Page 32 of Rejected by My Shadow Alpha (Mate to the Fallen #1)

She exhaled, her gaze distant. "He was furious because it seemed fate was against him.

" Lena let out a quiet laugh. "The irony of fate—a pack he had wiped out resurrected from the ashes to produce an alpha that would become a fated mate to his daughter.

This meant everything he destroyed still had a beating heart.

But we couldn't take him down because we needed him alive. "

A chill ran down my spine.

The memory came crashing back. The night I heard that phone call in my father's study, his voice low but clear as a blade: "He's dead. This time for good." He hadn't known Drew was the alpha then.

I looked at Lena. "It was you," I whispered. "You were the one he was speaking to that night."

She said nothing, but her silence was confirmation enough. My knees went weak, rage and sorrow crashing together inside me.

"Both of you are sick." I spat with venom in my heart. If I hadn't been tied up, I would have made a dash for one of them. "I guess Drew being alive was fate mocking you two, so you will be haunted for the rest of your lives."

Lena's smirk was sharp. "Color me surprised when I heard rumors of rogue wolves of Lunaris descent, trying to rebuild.

I had to see it myself. I found the safe house some months ago," she continued.

"I came in looking like any other desperate rogue.

Imagine my shock when I saw Drew alive. He told me he had faked his death to escape Alfred. "

I stayed quiet, my fingers working carefully at the knot binding my wrists. Let her keep talking, it was buying me time, time for Drew to find us. They had no idea he was still alive. He'd become the ghost they couldn't kill, a cat with nine lives, and he was coming.

"I stayed to watch him and feed Alfred information.

The plan was simple. Lure Drew in, get him to open the chest, then kill him.

" She flicked her eyes to Liora. "Until you saved Alex.

I did a check on you and realized you were Ruby, Alfred's daughter.

Alfred had told me about you and Drew and the child being his, but I was not convinced at first."

"Then you tried to kill her," I hissed.

"We had to test her," Lena said coldly. "The curse confirmed she's his.

When Drew healed her, we tried again. This time, I sent a mad wolf to do the job to make it look like a random attack, and Drew saved her, but something mysterious changed everything.

The wolf I sent told me he would have killed Liora before Drew came out, but she had silver hair that had some strange powers that made him unable to attack right away before Drew came out with you.

Then, we realized she might be useful to us, more useful than Drew.

So the plan changed; take Drew out and bring you and Liora here. "

Alfred stepped in, voice calm and cruel. "Drew's too reckless. Liora is young, powerful, and malleable." His expression said otherwise. He could see that Liora would not be easy to control.

My hands curled into fists. I could barely breathe. "You'll get nothing from us. You won't use my daughter for this. We are not your pawns."

"You will help me convince her to open it," he said, stepping toward me. "Do this, and I will make you the richest heiress alive. You'll rule beside me or watch her powers be extracted by force, even if it kills her."

My knees buckled. "Please let her go. She's just a child."

"I'm not a monster," he said almost gently. "Ruby, your daughter has been favored by the Goddess. Get her to do this for me, and I will let her go for your sake."

"No!" I screamed. Oh, Drew, please hurry, I prayed with panic in my heart

Liora stirred, and her head lifted weakly. She opened her eyes, and something shifted in the air. An eerily calm presence enveloped the atmosphere

"Alfred," her voice shifted, softer, richer, and older. "I warned you, but you traded love for greed and legacy for ruin. You will never own the Lunaris soul."

I froze. Lena's eyes widened, and my father's face drained of color. That voice…it was my mother's.

"Betty?" my father rasped.

"You destroyed the one thing you could never buy, loyalty. Now, you will die trying to replace it with fear."

"Enough!" he roared, his voice thunderous with rage. "Start the extraction!"

Lena reached toward the control panel, pressing a button. The machine whirred and power flared. Liora screamed.

"No!" I screamed, wrenching against the knots until my wrists hurt. "Stop! You'll kill her!"

My father stood firm. "Then let her die. Let the chest open with her last breath."

I turned to Lena, desperate. "Please, you said you loved Lunaris. Don't let him do this!"

Lena didn't move. Her face was stone. Liora writhed, her body convulsing as the machine pulled at her essence, light flickering through her veins like starlight being torn apart. Her silver hair flared like fire, her body arched in agony.

"Liora!" I screamed, sobbing now, my throat raw and my heart breaking, but no one moved. No one stopped it, and I realized, if Drew didn't get here now, I was going to lose everything.