Page 11 of Rejected by My Shadow Alpha (Mate to the Fallen #1)

Drew

The board stared back at me, mocking me with its red threads, pinned photos, targets, maps, and timelines.

It showed every plan my pack and I had crafted to destroy Alpha Alfred, yet it all felt like sand slipping through my fingers.

Time was thinning, the kind you feel in your bones.

I desperately hoped this plan with Alex would finally get us closer to the finish line.

Lena sat quietly by the fire behind me. I paced around quietly, trying to distract my thoughts from the tension of waiting for the final submission of the files from Alex.

I watched her knitting, wrapped in her shawl, eyes keen and watchful as her hands worked on the wool meticulously, her graying hair swept in a tight bun, face lined by time and torment.

The act reminded me of my mother, a faint memory of her knitting in our living room tugged at my memory, the thought comforting and nostalgic.

She rarely said much these days unless it mattered, but I knew she hated Alfred as much as I did, maybe more. She'd seen what he did to our pack first-hand. She had seen him burn the Heartwood and use children as bait to draw out survivors. She never talked about it in detail, and I never asked.

She had shown up at our safe house some months ago, half-frozen and bleeding, and never left.

We didn't need blood to call each other family.

Sometimes, when I was too deep in my head, her presence helped me stay focused and reminded me of what we were fighting for.

As an elderly wolf who was a witness and survivor of Alpha Alfred's atrocities, I felt such a sense of comfort being around her and a strong conviction as to why this mission must succeed.

She noticed patterns and quipped in quiet observations, old instincts about Alpha Alfred.

But the weight of decisions rested on my shoulders alone as the alpha.

"Alpha!" Jay burst into the room, eyes wild.

I turned, looking up, my expression calm but worried at the raw fear on his face. "What is it?"

"It's Alex. He's been attacked."

The room tilted for a second. "Where?"

"Just outside Manhattan. He barely made it out alive."

I swallowed my rage and slammed my fist on the table. "How the hell did they find him? No one knows his cover."

Jay hesitated. "It wasn't just any wolves. It was Cornerstone, Alfred's pack."

Cold, coiled dread slithered down my spine.

How did Alfred know about Alex? Alex had just passed me critical information: documents, wire transfers, shell companies, and illegal mining locations, all linking Alfred to off-the-books funds hidden across multiple states and countries.

Alex was our inside man at the bank, someone who could access records that would take Alfred down permanently.

If Alfred sent his wolves to attack him, it meant he knew about us. My blood ran cold. My voice came out low and sharp. "You sure it was Cornerstone?"

Jay nodded. "Alex had sent an SOS and his last known location, and then I could no longer track him. Some wolves and I rushed there to help, but he was gone. I know their scent, Alpha. I'd stake my life on it. He was ambushed as he was fleeing. Reports say he barely made it out alive."

Lena went still. "Did he survive?"

Jay nodded in acknowledgment but didn't speak. Lena leaned back on the armchair, her eyes calm and calculating. "Where is Alex now?" she asked Jay.

Jay exhaled. "We're still looking. He escaped, but we don't know where he is."

Lena's gaze darkened. Her eyes flicked to Jay. "We have to look for him before the wolves find him."

Jay hesitated, his eyes doubtful, "We have searched for him and are still searching…"

"Comb every damn place, Jay!" I growled, irritated by his hesitance. Alex was one of my most loyal wolves. I could not bear the thought of him being hunted down by the heartless wolves in the Cornerstone pack.

Jay nodded and left. I sighed and shut my eyes, fighting hard against the sense of despair crawling around me. How could a mission as tight as this be intercepted by Alfred? Could it be that we have a mole in our pack? The thought made me pause, jolting my senses. I faced Lena.

Lena watched me carefully, her expression calm but tinged with concern. "You're tense," she said quietly. "What's going on?"

I let out a slow breath. "Something's off. I think Alfred knows more than he should, more than he could without help from the inside."

Her brows drew together. "You're saying, there's a mole?"

I nodded once. "How else would he know about Alex? How would he know we were even close?"

She folded her arms, her gaze thoughtful. "It could be a coincidence."

"It's not," I snapped, sharper than I meant to. "It's too precise, too damn timed. Someone's feeding him, and they're close."

I started pacing, my thoughts racing. If Alfred knew I'm alive, then everything we've built is at risk. We'll have to move faster. Strike before he tightens the noose.

Lena stayed silent, watching me.

"It doesn't make sense," I muttered, more to myself than her. "We've been careful and have stayed locked down, but Alfred still knew where Alex was." My voice dropped as the realization settled. "Only Jay handles that kind of data. Movement logs and secure comms, everything passes through him."

The thought sounded like a betrayal on my part, but I could not gloss over it. Could Jay really be the one?

Lena stepped closer, her expression softening. She laid a hand on my arm. "I trust your instincts," she said gently. "But don't let suspicion eat through your pack from the inside. Keep your mind clear, Drew. You'll find the truth even if it's not the truth you want."

I gave a stiff nod, my jaw clenched. Her words offered comfort, but deep in my gut, something still twisted cold and tight. Just then, my private phone, where I receive and exchange information with the underground clinic, vibrated. I retrieved it from my pocket.

"I will just leave you to it." Aunt Lena said, standing up.

I nodded absentmindedly, my attention already on the phone. I opened the message. It was from Moonleaf.

"Hi Wolfsbane22. Alex is safe and with me. He asked me to contact Wolfsbane22 and deliver this message, but not to tell anyone else."

