đź“• His Unwanted Mate: Awakening The White Wolf by TESS WHITE
My parents spent eighteen years grooming me for one singular purpose: to be the mate of Jax Little, the future Alpha.
We grew up together, promising a hundred times that we would rule the Silver Moon Pack side by side.
But on the night of the Recognition Ritual, because my inner wolf was silent and I hadn’t shifted yet, everything shattered.
Jax stood before the entire pack, looked at Catalina—a stranger in red silk—and then looked at me with cold, steel-gray eyes.
“I, Jax Little, reject you, Eliana Carter.”
He didn’t just break our bond; he let his new Luna destroy me.
When Catalina shoved me into a pool, he saved her instead of me.
When she framed me for an attack, causing me to fall onto deadly silver that seared my flesh like acid, he stepped over my convulsing body to comfort her fake tears.
He left me dying on the floor to soothe the woman who had tried to kill me.
I realized then that the boy who promised to protect me was dead. He prioritized ambition over love, treating me like a broken defect to be discarded.
I survived the silver, but I killed the girl who loved him.
I packed my bags and ran to New York City, believing I was wolfless and alone.
I didn’t know that I wasn’t a defect—I was a rare White Wolf waiting to wake up.
And I certainly didn’t expect the most powerful Alpha on the East Coast to be waiting in the shadows, ready to burn the world down for me.
His Unwanted Mate: Awakening The White Wolf Chapter 1
Eliana POV:
The scent of the ballroom was suffocating. It was a heavy, cloying mix of expensive perfume, the acrid tang of nervous sweat, and the underlying, earthy musk of hundreds of wolves waiting for the clock to strike midnight.
I smoothed the fabric of my simple cream dress. My hands were trembling. Tonight was the graduation prom, but more importantly, it was the night of the Recognition Ritual. The night I would finally know if the whispers of my heart were true.
“Stop fidgeting, Eliana,” my mother hissed in my ear, her grip on my arm tight enough to bruise. “You are an Omega. Do not draw attention to yourself unless it is… favorable.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat. My parents had spent my entire life grooming me for a singular purpose: to be the mate of Jax Little, the future Alpha of the Silver Moon Pack.
We had grown up together. He had held my hand when I scraped my knees. He had promised, ninety-eight times by my count, that we would rule together.
But I hadn’t Shifted yet. I was eighteen, and my inner wolf was silent. I was a defect.
Across the room, the crowd parted. Catalina Manning walked through. She was a high-ranking female from a neighboring pack, clad in crimson silk that poured over her curves like a second skin. Her dark eyes swept over the room, landing on me for a fraction of a second.
She smirked. It was a small, cruel thing.
“Midnight,” someone whispered.
The grandfather clock in the corner began to toll. The deep vibrations reverberated through the floorboards.
My heart hammered against my ribs like a trapped bird. The air suddenly shifted. A scent hit me—like rain on hot asphalt and fresh pine. It was the most intoxicating thing I had ever smelled.
Jax.
He stood at the center of the room. His eyes locked onto mine. I saw his pupils dilate. I felt the pull, the magnetic snap of the bond that the Moon Goddess had written into our souls.
Mine! My dormant inner wolf stirred, whispering the word.
Jax took a step toward me. His face was a mask of warring instincts. His wolf was surfacing, his eyes flashing gold.
But then, he stopped.
He looked at the Elders standing on the balcony, silent sentinels of tradition. He looked at Catalina, who was radiating power and confidence—a perfect Luna.
Then he looked back at me. The gold faded from his eyes, replaced by a cold, steel gray.
The silence in the room was deafening.
“I, Jax Little,” his voice boomed, utilizing the Alpha tone that made my knees buckle, “reject you, Eliana Carter, as my mate.”
The words were not knives. They were a dull, rusty saw, grinding through my chest. My breath hitched. The bond, which had just begun to form, snapped with a violent recoil that sent a shockwave of pain down my spine.
“I…” I choked. I had to complete the ritual. It was the law. “I, Eliana Carter, accept your rejection.”
