Chapter 151: Chapter 151 Hollow
Jasper
The past few weeks had been nothing but numbers and signatures. Meetings. Contracts. Endless paperwork.
On the surface,Stone Lake Pack was thriving again. Trade agreements were solidified,disputes resolved,finances stabilized.
From the outside,I was the Alpha who had everything under control.
But inside? I’d never felt more hollow.
Every meeting without Freya was an echo. Every report she used to prepare felt heavier in my hands. I caught myself turning to her empty chair too often,expecting her calm,steady voice to cut through the noise,only to be met with silence.
Mia filled the space with perfume,drama,and shallow commentary. But she wasn’t Freya. She never would be.
That emptiness gnawed at me—until Timothy slid a flash drive across my desk one evening.
"Alpha," he said quietly. "You should see this."
Security footage. Clear. Unmistakable.
Mia. Reed. The betrayal laid bare.
I stared at the screen,the truth burning through every frame. My chest clenched,not with surprise,but with fury. Because deep down,I’d known. I’d felt it every time Freya looked at me with those eyes full of things she never said. And I’d ignored it. I’d chosen wrong.
Regret sank its claws into me. Sharp. Merciless.
I had driven Freya away. I had let Mia poison me against the only person who had ever been real.
That regret curdled into something darker. Something hotter.
Hatred.
Hatred for Mia’s lies. For my own blindness. For every moment she had stolen from me and from Freya.
I would not be played again.
I’d never felt so cold inside.
So hollow.
And yet,rage seared through my veins like wildfire,relentless and scorching.
As I stared at Mia—the woman I once believed was fated for me—all I saw now was a stranger. A venomous parasite,wrapped in silk and lies,who had systematically dismantled everything good in my life.
The security footage Timothy had shown me looped endlessly in my mind. Her fake tears,her whispered manipulations,the way she’d slithered between truths and twisted them into weapons.
"Jasper,baby,this is all a misunderstanding," Mia cooed,tears shimmering in those blue eyes I used to find so captivating. "That footage was doctored. You know Freya hates me—she’d do anything to come between us."
I almost laughed.
My knuckles turned white as I clenched my fists. The wolf inside me was a razor’s edge,snarling,ready to tear through the skin. This woman had made me doubt Freya—Freya,the one person who never asked for anything in return. She’d turned me into the very thing I despised: a weak,blind fool.
"Stop. Talking." My voice cut like ice,quiet and lethal. Mia recoiled as though the words had slapped her.
She’d never seen this version of me before. The real Alpha—not the man she’d dressed in pink and dragged around like a prize.
Then she broke character.
Her gaze flicked toward the door Freya had exited earlier,and the hate that twisted her face made my stomach churn.
"This is all her fault," Mia spat,voice dripping venom. "That plain little nothing’s been obsessed with you since day one. She’s jealous. She’ll never have what we do—a true mate bond."
A chilling smile curved my lips as the truth slotted into place.
"What we have," I said,voice as still as death,"is nothing."
I stepped closer. She flinched.
"There never was a mate bond,was there,Mia?" I whispered,each word laced with contempt. "You rejected me. Remember that?"
Her pupils contracted. Her mouth opened,closed,but no sound came.
"All these years," I went on,"I thought I was broken. That I was weak for feeling the pull,for chasing a bond that wasn’t there. But the only thing I was—was manipulated."
I bared my teeth,not in a smile but a snarl.
"You played me. And I let you."
Her face lost all color.
"Time for some karma."
I seized her arm,fingers digging into soft flesh. She squealed,heels skidding uselessly across the polished floor as I dragged her toward the door.
"Jasper! Stop! You’re hurting me!"
"Funny how you suddenly care about being hurt." I didn’t loosen my grip. "Did you care when you humiliated Freya? When you made her serve drinks at her own damn birthday party? When you poisoned everyone against her just because she outshone you by existing?"
She whimpered. Pathetic.
We reached the doors. My guards—loyal,stone-faced—were already waiting.
"You enjoy making people kneel,don’t you?" I said,thinking of the day Mia forced Freya to scrub spilled coffee in front of the board. "Then you can spend tonight on your knees."
I shoved her forward. The guards caught her roughly.
"She stays outside. All night. On her knees. If she moves,tries to leave,tries to call anyone—restrain her."
"You can’t do this!" Mia shrieked. "I’m your Luna!"
I turned,stared her down one final time.
"No. You never were."
Then I stepped back inside and shut the door on her screams.
But the moment the silence fell,rage gave way to something worse.
Regret.
It hit me like a collapsing building.
Freya’s face rose in my mind,uninvited and all-consuming. Those steady,intelligent eyes. The quiet strength behind every decision. The way she never once asked to be chosen,but always showed up anyway.
God,what a fool I’d been.
Eight years. She’d been the constant behind every success. She’d handled crises,balanced the board,protected the pack—and me. And all I’d done was take.
I stalked to my car and slammed the door shut. The interior smelled like Mia. Looked like Mia. Pink seat covers,cutesy plushies,her favorite snacks in every damn compartment.
All the things Freya had sat beside in silence.
I let out a feral growl—and began tearing it all out.
The plushies,the snacks,the seat covers—I hurled them onto the concrete like garbage. But it wasn’t enough.
We’d spent nights in this car. Kisses stolen beneath the moonlight. Her breath fogging the windows. Her lips on mine. Her body curled into me.
Now,it was just a hollow shell.
She’s gone. And you let her go.
Something inside me cracked. I beat the dashboard until it split. Tore the leather from the seats. Shattered the mirror. When I was done,the car was unrecognizable.
But the ache inside me was untouched.
I grabbed another vehicle from the pack garage and drove like a man possessed to my penthouse.
When I stepped inside,the final knife twisted in my chest.
Gone was the sleek,masculine interior Freya had helped me design. In its place: floral drapes,pink candles,soft lighting,a pastel-colored nightmare.
She erased her. Mia had wiped every inch of Freya from my life.
Desperate,I tore through drawers,closets,shelves. Looking for something. Anything.
A mug. A hairpin. A scarf. Something to prove she’d been real.
Nothing.
Then,just as I turned toward the kitchen,something rolled from beneath the couch—a single,black hairpin. Simple. Sleek. Hers.
I sank to my knees.
Clutching that tiny piece of metal like it was sacred.
She’d left quietly,taken her dignity with her,and never looked back.
I had watched her pack. And said nothing.
And now I would have to live with that.
By the time the sun began to rise,I was sitting amidst shattered glass and torn photographs,completely numb.
My assistant arrived,stepping carefully over the wreckage.
"Alpha Kane... we should head to the office. Luna Mia is still waiting."
His words barely registered.
Mia.
The source of all this rot.
If not for her,Freya might still be here. If not for her poison,I might have chosen better. Earlier.
"Take me to the office," I said,my voice so raw it sounded like someone else’s.
And this time,I wouldn’t stop until I made things right.