Melodramatic Werewolf Short Stories & Countdown Novels

When I was eight years old, Kieran Blackwood, Alpha of the Ironwood Pack, saved me from a rogue wolf den. He adopted me and said he would protect me for life. When I was twelve, I met Beta Ryan Cross. He treated me as her own sister and also promised to protect me for life. But later, these two men who swore to guard me forever pushed me into the flames with their own hands. All to please their childhood sweetheart. But when I ran away from Ironwood Pack, the Alpha and Beta both went crazy.

My Alpha mate has canceled our carefully planned honeymoon trips fourteen times for his Omega secretary. The first time, because of the secretary's phone call about "lost territorial maps," he didn't hesitate to abandon me at a strange Nordic airport. The second time, because of the secretary's plea for help, he drove back alone to the pack's core territory, leaving me alone in the dangerous hunting grounds. For four years, I carefully planned fourteen honeymoon trips, but each time my mate would abandon me to choose to accompany his Omega secretary. Finally, I stopped insisting and decided to give up this mating relationship that was never firmly chosen. But when I joined the Alpha Council's secret research project and decided to leave forever, he cried and searched the whole world for me.

The wolfsbane had reached my bones, and I decided to stop treatment. Once, Ethan Anderson, the pack's Alpha, was the only light in my life. He promised we would travel the continent together, chasing the northern lights across frozen plains and exploring ancient ruins. But while I lay dying from wolfsbane poisoning, he took Murphy Blake, my best friend and the person I trusted most, to every place I had dreamed of seeing. My dreams became the story of how they fell in love. I was ready to let go. I wanted only to see the final place on my list. Then the antidote shattered, my ticket was soaked in blood, and Ethan abandoned me alone in the frozen wilderness. My life entered its final countdown. And there, at the edge of death, I discovered a secret that would change the fate of every werewolf. Ten years later, when the wolfsbane curse that had plagued werewolves for a thousand years was finally broken and everyone called me their savior, Ethan finally understood: He hadn't merely lost a mate who loved him. He had lost the one person who once would have spent her last breath waiting for him to turn back. But by then, I no longer needed his love.

I was the treaty bride carefully chosen by Silvermoon pack and sent to Shadowridge pack. My presence there guaranteed ten years of peace between the two packs. All because I looked a little like the woman who had saved Theron, the Alpha of Shadowridge. For 1007 nights, Theron left bite marks all over my body, but the one mark reserved for a Luna never appeared. I begged him to let me go. He gripped my chin and laughed. "You're a stand-in. What makes you think you have the right to beg me?" After that, I was trapped in Shadowridge. Not his Luna, not his mate, just a shadow he could forget whenever he pleased. Three years later, the woman who had supposedly saved him returned from the dead: Celine. He announced to the pack that he would take her as his mate. Whatever hope I had left died. That same night, I found the man whose life I had once saved. "Help me fake my death. On the night of the eclipse, I want to die in front of Theron."

Seven months pregnant, and I accidentally overheard a conversation between my Alpha mate Kane Frost and the pack Beta Ethan Roberts. "This one's going to Vivian too?" Ethan's voice was thick with fury. "You're really giving away Elena's pup to repay a life debt?" Kane was silent for a long moment. "Vivian saved me." "Seven years ago, that silver dagger was meant for my heart." "She took that blade for me. The residual silver poison destroyed her womb. She can never have a pup of her own." "Her only wish is to keep Elena's pup by her side." Ethan slammed his fist against the wall. "But she's already gotten two pups!" "This is the last one." Kane's voice was hoarse, but there was no hesitation. "Vivian promised me. After she gets this pup, she'll leave Silvermoon territory." "When this is over, I'll have another pup with Elena." "I'll spend the rest of my life loving her. Making it up to her. To the pups we'll have together." My stomach churned. I nearly threw up right there. Three years. I'd been pregnant twice before. And every time, after the surgery, Kane held me and told me the pup had stopped breathing before it could be born. I'd cried myself raw over those two little souls who never got to see the light. I'd clutched their tiny clothes every night, unable to let go. Only now did I understand. They never died. They were alive. Kane had stolen them from me, given them to someone else. Tears spilled down my cheeks, hot and endless. I gently touched my swollen belly. "This time, little one. Mommy's taking you away."

