The Genius Omega's Secret: The White Wolf Bloodline

For ten years, I served as the Alpha's hidden partner, using my research to make his pack rich, waiting for the day Ethan would finally Mark me.

Instead, I found him on the balcony, cradling another woman's baby bump.

He announced Chloe as his Luna because she was carrying his "heir."

But I knew the truth. As the head researcher, I had seen Chloe's medical files-she had a hysterectomy years ago. It was physically impossible for her to be pregnant.

I rushed to the banquet to warn Ethan that he was being deceived.

He didn't listen.

"Silence!" he roared, using the Alpha Command to force me to the ground until my knees shattered on the marble floor.

He branded me a traitor to protect his mistress.

But the cruelest twist wasn't his betrayal. It was the secret I carried in my own womb.

I was the one pregnant with his true heir.

While I lay broken in the dungeon, Ethan authorized a surgery to harvest my kidney to "save" Chloe's failing health.

In doing so, he killed his own child to sustain a lie.

With the last of my strength, I looked at the stone ceiling and severed our bond.

"I, Ava Miller, reject you, Ethan Reed."

He thought I died in that cell.

He was wrong.

I returned a year later, not as a servant, but as the Luna of the most powerful rival pack.

And when Ethan saw me on the global stage, holding another Alpha's hand, he fell to his knees and screamed my name.

Chapter 1

Ava POV

The overhead fluorescent lights of the laboratory hummed, a consistent, electric drone that usually acted as white noise to sharpen my focus.

Tonight, however, it felt like a trepanation drill boring directly into my skull.

I stared into the microscope, my eyes burning grit and fatigue. I had been stationed here for thirty-six hours straight.

The Moonstone Pack needed this gene therapy. Our warriors were suffering from degrading vitality, and as the head researcher-and the Alpha's hidden partner-it was my burden to fix it.

*Ava, are the results ready? I need them for the board meeting tomorrow morning. Don't disappoint me.*

The voice echoed in my head, frigid and demanding. It was Ethan.

*Mind-Link.* The telepathic bond shared by pack members. Usually, it is a source of comfort, a communal hum. With Ethan, it was a leash.

*I'm working on it, Alpha,* I replied, carefully keeping my mental tone pliant and submissive. *It will be done.*

*Good. Stay there until it is finished.*

The connection clicked shut. No "thank you." No "how are you." Just an order.

My Inner Wolf, a creature usually dormant due to the heavy suppressants I took, gave a whimper of bone-deep exhaustion.

*He is our Mate,* she whispered weakly, curling into a ball in the back of my mind. *We should please him.*

"He doesn't treat us like a Mate," I muttered to the empty room, adjusting the fine focus knob.

My computer pinged. A notification slid onto the screen: an encrypted email from an anonymous sender.

My heart skipped a beat. I shouldn't open it. But curiosity is a dangerous, insatiable thing.

I clicked the attachment.

And the world simply stopped.

Photos. High resolution. They were taken from a distance, yet sharp enough to eviscerate me.

There was Ethan, my Fated Mate, the Alpha of the Moonstone Pack. He was standing on the private balcony of the Pack House.

But he wasn't alone.

Chloe, the daughter of a visiting Beta from the Silver Lake Pack, stood next to him. She looked radiant in a shimmering silk dress.

Ethan's hand-the hand that rarely touched me with anything other than impatience-was resting gently, reverently, on Chloe's stomach.

Her stomach was swollen. A baby bump.

The caption read: "The Future Luna and her Alpha Heir."

I stopped breathing.

My Inner Wolf let out a howl of pure agony that vibrated through my very bones. It felt like a physical blow, a sledgehammer to the chest.

*No,* I told myself, shaking violently. *This is a mistake. Ethan is my Fated Mate. The Moon Goddess doesn't make mistakes.*

I clicked to the next photo.

Ethan was kissing Chloe's forehead. His eyes were closed, his expression peaceful. It was a look of tenderness I had never seen directed at me in the ten years I had served him.