The pain was blinding. I felt a tear slide down my cheek, hot and humiliating.
Jax didn’t even flinch. He turned his back on me and walked straight to Catalina. She welcomed him with a triumphant smile, placing a hand on his chest.
I turned and ran.
I didn’t stop until I reached the pack house pool. The water was still, reflecting the moon that had seemingly cursed me.
“Running away, little Omega?”
I spun around. Catalina stood there, Jax a few steps behind her.
“Leave me alone,” I whispered.
“You don’t belong here,” Catalina sneered. She stepped forward, her aura flaring. It was heavy, oppressive. She shoved me.
I fell backward into the pool. The water filled my nose and mouth. I thrashed, panic setting in. Through the distortion of the water, I saw a splash. Jax.
He dove in.
He’s coming for me, a foolish part of me thought.
But he swam past me.
He grabbed Catalina, who had jumped in moments after me and was now feigning distress, flailing her arms as if she couldn’t swim.
Jax hauled her to the surface, cradling her against his chest. I dragged myself to the ladder, coughing up chlorine water, shivering so hard my teeth clattered.
Jax looked down at me from the pool deck. His arm was wrapped protectively around Catalina.
“Look at me, Eliana,” he used the Alpha Command. My head snapped up against my will. “Do not cause trouble for my Luna. Stay out of our way.”
The connection in my mind—the faint thread that had remained—went silent. He had blocked me.
I lay on the cold concrete, water pooling around me. The pain in my chest was gone, replaced by a hollow, icy void.
The Silver Moon Pack was no longer my home. It was my graveyard.
His Unwanted Mate: Awakening The White Wolf Chapter 2
Eliana POV
The sun rose the next morning with an indifference that felt cruel, climbing the sky as if my world hadn’t shattered the night before.
I walked to the training grounds, my body feeling brittle, every step a conscious effort against the gravity of my grief. Jax was there, laughing with a group of Betas. The sound was vibrant and carefree until he saw me.
His laughter cut off abruptly. He closed the distance between us, his expression smoothing into a mask of practiced concern.
“Eliana,” he said, reaching out to touch my shoulder. “About last night… Catalina was just startled. Are you okay?”
I stepped back, letting his hand fall into empty air. The electricity that should have been there was gone, replaced by a cold void.
“I’m fine, Alpha Jax.”
He flinched at the title as if I had struck him. “Don’t call me that. We’re still… friends. I’ll make sure people treat you right.”
“Friends don’t drown friends,” I said flatly.
He frowned, annoyance flickering behind his eyes. “You’re being dramatic. I have a duty to the pack. Catalina is strong. She can help us grow. You… you haven’t even shifted.”
“I understand,” I said. And I did. I understood that his ambition was far heavier than his heart.
I walked away. I didn’t look back.
Over the next week, I became a ghost in my own home. I changed my training schedule to avoid him. I ate in the kitchen standing up instead of sitting in the dining hall.
But I couldn’t escape the changes.
Catalina’s scent—a cloying, artificial rose that stung the nose—began to permeate the pack house. I saw her things in Jax’s room. A silk scarf strangled the back of his chair. Her boots kicked off carelessly by his door.
One afternoon, I passed the common room. Catalina was sitting on Jax’s lap, whispering in his ear. When she saw me, her fingers tightened on the nape of his neck, her nails digging in slightly—a silent claim.
Jax looked up, saw me, and for a second, regret flashed across his face. Then Catalina giggled, a sharp, tinkling sound, and his attention snapped back to her.
I went to my room and opened my drawer. Inside was a small wooden wolf Jax had carved for my tenth birthday. It was crude, the ears uneven and the snout too long, but it had been my most prized possession.
I took it to the pack’s lost and found box in the hallway and dropped it in.
The hollow thud sounded final.
At the pack meeting that Friday, Catalina stood beside Jax. She adjusted his collar, brushing imaginary dust off his shoulder with a possessive smirk.
