Page 5 of Rejected by My Shadow Alpha (Mate to the Fallen #1)

Ruby

I kept my head low as I stepped into the motel lobby, the musty scent of stale coffee and mildew clinging to the air like a second skin.

My hood was pulled over my head, and oversized sunglasses shielded my face.

Not that anyone cared to look closely in a place like this, but I wasn't taking any chances.

"One night?" the receptionist asked without glancing up, her voice as tired as the cracked linoleum beneath my feet.

I nodded. "Yeah. Just one."

She slid the room key across the counter. "Sixteen. Upstairs. Last door on the left."

"Thanks," I murmured, slipping the key into the pocket of my hoodie.

The hallway was dim, the lights flickering like they might give up at any second.

I moved quickly, barely breathing, my sneakers silent on the threadbare carpet.

At the door, I turned the key, stepped inside, and shut it behind me with a finality that sent a chill down my spine.

I slid the deadbolt into place, checked it twice, and drew the curtains until not even a sliver of light bled through.

He would be looking for me.

It's best to go farther from my father and all the memories connected to him since I learned the truth from my mother's journal.

Six Weeks Ago…

I deserved the truth, even if it destroys me!

I couldn't stop shaking as I drove to the Cornerstone Estate with numb hands and a hollow heart. The road blurred before me, headlights like ghosts blinking through the darkness.

The rejection scorched beneath my skin. It felt like a thousand needles were pricking my skin.

I could feel my wolf still reeling from the pain of his rejection.

My skin still burned where his mark lived, heightening my fury.

Every breath felt like a blade. I had never felt such pain in my life. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw him.

Drew. His eyes were void of warmth, and his voice was cold and final when he said the words that tore our bond apart.

"I reject you."

My knees had buckled, not from the pain of his claws or the fire that seared into my skin as he marked me, but from the violence of being wanted one moment and discarded the next.

It wasn't just pain. It was betrayal. And the cruelest part?

I still felt the damned mate bond, like it refused to acknowledge that he had turned his back on it and on me.

I stumbled into the guest room of the estate I once called home, slamming the door shut and pressing my back against it like I could hold the world out.

I wanted to scream, but there was no air in my lungs.

Just fire. Just grief. Just rage. My fingers trembled as I reached for the necklace that Drew had stared at the night we collided in the parking lot.

"Where did you get that necklace?" he had asked, his eyes wild and his voice barely controlled. He had looked at the necklace around my neck with fear and recognition, like he was seeing a ghost.

I hadn't understood his panic then. I do now.

My mother's necklace. What was the secret behind the necklace?

My father never mentioned anything about an ugly past regarding my mother.

He had always told me my mother died giving birth to me, and how he loved her.

But she had been a delicate wolf and too soft for this world.

Liar.

My father had a lot of explaining to do, and it must be tonight.

I walked down the quiet hall leading to his study.

The rest of the mansion slept, but this wing was always alive and lit like a sanctuary of secrets.

I stood outside my father's study, my hand trembling on the doorknob. I didn't knock. I couldn't afford to.

He was at his desk, a glass of scotch in one hand and papers scattered before him like a battlefield. He looked up, only slightly startled. "Ruby. You're up late."

"I want the truth," I said as I walked straight in, grabbed the necklace, and yanked it off my neck. "You know what this is, don't you?"

His eyes flicked to it, and there it was. That flicker, that crack in the mask. He knew something.

"It was your mother's," he said finally, like the words had to be ripped out of him.

"Who was she?" I asked, my voice tight. "Where did she come from? Why would someone recognize something that belonged to her?"

He stiffened. "Who?"

I could see the storm forming behind his eyes.

I wasn't scared anymore. I was furious. "Sounds familiar, right?

" I taunted, "Someone recognized this necklace the moment he saw it.

He looked like I had hit him with the past. Who was my mother?

You told me she died after childbirth. But you told me nothing about her life. Who was she before you married her?"

His jaw tightened. His expression didn't change, but his silence did. "Who is this person?" he asked, his voice low.

I took a shaky breath, determined to get the truth. "He knew it belonged to someone from the Lunaris Pack. Why would my mother own something from there? Tell me who my mother really was. No more lies. No more half-truths. I deserve to know who I am."

Something flickered in his eyes. Then, slowly and deliberately, he rose from his chair and walked around the desk.

"Your mother was the Luna of the Lunaris Pack," he said quietly. "She was fated to their alpha, my rival."

