Page 62 of Rejected By My Shadow Alpha
He sighed and rested his hand on the doorknob, and glanced at me one last time. "Listen, I'm not the devil here. I won't hurt her if you could just see this differently. We can have a fresh start and build a legacy together, you, me, and your child. All I need is your cooperation."
I said nothing. I could see what he was trying to do, but I wouldn't fall for it. He would get rid of Liora once he got whatever he wanted from her.
He nodded in a dismissive way. "I suggest you get your thoughts in order. You'll see her soon, just make her cooperate."
Then he was gone. The lock clicked shut again. I stood there, frozen. My thoughts were spiraling, and my wolf was whimpering, restless and in pain.
Dead.
Drew was dead.
The man I had once loved. The man I hated. The man who had healed my daughter, held her, and protected her…the man who had come back for us.
Gone.
I collapsed to the floor, sobs wrenching from my chest before I could stop them. My fists slammed against the door over and over again.
"No! No!"
I didn't care that it was futile. I didn't care if he heard. I beat the wood until my hands throbbed and my throat was raw. How did it come to this? I had promised I would protect Liora and that I'd never let my father near her. Now she was in his grasp. And Drew…Drew was…
I curled into myself, refusing to believe he was dead. My tears soaked into the cold floor beneath me. I wished I had left Littleton when I had the chance. I wished I hadn't listened to Drew when he told me to trust him and stay. I wished I was with him in his last moments. But wishes didn't change anything.
Now, I had to survive this hell all over again with the child I once escaped to protect.
Chapter 28
Ruby
The guards didn't say a word as they escorted me down the long, echoing hallway. The last time I was here, it was to cajole my father to let me keep Liora, only to eavesdrop on him gloating over Drew's death. Now, I'm down this path again, unsure what my father's plans toward my child would be, her life once again in danger.
My palms were slick, my breath uneven. I was no longer afraid of my father. That fear had long since calcified into something colder. It was the not knowing that gripped me now. What would he do with Liora if I refused to let her help him open the chest? My mother had lost her life because he forced her to use her powers.
The heavy doors of my father's study creaked open. The moment I stepped inside, everything inside me stilled, and relief washed through me.
Liora.
She was seated across from him in one of the tall leather chairs, her feet barely brushing the floor. Her silver hair wasneatly pulled back. She was small and still, with her spine straight and shoulders squared like a queen on a throne she didn't ask for. Her tiny hands were folded neatly on her lap, her eyes sharp and unreadable. She looked so eerily calm, unblinking, and regal.
My heart stuttered. She didn't even look afraid. I rushed across the room before I could stop myself. "Liora!"
She turned, and a soft, tired smile touched her lips. "Mom."
I could hardly breathe. My steps faltered as I rushed across the study and dropped to my knees before her, cupping her face. "Baby," I whispered, "are you alright? Did he…did they do anything to you?"
"I'm fine," she said gently, placing her hand over mine. "He didn't hurt me."
I pulled her into a hug and wrapped my arms around her, anchoring myself in her warmth. She was safe, for now.
Behind me, my father let out a scoff. "Look at you," he said dryly. "Jittery, breathless, and falling apart before anything's even begun."
I turned sharply, rising to face my father, fury in my veins. "You keep her away from your madness, Alfred. You hear me?"
He wasn't listening to me. He was watching Liora and studying her. She sat with one hand tucked delicately in mine, the other by her side. She was quiet and still, but with a presence that commanded the room. I realized she wasn't afraid of him. She wasn't posturing, either. She just was there, observing him with a sort of disinterest that seemed to make him squirm.
There was a flicker in his eyes. Something I had never seen before in him.
Awe.
