Page 50 of Rejected By My Shadow Alpha
I couldn't speak. My throat was tight and dry with shame.
"All that time," she went on, stepping inside, "you listened to me. You let me confide in you. I trusted you, and it was all a lie?"
"No," I said hoarsely. "At first, I didn't know it was you."
"But you knew eventually," she snapped. "And you still hid."
"Yes, and I'm sorry I did that," I said quietly. "But it wasn't a game, Ruby. Once I found out, I couldn't lose you again. I just needed to know how you felt without the past hanging between us."
She stared at me, disgusted. "So, you manipulated your way in."
"It wasn't manipulation," I said. "It was desperation. You trusted Wolfsbane because he cared…because I cared."
"And yet you couldn't be honest."
"I was scared that you'd shut me out," I explained, my tone gentle, desperate to make her understand.
Her expression hardened. "You don't get to protect yourself by deceiving me, Drew. That's not love, that's control."
My mouth opened, but I had nothing to say. The weight of her words made my guts turn. I took a step forward. "Ruby…"
She stepped back. "You want to talk about trust? You already broke mine once, and now you've broken it again."
"Please," I said, still reaching for her, but she pulled away.
Her eyes glinted with pain. "Stay away from me. I don't want you near me or my daughter."
"Ruby, please, listen to me," I said, my voice cracking.
"Don't," she whispered, stepping back. "I'm not falling for that nonsense again."
She opened the door and walked away, her back straight, her resolve firm, leaving me standing in the wreckage of everything I was trying to rebuild. I stood there, rooted, watching the woman I loved disappear into the dark. For the first time in years, I realized I might have truly lost her by the foolish stunt I pulled and the wounds I helped carve.
Chapter 22
Ruby
"I should've known," I said, my voice tight as I stood across from Nia in the kitchen, sorting some groceries I bought on my way back from the underground clinic, the weight in my chest refusing to lift. "He's manipulative, cold, and calculating. He knew what he was doing, pretending to be Wolfsbane22." I bristled, frustrated that he had played me all along. "I should've known it was him. Who else would listen so intently, so carefully, only to twist it later like a dagger in my back?"
"You don't mean that," Nia said gently, her brows drawn in concern.
I halted mid-step and stared at her. Did she understand all I had just said? "Don't I? He let me bleed my soul into those messages. He knew how much I hated Drew. How much pain he caused me, and he kept playing both sides."
"You saw a monster. I see a man desperate to connect with the woman he loves," Nia said softly. "Maybe he didn't do it right by pretending to be Wolfsbane22. He made a terrible choicethere, but people do stupid things when they're afraid of losing what matters."
I laughed, dry and bitter. "You really think he cares? He only came back because he found out Liora is his child, and the only way to do that is to play protector."
Nia shook her head, "Ruby, he came back to save Liora and stayed because he's broken and because he still believes this bond can be healed."
"I don't have the luxury to believe in bonds anymore," I muttered. "Not when someone from his own pack tried to murder my daughter." I stood up and slammed a can of baked beans on the kitchen counter and scoffed. "He could've come clean from the start. He could have told me he was alive and he was Wolfsbane22 instead of hiding behind kind words and sad stories in an email. Instead of making me trust him."
"You already trusted him," Nia said. "That's what's scaring you."
I looked away. She was right. That's what made it burn so deeply. Silence settled like dust between us. Then I said it. The thought that had been clawing at me for days.
"I'm leaving," I said. "I won't wait around to see who comes for us next, whether it's my father or someone from Drew's pack. I'm not putting Liora in any more danger."
Nia's eyes sharpened, her voice firm. "You can run from Drew, but you can't run from fate, Ruby. The Moon Goddess didn't destine you for an easy life, but she did bind your soul to his for a reason."