“They look perfect together,” a Beta female whispered near me.
“Ideally suited,” another agreed. “Eliana would have been a liability.”
I stood in the shadows, silent. I felt nothing. No anger. No jealousy. Just a profound, exhausting numbness that settled in my bones like frost.
Jax glanced at me during his speech. I didn’t look away. I didn’t smile. I just stared, my face a blank canvas.
He faltered mid-sentence, losing his place for a moment. Catalina touched his arm, grounding him, and he continued.
Later, in the hallway, he cornered me. “Why are you acting like this? I’m doing what’s best for everyone.”
“I haven’t done anything, Jax,” I said softly. “I’m just existing.”
“You threw away the wolf,” he accused, his voice tight. “I saw it in the bin.”
“It was just clutter,” I replied, my voice devoid of the warmth he was used to. “I’m decluttering my life.”
His Unwanted Mate: Awakening The White Wolf Chapter 3
Eliana POV
Attendance at the monthly gala was not a request; it was a mandate.
I anchored myself in the shadowed corner of the ballroom, clutching a glass of lukewarm water like a lifeline. From my vantage point, I watched Catalina hold court. I hated to admit it, but she was radiant—a diamond designed to draw blood. She knew exactly how to play the game.
It didn’t take long for her to find her target.
She spotted me and glided across the floor, her entourage of sycophantic Omegas trailing in her wake like a silk train.
“Eliana,” she purred, her voice dripping with faux concern. “You look… tired. You really should rest more. It must be exhausting, standing on the sidelines watching us live.”
“I’m fine, Catalina,” I said, my voice tight as I turned to retreat.
She grabbed my arm. Her manicured nails didn’t just rest there; they dug into my skin, sharp enough to draw a flinch.
“Jax told me everything, you know,” she whispered, leaning in close. “How he pitied you. How he waited for you to shift, but you were just… broken.”
My stomach turned, acid rising in my throat. “Excuse me.”
I pulled away, stumbling slightly as I fled toward the terrace doors. The night air was cool, a sharp contrast to the suffocating heat of the ballroom.
Jax always loved strong women.
Catalina’s voice invaded my head, bypassing my ears entirely. She had forced a Mind-Link connection, a violation that felt like a spike driven into my temples.
He told me about the time he skipped your birthday to train with the warriors, she continued, her mental voice echoing with cruel clarity. He said he needed to be around real wolves.
I froze, my hands gripping the stone railing. I remembered that birthday. Jax had told me he was sick with the flu.
And that time you twisted your ankle? Catalina continued, the venom in her thoughts seeping into my own mind. He didn’t carry you back because he was worried. He did it because his father was watching. He laughed about how heavy you were later.
The air left my lungs. The memories I cherished—the moments I thought were irrefutable proof of his love—were being dismantled, brick by brick.
He loves me, Eliana. He sacrificed his chance to study abroad just to be near my pack. He’s been planning this for years.
Tears pricked my eyes, hot and stinging, but I refused to let them fall. It was all a lie. The foundation of my entire life had been built on sand.
Eliana?
Jax’s voice cut into the link, overlaying Catalina’s torment.
Where are you? Catalina is looking for you.
A bitter laugh trapped itself in my chest. He had no idea she was mentally torturing me. Or perhaps, he simply didn’t care enough to notice the difference.
I looked back through the glass doors. I saw Jax scanning the crowded room, his expression frantic, his eyes darting wildly.
Then, his gaze landed on Catalina.
Instantly, his face relaxed. The tension drained from his shoulders. He wasn’t looking for me because he was worried about me. He was relieved because she was safe.
That was the truth I needed.
I severed the Mind-Link. It felt like slamming a heavy iron door, shutting out the noise, the lies, and the pain.
I looked at Jax one last time through the barrier of the glass. He wasn’t the boy I loved. He was a stranger wearing a familiar face. A liar.
“Goodbye, Jax,” I whispered to the cold glass, my breath fogging the surface for a fleeting second before fading away.