Page 42 of Rejected by My Shadow Alpha (Mate to the Fallen #1)
“You were in on it… all of you,” I whispered, unable to believe it. “You were my father's family, his personal council, how can you commit this level of betrayal?!”
The council members exchanged uncomfortable looks with each other but still refused to meet my gaze.
Elder Dawson let out a growl, his eyes lightening to a golden brown with the influence of his wolf.
“Betrayal would be letting the pack my brother died for fall apart under the rule of a wolfless brat,” Elder Dawson intoned. “Your cousin, Ivy, will inherit the Alpha position.”
“Raven, dearest, don't worry. As your family, we will ensure that you live a comfortable life even without your position in the pack or company,” Ivy promised, her lips broadening into a mocking smile.
“Alpha Winston is already on his way to take you home as his mate. You know he has always had a soft spot for you.”
I recoiled, my chest immediately cold at the mention of the smarmy degenerate Alpha who always found an excuse to touch me inappropriately whenever he came to the Ivory Moon Pack.
Alpha Winston, Alpha of the Crescent Sky Pack, was almost old enough to be my grandfather. He had been mated five times, each mate progressively younger, all mysteriously dead within two years of being mated to him.
I stood up so fast my chair hit the ground.
“I. Will. Not,” I vowed, meeting the gazes of everyone at the table who had betrayed me. “I am the rightful heir and no one can make me renounce my right—”
Aunt Tiffany stood, backhanding me so hard that I fell back, incapable of hearing for several seconds.
“...did you think we were asking for your opinion?” Aunt Tiffany asked, her usually compassionate persona tucked away as if it had never existed. “The council has decided. You will denounce your ‘right’ in public and leave with Alpha Winston immediately. ”
Then Aunt Tiffany leaned in, a dark promise on her lips.
“Fail to do that and you will not live at all. Don't waste this chance, Raven.”
Aunt Tiffany took a step back and gestured for the council's personal guards to surround me.
“Guards, escort the Alpha Heir to her room and keep her there till it's time for her announcement to the pack and her mating ceremony.”
They grabbed me despite my struggles to run.
“Get your hands off me!” I screamed, trying to extract myself from their grasp.
Ignoring my kicks and struggles, the guards forcefully escorted me out using the side passages to ensure none of the regular pack members saw or heard me.
For all my struggles, all I got was a firm backhand from Finch, Uncle Dawson’s personal guard just as we rounded the corner to my room.
“Stay still, Alpha Heir,” Finch sneered derisively.
Finch, one of Ivy's sycophants, always kept his dislike towards the ‘runt’ who was going to inherit the pack poorly concealed behind a semi-permanent scowl at me, but today was the first time he let that mask fully drop.
I bared my teeth at him, still held back by two other guards.
“You bastar—”
The words hadn't left my throat when he grabbed my hair roughly yanking my head backwards.
“Don’t get any ideas,” Finch crooned, his voice full of relish. “I’m sure Elder Dawson will have no problems with us beating some sense into you before we send you off.”
I bristled with anger but I forced myself to stay still. If I got hurt now it would make escaping difficult to impossible. Unlike Elias, who had been distracted earlier, these men were well-trained and ready to subdue me. Breaking out of their hold would be near impossible.
Finch let go of my hair with a dark chuckle.
“Finally, the bitch knows her place,” He motioned to the guards holding me. “Toss her in and barricade the doors.”
I fell to the ground, skinning my knees, the doors falling shut behind me.
I trembled with so much rage that I didn't know what to do with.
Ivy, Elias, Elder Dawson, Aunt Tiffany, and the entire Ivory Moon Pack council planned this all to cheat me out of an inheritance they felt I didn't deserve.
Regardless of how I handled the issue, they would have still found an excuse to get me out of the pack, force my mating, and steal my position as Alpha Heir.
Waves of resentment and anger rose and crested within me.
What had Aunt Tiffany said?
‘Don't waste this chance, Raven’. I swore I wouldn't.
Aunt Tiffany had no way of knowing that even though my room was on the fourth floor, by returning me there, she'd given me an avenue of escape.
The thing about being bullied throughout your childhood? You found all sorts of ways to hide and escape.
I didn't know how long I had, so I moved as lightly as I could to avoid alerting the guards at my door. I hurriedly changed out of the clothes I was wearing, grabbed a bottle of scent blockers, the loose change I had at my bedside, my cards, and most importantly, a second cell phone.
I pried open the loose stone in the wall and a section of the wall shifted, revealing one of the many secret passages lost to time in our pack house.
I gave myself a hefty spray of scent blockers and stepped out of the room into the passageway.
I would be back, I vowed to myself as the stones behind me shifted to hide the route to my room once more.
When I returned, they'd all pay.
I made the call once I was out of the Ivory Moon Pack’s borders.
“Misha,” My voice broke around her name.“I need your help.”
Seven Weeks Later
“Raven?” Lucia, one of the administrative staff I worked with, popped her head into the cubicle that was my office. “Martin wants a word.”
My stomach tightened anxiously but I kept my smile light and cheery.
“Sure, I'll be right up.”
My head spun as I stood. It could have been because I'd skipped breakfast again or it was… fear.
Martin, one of the few wolves in Cityscape Ventures who headed the resource department, had never called me up to his office since the day I'd been hired.
Did he find out I wasn't really Raven Caine, rookie acquisitor but Raven Nightbane, fugitive Alpha Heir of the Ivory Moon Pack?
More importantly, had they found me?
The Ivory Moon Pack’s unofficial search for me had expanded its boundaries these past weeks since, according to ancient pack laws, without the renouncement of my position of Alpha Heir, there could be no naming of a new heir.
Naturally, that was only subject to change once I was dead.
Misha called in a big favor to get me this job and a new ID after I insisted on paying for the apartment she'd gotten me in the middle of human territory by myself.
Right now, things were at a stalemate, but the moment I began to seek support for my return, my cover would be blown, and the tides would turn once again, for now, I was just trying to make my ridiculously high human rent.
“A new management will be taking over this company,” Martin informed me without preamble. “You will be working with the new CEO as his assistant.”
Oh. That was it?
Relieved, I nodded. Suddenly thirsty, I reached for the glass of water in front of me only for it to slip right through my fingers, shattering across the floor.
“Are you alright?”
I heard Martin's voice as though it was coming from underwater, the world slowing around me.
I tried to speak, to move, but the ground rose up to meet me, and my world went blissfully dark.
I woke up slowly, the pervasive smell of drugs and disinfectant infiltrating my senses.
“What's wrong with Raven?” It was Misha's voice, heavy with worry.
“...low blood sugar… common in early-stage shifter pregnancy…”
My eyes sprang open. White walls. Blue scrubs. Misha at my bedside conversing with a doctor.
“Misha?” My voice was barely above a croaky but Misha heard me.
“Raven!” She sobbed, pulling me into her arms and holding me tight like I was about to disappear. “You're awake.”
I tried to gather my words.
“What’s wrong with me?”
Those words I'd overheard before waking up must have been from a dream. A nightmare if I was being specific.
I passed out because I’d been skipping meals. That had to be it.
Misha stilled, refusing to meet my inquiring gaze and the sick feeling in my gut worsened.
It couldn't be.
“Misha?”
My best friend held me tight as she delivered the news that would upend my life.
“You are pregnant.”