Page 15 of Rejected By My Shadow Alpha
The buzzing neon sign outside the motel window flickered like a dying firefly. Cheap, gaudy light seeped through the torn blinds, casting fractured shadows on the cracked wall. The bed beneath me creaked with every movement, and the air reeked of coffee and cigarette smoke. It wasn't home. It wasn't even a place I should've been, but it was all I had and all I could afford, with my face plastered across every news outlet and gossip site in the state.
Newburgh wasn't home. It wasn't even a hiding place. It was a temporary gasp of air while I figured out how to stay alive—how we could stay alive. The media frenzy following my disappearance had escalated. My face was on every pack network and every supernatural gossip blog. Daughter of Alpha Alfred Alfonso missing, suspected abduction or rebellion? My father made it seem like I was a fragile jewel, stolen from under his watch. Lies. All of it. I hadn't been stolen. I had run.
He was the monster I was running from.
I couldn't help it anymore. My body shook with quiet sobs. My baby, Drew's baby, did not deserve this life of shadows. I sighed and pressed my hand tighter against my belly, as if I could shield the baby from my thoughts and fears. It hadn't always been like this. I wasn't running just to save myself. I was running to protect the only innocent piece of me left—my child. My father's lies wouldn't touch us. His darkness wouldn't poison this life growing inside me. I would not let hatred raise my baby the way it raised Drew—the way it killed him.
One Week Ago…
I stood barefoot in my ensuite bathroom, the white stick trembling between my fingers like it had electrocuted me. My heart pounded so violently I could hear the blood in my ears.
Two lines. Positive.
The floor felt like it tilted beneath me. I grabbed the edge of the sink, my breath shallow. I felt like I was watching someone else live this moment, someone else facing a future that didn't belong to her. But it was me, and it was real. I hadn't seen my period for over a month now. The nausea, the fatigue, the overwhelming sensitivity to smells—everything pointed to this.
"Oh Goddess," I whispered, a tear slipping down my cheek.
Footsteps approached. I snapped to attention.
The knob twisted.
Panic shot through me.
I scrambled around the bathroom, yanked open the cabinet beneath the sink, and shoved the test behind the cleaning supplies. The door creaked open just as I flushed the toilet and stepped back into the room, my face blank.
My father stood in the doorway to my bedroom, his eyes narrowing slightly.
He didn't say anything at first. He just stared like he was trying to read past my blank expression.
"Still keeping me locked up like a criminal?" I asked coldly, folding my arms. "How long do you plan to hold your daughter hostage?"
He had kept me locked up in the Cornerstone mansion for two weeks after I confronted him in his study. He had left me there to spend the night all alone in my anger.
My father's jaw ticked. "You need time to cool off."
"I'm a doctor," I snapped. "I have patients. People rely on me for treatment, or did you forget I'm not one of your guards you can cage on a whim?"
"I've spoken to the hospital," he said without a flicker of remorse. "You'll be working with me for the time being."
A bitter laugh escaped me. "Of course. You've hijacked my life, why not my career too?"
"Ruby," came my father's deep voice, calm and composed. He stepped in and stared at me squarely in the face. "I've fixed the mess you made at the gala. The media won't mention that filth's name in connection with you. I've put the right pressure on the right people."
My blood turned to ice. "What mess?"
"Your little affair with Drew. It's been handled."
I swallowed hard. "What do you mean, handled?"
He gave me a look of disdain as though I should be thanking him. "You were reckless. I managed to keep it from leaking. The press doesn't know anything, and my campaign remains untouched."
Of course, his political campaign is more important than my emotional state.
"So, what happens now?" I asked, I knew he had something up his sleeve. He wouldn't be here telling me what he had handled if he didn't want me to give something in return, maybe to give him my word never to bring up the discussion about Drew or the Lunaris Pack anymore.
"You marry Mark Wren. The alliance between the Cornerstone and Silvercrest Packs is critical. His father and I were discussing this some weeks back, and I think now is a good time."
I stepped back, revulsion and disbelief warring in my throat. "No. Absolutely not."
