The Rejected Omega Is Actually The White Wolf

I jumped into the freezing Hudson River. Not to kill myself, but to save the only thing I had left-my father's Medal of Valor, which Krystal had thrown into the water like a stick for a dog.

I clawed my way up the muddy bank, lungs burning, shivering violently. I looked up at the villa balcony, hoping my Fated Mate, Jaxon, would be looking for me.

He wasn't.

He was wrapping his arms around Krystal, watching the artificial meteor shower he had arranged just for her.

"Anything for you, my love," he said, completely forgetting I was drowning in the dark below.

For three years, I believed I had "Wolf Sickness." I took the pills he sent, grateful for his care.

But the pills were poison. Wolfsbane. Designed to keep me weak, docile, and unable to shift, just so he could replace me with a more powerful Luna.

He called me a liability. He watched his mistress run me over with her Porsche, ordered his guards to silence me, and let her dogs tear my skin.

Now, clutching the cold medal, the final thread of our bond snapped.

I didn't go back to the pack house. I dragged my broken body to the airport and sent one final text.

"I, Alina Phillips, reject you, Jaxon Francis."

I mailed him the medical report proving he had been poisoning his own mate, and then I disappeared.

By the time he realizes what he's done, the Alina he knew will be dead.

Chapter 1

Alina POV:

The air in the Swiss Alps was crisp, clean, and suffocating.

For three years, this "Healer Sanctuary" had been my prison. A golden cage built of snow and invoices paid by the Blood Moon Pack.

I looked down at the letter in my hand-acceptance to the Royal Academy of Arts in Paris. The paper was crumpled from how hard I was gripping it. I had to leave. Today.

I walked to the reception desk, heart hammering against my ribs. My inner wolf, usually dormant and sluggish, stirred with a strange, prickly anxiety.

"I need my medical records," I told the receptionist, a young Beta smelling of lavender and antiseptic. "I'm transferring."

She blinked. "Transferring? But Miss Phillips, Dr. Klein said your treatment for Wolf Sickness requires strict isolation. Your spirit is unstable."

"Just give me the file." I tried to inject authority into my voice. As an Omega, it didn't come naturally.

She sighed, pulling a thick folder from the cabinet. As she handed it over, a loose paper fluttered to the floor. I snatched it up before she could react.

It was a lab report from a year ago.

Patient: Alina Phillips.

Diagnosis: Wolf Spirit Stable.

Medication: High-dosage Wolfsbane-based Suppressants (labeled as Vitamin B complex).

Notes: Orders per Alpha Jaxon Francis. Maintain sedation. Patient must remain unaware of recovery.

The floor seemed to drop out from under me.

I wasn't sick. I hadn't been for a year.

The "vitamins" were poison. Designed to keep my wolf weak, keep me docile. Keep me here.

Jaxon.

My Fated Mate. The Alpha who promised to protect me at my father's funeral was the one poisoning me.

I didn't pack. I didn't say goodbye. I took the first flight back to New York, straight to Crescent City.

The Blood Moon Pack House was a fortress of glass and steel. Nexus Corp operated out of here, a corporate front for the pack's dominance.

I knew the codes. I knew the service entrances my father, a Beta Warrior, taught me before he died saving Jaxon's life.

I slipped into the ventilation shaft near the Alpha's office. His scent hit me instantly-rainstorm and dark chocolate. It used to make my knees weak. Now, it made bile rise in my throat.

But there was another scent. Synthetic roses.

Krystal Gomez.

I peered through the grate. Jaxon stood by the window, looking out over the city. Krystal, the daughter of the rival Gomez Alpha, was draped over the leather sofa.

"When are you going to tell the little Omega it's over?" Krystal asked, checking her nails.

"Patience," Jaxon said. His voice was cold, devoid of the warmth I remembered. "The merger with your father's pack depends on our union. Alina is... a complication."

"She's your Fated Mate," Krystal sneered. "The Moon Goddess doesn't make mistakes, right?"

Jaxon turned. His face was hard. "The Goddess gave me a broken tool. Alina is weak. She has Wolf Sickness. She can't shift, can't produce strong heirs. She's a liability I inherited from a dead hero."

My breath hitched.

"So, you don't love her?" Krystal walked to him, running a hand down his chest.

"I love the power your pack brings to mine," Jaxon said, leaning into her. "You are my Chosen Mate, Krystal. Alina is just a patient."

My wolf let out a high, keening whine in my head. The sound of a bond shattering.

I scrambled back, desperate to escape. I stumbled out of the service exit and ran straight into a wall of expensive fabric.

"Going somewhere?"

Margaret, Jaxon's mother and the former Luna, looked at me like I was something she stepped in.

"I heard everything," I whispered.

"Good." She reached into her purse, pulled out a check, and flicked it at me. It fluttered to the dirty pavement. "One million. Freshly written. Take it and disappear. Die in the Alps for all I care, just stay away from my son."

I looked at the check. Then at the Pack House.

"I don't want your money," I said, hands shaking.

"Don't be stupid," she hissed. "You have no job, no home, and your father's pension is gone. You take this, or you starve in the gutter."

She was right. I had nothing. Survival instinct kicked in.

I bent down and picked up the check. It felt heavy with shame, but it was a lifeline.

"Fine," I said, voice hollow. "My father's death anniversary is in three days. I visit his grave, then you never see me again."

