The Vanishing $28,000

I was the Pack’s shame, a twenty-year-old "Runt" who had never shifted. Yet, I clung to the desperate hope that Alpha Marcus, the man I had loved my entire life, would finally claim me at the Full Moon Gala. Instead, he stood before the entire Pack with Izzy, a woman who looked at him with hunger rather than love. With eyes as cold as stone, he didn't just ignore me; he destroyed me. "I, Marcus Thorne, reject you, Olivia Hayes." The rejection snapped our bond, but the nightmare was just beginning. When Izzy framed me for poisoning her, Marcus didn't hesitate. He chained me in the dungeon and wielded the silver whip himself. Each lash burned like liquid fire, tearing through my skin as he demanded a confession I couldn't give. I woke up in a pool of my own blood, only to hear the nurse whisper the truth I was never meant to know. The silver toxicity hadn't just broken my body; it had killed the unborn pup I didn't even know I was carrying. Marcus had whipped the mother of his own child to protect a liar. He had killed his heir for a woman who was faking her own pregnancy. That night, as I crawled through the mud to escape, the weak Runt died. In the freezing waters of the river, my bones snapped and reshaped. I didn't just shift; I became the legendary White Wolf. And when Marcus finally realized the truth and came begging on his knees, I looked at him with my new, violet eyes and prepared to give him the rejection he deserved.

I used to be the "Princess of Cohen Pharmaceuticals," but now I'm just a girl in a soaked coat trying to hide the rolls of fat that came with the stress of my family's bankruptcy. My fiancé, Kody, was the only thing I had left to hold onto. I walked into Kody's office looking for a shred of comfort, but he slid a "Termination of Engagement" form across his mahogany desk instead. He didn't just break up with me; he looked at my size sixteen body with pure disgust and told me I was a liability to his corporate image. Before I could even process the heartbreak, his "secretary" walked in, rubbing her flat stomach and asking about their lunch plans. They had been together for six months-the entire time I was at my father's legal depositions. Kody didn't stop there; he took the keys to the Porsche I bought him, claiming it was a company asset, and drove off with his pregnant mistress, leaving me standing in the gutter. Then my phone rang-my father had collapsed from heart failure, and the hospital refused to operate without a $200,000 deposit because our insurance was frozen. I stood in the hospital lobby, bankrupt, betrayed, and watching my father die through a glass window. Kody had stripped me of everything, and the world was laughing at the "fallen princess." I was desperate, humiliated, and out of options. But I still had one thing left: a black obsidian ring given to me twelve years ago by a boy I saved from drowning. I tracked Christ Collins to a private Hamptons gala, a place where the air smells like old money and dark secrets. He didn't offer me a check; he offered me a sick game. "Swim ten laps in the outdoor pool," he whispered, his eyes icy blue and predatory as a freezing November storm raged outside. "Five million dollars if you finish. Or you can go back and watch your father die." I kicked off my heels and walked toward the frigid water.

I stood outside the hospital door, heavy with our unborn pup, only to hear my Fated Mate destroying our future. Theo was promising his ex-girlfriend, a woman carrying a Rogue’s child, that he would claim her baby as the Alpha heir. As for our own legitimate son? He planned to hide him away as a shameful mistake. When I confronted them, Theo didn't beg for forgiveness. Instead, he stripped me of my Luna title, moved his mistress into my bedroom, and locked me in a moldy servant's cell. But the cruelty didn't end there. To "cleanse" the pack, his mother kicked my swollen stomach with silver-laced gloves. I felt my baby die inside me as they dragged me through the mud and threw me out of the territory. They thought I was just a weak, abandoned girl who would perish in the woods. They didn't know that the "orphan" they abused was actually the lost daughter of the Alpha King. Six months later, I returned. They were throwing a party for the mistress's baby, celebrating a lie. I walked in wearing a green dress, holding the deed to their bankrupt pack and a paternity test that proved their "heir" was nothing but a fraud. I didn't come back for an apology. I came to burn their world to the ground.

