Page 52 of Rejected By My Shadow Alpha
"No," he said quickly. "I didn't know it was you, not at first. But when I found out… I couldn't let go. I had to know how you truly felt. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but everything I said as Wolfsbane22…I meant it."
I turned away. I couldn't look at the man who made my soul ache and my guard rise and fall all at once. He took another step closer, the air between us thick with everything unsaid, then gently placed the roses on the table like they might shatter.
"Ruby," he said, his voice low and rough, " I love you and I want to be able to protect you and Liora. Please move in with me so you and Liora can be close to me."
The words hit like thunder. A quiet kind that cracks open the sky.
Love.
What would life be like living with Drew as the alpha of a pack that hates me and my child? Here was the man who marked me and then left me bleeding, the man who let me walk away pregnant and alone, with nothing but silence and heartbreak to hold. My throat closed. My heart betrayed me, leaping at his confession. Goddess, I wanted to believe him. I wanted to step into his arms and pretend the past hadn't gutted me.
But I couldn't. I wrapped my arms around myself like armor. "I can't," I whispered, my voice so soft it almost didn't make it past my lips. "Not ever."
"This is the best way I can keep an eye on you and her," he pleaded, his voice cracked and raw, his eyes hurt and pleading.
"Love is not enough, Drew," I said, facing him. "Moving in with you is not ideal, not when danger is always lurking. Someone from your pack wants my daughter dead. My father will hunt us if he finds out we're together again. You think living with you will protect us from all that?"
His expression faltered. "I can protect you."
"You couldn't even stop the curse from being cast," I snapped. "You didn't even know."
He looked gutted.
"You keep saying you'll protect us," I went on, my voice shaking. "But since you showed up, it's been one attack after another. How am I supposed to trust that?"
He stepped forward, desperate. "I'm doing everything I can."
"It's not enough!" I cried. "I won't let Liora grow up in fear, waiting for the next shadow to pounce."
Silence fell like despair between us.
"I'm taking her somewhere safe," I said, my voice steady now, even if my heart wasn't. It was safer to stay away from him thanto give in to him. "Someplace no one from your pack or my father's can find us."
Drew's jaw clenched. He shook his head slowly, like the words didn't make sense. "You're going to move away?"
I didn't flinch. "I have no choice."
He took a step forward, eyes searching mine like he could find some opening, some crack in my resolve. But there was none, just pain sealed behind practiced stillness.
"Ruby," his voice was barely a whisper. "Don't do this."
I looked away before the emotion in his eyes could undo me. "I'm sorry," I murmured, forcing the words past the lump in my throat. "I have to protect her."
I turned before I could see the devastation in his eyes. My steps were slow but certain as I walked to the door and opened it. The air from outside rushed in, cool and final.
"Goodbye, Drew," I said quietly, my hand still on the doorknob.
It was the hardest thing I'd ever done.
Chapter 23
Drew
She was still standing there, hand on the door, lips set in that infuriatingly stubborn line, the same one that made me fall for her, the same one that made me believe we had a fighting chance, even now.
I had just poured out my heart, laid everything bare, but she didn't move. Her expression was unreadable, but her eyes...they flickered, unsure.
I stepped closer. "Come stay with me, Ruby. I'm not asking this out of desperation but out of love. For us and for Liora."
