30 Days Left: The Rejected White Wolf's Countdown

On our wedding night, my Fated Mate, Alpha Cedric, left our bed to care for his mistress. He told me our marriage was just an obligation.

But the real betrayal came months later on a rooftop.

When Rogues demanded a trade, Cedric didn't hesitate. He chose to save Jayden because of her "heart condition," handing me-his pregnant wife-over to the killers.

"You are stronger," he said as he pushed me toward them.

I fell from the building. I survived, but our unborn pup didn't.

Instead of comfort, I woke up to handcuffs. Cedric believed Jayden's lies that I staged the kidnapping for attention.

He threw me into the dungeon, shackling my wrists with silver cuffs that burned my flesh, while Jayden poisoned my food with wolfsbane.

He stripped me of my title and dignity, never realizing that the "fragile" woman he protected was the true monster.

He didn't know about the glowing rune on my chest counting down the seconds I had left. He didn't know I was the legendary White Wolf, and my time was up.

On my final night, I asked for one last ride on the Ferris wheel where we first met.

At midnight, as Cedric rushed back to the amusement park, he didn't find a body. He found only my empty clothes and a text message on the seat.

"Don't look for me, Cedric. I'm giving my wolf back to the moon."

As he watched the security footage, he finally saw me dissolve into stardust and ascend to the sky, leaving him alone in a world that suddenly felt too quiet.

Chapter 1

Kacie POV:

The bridal suite reeked of moonflowers. It was a cloying, suffocating sweetness meant to encourage fertility, but tonight, it just smelled like a wake. I sat on the edge of the king-sized bed, my fingers gripping the silk sheets so tightly my knuckles turned white.

My inner wolf, Serenity, was usually a source of warmth. But tonight, she was silent, curled into a tight, shivering ball in the darkest corner of my mind. She was suffering from the Wolf's Wither-a nasty piece of biology that rotted a wolf from the inside out when their human half was rejected by a fated mate.

The door clicked open.

A gust of cold air rushed in, carrying a scent that made my heart hammer against my ribs-storm clouds, ozone, and deep, dark pine. Cedric Moon. My Alpha. My husband. And my Fated Mate.

Cedric walked in, loosening his tie. He didn't look at me. He didn't look at the lace nightgown I had spent hours choosing. He walked straight to the liquor cabinet and poured himself a glass of amber whiskey.

"Cedric," I whispered, my voice trembling.

He paused, his back to me. The air in the room grew heavy, pressurized by his sheer existence. In a wolf pack, the Alpha is absolute authority. Even without him using his Alpha Command, the weight of him was suffocating.

"Go to sleep, Kacie," he said, his voice flat.

"It's our wedding night," I said, forcing myself to stand. My legs felt like jelly. "You haven't... you haven't marked me."

The Marking. The bite that mixed our scents and bound our souls. Without it, this marriage was a sham. Without it, Serenity would continue to rot.

Cedric turned around. His hazel eyes were dead cold. "I told you before the ceremony. This is a marriage of obligation. I will provide for you. You will carry the Moon heir. But do not expect love."

"But we are Mates," I pleaded, taking a step toward him. "The Moon Goddess paired us. You feel the sparks, don't you? When we touch?"

I reached out, my fingertips brushing his hand. Static electricity, hot and sharp, snapped between us.

Cedric flinched and yanked his hand away like I was a hot stove. A look of conflict flashed across his face, quickly replaced by anger.

Suddenly, his eyes glazed over. The milky film of a Mind-Link.

As the Luna-even an unmarked one-I should have heard it. But he had walled me out.

A moment later, his focus snapped back. Panic replaced the coldness.

"I have to go," he said, grabbing his jacket.

"Go? Where?" I asked, incredulous. "Cedric, please."

"It's Jayden," he said, already moving toward the door. "She's having a panic attack. She says her scar is hurting."

Jayden Moore. The name tasted like ash. The daughter of the former Beta, the woman who claimed she took a silver knife meant for Cedric years ago. That scar was her trophy, her leash around Cedric's neck.

"She is an adult wolf, Cedric! She has doctors. You are her Alpha, not her nurse!" I cried out.

Cedric stopped at the door. He turned, a low rumble vibrating in his chest. A warning.

"She saved my life, Kacie. She is the responsibility of this family. Unlike you, who only got into this bed because I was drugged and needed a body to cool the fever."

The words were a physical blow. I stumbled back.

