From Rejected Mate to Luna Chapter 123

Grace's POV

The sting on my palm was satisfying, a physical reminder of boundaries I would not allow to be crossed.

Jack froze, the amber in his eyes gradually retreating to normal blue. His cheek bore the vivid red imprint of my hand, contrasting starkly with his shocked expression. For a moment, I felt a twinge of something—not quite regret, perhaps the faintest echo of what might have been in another life.

"You dare try to mark me?" My voice was low and dangerous as I scrambled off him, pulling the wedding dress back into place, never taking my eyes off him. The moment of vulnerability had passed; control was re-established.

"I didn't—I didn't mean to," Jack shook his head, his eyes filled with regret and confusion. "It was just instinct, Grace. When a wolf is with someone they love—"

"Love?" I let out a cold laugh, deliberately sharp to cut through any remaining intimacy. "I thought our rules were clear. No commitments, no marking, no interference in each other's lives."

Jack's expression shifted from shock to hurt, then to anger—a transformation I'd witnessed before and had prepared for. "So that's all I am to you? A disposable distraction? You're about to mate with another man tomorrow, yet tonight you're in my bed, wearing your wedding dress!"

I turned away as I struggled with the zipper of my dress, movements attempting to remain elegant despite my internal turmoil. "I've never hidden my plans from you, Jack. You chose to accept these terms." The silk felt cool against my heated skin, a reminder of the luxury that awaited me as Luna.

"Because I love you!" Jack nearly shouted, the raw emotion in his voice almost breaking through my armor. Almost. "Because I foolishly believed that someday you'd see that our connection is more important than your political alliance with Nathan!"

I turned to face him, deliberately curving my lips into the cruel smile I'd practiced to perfection in my mirror. "Love is a game for the weak, Jack. Look what it's done to you—a powerful wolf, now begging for attention like a wounded puppy." I gathered my red dress from the floor, feeling Aria whimper deep inside me. I silenced her with a mental command. "I choose power, status, the authority that will make an entire pack bow to me. Can you give me that?"

Jack fell silent, sitting naked on the edge of the bed, his bare body looking suddenly vulnerable in the hotel's soft light. I allowed myself to memorize this image—I might need it on cold nights beside Nathan.

"You'll regret this, Grace. Power won't hold you in the night, won't support you when you're vulnerable, won't love you like I do."

"But it will make everyone respect me, fear me," I walked to the bathroom to change back into my red dress, emerging to check myself in the mirror, perfectly repairing my makeup with practiced movements. "Including those who once mocked my family, those who thought I wasn't good enough. Tomorrow, when I stand beside Nathan and become the Alpha's mate, no one will remember I was once just an ordinary girl at the edges of the pack."

I took lipstick from my purse, reapplying the vibrant red to my lips—a ritual of self-armoring I'd performed countless times. "As for love—" I looked at Jack through the mirror, watching him watching me, "it's just another tool to gain power, like beauty, like intelligence, like skill in bed."

Jack finally stood, slowly putting on his pants and shirt. I could see the defeat in his movements, and something inside me—something I refused to acknowledge—ached at the sight.

"You'll miss me, Grace. When you stand beside that cold Alpha, when you discover the emptiness of power, when you're alone in the dark of night—you'll miss someone who truly loved you."

I put my lipstick back in my purse and turned to face him. I approached slowly, my fingers lightly touching the red mark on his face, my touch almost gentle. A part of me wondered if he might be right, but that part was quickly silenced by years of ambition.

"Perhaps. But that's a problem for the future Grace," I placed a light kiss on his lips, leaving a vivid red imprint—my brand, my mark, less permanent than a wolf's bite but no less possessive. "And the present me chooses to be Queen."

I turned toward the door, keeping my steps graceful and determined, refusing to let him see the smallest tremor in my resolve. Before opening it, I cast one last glance at Jack, standing motionless, the pain and longing clear in his eyes.

"Goodbye, Jack," I said, forcing resolution into my voice, though even I could detect the almost imperceptible hesitation.

As the door closed behind me, I took a deep breath, feeling Aria's mournful cry deep inside. *'Quiet,'* I commanded my wolf. *'Tomorrow we'll have everything.'*

Yet as I walked toward the elevator, my fingertips still retained the warmth of Jack's skin, my lips still held the feeling of his kiss. I pressed the elevator button, watching the numbers descend one by one, just like I buried that tiny sliver of regret into the darkest corner of my heart.

Tomorrow, I would wear a white wedding dress and become Nathan Reynolds' mate, the Luna of the entire pack. And tonight's red dress, tonight's Jack, tonight's slap—would become secrets known only to me.

The elevator doors opened, and I stepped inside, keeping my posture straight as a blade.

When the doors slid open at the lobby level, I nearly collided with a familiar broad-shouldered figure. Eric White—Nathan's best friend and his Beta—stood frozen, his eyes widening in unmistakable shock.

"Grace?" His gaze darted from my slightly disheveled hair to the room key card still in my hand, then up to the floor indicator above the elevator. "What are you doing here? I thought you were with the girls at Moonlight."