Page 28 of Rejected by My Shadow Alpha (Mate to the Fallen #1)

Ruby

I woke with a jolt, my heart hammering in my chest and my breathing shallow and rapid. The ceiling above me was soft cream, the kind of color meant to soothe, but it didn't. A shrill, suffocating silence enveloped and pressed in on me like a thick shroud. My eyes flew open.

No.

I knew this room. The floral curtains, the carved dresser, the pristine vanity set in the corner like a relic of a life I no longer claimed.

My old bedroom.

For a second, I couldn't breathe. My pulse thundered in my ears. I sat up too fast, the sheets tangling around me like restraints.

Where was Liora?

My chest seized. I looked around frantically, my eyes scanning the room for any sign or clue that she was in my room. There was no evidence that she was here. There were no child's clothes or warmth lingering in the air. There was not even a scent of her.

She wasn't here.

I shot out of bed and stumbled to the door, grabbing the handle. Locked. Of course, it was locked. I banged on the door, desperation clawing up my throat, my heart screaming louder than my voice as I pounded with both fists.

"Liora! Liora! Where was she? Someone answer me!"

Nothing.

"Open the damn door!" I shrieked, slamming my palms against it until they stung. "Don't you dare touch her! She's just a child!"

A moment passed, then the click of a lock slid into place, the door creaked open, and there he was.

Alpha Alfred. My father.

His silhouette filled the doorway like a ghost from my worst memories.

Tall, broad, and regal as ever, he stepped in, and I felt the same air of icy control on tailored suit and unbothered posture I remembered from seven years ago.

There used to be warmth towards me. But the warmth I once searched for in his eyes wasn't there.

His eyes were colder now, layered in disappointment, wounded pride, and something else I couldn't name.

Disgust? Anger?

Seven years.

It had been seven years since I ran, defied him, and chose my own life over the dynasty he wanted me to die inside of.

"I was wondering when you'd wake up," he said smoothly, like we were catching up over dinner. "It's been a long time, Ruby."

"Where is my daughter?" I demanded, my voice was sharp and trembling, but I didn't care. "Where is she?"

He stepped in, shutting the door with deliberate calm. "She's safe. For now."

"For now?" I snapped. "You think that's comforting?"

He looked around the room with a detached sigh, like inspecting an old wound. "Still as stubborn as ever."

"No, Father. I'm done with your mind games and your delusions. I want my daughter, and I do not want to be here. I'm not staying in this nightmare."

"You think you can walk away so easily?" His tone was calm, but every syllable dripped with condescension. "After everything you've cost me?"

I crossed my arms, fury rising like bile. "What? You mean power? Status? Control?"

"Respect…everything I built," he growled, stepping closer. "The moment you fled, you dragged my name through the mud."

I clenched my fists."Everything you built was on lies and blood," I retorted, angry at his self-righteous stance. There was no point arguing with him. It would do me no good. "Let me go, father. Let us go. We don't belong in your games anymore. We never did."

He raised a brow, stepping closer, his voice like velvet laced with poison. "I gave you everything. And you threw it away for what? Love?" His lips curled. "You made me look like a fool."

"Because I had no choice, father," I spat. "Trying to force your daughter into a political marriage like I was a pawn and demanding I terminate my child, too? I did what I had to do."

He studied me for a moment. "And yet here we are again, history repeating itself—you running away and me dragging you back."

"I don't want anything from you," I said through gritted teeth. "Let me take my child and leave. Please."

He sighed. "I had hoped, truly, that motherhood would have softened you and that I'd get a sincere apology, but I see the past still clings to you like a disease."

"You know nothing about me as a mother," my voice wavered. "You rejected the child, remember? She's everything you are not."

His jaw tightened. "Well, now, she's everything I need."

My stomach twisted. "What do you mean?"

His tone shifted. It was harder now. "The past doesn't matter anymore. What matters is your child. The one you've been hiding."

My blood froze.

"She was once an inconvenience, but now, she's a gift. The key to reclaiming what was lost."

He stepped closer, and something cold uncurled in my gut. I tried to steady my voice. "What do you want from her?"

"She carries something ancient," he said, eyes gleaming.

"A dormant power blood-tied to the Lunaris line.

She's the only one who can unlock the sealed Lunaris chest that contains a key that can open a vault in the abandoned Lunaris mansion.

It's the vault your mother's pack protected until the end.

Inside is power, wealth, and secret documents I had promised to give to some members of the Council to turn a blind eye so I could destroy the Lunaris pack.

I couldn't do it because the vault was sealed.

But now, with her ability, I can get everything I need to finish what I started. "

I recoiled. "No. Absolutely not."

He continued. "Your little rebellion may have ruined my plans, but now I have something even better. A vault sealed by power and protected by bloodlines. Liora can open it, and she will open it."

I shook my head slowly. "She will do no such thing."

"I'm not asking," he said sharply. "You will convince her, or she dies."

My knees nearly gave out. "You're insane."

He smirked. "Possibly, but I'm not the one who let Drew lead her to this. Speaking of which…" he turned his back to me, walking to the window like he was admiring the view. "Drew's dead."

The words didn't register at first, not fully. I blinked. "What…?"

He turned, too casually. "Yes. This time, for good, or did you really believe he'd outsmart me twice?"

The room tilted. I gripped the bedpost. "No. You're lying."

He gave a small shrug. "Who do you think sent him the SOS? Who lured him back to the pack just in time to miss the ambush?"

My lips parted, but nothing came out.

I had feared it. I had told myself to stop hoping, and yet hearing it from his mouth, spoken so carelessly, like it meant nothing—it gutted me.

"Why are you doing this?" I rasped.

"Because you owe me and because she's my ticket to regaining my political ambition," he retorted and smiled coldly. "And because, if you won't guide her, I'll take what I need by force, even if it kills her."

My blood ran cold.

"You're threatening a child?" I breathed. "Your own granddaughter?"

He sighed and rested his hand on the doorknob, and glanced at me one last time. "Listen, I'm not the devil here. I won't hurt her if you could just see this differently. We can have a fresh start and build a legacy together, you, me, and your child. All I need is your cooperation."

I said nothing. I could see what he was trying to do, but I wouldn't fall for it. He would get rid of Liora once he got whatever he wanted from her.

He nodded in a dismissive way. "I suggest you get your thoughts in order. You'll see her soon, just make her cooperate."

Then he was gone. The lock clicked shut again. I stood there, frozen. My thoughts were spiraling, and my wolf was whimpering, restless and in pain.

Dead.

Drew was dead.

The man I had once loved. The man I hated. The man who had healed my daughter, held her, and protected her…the man who had come back for us.

Gone.

I collapsed to the floor, sobs wrenching from my chest before I could stop them. My fists slammed against the door over and over again.

"No! No!"

I didn't care that it was futile. I didn't care if he heard. I beat the wood until my hands throbbed and my throat was raw. How did it come to this? I had promised I would protect Liora and that I'd never let my father near her. Now she was in his grasp. And Drew…Drew was…

I curled into myself, refusing to believe he was dead.

My tears soaked into the cold floor beneath me.

I wished I had left Littleton when I had the chance.

I wished I hadn't listened to Drew when he told me to trust him and stay.

I wished I was with him in his last moments. But wishes didn't change anything.

Now, I had to survive this hell all over again with the child I once escaped to protect.