Cheating?

Jasmine's POV.

At exactly five am, I opened my eyes and struggled to my feet.

I was still in the same spot my mother had left me earlier.

I had bled so much throughout the night that I thought I was going to die.

I whimpered in pain as my legs staggered backwards and refused to support my body.

I needed to hurry and prepare breakfast for the family and hurry to go see Jason.

A part of me wondered whether he had noticed I had gone missing yesterday and had been worried a tiny bit.

I hurried with preparing the food and dashed down to the bathroom to take my bath.

While bathing, I was reminded of the man I had met at the bar yesterday—Kai. What had been his reaction when he found the note and money I dropped? Had he thought it was too small? Well, I hope we never get to cross paths again.

From his aura, I could tell he definitely wasn't an ordinary wolf.

Probably a Beta? Still impossible.

My parents were Betas, and they did not possess half the powerful aura he had.

He was most likely a warrior or a…

My head hurt from thinking too hard, and I tried to distract myself.

What about his look-alike I had met in the elevator? It was most likely a product of my imagination, perhaps.

I washed up hurriedly and at exactly six am, arrived in front of the Alpha's palace.

I waited in the lobby for nearly an hour before a guard came to my rescue.

“The Alpha says you can come in.”

With my heart trembling, I walked into the Alpha's chamber.

Jason was seated on the throne, and guess who was seated by his side? It was Chloe.

She was seated on the Luna's seat beside him while both held hands.

She had apparently spent the night here.

My heart ached at that thought.

Wasn't it too early, however, for Chloe to take over the Luna's seat? It was compulsory for every newly installed Luna to go through a thirty-day cleansing ceremony before being officially installed.

It was both astonishing and sad how just within less than twenty-four hours, a lot had been changed and replaced in my life.

Jason still looked handsome, if not more handsome than before.

“Good morning, Jason,” I greeted absentmindedly.

I didn't like the way Jason and Chloe kept gazing at each other or the way they held hands. It was supposed to be me.

Jason glared at me and growled in displeasure; “How dare you address me by my name, you hag? You shall address me as your Alpha from now onwards.”

I stiffened.

His words felt like thousands of jabs of iron piercing into my heart.

The pure coldness and hatred in his eyes weren't helping matters. He was glaring at me like I was some piece of trash, a dog, and not someone he had spent over five years of his life with, and someone he had once shared his body with.

'Jasmine, hold yourself up, don't crumble before them,' I chanted in my head as I felt the tears coming.

Oh, God… I still loved this man.

“Good morning, Alpha,” I corrected myself.

“Where were you throughout yesterday?” Jason's rugged voice pierced through the Chambers.

I froze.

Throughout yesterday? I was just gone half the day. I had spent the first half of the mating ceremony.

“I-I-” I stuttered, not even knowing where to begin.

“Now, don't you even dare to lie to me!”

“I had to shift and rest there for a while.” I gave half the details.

“When did a mere shifting begin to take the whole day?” Chloe chirped sarcastically.

Of course, I hadn't expected her to understand. Her parents had been with her throughout the shifting process to cheer her up, and she never bore the pain alone.

“That's all I did, Alpha. I'm telling you the truth.”

Jason's eyes searched mine a bit before looking away.

Was he trying to tell if I was lying?

“Perhaps, she snuck and went to see a man,” Chloe said, with the clear aim of provoking the Alpha.

Jason's eyes darkened, and he glared at me with hate-filled eyes.

“You disappeared without notice and made the entire pack worry about your useless self. As the Alpha, I will not condone that act. Your punishment is—”

My heart stopped.

Was Jason really going to punish me? Had things indeed got to this point?

I couldn't believe these were the same eyes that had once looked at me with love that were now looking at me with disgust and hate.

“Your punishment is to—”

“Allow me to handle her instead,” Chloe interrupted, giving him puppy-dog eyes.

“Granted.” Jason smiled tenderly at her and stormed out of the chamber without sparing a glance my way.

Chloe's expression shifted into that of a sinister one as soon as Jason left the room.

She eyed me up and down, a sneer on her face.

“I wish I had a potion that would make you totally disappear from the face of this earth,” Chloe spat.

Well, I did too.

I bowed my head and refused to look directly into her eyes. Experiences had also taught me this one.

“You know, I used to wonder what I did to the moon goddess that made me so unfortunate to have you as a sister.”

“Jason has been so good to me. I'm glad the charms you used in holding him down are now expired. He's mine now, and I want you to know that, and stop looking at him with those eyes you use,” she said in a rather threatening tone.

My heart sunk into bits. She glanced at me, happy to see that her words were affecting me.

I fought back the tears that were threatening to fall and maintained a calm demeanor.

“I was going to make your punishment really hard, but I have something else in mind.” She smirked evilly and paused.

Something told me this wasn't going to be good.

She looked left and right in a scheming manner and closed the distance between us.

“I am going to visit the next pack for something important, and I need you to come with me. You must not tell anyone about this or else I'll kill you myself. Am I clear?” she warned.

“Y-yes,” I nodded.

Next pack? That was where Chloe's boyfriend, Carter, lived. Like Jason and me, both of them had also been together for over five years, even though on several occasions, I had seen Chloe with other different boys, which was none of my business, anyway.

I had only met Carter twice, but he had given me this eerie vibe that made my hair stand on edge.

Was Chloe cheating on Jason with Carter?