Page 54 of Rejected By My Shadow Alpha
It could be, but I didn't want her to panic. "No." I lied, "I suspect it's someone closer, maybe the traitors within my pack."
She stepped back slightly. "Do you think they know about us?"
"I don't know, but I won't take chances," I replied.
It wouldn't be safe to leave her and Liora alone. I quickly dialed Alex. "Alex, it's happening. I need you at Ruby's now. Protect her and the pup at all costs. I'm on my way to the compound."
He didn't ask questions. "On it."
I hung up and turned to Ruby, my heart tugging painfully in my chest. I kissed her tenderly and pleaded. "Please. Wait for me. Don't run this time. Don't shut me out."
Her lips parted. I could see the questions dancing in her eyes, the fear trying to rise, and the battle between trust and trauma replaying in her eyes, but she said nothing and nodded.
Relieved, I stepped back, one foot out the door, the pull to her almost too much to bear. "I'll be back soon," I promised, my voice hoarse. "We're not done."
I ran into the brush and shifted mid-stride, my bones snapping and reforming. My wolf took over. I tore down the dirt road, wind slicing past me like knives. Every muscle in me was drawn toward the battlefield ahead, but my mind stayed tethered to Ruby and Liora and the promise I made to return.
War was coming, and I wouldn't let it swallow them whole.
Three weeks ago, I'd planted a hidden recorder in Jay's quarters after overhearing his hushed call in the hallway. My gut had screamed then, but I needed proof, real proof. Days after Liora was attacked, I listened to the recording in my room, headphones on, heart pounding. The audio was clear.
"The woman and the child are a distraction to our collective mission," said the voice. It sounded deep and guttural, like the real voice was filtered, passing through a modulator. The voice belonged to no one from my pack or from any wolf I knew.
Then Jay responded, quiet and cautious, "You're sure no one suspects it came from us?"
"Not yet," the voice answered. "It was supposed to be just the pup because she is still weak and vulnerable. The attack should've looked like a random rogue. We didn't expect Drew to be there or else the wolf would have finished her off."
Jay's voice came again, low with regret. "Shame it didn't work. It would've made things easier."
The stranger's voice cut in like ice. "There's more coming. That woman must be erased. Alpha Drew may have forgotten what her father did to us, but we haven't."
That was the moment I knew that someone in my own pack had sent that wolf to kill Liora. They wanted my daughter dead.
The phone call wasn't the only evidence.
The day of the attack, after leaving Ruby, I tracked the blood trail of the wolf. The scent was faint, but fresh enough for my senses to catch. I followed it through the woods, miles from Littleton, and found it lifeless, sprawled under thick brush, its throat cleanly slit.
Dead.
The air around it reeked of blood and murder. Whoever did this had hidden their scent, but they underestimated my power as an alpha. I could still pick the faint, almost impossible scent as I laid my hands on the dead wolf and felt the unmistakable connection. It had come from my pack. Whoever had done this wasn't sloppy. They were smart, precise, and calculated. A traitor was hiding in plain sight, patiently, waiting to strike again, but I'm not the same alpha who once let grief cloud his judgment. I've learned to follow the whispers in silence, to track betrayal by scent alone.
Let them come. They think they're ready for war, but they have no idea who I've become.
Chapter 24
Ruby
The soft rise and fall of Liora's breathing was the only sound in the room. She was curled up beside me, her fingers loosely gripping mine even in sleep. I stroked her silver hair back, planting a lingering kiss there, my heart heavy with a weight I couldn't shake. She didn't stir.
It had been hours.
Drew has not returned.
The silence in the house made me uneasy and gnawed at me like rot beneath my skin. Nia had gone to the nearby town to assist a witch with herbs. She wouldn't be back until tomorrow. Drew hadn't responded to any of my messages.
I'd called Drew twice, even texted on the underground platform. Nothing, not even a word. I'd tried to tell myself it was fine. He was probably busy and maybe something had come up with his pack, but as the hours dragged on, the silence became a drumbeat of dread pounding in my chest. The last thing he said was that he'd return soon, that he'd come back for us.
But he hadn't.
