Chapter 3
Chapter 3 – The Last Thing She Waited For
Rain poured over the Silver Moon Pack that night, soaking the streets and turning the ground around the garbage area into thick, slippery mud. Luna Georgina barely noticed the cold as she frantically searched through the piles of trash, her wet hair sticking to her face.
Her hands shook as she pushed aside one garbage bag after another. She didn't care about the dirt covering her fingers or the rain soaking through her clothes. All she could think about were the things that had belonged to her daughter.
“Where are they?” Georgina whispered desperately as she searched another bag. “Please, please let them still be here.”
Her breathing became heavier when she found nothing. She moved to another pile, ignoring the pain in her injured leg as she crouched down and dug through the trash with trembling hands.
Keep looking. Don't give up yet.
Jessa's voice encouraged her from inside, but even her wolf sounded heartbroken.
“I won't,” Georgina whispered. “I can't leave her things here.”
She had almost reached the bottom of another bag when a familiar voice suddenly cut through the rain.
“Georgina!”
She froze.
Alpha Matthew Wilson stood several feet away, holding an umbrella above his head. His clothes were dry, his expression dark, and his eyes were filled with irritation as he stared at his mate digging through the garbage.
“What are you doing?” Alpha Matthew demanded as he walked toward her. “Get away from that trash.”
Georgina didn't even look at him. “I'm looking for my daughter's things.”
“Stop this,” Matthew ordered, his patience clearly wearing thin. “You're making a scene, and you're upsetting Marian.”
Georgina finally looked up at him, rainwater running down her face.
“Marian is upset because I'm looking for my dead daughter's belongings?”
“That's not what I said.”
“Then what are you saying?” Georgina demanded as she stood. “You threw her things away, Matthew. You let Marian empty her room, and now you don't even want me to look for them?”
Matthew's jaw tightened.
“Georgina, our daughter is gone. You need to accept that and move on.”
“She was my daughter!” Georgina cried, her voice breaking through the heavy rain. “Those things are all I have left of her!”
Matthew sighed as though her grief was nothing but an inconvenience.
“You're behaving irrationally.”
“I'm behaving like a mother!”
Her words silenced him for a moment.
Georgina turned back toward the trash and continued searching. Her fingers were already numb, but she refused to stop.
Matthew watched her for several seconds before his voice became harsher.
“Enough, Georgina. Come inside.”
“No.”
“I'm not asking.”
“And I'm not listening.”
Matthew's expression darkened as he stepped closer. “Why are you doing this to yourself? Marian is already upset because of everything that happened tonight. Do you really want to make her feel guilty?”
Georgina stared at him with disbelief.
“She's guilty because she should be.”
Matthew's eyes flashed.
“Don't say that.”
“Why?” Georgina asked. “Because you don't want to hear the truth?”
Before Matthew could answer, Georgina suddenly stopped moving.
Something pink was sticking out from beneath a torn garbage bag.
Her heart jumped.
“Wait…”
She dropped to her knees and pushed aside the wet garbage with trembling hands.
Just as his patience finally snapped, Georgina saw it, a corner of familiar pink fabric.
She pulled harder, and a plastic bag emerged from beneath the garbage. Inside were the tiny clothes she had bought for her daughter, the little blanket she had carefully folded away, and the small pillow she had sewn herself.
Georgina's breath caught.
“My baby…”
She clutched the bag to her chest like a precious treasure, burying her face against the wet fabric as though she could somehow find the scent of the child she had lost.
“I found them,” she whispered through her tears. “Matthew, I found her things.”
The next second, Alpha Matthew ripped the bag from her arms.
“Matthew!”
He hurled the entire bundle into a muddy puddle beside the garbage containers.
The pink fabric was instantly swallowed by brown sludge.
Georgina screamed.
“No!”
She dropped to her hands and knees, scrambling through the muddy water as she desperately reached for the bundle. Filthy rainwater splashed across her face and into her mouth, but she didn't care.
“Give them back!” she cried. “Please, Matthew, don't do this!”
Matthew grabbed her arm and hauled her to her feet.
“Listen to me, Georgina,” he said coldly, gripping her face and forcing her to look at him. “Our daughter was never born. She died. She has been dead for three years.”
Georgina stared at him as tears mixed with the rain on her cheeks.
“You don't get to erase her because you're tired of seeing me grieve.”
“I'm trying to help you.”
“No, you're trying to make me forget her so Marian can have her place.”
Matthew's expression hardened.
“That's enough.”
“Then give me her things!”
“They're useless now.”
“They are not useless!”
Georgina struggled against his grip, but Matthew held her firmly.
“You need to move on,” he insisted. “You're destroying yourself over things that cannot bring her back.”
Georgina's strength slowly disappeared.
She looked at the muddy bundle lying beside them, her heart feeling as though it had been torn apart for the second time.
Seeing her suddenly become still, Matthew's expression softened slightly. He tossed his umbrella aside and pulled her into his arms, holding her beneath the pouring rain.
“Georgina,” he whispered, his voice suddenly gentle. “Listen to me. Marian promised me that after the baby is born, she'll leave us alone.”
Georgina remained silent in his arms.
“This child can be our new beginning,” Matthew continued, stroking her wet hair. “You can love this baby and give the child all the love you never got to give our daughter.”
Georgina's body went limp in his arms.
Matthew seemed to take her surrender as a victory. He leaned down and pressed a kiss against her forehead.
“You'll understand eventually,” he whispered.
Georgina closed her eyes.
For years, she had wanted Matthew to hold her like this. She had wanted him to comfort her, to tell her everything would be okay, to make her feel like she was still important to him.
But standing in his arms now, she felt nothing.
No warmth.
No comfort.
Only exhaustion.
Then a weak voice suddenly came from behind them.
“Alpha Matthew…”
Matthew immediately lifted his head.
Marian stood several feet away in the pouring rain. Her clothes were soaked through, and one hand was protectively covering her stomach.
“Why are you outside?” Matthew demanded, immediately releasing Georgina.
Marian looked toward Georgina before lowering her eyes.
“I woke up and couldn't find you,” Marian explained softly. “I was worried something had happened.”
Matthew's expression instantly changed.
“Why did you come outside? You're pregnant.”
“I was worried about you.”
Georgina watched silently as Matthew moved toward Marian.
He glanced back at Georgina, who was still standing unprotected beneath the rain.
“Hannah's not well. I have to get her inside,” Matthew said hesitantly. “Wait for me. I'll be back.”
Georgina looked at him for a long moment.
Then she nodded.
“Okay,” she murmured softly.
Matthew turned toward Marian and immediately placed an arm around her, guiding her toward the house.
Georgina watched them walk away.
She looked down at the muddy bundle lying near her feet.
Slowly, she bent down and picked it up.
The tiny pink clothes were covered in mud. The blanket she had once washed and folded with such care was soaked and filthy. The little pillow she had sewn herself was ruined.
She stared at them for a long time before walking toward the trash.
Then she dropped the muddy bundle back inside.
Matthew frowned and advised hesitantly, “If you really can't part with it…”
“I don't need it,” Georgina said, cutting him off flatly.
Matthew looked surprised by how easily she had accepted it.
Then a triumphant smile appeared on his face.
“Good,” Alpha Matthew exclaimed. “I knew you'd listen to reason.”
He turned and followed Marian inside.
Georgina remained outside.
The rain continued pouring over her as she stood alone beside the garbage containers. She didn't move, didn't cry, and didn't call Matthew's name.
After they disappeared inside, she stood in the rain for a very long time.
Matthew was right.
What was she accomplishing by clinging to ghosts?
All she needed was to keep her daughter safe in her heart. That was enough.