The Rejected Omega: Rise of the White Wolf

I was the dust beneath the pack's feet, an Omega nobody wanted.

Yet, the Moon Goddess paired me with Ethan Reed, the Alpha heir.

He told me he had amnesia, that he couldn't feel our bond. I was foolish enough to wait for him.

Until I saw him running away with his mistress, Chloe.

When their SUV flipped and caught fire on the highway, I didn't hesitate.

I dragged Ethan from the wreckage, my hands bleeding, my heart racing.

But as soon as he was safe, he didn't check on me.

"Save her!"

He roared, his eyes flashing gold.

He used the Alpha Command.

My body locked up, forced to obey against my will. I dove back into the burning car to drag Chloe out, shattering my leg as the fuel tank exploded.

I lay in the dirt, dying, while Ethan cradled Chloe—who had barely a scratch.

When the healers arrived, Ethan stood over me, cold and indifferent.

"Do not touch the Omega until Chloe is treated," he ordered.

He looked me in the eye and called me weak. He left me to bleed out in the cold night air for the sake of a woman who smirked at my pain.

Something inside me snapped.

With my last breath, I didn't beg. I rejected him.

They buried an empty coffin the next morning.

Three years later, I walked back into the Blood Moon Pack.

I wasn't Ava the servant anymore.

I was the White Wolf.

And I was ready to burn his kingdom to the ground.

Chapter 1

POV: Ava Miller

The first light of dawn bled through the cracked window of the Omega dorms, painting the cinderblock walls in a pale, sickly yellow.

I woke up with a gasp, my sheets tangled around my legs.

My inner wolf was pacing in the back of my mind, restless and whining. It wasn't the usual gnawing hunger or the ache from sleeping on a threadbare mattress. It was a premonition.

My hand flew to my neck. The skin there was smooth, unmarked.

"Soon," I whispered to the empty room, clinging to a hope that felt thinner every day.

I was eighteen. I had shifted for the first time a month ago. According to the Moon Goddess—our deity who pairs souls together—I should have been ecstatic.

I was the Fated Mate of Ethan Reed. The Alpha heir. The future leader of the Blood Moon Pack.

It sounded like a fairy tale. But in our world, hierarchy is everything. The Alpha is the king, his word is law. The Betas are his enforcers. And Omegas like me? We are the dust beneath their feet.

I got dressed quickly, pulling on the faded grey uniform that marked my low status. I had to get to the kitchens before the head cook started screaming.

As I walked through the corridors of the Pack House, I kept my head down, eyes fixed on the scuffed floorboards.

"Move it, runt," a Beta warrior sneered, shouldering past me hard enough to spin me around.

I stumbled but didn't look up. "Sorry," I mumbled. Submission wasn't just a rule; it was survival.

But my heart stuttered when I reached the main hall.

There he was.

Ethan stood near the grand staircase, surrounded by his father’s advisors. He was tall, with broad shoulders and hair the color of wet sand.

The air around him crackled with power. It was the Alpha aura—a heavy, magnetic pressure that demanded respect. To me, it smelled like rain on hot pavement and pine needles. It was the most intoxicating scent in the world, like oxygen to a drowning girl.

He looked up. His eyes, cold and blue, met mine for a split second.

My wolf wagged her tail, desperate for his attention. *Mate! Mate is here!*

But Ethan just looked away, as if I were part of the wall. His expression was bored.

I tried to reach out to him through the Mind-Link. It is the telepathic web that connects every member of the pack, allowing us to speak without words. For mates, the connection is supposed to be an open channel of love.

*Good morning, Ethan,* I projected tentatively.

Static. Just a wall of grey noise. He had blocked me again.

A lump formed in my throat. He had told me, weeks ago, that a minor car accident had caused "selective amnesia." He said he remembered who I was, but he couldn't remember the emotional connection. He said he needed time.

I wanted to believe him. I had to believe him. Because the alternative was unthinkable.

"Ava!"

I jumped. Maya Rodriguez, a Beta and the only friend I had, grabbed my arm. She pulled me into a shadowy alcove under the stairs.

"You were staring at him again," Maya hissed, her dark eyes filled with worry.

"He's my mate, Maya."

"Is he?" Maya sniffed the air, her nose wrinkling. "Because he doesn't smell like he's missing memories, Ava. He smells like... guilt. And cheap perfume."

My stomach twisted. "Don't say that. He's just stressed about the succession."

"Open your eyes, Ava," Maya whispered, gripping my shoulders. "I saw him near the east wing last night. With her."

She didn't have to say the name. Chloe Vance.

Chloe was the daughter of a wealthy Gamma. She was beautiful, ambitious, and cruel. She was everything I wasn't.

"You're wrong," I said, though my voice trembled. "Once I fully settle into my wolf after the next full moon, he'll mark me. He promised."

I pulled away from Maya and hurried to the Alpha's private study. My morning duty was to organize his paperwork.

The study smelled like him—a concentrated dose of pine and rain that made my knees weak. I inhaled deeply, trying to calm my wolf.

I started stacking papers on the mahogany desk. A heavy book had been moved, leaving a gap on the shelf. Behind it, something white caught my eye.

It was a photograph.

I pulled it out. My breath hitched.

It was a polaroid. Ethan was laughing, his arm draped around Chloe's waist. They were in a hotel room. Chloe was wearing a bathrobe, her smile predatory.

The date stamped on the bottom was from two days ago.

"No," I gasped. The paper shook in my hand. "He said he was at a regional meeting."

Suddenly, a crackle of static burst in my head. The Mind-Link. But it wasn't directed at me. It was a stray thought, a leak in the connection that sometimes happens when emotions run too high to contain.

*...annoying little Omega... just wait until after the ceremony to reject her...*

It was Ethan's voice. Crystal clear.

*I know, baby,* a female voice purred back. *Just keep telling her you have amnesia. She's stupid enough to believe it.*

Chloe.

My knees gave out. I collapsed onto the rug, the photo fluttering to the floor.

The pain wasn't physical. It was my soul cracking. The bond, the sacred thread that the Moon Goddess had tied between us, felt like a noose tightening around my neck.

He wasn't sick. He wasn't confused. He was lying.

I shoved the photo back into its hiding place, my fingers numb. I couldn't let them know I knew. Not yet.

I needed to hear him say it. I needed to look him in the eye.

That night, there was a pack gathering. A bonfire to celebrate the coming full moon. I waited by the edge of the clearing, shivering in the cool night air.

Ethan never showed up.

"Where is the Alpha heir?" someone asked.

"Pack business," a Gamma replied dismissively.

I felt a hollow ache in my chest. I was surrounded by my pack, yet I had never felt more alone.

I walked away from the fire, towards the edge of the territory. The highway ran past our lands there. I needed to clear my head. My wolf was howling a mournful, low sound that vibrated against my ribs.

I stood by the guardrail, watching the headlights cut through the darkness.

A sleek black SUV came speeding down the road. It was leaving the pack grounds.

As it passed under the streetlight, I saw them.

Ethan was driving. Chloe was in the passenger seat, her head thrown back in laughter.

But it was his hand that shattered me.

His hand was resting casually, possessively, high on her thigh.

My heart stopped. The ice in my veins turned to fire.

They weren't doing pack business. They were running away together.