I read the words again, my heart thudding. Relief swelled, and then, something else. I replied.

"How is he? Is he conscious?"

"He's injured but stable, although shifting in and out of consciousness due to trauma on his head. I'll keep him hidden until he's strong enough to move without notice." She texted back.

Gratitude and awe filled my heart. Without thinking, I pressed the call button, driven by a sudden, aching need to hear her voice.

What are you doing, Drew? I froze, the weight of reality crashing in. She's just Moonleaf, not Ruby, your mate. I moved my finger to end the call, heart pounding, then the line clicked.

"Hello?" Her voice poured through like warm rain; gentle, soothing, and yet it struck something raw and buried deep inside me.

Moonleaf.

I froze. My wolf stirred, alert and restless, drawn to her like a magnet pulled to iron. My throat tightened.

She wasn't Ruby, but this pull felt too familiar, too intense. Was I betraying my mate just by wanting to hear her voice?

"I… It's me. Wolfsbane22."

A pause. Then a quiet breath and the softest laugh, light but disarming. "I know."

Just two words, and something inside me splintered. "Thank you," I said, the words thick in my throat. "For Alex."

"You don't have to thank me," she said, her voice warm and steady. "He was in bad shape, but he'll make it."

Her voice, damn, it made me feel comforted, strings of hope attached to its tone. I felt like I was drowning or like I was standing on the edge of something I wasn't ready to name. I barely knew her, but every instinct in me responded to her like a spark to dry tinder, and that terrified me.

I forced my mind to think logically. "Where did you find him?"

"He showed up at the edge of my town. Collapsed. He was bleeding out. Some rogues brought him to my clinic," She explained.

My wolf pushed at the surface. Pulled. What was this? I shouldn't feel this way. I couldn't feel this way, not when I still burned for Ruby.

And yet, the pull was real, deep, and twisting.

"You okay?" she asked.

I cleared my throat. "Yeah. Just a long day," I sighed. "I'm glad he's doing okay."

"You sound tired," she said, her tone filled with empathy.

I could listen to her all day. I wanted to ask her to say something else. Anything. Just to hear her speak again. Just to feel that warmth curl in my chest but I couldn't.

Instead, I asked, "How do you do it? You help so many, how do you keep going through all this?" There was a pause on the other end, just long enough to make me wonder if I'd gone too far.

Then her voice came, soft and steady. "My daughter," she said. "She is the strength that keeps me going. She's the reason I get out of bed some days. She's the strength I didn't know I had."

My chest tightened. A daughter? The words hit harder than I expected. A strange pressure settled in my ribs; cold, sharp, and utterly disorienting. I looked away from the phone like it might offer clarity. She had a child. A life. A family. Has she moved on and found someone who loves her?

"That's beautiful," I said, my voice low. "She's lucky to have you." I hesitated, trying too hard to sound unaffected. "And…her father? Is he around?"

There was a beat of silence, almost too quiet.

"No," she said softly. "It's just the two of us. I haven't let anyone in since I was marked."

The air left my lungs. Guilt surged over me like a wave crashing against rocks. Whoever had marked her left scars that hadn't healed, just like I did to Ruby.

"I still feel it sometimes," she murmured. "The place where it happened. It's like an echo under the skin. It never really goes away." She gave a faint laugh, but it held no joy. "So, I focus on others, healing them. It's easier than trying to fix what's broken in me."

I swallowed the ache climbing up my throat. Her strength made me ache for her, and for the woman I'd left behind. "You're strong," I said quietly. "Stronger than most."

A soft silence stretched between us.

"And you?" she asked after a moment, her tone cautious. "Have you found someone to heal with?"

I hesitated. My instincts screamed the answer, but my mouth refused to shape it. "I made a mistake once," I said instead. "I hurt someone more than I can ever explain. If I had the chance to make it right, I wouldn't think twice."

She didn't speak. She just listened. "And now?" she asked gently. "Is there someone else?"

I let out a breath, shaking my head even though she couldn't see me. "Helping others is what keeps me focused," I said. "Some wounds don't leave much room for anything else."

She didn't press. I didn't explain, but something lingered in the space between us, quiet and weighty, like two souls speaking without words.

"I should go," I said, voice hoarse. "Thank you again."

She paused. "You're welcome, Wolfsbane22." She said my name like a prayer.

The call ended, and I sat frozen for several seconds. What the hell is happening to me? I stood abruptly, pacing. I heard a sound outside.

I froze.

I was being watched.

The hairs on the back of my neck rose. I stood slowly, then shifted in one smooth motion, bones cracking, skin stretching, and fur erupting.

In seconds, I was on all fours, massive, black, and silent.

I burst through the back door, into the cold night.

My senses stretched. The night whispered, faint, almost imperceptible, but I caught it. The scents of mint and smoke.

A shadow moved across the tree line. I gave chase, and it vanished into the trees, silent as death. Whoever had been here was gone. There was no one. Nothing. Just the rustle of dry leaves and the echo of my own pounding heart. Still, I knew what I smelled.

Someone had been eavesdropping on my conversation. As the moon cast its glow on the white, snowy earth, my heart drummed with one terrifying, intoxicating question: How much had this person known? I couldn't afford to put Moonleaf in danger. Now, more than ever, I couldn't afford to be blind.

Not to my enemies.

Not to my allies.

And not to whatever it was I was starting to feel for Moonleaf.