Even through the digital pixels, I imagined I could smell it. The sickeningly sweet commingling of their scents.

"Luna." "Heir."

The words bounced around my empty lab like ricocheting bullets.

Ten years. I had found Ethan when I was eighteen. I felt the spark. I smelled the scent-like rain on hot asphalt. I knew he was mine.

But he told me to wait.

"The Pack comes first, Ava," he had said. "I can't mark you yet. You're an Omega. The Elders won't accept it. Just help me build the Pack, and when the time is right, I will claim you."

So I waited. I worked. I gave up my scholarship to the top medical university. I buried myself in this lab, creating patents that made Ethan rich and the Pack powerful.

And now?

I was still just "Ava the researcher." No Mark on my neck. No ring on my finger.

Tonight was the Victory Banquet. Celebrating the new trade deal whose logistics I had single-handedly orchestrated.

I wasn't invited to sit at the high table. I was told to come late, only after my work was done.

I stood up, my legs trembling. I had to see. I had to know.

I left the lab, sprinting through the dark corridors toward the Alpha's mansion.

The banquet hall was exploding with noise and the thick scent of roasted meat and expensive wine.

I slipped in through the side door, sticking to the shadows. I was wearing my lab coat over a plain grey dress, looking like a spectre haunting the living.

There he was.

Ethan stood on the raised dais. He looked magnificent in his tuxedo, power radiating off him like heat from a blast furnace.

"I want to thank everyone for their hard work," Ethan boomed, his voice amplified by the microphone. "This Pack is stronger than ever!"

The crowd cheered.

Ethan turned. He didn't look for me. He reached out his hand.

Chloe stepped forward. She wore a moon-white gown that hugged her curves and the small, distinct bump of her belly.

She took his hand. Ethan smiled. It wasn't the polite smile of a host. It was the possessive smile of a father.

"She looks beautiful," a female Omega whispered near me.

"I heard the announcement is coming tonight," another whispered back. "She's carrying the Alpha Heir. That makes her Luna by default."

"What about Ava?"

"Ava? Please. She's a lab rat in a skirt. Ethan needs a real Luna. Someone with status."

My stomach lurched. Acid rose in my throat.

My Inner Wolf was scratching at the walls of my mind, desperate to shift, desperate to attack, desperate to flee.

I couldn't breathe. The air was too thick with the scent of perfume and lies.

I turned and ran.

I burst out into the garden, gasping for the cold night air. The wind bit at my exposed skin, but I couldn't feel the chill. I felt only the searing fire of betrayal.

I leaned against an old oak tree, sliding down untill I hit the dirt.

"Ten years," I whispered to the grass. "For what?"

I remembered the night of the rogue attack three years ago. Ethan had been injured. I stayed by his bedside for three days, stitching him up, feeding him broth.

He had whispered then, *Ava, you are my only Luna. I need you.*

Lies. All of it.

Voices drifted from the balcony above me.

I froze. It was them.

"Ethan," Chloe's voice was high and sugary. "You need to announce it soon. My father is getting impatient."

"I know, my love," Ethan's voice was deep, rumbling. "Just let me handle the board. Once the gene therapy patent is filed under my name, we will have total control."

"And Ava?" Chloe asked. "She's smart. She might suspect."

"Ava does what she is told," Ethan scoffed. "She's obsessed with me. She'll believe whatever lie I feed her. Besides..."

He paused. I could hear the smirk in his voice.

"She's just an Omega. Who would believe her over me?"

"Just make sure she stays away from me," Chloe said, her voice dropping to a fake whimper. "I don't want that low-blood near our baby. She's... dirty."

"Don't worry," Ethan murmured. "Once I have the patent, I'll arrange for her to be... relocated. You are the only Luna I need."

My heart didn't break. It pulverized into dust.

*Relocated.* That was Alpha code for exiled. Or worse.

