Counter Melody

Sebastian Miller was my Alpha mate. Because I asked him to remove his Beta, Charlotte Lewis, from her position, we had a huge fight. After that, he shut me out completely. Three months later, he assumed I had realized my mistake and suggested that we go on a vacation to Highfeather Forest. The moment Charlotte found out, she exploded. She screamed at Sebastian, made a scene, and even threatened to leave the pack. To calm her down, Sebastian canceled our trip. He used a business deal as an excuse and gave the vacation spot to her instead. Afterward, he offered me a shallow explanation. “I’m the Alpha of this pack. The pack’s interests have to come first. As the Luna, you should understand that.” I looked at the post Charlotte shared on her feed. The two of them stood by the lake, close and intimate, like true mates enjoying a private getaway. I knew everything they had done, but I said nothing. I only nodded. Sebastian mistook my silence for understanding. He seemed pleased with me, even promised that one day he would make the trip up to me. What he did not know was that I had already signed the withdrawal agreement to leave the pack. I had also gone to a witch and obtained the potion to sever a mate bond. It was time for this to end.

I agreed to transfer out of Central Wolf Academy with Lucien because he said he was being bullied. Eighteen years old and still unawakened, in an academy obsessed with bloodline purity and dominance, he stood out in all the wrong ways. So he begged me to leave with him—to move to a less demanding school, where lineage mattered less. The day before we were supposed to finalize everything, I went to find him. Outside the door.That was when I heard it. One of his Beta companions drawled, amused. “I’ll give you that, Lucien. Pretending you were being hunted just to get her to leave Central Academy for you.” Another voice hesitated. “You two grew up together. You’re really letting her go like that?” Lucien answered without pause, his tone relaxed, faintly amused. “It’s not even overseas. She’ll be fine.” Then, colder. “She’s clung to me since we were kids. I was getting tired of it. This is… efficient.” I didn’t confront him.I turned and walked away. Back in my room, I reopened the transfer application. I crossed out the name of the ordinary werewolf academy he claimed he needed—and wrote in the one my parents had insisted on years ago. Everyone had forgotten something. I am the sole heir of the Bloodmoon Pack. And Lucien—an illegitimate son tolerated by the Silvercrest Alpha—would never touch the Alpha throne without a formal bond to me. One day, he would realize that what he discarded was not just my devotion.

My mate, Alpha Ryan, started skipping my healer's appointments after I got pregnant. He always blamed pack business. But I found him at the clinic anyway. He was with another pregnant she-wolf—his childhood friend, Bonnie. He held her with a tenderness he no longer gave me. "I'll take responsibility for this child," he promised her. "He'll be safe." His words shattered my world. Their child? I stormed in to confront them and saw it: his temporary mark on her neck. He swore the pup wasn't his. He claimed a rogue attacked her and the mark was only for protection. His lie was a knife twisting in our mate bond. I was carrying his pure-blooded heir. But he let the pack brand my child a bastard, while hailing her half-blood pup as his true heir. To protect Bonnie, he locked me in a silver-laced cell. The silver was a living death. He didn't realize his mistake until I took the forbidden herbs, sacrificing our child and collapsing in a pool of my own blood. Only then did he cradle my broken body, begging for a forgiveness I would never give.

For five years of our marriage, Matthew Spark was my entire world. I abandoned my career, severed ties with my family, and molded myself into the perfect wife for him. I believed our love was unshakable, and that our marriage certificate was the ultimate proof of it. Until the day I saw him with my own eyes—holding another woman in his arms as he stepped into our home. “Ava, let me introduce you,” he said, his tone as casual as if he were discussing the weather. “This is Sophie Spears, and her daughter, Ella. They’ll be living here from now on.” I froze. I had seen her face before—tucked in the drawer of his desk, in his wallet, even as the wallpaper on his phone. And in that instant, I realized the cruel truth: I was the unnecessary outsider. The interloper. The greater insult came when I confronted him. He calmly produced a marriage certificate—his and Sophie’s marriage was three months before ours. That was the moment I learned my marriage had been nothing but a farce. That I wasn’t even significant enough to be a mistress. And in that moment, I laughed. Oh, Matthew. Did you forget who the largest investor in Spark Enterprise was?

My girlfriend and I were reborn, returning to the cramped basement apartment we rented right after graduation. We silently walked out the door together, neither of us mentioning staying together. She went abroad with her childhood sweetheart to further her studies while I stayed behind, grinding away at my company. Seven years later, she became a rising young designer with a bright future and a happy family. I was still grinding away at the same company. When we met again, she clung to her childhood sweetheart's arm, looking down at my slightly disheveled state with a mocking smile. "Long time no see. How did you end up looking like a beggar?" I ignored her. However, later, when the powerful, world-renowned CEO of a top design firm clung to my arm, acting sweetly, her face twisted with panic. "Alex Prescott! How can you be so close with another woman?!"

