Page 33 of Rejected by My Shadow Alpha (Mate to the Fallen #1)

Drew

It was Lena. She had been the mole all along.

I paced my office like a beast barely restrained, the walls too tight, too close.

My gut had warned me there was a traitor, but never in a thousand guesses would I have landed on her.

Lena. She had been loyal, sharp, and always at my side.

She'd played her role too well and played me like a damn fool.

While I quietly questioned Jay's loyalty, it had been Lena planting those seeds of doubt.

She'd whispered just loud enough that others in the pack would challenge me for choosing Ruby as my Luna, stirring unrest, feeding hesitation, and I almost bought it.

But everything shifted that night. I spotted a hooded figure barely a week after the attack on Liora, her frame unmistakable, standing too close to a Cornerstone wolf at the forest's edge, some distance from the safe house.

She never turned to the camera and never revealed her face, but I had already installed night-vision filters on the perimeter feeds, and the silhouette matched hers too well to ignore.

I hadn't confronted her, not then. I needed strong proof.

Instead, I waited and tracked her. I slipped a monitoring chip into her phone, same as I'd done with Jay's when suspicion first darkened his name.

I needed proof, real, undeniable proof. So, I baited her.

I told Lena about my plan to propose to Ruby.

No one else knew about it, just her. If word got out, I'd know who opened their mouth.

Some hours ago, Jay, whom I had nearly condemned, asked me if I truly planned to marry Ruby. That was it. The slip-up I needed. It had been Lena. She had taken the bait and now, she'd gone too far by delivering Ruby and Liora straight to Alpha Alfred.

Jay burst into the office, panting, exhilarated. His eyes burned with adrenaline.

"I found them," he gasped. "Ruby and Liora. I tracked Lena's signal. She's at Cornerstone… in the underground lab."

My instincts, already sharpened to a razor's edge, flared. My heart beat wildly. It was now or never.

"Good," I said, my voice sharp with finality.

"Leak the data, every shred of it. Alpha Alfred's dirty dealings, the kidnappings, the laundering, the disappearances.

Dump it to every outlet we trust. The police units, credible journalists, the entire damn internet, all social media forums, backchannels.

I want his empire burning before sunrise. "

Jay nodded without a word, already tapping furiously on his tablet, the blue glow flickering across his focused face.

Without wasting a breath, I pulled out my phone and dialed Darius Wren. He picked up on the second ring.

"Drew."

"It's time," I said simply. "I'm sending the location now. Bring your wolves because we are bringing Alpha Alfred down tonight."

There was a beat of silence, then Darius's voice, cool and sure: "We're in. My men will meet yours at the location."

I ended the call and looked out the window, my fists clenched at my sides.

The hunt had begun. It's happening. After decades of blood, betrayal, and evasion, Alpha Alfred was finally going down.

The monster who tore apart families, burned down my pack, and built an empire on greed and deception wouldn't walk away this time, not with the truth flooding the world like wildfire.

I am coming for him.

Just then, I felt a sharp searing pain in my chest. It felt raw and searing, sucking the breath out of me.

Ruby.

A wave of distress surged through the bond, crashing into me like a freight train. I staggered, gripping the desk. My vision blurred as I focused, trying to reach her across the tether that bound us. Her voice hit me like lightning.

"No! Please stop! Liora! Stop the machine! No!"

Ruby and Liora are in danger.

My wolf surged, pacing and restless. My heart stopped, and for half a second, the world went silent. Then rage detonated inside me. My whole body shook. He was hurting them. I could feel it in my marrow.

"Jay!" I roared, spinning around, my voice already thick with power. He was in the next room but raced in, his phone in hand. Send the coordinates to the pack," I growled. "Now!. Tell them to come behind me. I'm going ahead."

"Drew," Jay called.

I didn't wait. I tore out of the office, my wolf already shredding the surface, my shift blurring in a storm of silver and bone.

Power surged through my veins—alpha power, ancient, wild, and unrelenting.

The air cracked around me as I stepped beyond the physical plane, my alpha form surging forward, larger and faster than ever, but I wasn't just running this time.

I leaped. The wind and earth warped around me as I slipped through shadow and distance. I didn't stop. I couldn't stop. My wolf roared, a sound that shook the trees as he fully took control. We surged forward, faster than the wind, fury and purpose fused into every muscle.