He was going to steal my life's work, install his mistress as Luna, and throw me away like garbage.

The tears dried on my face instantly. My skin went cold.

I stood up. The trembling stopped.

If he thought I was just a submissive Omega, he was wrong.

I wasn't just Ava Miller. I was the smartest wolf in this Pack.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone. My fingers hovered over a contact.

Dr. Ben Carter. The Pack Doctor. My only friend.

I opened the Mind-Link, but not to Ethan. I focused my thoughts, honing them sharp as a surgical scalpel, toward Ben.

*Ben,* I projected. *Meet me in my lab. Now. Bring your medical kit. And Ben? Tell no one.*

I stared up at the balcony where my Mate was kissing another woman.

*Enjoy your victory, Alpha,* I thought. *Because it's the last one you'll ever have.*

Ava POV

I tore through the laboratory like a hurricane.

Every file labeled "Ethan Reed." Every joint project. Every note I had made to help him secure his Alpha status.

*Delete. Delete. Delete.*

I didn't just drag them to the trash bin. I ran a custom-coded scrubbing program I'd designed for scorched-earth scenarios. It wiped the hard drives clean, overwriting the data with zeroes and ones until nothing remained but digital static.

I grabbed the framed photo on my desk. It was the only one we had together-a candid shot from five years ago, where he was actually smiling at me.

I threw it into the incinerator chute.

Glass shattered. Good.

The lab smelled of lavender and sandalwood-a custom scent I had synthesized to help Ethan relax during his ruts. Once, it was the smell of home. Now, the smell made bile rise in my throat.

I grabbed the vial of the scent and smashed it on the floor.

*Ava?*

Ethan's voice pushed into my mind. It was smooth, dripping with fake concern.

I froze, gripping the edge of the steel table until my knuckles turned white.

*Where did you go?* he asked. *I looked for you at the banquet. I was worried.*

Liar. You were busy playing daddy to Chloe's bastard.

*I wasn't feeling well, Alpha,* I replied. My mental voice was flat, devoid of the adoration I usually poured into our link. *I returned to the lab.*

*You work too hard,* he said. *Listen, I have a surprise for you later. To make up for tonight. I'm naming the new patent "The Ava Protocol." Isn't that generous?*

Generous? He was stealing the patent I invented and slapping my first name on it like a consolation prize for a dog.

*That is... unexpected,* I said.

*It's an honor,* he corrected, his tone hardening slightly. *Anyway, I can't talk long. Chloe is feeling faint. The excitement is too much for her delicate condition.*

I heard a giggle in the background of the link. A wet, breathy sound.

*Ethan, come back to bed,* Chloe's voice bled through the connection.

*I have to go,* Ethan said abruptly. *Rest up, Ava. I need you fresh tomorrow.*

The link severed.

I leaned over the sink and dry heaved.

He was with her right now. In the Alpha suite. In the bed I had bought the sheets for.

A sharp cramp twisted my abdomen. I gasped, clutching my stomach.

It wasn't just stress. I had been feeling off for weeks. Nausea. Fatigue. I assumed it was the side effect of the new suppressant prototype I was testing on myself to hide my White Wolf lineage.

The White Wolf wasn't just a bedtime story. We were the rarest of all bloodlines, direct descendants of the Moon Goddess. My blood was liquid power, my scent intoxicating to all Alphas. If Ethan knew what I really was, he would never let me go. He would lock me in a breeding cage and milk my genetics for his pack's glory.

So I took the drugs. I hid my scent. I played the weak Omega.

The door to the lab hissed open.

Dr. Ben Carter rushed in. He was a Beta, sturdy and kind, with worry lines etched deep around his eyes.

"Ava," he breathed, locking the door behind him. "You sounded terrified in the link. What's wrong?"

He saw the smashed glass glistening on the tiles. The wiped computers humming with blank screens.

"Did he hurt you?" Ben asked, his voice low.

"He killed us, Ben," I whispered. "But he doesn't know it yet."

