Page 39 of Rejected By My Shadow Alpha
She turned her face to the open window, watching the darkening sky. "Something shifted when Drew walked through that door. The balance changed, and now, everything you've hidden and fought to protect is going to be tested."
I felt the chill of her words deep in my bones. Maybe it was time to leave Littleton and go away from all these dramas. I had fared better in seven years without Drew. I would do just fine still without him.
"You need to brace yourself," she continued, her eyes holding a note of warning as if she could read my thoughts. "Becausethe past is not done with you. And neither is it done with him. Running away cannot make what is coming go away."
"Nia…" I whispered.
Her lips pressed into a thin line. "Brace up for it, Ruby."
I nodded slowly, the weight of her words anchoring deep in my bones. Drew might have returned from the dead, but if he thought he could step back into our lives, into Liora's life, he would find I was no longer the broken girl he left behind. He would play his part in healing her, and then he would leave. Liora and I will not be subjected to the ongoing war between the Cornerstone and the Lunaris.
I wouldn't let it happen again.
Chapter 17
Drew
I had hurt her badly.
The words sang in my head like a nagging headache.
I sat at the desk, staring at the screen, the glow of my laptop casting pale shadows across the walls. The laptop screen cast a pale light over the otherwise dark room, the blinking cursor pulsing like a second heartbeat, one that knew everything I couldn't say aloud, everything I didn't dare speak.
Liora's healing was going better than I ever hoped. The curse that once clung to her like shadows at dawn had started to lift. She was stronger and even laughing. Her tiny fingers no longer trembled when she held my hand. I should've felt relieved and even at peace, but all I felt was fear because any moment, Ruby could tell me to leave.
And she'd have every right.
I had returned to my pack briefly after the last healing. I told myself it was to regroup, gather supplies, and make strategic decisions, but deep down, I knew I needed to put some space between me and the woman whose eyes I couldn't meet withoutguilt flaring in my chest and who used to bare her heart to a man called Wolfsbane22, not knowing he was me.
I opened my inbox. No message. She had been awfully withdrawn from Wolfsbane22, too. It had been over a week since I last wrote to her as Wolfsbane22. In our last conversation, I had asked if she had found the alpha, and she had said yes without many details. I still couldn't bring myself to tell her I was Wolfsbane22. Not yet. If she knew, she might shut me out completely, and I wasn't ready to lose her again. As Wolfsbane22, I could still be close, still part of her world, even if only through words. So, I made a choice. If she wouldn't talk to Drew, maybe she'd talk to Wolfsbane22. Maybe I could find out what she really felt about me, about Drew, from the safety of someone she trusted.
I clicked into the message thread and hesitated before typing.
"Hey! How's it going with the alpha? Is your daughter okay now?"
She was online. The ticks turned blue. I stared at the screen. Seconds dragged. Then finally, typing…
"Hey, sorry for going silent. It's just that a lot's been happening lately."
I sat back, breathing in that pause. It was easier connecting with her as Wolfsbane22 behind the screen than as Drew in the flesh.
"That's okay," I typed quickly. "You don't owe me a reply every time. I just wanted to check in. I've been thinking about you and your daughter, hoping things are okay."
Another pause. A long one. The dots blinked again. "Thanks. She's doing better now. Stable."
"I'm glad to hear that."
Then I tried gently, careful with my words: "Has the alpha been able to help in any way? With your daughter, I mean."
The blinking dots vanished for a long stretch. Then, finally, she answered. "Yes."
Just that. I stared at the single word, hungry to hear what she thought of me. My fingers hovered. "What was it like?" I asked. "I mean, was it what you expected?"
Another long pause. "Honestly?" She typed, "It felt like the earth tilted under me. He's not just any alpha. He's someone I buried that came clawing back up from my past."
I swallowed hard, my throat dry. I typed, feigning ignorance, "You knew him in the past?"
She paused. The typing dots flickered off again. Then back. "He's someone I used to know. Someone I had an unsavory encounter with."