Behind me, I caught sight of my pack; dozens of them in formation, their paws pounding the forest floor, eyes glowing with rage and loyalty.

They followed the sound of my howls. From the eastern ridge as I climbed up a mountain, I caught sight of another wave of movement.

Silvercrest wolves. Darius's pack raced through the trees, fangs bared, their silver-marked pelts glinting under the moonlight. Two forces, one mission.

The Cornerstone mansion rose ahead like a demon carved from stone, towering in the silence, but the silence shattered.

Howls split the night from both flanks. The guards at the perimeter caught between the advancing thunder of two packs looked around, panicked, unsure where the threat was coming from.

They never had the chance to coordinate.

We hit them like a storm. My pack and Silvercrest slammed into their lines, fangs tearing and claws ripping.

Screams echoed through the dark as wolves collided in a brutal blur of blood and fury.

I didn't slow. I didn't hesitate. I tore through the chaos, my senses zeroed in on the fragile, flickering thread of Ruby's pain.

Then I found the room and burst into the underground lab in a blur of light and rage.

I froze at the sight of Liora screaming, strapped to a machine pulsing with shadowy energy.

Ruby, my Ruby, sitting, her hands tied behind a chair, her body shaking as she wept, helpless and broken. A guard stood behind her, watching.

I didn't think, I lunged. My jaws closed around his neck before he even knew I was there. Bone crunched. Blood sprayed the sterile walls. I tossed him aside like a rag doll and stepped forward, my form shifting back to skin and breath, rage still burning in my veins.

Alpha Alfred stood across the room, wide-eyed, frozen in disbelief. "Y…you're supposed to be dead," he muttered, stumbling back a step.

I locked eyes with him, my voice a low growl.

"You should know by now I'm not an easy wolf to kill.

" My eyes swept the room and rested on Lena, her expression hard and unremorseful.

"I'm not like the last alpha who dined with a mole that gave you access to unleash mayhem on his pack. This ends tonight, Alfred. Give it up."

Alpha Alfred stood still like a crumbling god, draped in the illusion of power.

His once-imposing presence now looked gaunt beneath the fluorescent lights, his face ashen and his lips bloodless.

Still, he straightened his shoulders. "You're too late," he rasped, forcing the words through clenched teeth.

"The machine is active. Her power is already mine. "

I stepped forward, my voice cold and cutting. "I'm right on time."

He sneered. "What can you do to me?" He taunted, "You think because you brought a ragtag pack to my doorstep, a few rogue wolves and rebels can topple an empire I built with blood and dominance?

You think you can walk in here like a hero?

The Council won't let this stand. You're outnumbered.

You brought what? Ten wolves?" He laughed bitterly, "You're nothing but a broken orphan clinging to revenge. "

I smiled, slow and knowing. "Well, it so happens that I have become quite good at playing your games. The news of your crimes is buzzing everywhere right now. Besides, what makes you think I am the only one who wants you gone?"

His eyes narrowed, and his jaw twitched. Then he laughed, obviously calling my bluff. "You think a few rebels can bring me down?The Council—"

"Has withdrawn their protection," another voice cut in.

The door creaked open behind Alfred, and Darius Wren entered like judgment itself. His towering frame cast a shadow that seemed to stretch across the room, swallowing the remnants of Alfred's authority. His Council medallion gleamed on his chest, and his voice, when he spoke, struck like thunder.

"It's over, Alfred. The evidence is damning. You will answer for your crimes."

Alfred turned to him, eyes wide with disbelief. "What damn evidence are you talking about, Darius?" His voice cracked with rage and fear tangled like barbed wire. "The Council won't abandon me after everything I did for the Council. We are in this together…you…"

Darius's face remained stoic. He held his phone out with a video on display, reeling out crimes committed by Alfred and the police searching for him to answer for his crimes."You lose, Alfred," Darius said coolly. "You made a lot of enemies. I'm just the one who showed up to bury you."

Alfred stumbled back. "You traitorous bastard!"

"No," Darius said coldly. "We tolerated you, and now, we end you."

Something in Alfred snapped. I saw it; the shatter of trust, the disbelief curdling into feral rage. His mouth twitched as if he might scream, but all that came out was a low, savage growl.

Then, without warning, he shifted. Bones cracked. Skin tore. His monstrous form exploded forward into dark fur, glowing eyes, and fangs made for ripping throats. He wasn't going down quietly. He was going to make sure someone bled.