I sat on the stool, rolling up my sleeve. "I need you to run a blood panel. Now."

"Okay," Ben said, moving immediately. He didn't ask questions. That's why I trusted him.

He drew the blood. He ran the sample through the analyzer.

While we waited, the silence was heavy.

"I saw the photos," Ben said softly, looking at the floor. "Of him and Chloe."

"You knew?"

"Rumors," he said. "I didn't want to believe it. Ethan is... ambitious. But I didn't think he was cruel."

"He is both," I said.

The machine beeped.

Ben ripped the printout from the tray. He scanned it. His eyes went wide. He looked at the paper, then at me, then back at the paper.

"Ava," he choked out.

"What? Is it the suppressants? Is my liver failing?"

"No," Ben said. He walked over and handed me the paper. His hand was shaking.

"You're pregnant."

The world tilted on its axis.

I stared at the numbers. HCG levels elevated.

"Four weeks," Ben said.

Four weeks ago. The night of the full moon. Ethan had come to my room, drunk on moonlight and instinct. He hadn't marked me, but he had knotted with me. He claimed it was "biological necessity."

I touched my flat stomach.

A baby.

An Alpha heir. The *real* Alpha heir.

"Oh goddess," I whispered.

"There's a problem," Ben said, his voice urgent. "The suppressants. They are toxic to a fetus. If you keep taking them, you will miscarry within days."

"And if I stop?" I asked, looking up at him.

"If you stop taking them," Ben said grimly, "your natural scent will return. Your White Wolf pheromones will flood the Pack House within forty-eight hours."

I closed my eyes.

If I stop the drugs, Ethan finds out I'm a White Wolf. He will claim me, not out of love, but out of greed for my genetics. He will take my baby and raise it with Chloe.

If I keep taking the drugs, I kill my child.

"Ava," Ben said. "What are we going to do?"

I looked at the incinerator where Ethan's photo had turned to ash.

I stood up. I picked up a shard of the broken glass from the floor. It cut my finger. The pain was sharp, grounding.

"We are going to burn it all down, Ben," I said.

"But the baby..."

"I'm keeping it," I said fiercely. "But Ethan Reed will never know this child exists."

Ava POV

The ultrasound image was grainy, just a tiny speck of static drowning in a sea of black. But to me? It looked like a hurricane.

My thumb traced the edge of the thermal printout.

"Are you sure?" Ben asked again, his voice dropping to a whisper. "Ava, hiding a pregnancy from an Alpha... it's treason. If he finds out..."

"He thinks Chloe is carrying his heir," I said, my voice steady despite the tremors rattling my bones. "He won't be looking at me."

I snatched a bottle of chemicals from the shelf-a strong, corrosive acid.

"I need you to fake a medical record," I told Ben. "Create a file under my name. Schedule a D&C procedure. An abortion."

Ben recoiled as if slapped. "Ava!"

"Not a real one!" I snapped. "On paper. I need a paper trail that says I terminated a pregnancy due to genetic defects. If he ever suspects, he needs to find a dead end, not a heartbeat."

Ben exhaled, nodding slowly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Okay. I can do that. I'll backdate the consultation."

"And I need legal papers," I added. "Separation papers. Rejection of the Mate bond."

"He'll never sign them," Ben warned. "Alphas are possessive. Even if he doesn't want you, his wolf won't accept another male having you."

"He will if he thinks I'm useless to him," I said coldly.

Suddenly, my head pounded, a sharp spike of pressure behind my eyes.

*Ava.*

It was Ethan. His voice in my head was heavy, suffocating.

*I'm listening, Alpha,* I responded. I slammed my mental shields into place, getting better at hiding the hatred.

*I need you in the conference room in ten minutes,* he said. *The Elders are asking questions about the new gene therapy. You need to translate the technical jargon so I can... manage the narrative.*

He didn't say "take the credit," of course. He didn't have to. He implied it.

