Chapter 81

Chapter 81
Jesse

The moment I called Maddox a delusional person, the room seemed to get ten degrees colder. 

The creepy, happy smile on Maddox’s face didn't just fade, it died. His expression shifted into something blank and hollow like I had just slapped the soul right out of him.

I guess he was expecting me to fall for it? 

Maybe he thought I would hear his tragic story and suddenly feel some magical pull toward him. Did he think I’d just shrug and say, "Oh, okay, I guess I am a ghost, let’s be together"? 

He must have been hoping that I would believe in fate just as much as he did. But I didn't. I couldn't because it made no sense.

"Don't say that." 

Maddox whispered. He took a step toward the bed, his hands twitching at his sides. 

"You... you don't mean that, Jesse. You're just confused. You're overwhelmed. It’s a lot to take in, I know."

He had no idea how much I meant it.

"I meant every single second of it,!" I snapped. I didn't care if he was the Alpha. I didn't care if he could snap my neck with one hand. This was too much. 

"I meant it when I said you're delusional. In fact, delusional isn't even a big enough word for what you are. You’re a crazed, obsessed lunatic."

Maddox winced, actually winced, as if my words were physical punches. 

"Jesse, please—"

"No!" I shouted, the iron chains clanging loudly against the headboard as I tried to lunge forward. 

"You sit here and tell me that your mate died five years ago and you really think I’m just a replacement? You think the Moon Goddess is some kind of cosmic delivery service that brings back dead people in new packages? Are you serious right now? Is this actually happening?"

I stared at him, my chest heaving. I was so angry I was starting to shake.

"You called Rhea psychotic," I said, my voice dripping with venom. 

"But look at you. You’re even crazier than your sister. At least she knows what reality is. You? You’ve built this whole house out of lies and old paintings."

Maddox shook his head, his eyes was getting that frantic, watery look again. 

"It’s the only thing that makes sense! Look at your face, Jesse! Look at your eyes! How can you explain it? How can you stand there and tell me it’s a coincidence?"

"I don't know how it’s possible!" I yelled back. 

"Maybe the world is just weird! Maybe there are only so many faces to go around! I don't have the answer to why I look like Gale, but I know what I’m not."

I leaned as close to him as the chains allowed, staring him straight in his bloodshot eyes. I wanted him to see the truth, even if it broke him.

"I am not some sort of Moon Goddess reincarnation," I told him, my voice steady and cold. "I am not your second chance. I am not some holy experiment sent down to fix your broken heart. I am Jesse. I was born to parents who loved me. I grew up in a pack that didn't want me. I lived in the woods with people who actually cared about who I was, not what I looked like."

I let out a harsh, dry breath. 

"Whatever Gale was to you, he’s gone, Maddox. He’s dead. He’s at the bottom of a waterfall, and no amount of wishing or kidnapping me is going to change that. I am a person, not a ghost. Do you even hear yourself? Do you realize how insane you sound?"

Maddox just stayed there, staring at me like I was speaking a language he didn't understand. He looked lost. He looked like a man who had just watched his miracle turn into dust right in front of him.

But I didn't feel sorry for him. How could I? He had me in chains because of a guy I never met. He was holding me hostage because of a coincidence and worst of all, he killed my friends.

"I am not him," I whispered one last time, making sure he heard it. "And I never will be."

\---
I looked at Maddox, waiting for him to snap out of it, but he didn't.

He didn't even look like a person who had been corrected. 

He just looked like a person who was right and was just waiting for me to catch up.

"I’m not being delusional, Jesse," he spoke.

"I know what I see and you are supposed to see it too. I know what I feel in my soul. You are my second chance. The Goddess doesn't make mistakes like this, does she? She wouldn't just create another version of him for no reason. Besides, who are we to question her?"

As he said that, a wave of pure disgust rolled over me. I felt like I wanted to scrub my skin until it bled. 

"Is that all I am to you?" I asked, my voice shaking with anger. 

"Am I just a spare part? You look at me and you don't even see a person. You just see a replacement for your dead mate. That is sick, Maddox. It’s actually disgusting!"

He didn't even flinch. He stepped closer as his shadow fel over the bed. 

"The resemblance is impossible to ignore. You have to admit that. You don't have a twin, do you? No, of course you don't. Fate intervened because it knew I couldn't live without him. It brought you to me."

"I don't admit anything!" I yelled. "I am not Gale! I will never be Gale! I don't care how much you want me to be. You can dress me up, you can chain me to your bed, but you’re just talking to a ghost that isn't there. I won't replace him. I won't be your little puppet."

The room went dead silent. Maddox stared at me for a long time, and for a second, I thought he might actually hit me. His eyes went dark, losing that weird, hopeful light. 

The confrontation had ended badly, I could feel it in the air. I had pushed him too far, and he wasn't going to play the nice grieving mate anymore.

Without saying another word, he turned on his heel. He walked out of the room, and the sound of the door slamming was so loud it made me jump. I heard the heavy click of the lock. I was stuck again. Locked up like an animal in a cage.

I slumped back against the headboard and the iron chains clinking like they were mocking my situation. 

I was so confused. My head was spinning as I replayed that image of the portrait in my mind. 

For the first time in my life, I actually started to wonder... what if?

I mean, how is it possible to look that much like someone else? I’ve lived my whole life thinking I was just Jesse. 

Just a person who grew up in a pack, then a rogue who lived in the woods. But now? Now there was this doubt. It was like a tiny, poisonous seed planted in my brain. 

Was my existence tied to something bigger than just chance? Was there some weird cosmic reason I was born with this face?

It made me feel less like myself. Every time I looked at my hands, I wondered if they were my hands or if they were just copies of Gale’s. 

I felt like a replacement. I felt like a fake. And that scared me more than Maddox did.

"What the hell is all of this?" I whispered to the empty, fancy room.

I knew one thing for sure: I couldn't stay here. I had to get out. Maddox didn't seem like the kind of person who would just take no for an answer. He was a narcissistic Alpha.

Everything had to be about him and his needs and his mate bond. I knew I had pissed him off. I had insulted his fantasy, and a narcissist doesn't handle rejection well.

He was going to come back, and next time, I didn't think he’d be offering me water or soft blankets. I just had to find a way out before I completely lost track of who I was. And also Rhea... she had some explaining to do.

Was all was just a memory to her?