I was reborn on the day of my fifty-sixth public confession to my guardian, Charlotte Mayo. In my past life, my obsession had destroyed her, leading to a miserable marriage and her death while saving me. This time, I vowed to fix it. To push her toward the man she truly loved, I called Howard Franklin to the scene. But the moment he arrived, a heavy stage light crashed to the floor between them. Howard immediately screamed that I had tried to kill him. Charlotte, the woman I died for, believed him instantly. Back at the house, he served me soup laced with peanuts, knowing I have a deathly allergy. As my throat seized up, he "accidentally" knocked the EpiPen from my grasp and convinced Charlotte I was having a violent episode. She watched me suffocate, her face filled with disgust. "Take him to the cold storage room in the basement," she ordered security. "Let him cool off." The woman who once rushed me to the ER for this exact allergy now saw me as a monster. As they dragged me away, I looked back one last time. Over Charlotte's shoulder, Howard was looking directly at me. He was smiling. I finally understood. My obsession wasn't the only poison in our lives. He was. And this time, I wouldn't be saving her from myself. I would be saving her from him.

The last thing I remembered was the blinding pain behind my eyes, then darkness. When I opened them again, I was back in my bed, twenty-five years younger, before my life became a hollow marriage to August Savage, a U.S. Senator who saw me as nothing more than a political asset. A painful memory surfaced: my death from an aneurysm, brought on by years of quiet heartbreak. I had seen a picture of August, his college sweetheart Heidi, and our son Kadin on a family retreat, looking like the perfect family. I was the one who took the picture. I shot out of bed, knowing this was the day of that retreat. I ran to the private airfield, desperate to stop them. I saw them there, bathed in morning light: August, Kadin, and Heidi, looking like a perfect, happy family. "August!" I yelled, my voice raw. His smile vanished. "Carolynn, what are you doing here? You're making a scene." I ignored him, confronting Heidi. "Who are you? And why are you going on my family's trip?" Kadin then slammed into me, yelling, "Go away! You're ruining our trip with Aunt Heidi!" He sneered, "Because you're no fun. Aunt Heidi is smart and fun. Not like you." August hissed, "Look what you've done. You've upset Heidi. You're embarrassing me." His words hit me harder than any physical blow. I had spent years sacrificing my dreams to be the perfect wife and mother, only to be seen as a servant, an obstacle. "Let's get a divorce," I said, my voice a quiet thunderclap. August and Kadin froze, then scoffed, "Are you trying to get my attention, Carolynn? This is a pathetic new low." I walked to the desk, pulled out the divorce papers, and signed my name with a steady hand. This time, I was choosing myself.

The package arrived on the eve of my wedding, a small, elegant box from a high-end photo studio, but instead of a gift from my fiancé, Brandon, I found a single photograph. It showed Brandon, arm tightly wrapped around his assistant, Chloe Miller, both in wedding attire, smiling wide and genuine. A text from an unknown number confirmed my worst fear: "Miss Reed, Chloe was so excited about her wedding dress fitting with Mr. Scott. They make a lovely couple, don't they?" When Brandon finally arrived home, Chloe by his side, she stammered a flimsy excuse about a "friend's wedding," but my eyes were fixed on him. My fiancé, the man I was supposed to marry tomorrow, waved a dismissive hand. "Don't make a scene over nothing. You know how important tomorrow is for the family's image." He saw my silence as weakness, his confidence unwavering in his control over me. As he reassured Chloe, I calmly retrieved my packed suitcases, ready to leave. My life with Brandon, built on years of protection and a secret courthouse marriage, flashed before my eyes. Ten years ago, I was his protector at the orphanage; five years ago, I sacrificed my dreams for his promise of a future. Now, I was just "simple, easy to manage," a pawn in his family' s business merger. The photo didn' t just break my heart; it shattered the illusion, revealing the cold, hard truth of my position, spurring me to declare, "I want a divorce." Brandon' s face darkened, and he tore the photo, believing he could erase the betrayal. He then tried to intimidate me, reminding me, "The apartment, the car, the money-it' s all from me. You' ll be back on the streets." But his threats, and his desperate pleas, no longer worked. I was finally choosing myself.