Page 23 of Rejected by My Shadow Alpha (Mate to the Fallen #1)

Ruby

"You don't mean that," Nia said gently, her brows drawn in concern.

I halted mid-step and stared at her. Did she understand all I had just said? "Don't I? He let me bleed my soul into those messages. He knew how much I hated Drew. How much pain he caused me, and he kept playing both sides."

I laughed, dry and bitter. "You really think he cares? He only came back because he found out Liora is his child, and the only way to do that is to play protector."

Nia shook her head, "Ruby, he came back to save Liora and stayed because he's broken and because he still believes this bond can be healed."

"I don't have the luxury to believe in bonds anymore," I muttered.

"Not when someone from his own pack tried to murder my daughter.

" I stood up and slammed a can of baked beans on the kitchen counter and scoffed.

"He could've come clean from the start. He could have told me he was alive and he was Wolfsbane22 instead of hiding behind kind words and sad stories in an email. Instead of making me trust him."

"You already trusted him," Nia said. "That's what's scaring you."

I looked away. She was right. That's what made it burn so deeply. Silence settled like dust between us. Then I said it. The thought that had been clawing at me for days.

"I'm leaving," I said. "I won't wait around to see who comes for us next, whether it's my father or someone from Drew's pack. I'm not putting Liora in any more danger."

Nia's eyes sharpened, her voice firm. "You can run from Drew, but you can't run from fate, Ruby. The Moon Goddess didn't destine you for an easy life, but she did bind your soul to his for a reason."

I didn't respond, I couldn't. The ache in my chest was so loud. I pressed my lips together, resisting the urge to scream and curse.

Later, I sat on the couch in the quiet of my living room, the silence pressing in like fog. I stared blankly at the wall, but my thoughts spiraled back to the long nights and tender emails from Wolfsbane22.

His words had felt like lifelines, raw and unfiltered.

He didn't hide behind bravado or pride. He wrote like a man bleeding honesty.

He was gentle, patient, and aching. He listened as I unraveled my heart, not just with his ears, but with understanding.

He saw me and understood me. He felt my fears, my anger, my hope and he never dismissed any of it. He made me feel safe.

And all this time, it had been Drew.

The realization twisted through me like a slow blade.

My wolf had sensed it, hadn't she? Even behind screens and fake names, my heart leapt at his messages.

His voice lingered in my head. It had always been him.

The real him, not the cold, guarded Drew who broke me in Westbrow, but the version he never let me see.

I exhaled, trying to steady the chaos inside me. So why was it so hard to accept they were the same? Because Wolfsbane22 hadn't lied. I felt him in every word. I felt his grief, regret, longing, and love for the woman he'd hurt.

Maybe that's what scared me the most.

If the man behind Wolfsbane22 was the truest version of Drew, where did that leave me and everything I thought I believed?

It left me unsteady, like the ground had shifted beneath me.

I didn't know whether to grieve the lie or mourn the truth because if that part of him was real, maybe I was wrong about him, and that meant I hadn't just opened up to a stranger in the dark.

I had fallen for the man I swore to hate because knowing Wolfsbane22 was Drew cracked something in me. I couldn't unsee the man behind the mask anymore, and somewhere along the way, my heart stopped bracing and started breaking for him instead.

A soft knock broke the silence. I looked up, wondering who it could be. Dusk was already settling in, and it would soon be night. Another knock, I stood up slowly and approached the door, a familiar scent drifted through the door—cedar wood and storm.

Drew.

I opened the door slowly. The sight of him made my heart skip. Drew stood there, eyes dark with nerves and something softer—hope. In one hand, he held a large plush bunny wrapped in ribbon. In the other, a bouquet of red roses that trembled slightly, like even the flowers sensed rejection.

He looked unsure, almost boyish, like a schoolboy trying to win back the girl he hurt, and damn it, a part of me was pleased to see him, and I hated that.

I hated how my heart surged at the sight of him and how badly I wanted to close the space between us and just…

forget. But I didn't move. I kept a straight face and stared down at his hands.

"Hi," he said quietly. "Can we talk?"

I said nothing, my fingers curled tightly around the edge of the door, fighting the softness threatening to rise.