I grew up with James Brown, the Alpha of the Blackwood Pack. We were inseparable. I thought I was going to be his Luna. Then I brought home an abandoned female wolf from the border. After that, she lived in James's eyes. He couldn't see through her act, and he kept pinning her mistakes on me. After countless heartbreaks, I finally woke up. "Olivia, the bonding ceremony we arranged for you and Lucas Johnson, the Alpha of the Silver Moon Pack, is in a week. Do you... want to go through with it? If you still don't want to, I'll go to the Johnson family and call the whole thing off." It was the eighth time my mom had brought it up. Just when she thought I'd turn her down again, I spoke. "I'll do it. I'll bond with Lucas." Mom froze. "You... you will?" "I will." My voice was calm. "But I have some loose ends to tie up in the Blackwood Pack. I'll be back in time for the ceremony."

Three years ago, my Alpha mate, Grayson Blackthorn, has a dream in which he falls for an Omega who works at a flower shop and does countless things to hurt me for her sake. When I hear about it, I don't take it seriously. Instead, I laugh and tease him, "And then what?" Grayson pins me beneath him and kisses me fiercely. "Then, you got me drunk and tricked me into breaking our mate bond. By the time I woke up, you were gone, and I couldn't find you anywhere." He claims it's just a ridiculous dream, yet he starts avoiding alcohol, steering clear of every flower shop, and keeping his distance from every Omega. He even develops severe separation anxiety. It got so bad that our pack's healer, Ravenna Nocturne, has to intervene regularly. To put Grayson's mind at ease, I do everything I can to show him that I love him and depend on him more. Gradually, we forget all about that dream. On our fourth wedding anniversary, a seemingly pure and fragile Omega named Avery Darkcrest appears before me with a bouquet of white lilies in her hands. The flowers nearly send me into anaphylactic shock because of my severe lily allergy. The council demands that Avery be expelled from the pack, but Grayson steps in front of me to protect her. "Avery didn't do it on purpose. Don't make things difficult for her." As I watch him shield her with his body, I know that nightmare is beginning to come true. In the dream, Grayson leaves me utterly broken, and it takes me a long time to finally walk away. But this time, I need only five days.

I am the Luna of the Silver Moon Pack. On the day I gave birth, I drank the birthing tonic that Elena, our pack healer, had brought me. My wolf convulsed violently, and the moment I delivered my pup, I fell into a coma. When I woke again, I was bound by thick silver chains, trapped for five years in a lightless forest prison. It wasn't until Caleb, the Alpha of the Silver River Pack, was hunting down a rogue that he caught my scent by chance and freed me. I dragged my weakened body all the way back to the Silver Moon Pack. Only to hear my Alpha mate Killian announcing before the whole pack that Elena, the very woman who had poisoned me, was about to become the new Luna. And the son I had nearly died to bring into the world was nestled in her arms, sweetly calling her mommy. Eyes burning, I rushed forward and exposed the truth in front of everyone: she had poisoned me. Killian cut me off, impatient. "Lila, as Luna you vanished for five years without a word. Elena carried your burden for you, and instead of being grateful, you make up some pathetic lie to smear her?" Eric's face twisted with disgust. "Daddy, throw this liar out. She's scaring mommy!" And Elena, hiding behind them, gave me a taunting little smile. Something in me let go. That very night, I drank the potion that would sever the mate bond from my side alone. Fine, then. This mate, this son, I no longer wanted either of them.

