Page 55 of Rejected By My Shadow Alpha
I leaned down, pressing a kiss to Liora's forehead. She stirred, a soft sigh escaping her lips. For her sake, I picked up the storybook again, reading quietly, my voice steady despite the storm raging beneath my skin.
"…and the silver wolf, though wounded, stood tall because courage wasn't about strength, but the love he fought for…"
Suddenly, I heard the front door burst open with a deafening bang. The crack of it against the wall shattered the stillness. My wolf surged up immediately, adrenaline flooding my veins. Startled, I grabbed Liora instinctively, clutching her to my chest. Her eyes flew open in confusion, but she didn't scream. She just stared at the bedroom door like she already knew what was coming.
From the living room, I heard snarling, growling, and a heavy crash. My heart seized. Alex was in the living room, watching to ensure Liora and I were safe. Panic surged through me. I scooped Liora into my arms as she squealed in surprise. My feet hit the floor, and instinct took over. I ran to the back hallway but froze at the growls erupting from the living room.
Snarling, claws, flesh meeting flesh. I could smell the metallic tang of blood and fur. I recognized the scent. Alex and others, but the new scent that followed behind it made bile rise in my throat.
Cornerstone wolves. My father's wolves.
He found me. My father found us.
No. No.
I backed into the bedroom with Liora still clinging to me. My heart slammed into my ribs. I reached into the drawer beside the bed, fumbling past old notes and a cracked photo frame until my fingers closed around the silver blade I'd found in my mother's diary. It was barely the length of my palm, thin and delicate, easy to conceal in a closed fist, but its edge gleamed cold and sharp under the dim light. It was small, but deadly. I fitted it into mygrip with practiced ease, sliding it into its cover in a way that let me unsheathe it in a heartbeat.
"Mommy," Liora whispered, her expression calm and stoic. Her eyes weren't afraid. Why weren't they afraid?
"It's okay, baby," I said, trying to sound calm, but my voice shook. "Stay behind me."
She didn't move. She didn't cry. She just tilted her head toward me and whispered, "It's time for justice, but only fate decides the end."
"What?" I breathed, but I didn't get to ask again.
The door burst inward. Two men stormed inside, their eyes glowed an unnatural shade of amber, their lips curled in menace. I shoved Liora behind me, baring my teeth as my wolf surged beneath my skin. I didn't care if they killed me, but I wouldn't let them touch her.
A third figure stepped in behind them, slender, hooded, and face covered by a grotesque clownish mask with a leering grin that turned my blood to ice. The masked figure tilted its head, then spoke.
"I must admit…this has taken far too long." The voice was muffled and altered, but unfamiliar. "Years of chasing ghosts, shadows…and now, here you are, Ruby Alfonso with Drew's child with her beautiful, rare bloodline. A perfect gift with so much potential and power we've never seen before."
I pulled Liora tighter against me, ready to defend and protect her with everything, even if it meant I had to lie.
"She is just a pup. She has no such powers."
The figure chuckled, voice low and cold. "The curse told us everything. She's powerful, Lunaris blood doesn't lie. You've been hiding something priceless, but now…it's time." My heart dropped, my mind reeling. Wait. What?
How did my father's people know all of this? Only someone inside Drew's inner circle would have had that information. Mystomach knotted as a cold realization crashed over me. These weren't just my father's people. One of them had been inside Drew's pack. A mole. Someone close enough to report back in detail, to manipulate things from the inside.
"You," I spat. "You cast that spell on her, didn't you? You cursed her."
The figure sighed dramatically. "Regrettable, yes. The plan was to kill her and the alpha and get you back to your father. We even sent the mad wolf to finish the job after Drew healed her, but last-minute changes came up, and we need her."
"You were in Drew's pack," I whispered, more to myself than to them, my voice cracking with disbelief. "You're the mole…"
The figure tilted their head, unbothered. "Connections run deeper than you think."
My throat closed. What kind of connection could tie someone from Drew's pack to my father's sick web? What deal, what betrayal could make that possible?
Panic surged in my chest, cold and paralyzing. Drew had known there was a mole in his pack, but he had no idea how deep my father's control runs and how far his influence stretches, even into the ashes of Lunaris. Was the call about the attack a ploy to get him away from us?
If my father had embedded someone this close, close enough to curse Liora and report every detail, then he wasn't just watching, he was orchestrating, and Drew had no idea just how many of his moves were being watched, predicted, possibly even guided. This was what I was running away from all these years.
"You're sick." I spat, sickened by the clownish smile, my fingers itchy to unmask the vile person behind it.
"No. I'm determined." The masked head tilted again. "And now, the time has come to bring her where she belongs."
The figure pulled out a phone, dialed a number, and said, calm as a lullaby, "The suspect has left the location safely. We have them."