I staggered back a step. It felt like the air had been sucked from the room. "She was his fated mate?"

He nodded, his eyes pained. "But she loved me first," he said, his voice rising. "Before him, before the damned bond claimed her. We had something beautiful going, and I loved her."

"So, you killed her mate?" I asked incredulously, shocked to my bones. "And destroyed his pack?"

"She didn't love him!" he bellowed. "She was tricked by instinct, his magic, and the damned fate. I saw it. I saw her torn between what her heart wanted and what the bond forced her to do."

I stared at him, numb. "So, you destroyed them. The whole pack."

He didn't blink. "I took her back."

"You murdered the alpha, other wolves, and their pups. You destroyed a bloodline!"

"I did what I had to do," he said coldly. "The Lunaris alpha had no right to her. She was mine."

"She wasn't yours to claim!" I paced around the study. Everything felt like a cruel nightmare. No wonder Drew rejected me. "Do you know what you have done?"

He turned his back to me, fists clenched at his sides. "You wouldn't understand. You weren't there. You didn't hear her cry when I came for her."

"Did she cry because she was afraid?" I asked quietly. "Or because she knew wolves died because of you? She knew she would not survive without her fated mate, whom you killed?"

He whirled around. "Watch your tongue, girl."

But I couldn't stop now. He must see the repercussions of the evil he perpetrated.

"You called it love, but all I see is obsession.

You burned an entire pack to the ground because you couldn't accept that fate chose someone else.

Now, Drew, whose pack you destroyed, is my fated mate.

He, like you, is bent on avenging his lost pack.

So he marked me and then rejected me and looked at me like I was filth, like the daughter of the man who destroyed his pack.

" I caught myself too late, but the words had already spilled out.

Something in my father's face changed. His face was red, and veins bulged in his neck. "He marked you? Who is Drew? Who is the filthy mongrel that marked you?" he hissed.

My pulse spiked. I tried to backtrack. "I mean…Drew, someone from the Lunaris Pack, marked me.

The room exploded with rage. He overturned the glass, scotch flying across the floor. "He dared put his filthy claim on my daughter?" he growled. "I should have burned them twice over!"

I would have shared his sentiment, but I was nothing but a tool between him and Drew. "I see no difference between what he had done and what you did," I retorted

"That doesn't matter! He touched you. He defiled you," He growled, his eyes bulging with fury.

I flinched. "Yes, you destroyed his pack. You tore his world apart before I even knew he existed, but that doesn't excuse what he did to me." I held his gaze, my voice trembling but fierce. "He had a choice, and he chose revenge over me. You both did."

His voice dropped to a deadly whisper. "I won't let this get out. I won't let you shame our name. You were supposed to marry Mark. I made plans for this family."

"You made plans built on blood and lies," I said.

"That boy, Drew, he won't live to see another moon," He stated with finality, his eyes dead set on me.

I stared at him, suddenly repulsed by his self-righteous anger.

A part of me wished I had never mentioned Drew's name, but I needed to know the truth.

I shook my head, the ache in my chest sharper than ever.

"I'm done with both of you. I don't care about your war, your revenge, or whatever twisted history you share. I won't be your pawn anymore."

He didn't answer. He just sat back in his chair, his eyes cold and distant.

I turned to leave with the necklace still in my hand.

The weight of my legacy was wrapped like a noose around my neck.

I wasn't just Ruby anymore. I was the cursed child of a stolen Luna, the daughter of a deranged alpha, and the marked and rejected mate of the last Lunaris wolf.

"Ruby, you're marked," he said darkly. "Which means no one powerful will take you now. You've ruined your chances at alliance, at legacy, at…"

"Oh, save me the bullshit!" I snapped. "You want to marry me off like some livestock? You want to control me just like you tried to control her?"

He went quiet, his expression cold and calculating, his fingers drumming quietly on the table."No one must know you are marked," he said slowly, "You'll stay here until I decide what to do."

I backed away. "You're not locking me up."

"Oh, but I am," he said calmly, already moving toward the door. "You think I would let you run off to finish what your mate started? You're my blood, Ruby, and blood must obey."

My heart thudded as the door clicked shut behind him. I was trapped again, caught in the crossfire between the man who raised me and the one fate chose for me.

But this time, I knew the truth, and I'd burn the whole damn pack house to the ground before I let history repeat itself. I was done letting anyone else write my story or using me as a pawn for revenge. Not Drew, not my father, and definitely not fate.

I was going to decide my fate going forward.