He was referring to the night of the Heat. A business rival had dosed him with a potent aphrodisiac wolfsbane mix. I had found him. I had given myself to him to save his life because my blood-the blood of a White Wolf, though he didn't know it-could neutralize the toxin.

"I saved you too," I whispered.

"You took advantage of a compromised Alpha," he spat. "Take your suppressants. I don't want a child conceived in this mess."

He tossed a bottle of pills onto the bed. Then he slammed the door, leaving me alone in the scent of moonflowers.

I collapsed onto the floor. My chest burned. Not from heartbreak, but from something far more ancient.

I pulled down the collar of my nightgown. Over my heart, a glowing rune was etched into my skin. The Goddess's Covenant.

Three years ago, I was dying. I made a deal with the Moon Goddess. I traded my future for three years of health, just to meet my Fated Mate. To feel that love once.

The rune pulsed red. A number appeared in the center of the intricate design.

30 Days.

The countdown had begun.

"I didn't ask for much," I whispered to the empty room, tears streaming down my face. "Just to be loved before I die."

Serenity let out a mournful howl in my mind, a sound of pure desolation that echoed into the silence.

Kacie POV:

The sun was blinding when I woke up, still curled on the rug where I had fallen. My body ached, a deep, bone-weary soreness that came from the Wolf's Wither.

I heard the front door open downstairs.

I scrambled up, splashing cold water on my face to hide the puffiness. Maybe he had come back. Maybe he realized he was wrong.

I walked down the grand staircase of the Moon Estate. The house was modern, all glass and steel, designed to look like a fortress.

Cedric was in the living room. He looked disheveled, his shirt unbuttoned.

My nose twitched. It wasn't just whiskey. Clinging to his skin was the cloying, artificial scent of vanilla and overly sweet peaches.

Jayden.

He had spent his wedding night with her.

"You're back," I said, my voice hollow.

Cedric looked up, rubbing his temples. "Not now, Kacie. I have a headache."

"I want her transferred," I said, gripping the banister. "Jayden. She works as your personal executive officer. It's inappropriate. Transfer her to the logistics department."

Cedric laughed, a harsh bark. "You want me to demote the woman who saved my life because of your petty jealousy? You have no Luna's grace, Kacie. A true Luna puts the pack first."

"A true Alpha doesn't abandon his Mate on their wedding night!" I snapped.

Before he could respond, his phone buzzed. He looked at it, and his expression darkened.

"What did you do?" he growled.

"What?"

He turned the screen toward me. It was the pack's internal social media forum. A video was playing. Jayden, looking pale and fragile in a hospital bed, tears glistening in her eyes.

"I just... I don't want to cause trouble," Jayden sobbed in the video. "I know Kacie is the Luna now. But telling me I don't belong in the pack... telling me I should just go Rogue and die... it hurts so much."

My jaw dropped. "I never said that! I haven't spoken to her in days!"

"The pack is furious," Cedric said, his voice dropping an octave. His eyes began to glow a menacing gold. "They think their Luna is a tyrant bullying a hero."

"It's a lie, Cedric! Can't you smell the deception on her?"

"The only thing I smell is your jealousy," he roared.

Then, the air in the room changed. It became heavy, thick like molasses. Gravity seemed to increase tenfold.

"Get dressed," Cedric commanded.

His voice wasn't human. It was the Alpha Command. It bypassed my ears and resonated directly in my bones.

My body moved against my will. My legs marched me up the stairs. I tried to stop, to dig my heels into the carpet, but my muscles obeyed him, not me. Tears of humiliation sprang to my eyes. To use the Command on your own Mate was the ultimate sign of disrespect. It was used for criminals and enemies.

Ten minutes later, I was in the passenger seat of his car, my body frozen in place by his lingering order.

We arrived at the pack hospital. He dragged me by the arm, marching me past whispering nurses and glaring warriors.

We entered a VIP room. Jayden was lying there, looking perfectly fine, but the moment we entered, she let out a dramatic cough.

"Cedric," she whimpered. "Please, don't be mad at Kacie. I'm sure she didn't mean it."

Cedric softened instantly. The monster who had dragged me here vanished, replaced by a worried protector. He went to her side, brushing hair from her forehead.

"I will handle this, Jay," he murmured.

He turned to me, his face hardening again. He pulled out his phone and started a livestream on the official pack channel.

"Apologize," he commanded.

The weight crushed me again. My knees hit the cold linoleum floor with a sickening crack. My throat constricted. I tried to clamp my mouth shut, to bite my tongue, anything to keep the words in.