To protect his biological child, the mafia Don deliberately announces to the world that my fiance is his long-lost son. A Rolls-Royce pulls up outside my house. My fiance stares at his custom-tailored suit, his entire body trembling with excitement. I'm about to tell him it's all a lie when he shoves me aside and brushes off his sleeves with disgust, like he's touching something filthy. "Stay away from me. I can smell the poverty on you from here!" "Since I'm the Don's son, our engagement is over. An unwanted nobody like you isn't even fit to lick my boots." I try to explain, but he pulls out a check and slams it against my face—the sharp paper edge slices across my cheek. "Here's a million dollars. Consider it a breakup fee, and don't bother me again. We're not from the same world anymore." Watching the check flutter down into the mud, I quietly dim my phone screen. On it is a text from my father, the mafia Don. "Mia cara figlia, bear with it a little longer. Papa will bring you home soon to take over the family." Since he wants to burn every bridge between us, fine. He can have all this fortune on a silver platter. Whether he'll live long enough to enjoy it is another question entirely.

Leo Parker, my fiance, shoved me out the door with his own hands. He used me as bait to buy time for himself and my best friend, Jessica Thorne, to escape. I'd never forget him shutting the door. I'd never forget his last words through the narrow crack. "Thank you for your sacrifice, Chloe." When I open my eyes again, I'm back to the day before the zombie outbreak. Leo is gently urging me to hurry up and transfer 150 thousand dollars for the remodeling. It's the money we set aside for the home we plan to live in after we get married. In my past life, he set a trap and drained every cent of my savings. This time, I smile and agree. The only difference is that the 150 thousand dollars is going to build my doomsday bunker. And I'm also planning something special for them. After all, since I get a second chance at life, I should properly thank them for the "kindness" they showed me last time when they shoved me out to get torn apart by zombies.

After my death, my parents sign an organ donor consent form on my behalf. They have my corneas removed and transplanted onto their beloved adoptive daughter, Grace Lane. She later marries my brother, and they become a true family. Grace and I competed over everything in life, yet I ended up dying with nothing. Now that I've been given a chance to start over, I decide to live life without them. Surprisingly, I find myself getting a happy ending.

I conscientiously perform my duties as the Luna of the Blackwood pack throughout our three years of bond. During every cycle of the full moon, my Alpha, Damon Slater, insists on personally preparing Wolf Essence Elixir for me. He claims it enables me to manage my duties as Luna with greater ease. I trust him implicitly, never doubting his words. It is only later that the shaman reveals that "the elixir" is actually Shadowmoon Drug—a forbidden drug that induces infertility. I haven't even had the chance to question him when Isabelle Turner, his lover, brazenly posts a sonogram confirming the Alpha's pup in the group chat. Damon, my Alpha, does nothing, letting Isabelle accept everyone's pledge of loyalty to her. Damon coldly reminds me that our bond serves a purely political purpose for the alliance and then aggressively questions me about what grievances I still hold. He thinks of me as merely a means to serve the alliance, a tool that can be replaced at any time. He is completely wrong about that, though.

After becoming pregnant, my mate Derek transformed from a notorious playboy into the perfect devoted partner. He dismissed all his lovers and stayed by my side constantly, attending to every detail of my care with meticulous attention. Everyone marveled at his dramatic change, claiming he had truly fallen in love and reformed because of me. Three days before I gave birth to our pup, I heard him on a phone call. "Derek, that orphaned omega your mate sponsored is looking for you again. The girl's devoted enough - still chasing after you after all these years." Derek scoffed coldly. "Don't mention her again. If it weren't for accumulating good karma for my unborn pup, I'd never spend another penny on any other she-wolf." But on the night before my delivery, after he received a message from that omega, he decisively abandoned me. "Sorry, Alpha Derek. My bone marrow compatibility test failed. Thank you for sponsoring me all these years. I'm sorry that I can't accompany you anymore." During the storm, he left me alone deep in the forest. I called him desperately through our mindlink, but he had blocked me completely - every attempt met with cold silence. The rogue wolves found me in my vulnerable state. Their attack was merciless, and my body, heavy with pregnancy, couldn't defend itself. The trauma was too much. When I woke up again in the healing center, my pup was gone. Derek gave me the mate bond severance agreement with red-rimmed eyes. "The girl is stubborn and gets upset whenever she hears your name. Once she can accept you, I'll mark you again." Finally heartbroken, I left him behind. Three years later, I was at an auction house with my sister-in-law, my belly round with pregnancy again, when violent sounds erupted behind us. Derek stared fixedly at my swollen belly, his whole body trembling. "Whose pup is in your belly?"