Page 5 of Rejected By My Shadow Alpha
Her red hair brushed against my chin, and I felt the soft tremble in her body as she looked up at me, startled. Our eyes locked, and just like that, the world stood still. Her emerald eyes glowed under the parking lot lights, wide with surprise, but I could see it, the recognition, the pull. She felt it too. It was the same ache that had been tearing me apart since the moment we met. Her lips parted, her breath hitched, and her pulse fluttered beneath the soft skin of her neck.
The connection wasn't just spiritual. It was magnetic. Physical. My body responded to hers in a way I couldn't suppress even if I wanted to. I didn't want to.
Goddess, I wanted to kiss her right there, in the dim lights between parked cars. I wanted to taste her lips, claim her mouth, and lose myself in her warmth. Her hand had somehow found my chest. Her fingers splayed across my shirt like she needed something to anchor her, and I could feel her tremble.
My face dipped closer, and my breath mingled with hers. We were one heartbeat away from something irreversible.
Then I saw it.
The necklace. The silver chain. It was the Lunaris pendant—an oval blue crystal, nestled in a golden sunburst.
My blood ran cold. It was Luna Betty's necklace. My uncle's mate. It was stolen the night my world burned. It was the same one she wore when the Alpha Hall fell. The same one rumored to hold the seal of the Luna. I staggered back, letting her go.
"What the hell?" I whispered, pulling back sharply.
Ruby stumbled as I let her go too quickly, falling to the pavement with a thud.
"Shit, I…" I reached out, but she slapped my hand away and scrambled to her feet, eyes blazing.
"You jerk!" she hissed, picking herself up. "What is wrong with you?" she retorted.
"Where did you get that necklace?" I asked, my voice shaking.
Her expression tightened, clutching it instinctively, eyes narrowing. "Why the hell do you care?"
And then she was gone before I could say another word. I stood there like a fool with my heart thundering, chest heaving, and fists clenched. My heart was a warzone. The pull hadn't gone. It was still there, burning me alive, but now, it was laced with something else.
Fear.
Who was she?
Once I was back in my apartment, I paced like a caged animal until Jay's second message came through.
Confirmed: Ruby Alfonso. Daughter of Alfred Alfonso.
I stared at the screen for a long time, the weight of it pressing down on me.
Alfred's daughter.
The name made my stomach clench. Alfred Alfonso was the devil wrapped in designer suits and fine wine. He was the man responsible for everything I'd lost: my family, my people, my childhood, the entire pack, the Lunaris mansion, and the mining fields.
I was only five when Lunaris fell. I remember the smoke rising from the trees, the screaming, the sickening sound of bones cracking under brute force, and the scent of blood on snow. I can still picture my mother's terrified face as she hurried my Aunt Peggy and me down the hidden tunnel beneath the Alpha Hall, her last words ringing in my ears.
"Run, Drew. Never stop."
I didn't. I ran until I blended into oblivion. Aunt Peggy was a ghost long before death came. That night broke her. She made sure I survived. She gave me food, clothes, and a roof, but never herself. I grew up in silence and shadows.
Now, I was back. I had gathered what remained of the Lunaris pack, sworn myself to vengeance, and built a life under the shadows. I was a secret doctor underground, an Alpha by birthright, and a hunter in the shadows.
Alpha Alfred had to pay.
And now, the Goddess had to complicate things by binding me to his daughter. Ruby Alfonso.
I'd heard the rumors that he had a daughter and that she'd vanished from the public eye, refusing the glamour andattention of her father's wealth, but I never imagined she would look like that. Be like that. Infuriating. Bold. Beautiful.
And mine. My mate. I growled under my breath, dragging my hand through my hair. This wasn't a time to get distracted. The mission came first. Always.
Fate had a cruel sense of humor, and I was caught in the crossfire.