But the Alpha's will was absolute for a wolf of lower rank. Even a White Wolf, sealed and weakened as I was, couldn't fight a Prime Alpha directly.

"I..." My voice shook. "I apologize... Jayden."

"Louder," Cedric hissed. "Tell them you were wrong."

"I was wrong," I choked out, tears dripping off my chin, splashing onto the floor. "I am sorry for... for hurting you."

Jayden looked at the camera, then at me, a small, triumphant smirk playing on her lips that only I could see.

"I forgive you, Luna," she said sweetly. "We are family, after all."

Cedric ended the stream. He looked at me kneeling on the floor, broken and weeping. For a second, his hand twitched, as if he wanted to reach out. But then he looked at Jayden, and the impulse died.

I remained on the floor, staring at my knees. The countdown on my chest felt like it was searing through my skin, ticking away the seconds of a life I was beginning to hate.

Kacie POV:

The livestream had done its job. The entire Blood Moon Pack now saw me as the villain, the insecure Omega who bullied the pack's darling.

The next evening, we were summoned to the Moon ancestral estate for a family dinner. Cedric's parents, the former Alpha and Luna, lived there. They were traditionalists who valued bloodline above all else. To them, I was a nobody, an orphan with no known lineage.

Dinner was a torture session.

The dining room was dimly lit by chandeliers, the table set with heavy silver cutlery. Silver was dangerous to werewolves-it burned on contact and prevented healing-but high-ranking families used it to show their resilience and status. We wore gloves, of course, but the threat was always there.

Jayden was seated next to Cedric. I was seated opposite them, like an outsider.

"Jayden, dear, you look thin," Cedric's mother, Carol, cooed. "You need to eat more. The soup was made specially for you."

"Thank you, Luna Carol," Jayden beamed. She looked at Cedric. "Do you remember when we used to catch fish in the Forbidden Creek? You promised you'd always catch the biggest one for me."

Cedric smiled, a genuine, warm smile that I had never received. "I remember. You fell in the mud."

They laughed. It was a shared history, a bond of time that I couldn't compete with.

"Kacie," Carol said sharply, her tone changing instantly. "Pass the tureen. Don't just sit there."

I stood up, my legs trembling slightly. The Wolf's Wither was making me weaker by the day. My coordination was off. I reached for the heavy porcelain bowl of steaming fish soup.

As I walked around the table to serve Jayden-because apparently, the servants weren't enough-Jayden leaned back in her chair.

"You know," she whispered, low enough that only my enhanced hearing could catch it over the clatter of forks. "Cedric told his mother that once you produce an heir, he'll divorce you. He said he can't stand your scent. It smells like desperation."

My heart stopped. The bowl slipped from my numb fingers.

But Jayden was faster. With a subtle, vicious jerk of her elbow, she slammed her arm into the falling porcelain.

Crash!

Hot soup splattered everywhere.

"Ah!" Jayden wailed, clutching her forearm. Blood-bright red and alarming-welled up instantly where the shard had sliced her.

"Jayden!" Cedric roared. He was out of his chair in a blur of motion.

He shoved me aside. I stumbled, my hip hitting the heavy oak table hard.

"She burned me!" Jayden cried, burying her face in Cedric's chest. "And she tried to cut me with the shards!"

"I didn't!" I gasped, holding my bruised side. "She... she did it herself! It fell!"

"Enough!" Cedric's father, the old Alpha, slammed his fist on the table. "You clumsy, malicious girl!"

Cedric examined Jayden's arm. It was a superficial cut, but to a wolf, any injury was an insult. He turned to me, his eyes blazing with fury.

"You are unbelievable," he snarled. "You try to disfigure her in my parents' home?"

"Cedric, listen to me," I begged. "She whispered to me. She provoked me!"

"Lies!" Jayden sobbed. "I was just asking for some bread!"

Cedric scooped Jayden up into his arms, treating her like she was made of glass. "I'm taking her to the clinic. Mother, make sure she," he jerked his head at me, "doesn't leave this room until I decide her punishment."

He didn't look back. He carried another woman out of the room, leaving his wife standing in a puddle of soup, surrounded by hostile in-laws.

I looked down at my hands. They were shaking uncontrollably.

Serenity, I called out to my wolf. Are you there?

There was no answer. Just a faint, static fuzz in the back of my mind. My wolf was dying. She was giving up.

I looked at the grandfather clock in the corner.

26 Days.

Time was running like sand through my fingers, and I had nothing to show for it but bruises and soup stains.