Page 18 of Rejected By My Shadow Alpha
"What is wrong with you?" I whispered. "How could you be so heartless?"
He stepped forward, but the room tilted as I felt my wolf howling in pain. I turned to leave, and the floor dropped from under me. The last thing I saw was Marek calling out my name, the horror on his face frozen mid-syllable as the darkness swallowed everything.
Now, in the cold filth of a rundown motel miles from everything I knew, I held the last piece of Drew that the world didn't know existed, except my father. I curled into myself at the edge of the bed, my heart pounding, but my face dry. My mind was clear on what to do. I was determined to go far away from everything, from Alpha Alfred and from the memories of Drew.
Drew…he had rejected me.
I clenched my jaw. He had his reasons, maybe, but I was done making excuses for men who thought pain was a way to project their anger. Trust had been a delicate thread between us, and he had cut it without flinching. He was gone, and I was alone. I had his seed growing inside me, but I would never raise this pup to be like him.
"I'll protect you. No matter what." I whispered, the tears stinging my eyes.
My baby. My secret. My vow. Fate wasn't done with us yet.
Chapter 7
Ruby
Eight Months Later…
"Nia," I gasped, clutching the headboard as another contraction twisted through my abdomen like a blade. "It's happening. I think… I think it's time."
Nia was already moving, calm and focused, clearing the space near the fire and guiding me toward the bed. "Lie down. That's it. Just breathe, sweetheart. You can do this."
I shook my head vigorously, faint from the waves of pain that shot through my body. I had been contracting all day, but now, it was relentless.
"You can," Nia said firmly, kneeling at the edge of the bed with her sleeves rolled up and her eyes calm as moonlight. "You are stronger than you think, Ruby."
Sweat trickled down my spine. My vision swam. My legs trembled beneath me as I gripped the sheets, trying not to scream. I wasn't ready. I'd never be ready.
"Breathe, Ruby. You need to breathe," Nia urged, her voice steady against the chaos inside me. She brushed my damp hair back. "You've done harder things than this."
Yes, harder things like escaping to Littleton, New Hampshire. It wasn't the first place I ran to, but it was the first place that didn't spit me back out. Tucked deep in the forest, past winding roads and ancient trees, the town was quiet and cautious, perfect for wolves with broken pasts.
I met Nia on my second night there. She was slumped outside the old storefront I'd later turned into an antique shop. Blood trickled from a gash on her arm. I didn't know her name then, only that she needed help. I cleaned the wound while she studied me like she already knew I didn't belong.
Later, I learned she was no ordinary rogue. Nia was a psychic, a healer, and a speaker of the ancient wolf tongue. She didn't just use herbs, she listened to them. She became my anchor.
"You've got fire," she'd once said, eyes gleaming. "But you carry sorrow too."
She never asked why I came to Littleton, and I never told her. We understood each other in silence, but I had no peace.
Peace never came, not after Drew, not after the bond snapped like a broken string the moment I heard he'd died. He was burned alive in a car at my father's doing on the night I'd overheard my father's call.
I've already taken him out…Yes, he's the one in the news. Burnt beyond ashes and dead for good. My sources confirmed it. He is dead."
I had collapsed in the hallway, silent screams echoing in my chest. My mate was dead. Murdered. Burned. Just like his pack. Faint from the shock, I had just woken up when he barged in, already furious.
"You will not have that child," he spat. "And you will marry Mark."
"This is my child." I had tried to speak, but he slammed his hand on the table.
"Your recklessness can ruin everything I've worked for! You will get rid of that bastard."
I didn't speak again. I only cradled my stomach. That night, I began planning my escape.
I could not bear staying locked and caged under the same roof with the man who had murdered an entire bloodline and intended to kill the one in my womb. Even though he was my father, and the thought of leaving him made me sick, it was the only way out for me, especially after the evidence I found in my mother's room that same night.
The next day, I smiled at breakfast and said yes to his plans to marry me off to Mark in one week. I agreed to all the arrangements, my dress, the food, and the entire engagement party. But I had meticulously planned my escape and ran until I escaped all his wolves searching for me. I ran till I found Littleton. I ran until I wasn't Ruby Alfonso anymore—just Ruby.
