Page 14 of Rejected by My Shadow Alpha (Mate to the Fallen #1)

Drew

The message stared back at me, each word carved into my brain like a brand.

Requesting urgent assistance. My daughter is dying... If anyone knows of a surviving alpha from the Lunaris Pack or a wolf carrying direct alpha blood from that line, please respond immediately — Moonleaf.

I read it again.

And again.

The words didn't change, but something in me did. My fingers hovered above the keyboard and then curled into fists. There were hundreds of messages flying through the healer network every week; requests, leads, rogue movements, alerts about silver attacks, but this was different.

This was personal. Too personal. She was asking for me.

A Lunaris alpha. Not just a healer with knowledge of our old bloodlines. She had named my extinct pack. That wasn't a guess. It was a direct call.

To me.

My jaw clenched. The Lunaris Pack was supposed to be ashes.

Everyone thought so. Everyone knows so, except for a few of us, and yet here was Moonleaf, asking for the impossible.

Her daughter was dying, and only blood from my bloodline could save her.

Something about that burned in my chest, a dull throb, then a sharp sting.

Her daughter.

She'd mentioned the girl before, casually, in her older emails.

Little light things like her daughter liked to dance barefoot in the garden under the moonlight.

She once crushed dried herbs into her apple juice because she "wanted to make her own potion.

" I had smiled at those stories without thinking too hard, but now?

Now, it felt like I was staring down a cavern with no bottom.

Why was this request bothering me so damn much?

I tried to picture what Moonleaf looked like, but I couldn't. All I could sense were just snippets of her gentle, guarded words, but the desperation in this message wasn't professional.

It was raw. It was real, and it made my skin crawl with unease.

Was I the only Lunaris alpha left? Probably.

Was I the only one who could answer this call? Absolutely.

I exhaled sharply and pressed the intercom. "Alex. Get in here."

Moments later, the door opened, and Alex stepped in, one brow raised. "What's up?"

"I need you to describe the healer who treated you after you were attacked—the one you said stitched you up in her secret clinic."

He blinked at the suddenness of the question, then slowly nodded. "Uh… yeah, I remember her, a woman in her thirties, maybe?

"What did the doctor look like?" I asked, barely restraining myself from forcing the answer from him.

He blinked. "Uh…why?"

"Just answer."

Alex scratched the back of his neck, thinking.

"Alright. She had fiery red hair. Long, like flames down her back.

Green eyes, like really green, unnatural, almost. She didn't talk much, but when she did, you listened.

She smelled like…" he paused "...wild roses and something smoky, like pine bark left on a fire. Not unpleasant. Just wild and strong."

My blood turned to ice, and I sprang to my feet. My heart thudded, and my breath caught. "Are you sure?" I asked, trying to keep my voice even.

"Yeah. Why?"

I didn't answer. I couldn't.

Ruby!

It was her! No wonder I was drawn to her all this time!

The breath in my lungs evaporated. I stood there, stunned, as if someone had knocked the wind out of me.

Ruby. The woman whose scent haunted me. The woman I'd rejected on that gala night, whose cries I'd buried so I wouldn't go mad.

She was the one who'd been writing to me all this time.

Red hair. Emerald eyes. Wild roses and pine.

The same Ruby whose scent I could pick out of a thousand. Moonleaf was Ruby.

And I hadn't even known it was her.

I thought Moonleaf was a voice in the dark.

A stranger I had slowly come to rely on and admire, even.

I had felt drawn to her wisdom, her fire, and her calm logic.

I had felt drawn to her emails in a way I didn't question until now.

Now, I know why. My wolf was drawn to her because she wasn't a stranger.

She was my mate and the one I destroyed.

"No," I whispered aloud, my voice cracking. "No…no, this can't be."

But it was. The night I'd rejected her, I thought I was saving her from the war I'd planned, my anger, and her father's blood-soaked legacy.

I thought I was severing a bond that would only bring her pain, but all I did was rip her apart and leave her to pick up the pieces alone.

What was she doing in an area saturated by rogue wolves?

I had read her messages, the ones where she spoke of a wound that never healed, of the echo of a mark that once bound her to someone who chose silence over fate, and I'd thought she was talking about someone else.

But she wasn't. She had been talking about me. I sank into the chair, perplexed and filled with guilt, curling up in my throat like smoke. She was reaching out for help for her daughter, and I was the only one who could give it.

But would she even want me to?

If she knew who I was and realized Wolfsbane22 was Drew, the same Drew who carved a rejection deep into her soul, would she still plead for my help? Or would she turn me away?

"Shit," I whispered.

A soft knock drew my eyes to the door. Lena stepped in, her eyes scanning the tension in my posture. She stared at me with quiet concern. "What's going on?"

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out at first. I couldn't string my thoughts into words. My heart was still racing and unraveling.

"It's someone I know," I said finally, my voice hoarse. "Someone who needs my help…as an alpha."

Alex straightened from where he sat. "Wait. What? You mean you're going to reveal who you are?"

"She already knows," I said, rubbing the heel of my palm against my temple. "She knew me as an alpha before. She just thought I died in that staged car accident," like everyone else.

The room went still.

Lena tilted her head, reading me closely. "And who is this someone?"

Alex's voice broke the silence, softer now. "Is it… Moonleaf? The doctor who treated me?"

I nodded once, slowly, unsure if I mentioned her real name, they would know she is Alpha Alfred's daughter. "Yes, she is."

Alex looked stunned, and Lena stared from Alex to me, completely lost about who we were talking about, her expression asking for more details.

"She reached out anonymously through the healer network," I said, and my voice faltered. "It's her. She needs help, but I don't know if she'll take it from me."

"Why not?" Alex asked. "She wouldn't refuse your help. Moonleaf is a kind and simple woman."

"Because I hurt her," I said, the words tasting like ash. "Badly. She had no reason to ever want to see me again, but it's about her daughter. She asked for the help of the Lunaris alpha, hoping there was someone out there who was an alpha, anyone but me because I am dead."

Lena's expression softened with understanding. "So, what do you plan to do?"

I shook my head. "I don't know. I need Alex with me. She knows him. He'll be a bridge."

Alex gave a slow, thoughtful nod. "I can do that."

Lena stepped forward, her voice quieter now. "Let me come, too."

I looked at her, startled. "Lena…"

She held up her hand. "Trust me, Alpha. I am just an old woman, but you need someone who can speak to her gently. Let me come with you."

I hesitated. The idea of bringing anyone near Ruby, near that wound, felt reckless, but Lena's gaze was calm and steady.

"She won't see me as a threat," she continued softly. "I'll just be a concerned aunt, trying to smooth over a young couple's complicated history."

Alex glanced at me. "She's right. She might be the reason Moonleaf doesn't slam the door."

I swallowed hard, staring at the glowing message on my screen. My hands felt numb. "Alright," I said finally, voice low. "But this isn't a mission for our pack. This is personal, and I do not want any word of this to get out."

Lena smiled gently, something almost maternal in her eyes. "I can do that. However, I need you to fill me in on the details on the way."

Alex nodded, his calm demeanor and loyalty had made me trust him. As I grabbed my coat from the hanger, I prayed desperately that Lena's advice would work if Ruby refused to listen to me. As we walked out, I felt my heart tremble in dread of what Ruby's reaction would be.