"Is that Drew?" Liora's voice called from behind me. Before I could stop her, she ran past me.

"Drew!" she squealed, launching herself into his arms.

He caught her midair with a soft laugh that cracked something inside me. His eyes welled up as he held her close, burying his face into her hair. "I missed you, little moon," he whispered.

Liora beamed and hugged him tighter. "You brought me a gift?"

He handed her the bunny. "I saw it and thought of you."

She gasped, her joy so pure it left me breathless. "It's perfect!"

I stood by the door, unmoving, watching the way his arms wrapped around her and the way she smiled against his chest like she'd found the sun again.

It wasn't performative. It was instinct; raw and real, and it killed me because I could feel the love radiating between them, undeniable and fierce.

Guilt twisted in my stomach. I would again have to separate father and daughter after leaving Littleton for an undisclosed location.

"Liora, sweetheart," I said, forcing a smile. "Go inside and get your jacket. It's getting cold."

"Okay!" she said, racing off, cradling the bunny like treasure.

Drew stepped in. "Thank you," he said, his voice low. "For letting me see her."

"Why are you here?" I asked coldly.

He held up the roses. "These are for you. I came to apologize."

I didn't take them.

"Ruby, I'm sorry." He took a step closer. "I didn't mean to hurt you. I was desperate to reach you, to talk without everything between us getting in the way."

"So, you lied," I said, my voice sharp. "You knew I trusted Wolfsbane22, and you used that."

"No," he said quickly. "I didn't know it was you, not at first. But when I found out… I couldn't let go. I had to know how you truly felt. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but everything I said as Wolfsbane22…I meant it."

I turned away. I couldn't look at the man who made my soul ache and my guard rise and fall all at once. He took another step closer, the air between us thick with everything unsaid, then gently placed the roses on the table like they might shatter.

"Ruby," he said, his voice low and rough, " I love you and I want to be able to protect you and Liora. Please move in with me so you and Liora can be close to me."

The words hit like thunder. A quiet kind that cracks open the sky.

Love.

What would life be like living with Drew as the alpha of a pack that hates me and my child?

Here was the man who marked me and then left me bleeding, the man who let me walk away pregnant and alone, with nothing but silence and heartbreak to hold.

My throat closed. My heart betrayed me, leaping at his confession.

Goddess, I wanted to believe him. I wanted to step into his arms and pretend the past hadn't gutted me.

But I couldn't. I wrapped my arms around myself like armor. "I can't," I whispered, my voice so soft it almost didn't make it past my lips. "Not ever."

"This is the best way I can keep an eye on you and her," he pleaded, his voice cracked and raw, his eyes hurt and pleading.

"Love is not enough, Drew," I said, facing him. "Moving in with you is not ideal, not when danger is always lurking. Someone from your pack wants my daughter dead. My father will hunt us if he finds out we're together again. You think living with you will protect us from all that?"

His expression faltered. "I can protect you."

"You couldn't even stop the curse from being cast," I snapped. "You didn't even know."

He looked gutted.

"You keep saying you'll protect us," I went on, my voice shaking. "But since you showed up, it's been one attack after another. How am I supposed to trust that?"

He stepped forward, desperate. "I'm doing everything I can."

"It's not enough!" I cried. "I won't let Liora grow up in fear, waiting for the next shadow to pounce."

Silence fell like despair between us.

"I'm taking her somewhere safe," I said, my voice steady now, even if my heart wasn't. It was safer to stay away from him than to give in to him. "Someplace no one from your pack or my father's can find us."

Drew's jaw clenched. He shook his head slowly, like the words didn't make sense. "You're going to move away?"

I didn't flinch. "I have no choice."

He took a step forward, eyes searching mine like he could find some opening, some crack in my resolve. But there was none, just pain sealed behind practiced stillness.

"Ruby," his voice was barely a whisper. "Don't do this."

I looked away before the emotion in his eyes could undo me. "I'm sorry," I murmured, forcing the words past the lump in my throat. "I have to protect her."

I turned before I could see the devastation in his eyes. My steps were slow but certain as I walked to the door and opened it. The air from outside rushed in, cool and final.

"Goodbye, Drew," I said quietly, my hand still on the doorknob.

It was the hardest thing I'd ever done.