I turned and walked away. I tried to open the Mind-Link.

Jaxon?

Silence. Not ignored-blocked.

He had blocked his Fated Mate.

Alina POV:

The Alpha Villa sat on a private cliff overlooking the Hudson. It was supposed to be our home.

I keyed in the passcode at the gate. It still worked.

I needed my music sheets. The "Hymn to the Moon" I'd been composing for three years. It was the only thing of value I had left.

Inside, I gagged. My scent-wild jasmine and vanilla-was gone. Replaced by Krystal's synthetic roses. She had marked her territory.

My territory.

I ran to the music room. The grand piano was covered in fashion magazines and wine glasses. On the wall, where my framed composition used to hang, was a crude, abstract painting of a wolf signed K. Gomez.

"No," I whispered.

I dug through the trash bin in the corner. There it was. My life's work. Torn into shreds, stained with red wine.

I clutched the ruined paper to my chest, a sob ripping through my throat. She didn't just take my mate. She erased me.

The roar of an engine snapped me back.

I ran out the back door, sprinting down the driveway toward the main road. A sleek red Porsche came around the bend. Fast.

Krystal was behind the wheel. Our eyes locked.

A normal driver would have braked.

Krystal smiled. And accelerated.

She was a high-ranking wolf. Her reflexes were supernatural. This wasn't an accident.

I tried to jump, but my body was weak from years of suppressants.

Thud.

Metal slammed into my hip. I hit the asphalt hard, rolling over jagged gravel. Pain exploded in my side.

The car screeched to a halt. Krystal stepped out, checking her bumper.

"You dented my Porsche," she pouted.

Sirens wailed. Pack security.

The hospital room was white and sterile. My leg was in a cast, ribs taped.

The door burst open. Jaxon strode in, his Alpha aura filling the room like a thunderhead.

"Jaxon," I croaked. "She... she hit me on purpose."

Krystal followed, dabbing at dry eyes with silk. "I was so scared, Jaxon! She jumped right in front of me! Like she wanted to die! The Wolf Sickness has affected her mind."

"Liar!" I screamed, sitting up. "You smiled! You sped up!"

"Enough," Jaxon said. His voice vibrated with power. "Krystal is the future Luna. She does not drive recklessly. You were trespassing."

"Trespassing? This is my home! You are my mate!"

"We are not mated," Jaxon corrected sharply. "And Krystal is shaken."

"She tried to run me over!"

"I said enough!"

The pressure in the room multiplied. Alpha Command.

"Be silent, Alina."

My jaw snapped shut. Vocal cords paralyzed. I tried to protest, but my body betrayed me.

Tears streamed down my face.

Jaxon turned to Krystal, softening instantly. "Are you alright, my love?"

"I'm just so traumatized," Krystal sniffled, eyes gleaming with malice over his shoulder. "Maybe she needs to go back to the asylum."

"We will discuss it," Jaxon said. He looked back at me-seeing a nuisance, not a mate.

"Rest," he ordered. "Sleep."

The command hit my brain like a sledgehammer. Darkness dragged me down.

Alina POV:

I woke to the smell of antiseptic. The Alpha Command left a bitter taste in my mouth.

Two days later, Jaxon discharged me.

"Get dressed," he said, tossing a garment bag. "We have an appearance to make."

"I can barely walk."

"It's the Pack Anniversary. Rumors are spreading that I'm mistreating my father's savior's daughter. You will come, smile, and show everyone you are fine."

The bag contained a grey dress. Dull. Invisible. An Omega's dress.

The ballroom glittered with crystal and gold. I stood in the corner, leaning on a cane, a ghost at my own funeral.

Jaxon stood center stage with Krystal. She wore a scarlet gown that hugged every curve.

"Tonight, I celebrate the future," Jaxon announced.

The screen behind them flickered. A montage played: Jaxon and Krystal in Paris, on a yacht, hiking trails my father showed me. Places he promised to take me.

The Mate Bond bled. A physical tearing sensation.

I limped to the garden for air. My mother's Irises were gone. Replaced by rows of white roses.

"Do you like the renovation?"

Krystal stood there, holding champagne. Flanking her were two massive dogs-Rogue-blood hounds from the Nexus labs. Glowing green eyes, rippling muscles.

"You destroyed my mother's garden," I whispered.

"I improved it." She snapped her fingers. "Attack."

The hounds lunged.

I screamed, raising my cane. Useless. The first beast slammed me into the rose bushes. Thorns tore my skin. Jaws clamped on my injured leg.

"Jaxon! Help!"

The patio doors flew open. Jaxon rushed out.

"Krystal!" he shouted.

He saw us. Me, bleeding on the ground. Krystal standing feet away, feigning terror.

"Jaxon, help me!" Krystal screamed, dropping her glass. "The dogs went crazy! She provoked them!"

Jaxon didn't hesitate. He ran to her.

He shielded Krystal, turning his back on me.

"Get them off!" I sobbed. The hound's teeth sank deeper. Burning spread through my veins. Wolfsbane-laced saliva.

Security finally tranquilized the beasts.

I lay in the dirt, blood staining the white roses red. Jaxon was checking Krystal for scratches she didn't have.

"Jaxon..."

He looked at me with annoyance. "Get her to the infirmary. And clean up this mess. It's ruining the party."

He kissed Krystal's forehead.

The Jaxon I loved died three years ago. This man was a monster.