Page 34 of Rejected By My Shadow Alpha
And that's when I felt it.
A sharp sting bloomed behind my eyes. A scent familiar and forbidden rushed at me like a thunderclap: cedar wood andthe electricity of a storm rolling across a winter lake. My heart stuttered.
No. No, it couldn't be.
My wolf stirred violently beneath my skin, wide awake and snarling, clawing to the surface as if she recognized something my mind refused to process.
"Alex…" I whispered, breath catching. "Who's with you?"
He looked toward the door. "I think you already know."
And then he stepped in.
Drew.
Everything in me shattered. My breath left my lungs in a rush, as though the room had been emptied of air. My knees threatened to give way, and my fingers gripped the door frame to stay upright. The scent was stronger now, unmistakable and laced with the power of an alpha.
cedar wood. Rain. Him.
My wolf howled.
He looked the same, and yet not. There were new lines carved into his face and shadows behind his ice-blue eyes. But those eyes, Goddess, those eyes still pierced straight through me like no time had passed at all.
"Ruby," he said, his voice low, barely more than a breath.
Hearing my name on his lips was a knife twisting in a wound that had never truly closed. For a moment, none of us moved. Not Alex. Not Drew. Not me. My heart was a drum. My wolf, a tempest, and my soul, a battlefield. I didn't know if I wanted to run or fall apart in his arms, but I did know one thing. The man who broke me, the man I mourned, the father of my child, was standing in my living room, very much alive.
My wolf stirred violently inside me, howling with recognition, with longing, and with betrayal. The connection lit up every nerve in my body like lightning.
"No…" I stumbled back, shaking my head. "No. No. This isn't possible. You're dead."
Drew took a step forward, his eyes wide with something raw: grief, regret, longing. "Ruby…"
"Don't," I whispered, voice cracking. "You died, Drew. I buried you in my heart. I mourned you."
The room tilted. My knees buckled beneath me. I heard my name, vaguely, as everything blurred around me. Then darkness.
When I came to, I was in his arms. Wrapped in warmth and arms I once knew better than my own. His scent wrapped around me like a cruel memory, intoxicating and suffocating all at once. My cheek was pressed to his chest, his heartbeat steady and strong.
No.
No, this couldn't be happening.
The moment my eyes fluttered open and met his, everything in me rebelled. My wolf whimpered, her emotions tangled in a raw mess of longing and agony. My human heart was no better. I wanted to push him away. I wanted to hold him forever.
His face hovered inches above mine, drawn and pale. "Ruby." His voice was hoarse, laced with regret and something else, something I didn't want to name.
I shoved against his chest, scrambling to sit up. "Don't touch me!"
He let me go instantly, but the pain in his eyes carved into me like a blade. My chest heaved as I backed away, trembling.
"You're alive," I whispered. "You let me think you were dead. You lied to me," I hissed. Why?"
His mouth opened and then closed. Then it opened again. "I had to disappear," he said, "to escape your father. He was going to kill me, Ruby."
"Then you should have stayed dead," I retorted, anger clouding my emotions. It was safer to feel angry than let his words get through to me.
His face crumpled, as if my words punched straight through his ribs. "I didn't know what else to do," he said hoarsely. "I thought I was protecting you."