To spare me the pain of his betrayal, my Alpha mate Kyle put me to sleep. Then he went to mark the Omega who'd once saved his life, to fulfill her dying wish. While I slept for a year, he held a bonding ceremony with her. He left a temporary mark on the curve of her neck and turned her into the most envied she-wolf in the entire Silvermoon Pack. A year later, Kyle ordered the witch to wake me up. And just like that, he slipped back into being that tender, devoted mate who always looked out for me. But this time around, I didn't ask him how far he'd crossed the line with Freya. Not when they shared the same room. Not when her belly started showing. I even moved out of the master bedroom on my own, giving her the better room so she could have a comfortable place to rest. Kyle held my hand, his lips parting like he wanted to say something. I beat him to it with a smile. "I get it. Freya saved your life. You're just repaying her. It's not like you actually love her." The corners of his eyes went red. "Sylvie... I knew you'd understand. When this is all over, I'll spend the rest of my life making it up to you." What Kyle didn't know was this. During that year I couldn't open my eyes, my mind never shut off. I felt every ounce of that betrayal. Every time he soothed her. Every whisper he breathed in her ear. I heard it all. I've already reached out to my brother. Three days from now, I'll be gone from his life for good.

To become Marcus's Luna, I hid my identity as Crimson Ridge pack's Alpha heiress and married him. Since two Alphas have difficulty conceiving offspring, I even begged the pack witch to suppress my bloodline, downgrading my wolf from Alpha to Beta. After I finally got pregnant, Marcus was out shopping with his omega mistress while I was being attacked by rogue wolves and losing our child. I forced myself to like the social media post where his lover was showing off their relationship, fighting back nausea. His call came through immediately. "What are you trying to pull now! The pack successfully signed a cooperation treaty with the neighboring pack today. You didn't even show up to the celebration, so Ivy had to take over all your Luna duties and has been taking care of my daily needs. You should be thanking her for helping you out!" "You're supposed to be a strong warrior! How can one pregnancy make you this delicate?!" He finished his rant and hung up in anger. Right. I'd been away from home too long. I was starting to forget my own last name. I didn't hesitate anymore. I picked up my phone and dialed a number I hadn't called in ages. "Beta Hayes, book me a flight for tomorrow morning. I'm going back to Crimson Ridge pack."

Karen was once obsessed with tribal witch Lyra, who falsely accused me of stealing the Moon Soul Flower, claiming I cursed her spirit sight. My destined mate, Alpha Karen, whipped me before the Moon Goddess statue and banished me to the frozen Cliff of Sinful Wolves. When I returned, I became tame, hiding all my wolf nature in front of him, becoming just a gentle shadow. But when he discovered the truth about what happened at the Cliff in my blood-stained wolf tooth talisman, he went crazy. "Elara, please, answer my mate's call one more time!"

I was a mermaid fostered within the Silverwood Pack. By the laws of my kin, on the day I came of age, I had to swallow a Tide Pearl fed to me by a male. Only then could I fully shed my tail and truly join the wolf pack, remaining on land. And whoever fed me the pearl would become my mate. Miss that window, and my legs would turn back into a tail, forcing me to return to the deep sea. Before my mother died, she left behind three Tide Pearls, entrusting them to the three wolf boys I grew up with—each desperate to become my mate. But just as I was about to come of age, a lone wolf mother named Chloe arrived at the pack with her young pup, Leo. Alpha Lucas, Beta Kane, and Gamma Aiden became convinced that Chloe was the widow of the wolf who had saved their lives, and they showered mother and son with care. They knew full well what the Tide Pearls meant to me—yet choice after choice, they handed those pearls over to Chloe and her child, one by one. Their protection of Chloe was built on my sacrifice. With every pearl gone, I had no reason left to stay in the pack. At midnight on my coming-of-age day, the tide surged over the cliffs. I returned to the sea.

My father adopted Seraphina, the daughter of an Omega servant who died trying to save us. In less than a year with the Blackwood family, she became everyone's precious darling. Not only did my father treasure her like a gem, but even my mate and my brother started favoring her over me. When Sera accidentally dropped my mother's heirloom necklace into the fire and it burned to ash, Father said we should let the past stay in the past. He threw away everything that belonged to Mother. Even the anti-silver antidote I developed to honor my mother's memory—she died from silver poisoning—Sera wanted to take that away from me too. To force me to hand over my research to Sera, Damien—my childhood sweetheart and future mate—even threatened to cancel our mating ceremony. However, when I stopped fighting with Sera and left home forever, they went crazy.