*I'll be there,* I said.

I looked at Ben. "Hide the blood samples. If anyone asks, I have a stomach virus."

I strode out of the lab and toward the main Pack House.

As I approached the Alpha's office, the door was slightly ajar. I stopped mid-step.

"It's annoying, Ethan," Chloe's voice whined, grating against my ears. "Why is she still here? I thought you said you'd kick her out."

"I can't just kick her out yet," Ethan replied, sounding bored. "She holds the keys to the lab data. Once she hands over the encryption codes for the new patent, she's gone."

"Promise me," Chloe demanded.

"I promise," Ethan said. "I'll give her a nice severance package. Enough money to go live among the humans. She'll be out of our hair before the baby arrives."

My hand clenched into a fist at my side, nails biting into my palm.

*Go live among the humans.* He was going to strip me of my Wolf, my Pack, and my home.

I took a deep breath, smoothed my skirt, and knocked on the door.

"Come in," Ethan called.

I walked in. Ethan was sitting behind his massive mahogany desk. Chloe was perched on the edge of it, her hand resting possessively on his shoulder.

When she saw me, her lips curled into a smirk.

"Oh, hello Ava," Chloe said, her tone dripping with faux sympathy. "You look... tired. Doesn't she look tired, Ethan?"

Ethan barely glanced at me. "Just give me the codes, Ava."

"I don't have them memorized, Alpha," I lied, keeping my face blank. "They are on a secure drive in the lab. I came to tell you that the Elders will have to wait until tomorrow. The data is still compiling."

Ethan frowned. His Alpha aura flared, a crushing pressure in the room meant to force submission.

"I gave you an order, Ava."

"And science follows its own timeline, Alpha," I said, meeting his eyes.

For a second, he looked surprised. I never talked back.

"Are you okay?" he asked, narrowing his eyes. "You smell... different."

My heart hammered against my ribs. I hadn't taken the suppressants in six hours. My scent was shifting, sweetening with the pregnancy.

"It's the stomach flu," I said quickly. "I've been vomiting all night."

Chloe wrinkled her nose. "Ew. Ethan, make her leave. I don't want to get sick. Think of the baby."

Ethan's face softened when he looked at Chloe's stomach.

"Get out, Ava," he said, waving his hand dismissively. "Go fix yourself up. You look like a wreck. And bring me those codes by morning, or there will be consequences."

"Yes, Alpha," I said.

I turned to leave.

"Oh, and Ava?" Chloe called out.

I paused, hand hovering over the doorknob.

"Try not to be late to my Welcome Ceremony tomorrow night," she said. "Ethan is giving me a special gift. You wouldn't want to miss it."

I walked out, closing the door softly.

As soon as I was in the hallway, I leaned against the wall, shaking uncontrollably.

*Consequences.*

He had no idea.

I went back to the lab. Ben was waiting, pacing the floor.

"Did you do it?" I asked.

"The abortion paperwork is filed in the confidential system," Ben said. "And I found this."

He handed me a thick manila folder.

"What is it?"

"It's Chloe's medical file from her old Pack," Ben whispered, glancing at the door. "I hacked into their database while you were gone."

I opened the file. My eyes scanned the pages, skipping over the jargon until I hit the surgical history.

I stopped. I read it again.

"This can't be right," I said.

"It is," Ben said. "She had a procedure two years ago. A hysterectomy. Due to a severe infection."

I looked up at Ben, the room spinning.

"She has no uterus," I said.

"Exactly," Ben said grimly. "Ava... Chloe isn't pregnant. It's physically impossible."

I laughed. It was a dark, jagged sound that scraped my throat.

"She's faking it," I said. "She's faking the heir to steal the Luna title."

"And Ethan is too blinded by his ego to check," Ben added.

I looked at the fake belly in the photo on my phone.

"He's going to announce a fake pregnancy tomorrow," I said, a dangerous calm settling over me. "And I'm going to be there to watch it blow up in his face."