Page 11 of Rejected By My Shadow Alpha
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."
