face. “I can’t go in. My tag was stolen too.”

He studied me for a moment, then offered a small smile. “I know someone on the board. You can identify yourself with biometrics at the registry desk. You can still take the exam.”

My head snapped up, eyes wide with desperate hope. “Really?”

“Yes.” He introduced himself as Anthony. For a second he simply looked at me, something wistful crossing his face.

He stared at me for a moment and I looked down suddenly feeling self conscious. 

“It’s strange. You look exactly how I always imagined an old friend would have looked if she’d grown up.”

I blinked, swallowing a sob. “Where is she?”

His smile turned sad. “She never got the chance. She died when we were still kids, over thirty years ago.”

He walked me toward his luxury vehicle, but I hesitated by the door, biting my lip raw.

“Is there a problem? You don’t trust me?”

“No, it’s not that,” I stammered, looking down at my ruined clothes. “I’m drenched. I’ll ruin your seats.” they looked very expensive. 

He chuckled, offering a warm word of reassurance before opening the door and sliding into the back seat alongside me.

The car glided through the storm for a while before slowing down. I looked out the window at a towering high-rise building.

“Is this the college?”

“No.” He looked me over from head to toe, eyes crinkling. “It’s about thirty minutes from here. We still have time. But first… you’re like a drowned cat.”

“I… I’ll be fine,” I stammered, shivering as the cold bit through my clothes. “Do you have a towel?”

“Oh, definitely not. You’ll freeze to death before you even finish page one of your test,” he said smoothly.

He led me through the side entrance of an elite department store boutique. I pulled back at the doorway, my stomach dropping. “I can’t afford this.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he said with a bright smile.

“I’ll pay you back. Somehow. I swear I will,” I insisted, but he just chuckled. He spoke quietly to an elegant attendant.

“Get her something nice. She’s going to get good news at the end of today.”

Minutes later I emerged wearing a lovely, dry, cream-colored dress. It felt incredible against my skin, but the clothes didn’t matter, the only thing on my mind was getting to the desk before the doors closed.

I walked back out to the front entrance where Anthony was waiting by his car.

“Now we can go to the college,” he said, opening the door for me with a gentle flourish. “Nothing breeds confidence like nice clothes.”

“Thank you, Anthony. Truly,” I said, a soft, genuine smile breaking across my face for the first time all day.

I raised my foot, about to step into the vehicle, when the air around us instantly froze.

A wave of pure, crushing dominance slammed into the street like an explosion, so intense the rain dripping off the awning felt heavy. The pressure made my breath hitch in my throat.

Across the street, emerging from the dark shadow of a sports car, stood Garrett. His coat was unbuttoned, his dark hair messy, and his eyes completely blacked out with feral wrath. He stared directly at me, at the cream dress, the luxury car, and the Alpha holding the door open.

How was he here? He wasn’t supposed to be here. He was supposed to be in council meetings for hours.

I took a sharp step back, the dry fabric of my dress brushing against the car. The aura spilling off him wasn’t just intense—it was screaming murder.

“Garrett…” I whispered, the name tearing out of my throat.

“Jasmine!” His voice cracked through the storm like thunder, jaw locked so tight the muscle strained violently. He crossed the slick pavement in three crushing strides.

“Why on earth are you here?!”

I bit my lip. He didn’t know I came for the exams after he forbade it, and here I was standing outside a boutique with an older Alpha.

His eyes were bloodshot, lethal.

“It’s… it’s not what it looks like,” I stammered, hands shaking violently as I tried to press them against my chest. “I came here and I was drenched in rain, my bag was stolen and I—”

“Bullshit!” he yelled in raw, unhinged anger, his inner beast clawing right at the surface. He stopped a foot away, dark gaze raking over the pristine cream dress, the high-end venue, and finally landing on Anthony with pure hatred. “You and him?!”

“What? No!” Horror choked me.