Page 13 of Rejected By My Shadow Alpha
"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.
Chapter 5
Drew
The burner phone vibrated twice on the wobbly cabin table, its glow the only light in the darkened room. I didn't flinch. I had been waiting.
Sliding my hand over the cracked screen, I answered. "Talk to me."
"Location's secure," Jay's voice crackled through the speaker, his tone brisk. "Upstate. Off the grid. No prying eyes. Coordinates sent."
I exhaled slowly, nodding even though he couldn't see me. "Any heat on the decoy?"
"Nothing. Local cops chalked it up to reckless driving. Your ID, the ring, and a scorched corpse were left behind. Alpha Alfred's network bought it, hook, line, and sinker. News of your death is spreading like wildfire. You're officially ashes, Alpha."
Good. That meant I had a little time and a sliver of breathing space. "Thanks, Jay. You did good."
"You sure about this, Alpha? It's not too late to pull out. We can regroup and strike differently."
I stared out the window, where tall trees stood like domineering figures in the dark. "No. This is the only way now."
I had to lie low for close to two months before faking my death. I had been running from one location to the other, but Alpha Alfred's Pack had been on my trail and chasing me around. My death would quieten things down.
Jay was silent for a beat. Then he said, "Stay sharp. I'll check in tomorrow."
The call ended. I slid the phone into my coat pocket and stepped out of the cabin, closing the creaky door behind me. The place was barely livable, but it had four walls, a roof, and the kind of isolation I needed. I watched the tall trees, surrounded by chirping birds. For the first time in weeks, I could breathe without glancing over my shoulder.
Making it dramatic had been the only way to disappear. Alpha Alfred's men had been relentless after I marked her. I had counted six tail jobs in two days. I had to kill the last three to stay ahead. I knew how he worked. He didn't forgive, and he definitely didn't forget.
The fire, the wreck, it all came back to me in vivid detail.
Four Weeks Ago…
The night I disappeared, fog coiled along the edges of the Palisades Parkway like a living thing. The road was deserted, flanked by dense woods and layered in ice and snow. It was the perfect grave. My hands were steady on the wheel, but my heart thrashed like a caged animal. The chill outside did nothing to numb the burning inside me.
They had gotten too close. Alfred had unleashed every shadow in his arsenal to take me down. Three of his men were already dead by my hand, but they kept coming, like ghosts of my past.
Marking Ruby was a mistake. Marking her had destroyed my cover.Alfred saw it as the ultimate insult—a lone wolf defilinghis daughter. My death warrant was signed the moment I bit into her skin.
I had no choice. I had to vanish.
I pulled over at the top of a hill that looked down into a deep, forested ravine. The body in the trunk, one of Alfred's dead wolves, was my ticket out. I had snapped his neck the night before. Clean. Precise. I dressed him in my spare jacket, shoved him into the driver's seat, and doused the entire car in gasoline. The stench was overpowering, but all I could think about was her face.
Her eyes.
I paused with the matchbox in my hand. My heart was thudding. This was it. The end of Drew Cavanaugh. I lit a match, the flame flickering like doubt in the wind.
"I'm sorry," I whispered.
To Ruby. To myself. Faking my death meant to stay dead to her, to us. I tossed the match. The explosion ripped through the silence, a violent burst of orange and red lighting up the night like a final goodbye.
I didn't look back.
