Page 66 of Rejected By My Shadow Alpha
"With Ruby," I said calmly. It was best to state everything to him to know where I stood with him.
A long silence followed, then he exhaled, sharp and cold. "So. She ran from one alpha and bred with another."
I didn't rise to the bait. "You want access to those mines?" I said. "You want what Alfred couldn't give you? I can deliver it, but only if you help me."
His eyes glittered like ice. "And what exactly is it you need?"
"Support," I replied. "I need your wolves and mine to work together to bring him down. I want you and the Council to stand aside while I bring him down like you did when he attacked my pack. I have strong evidence to bring him down and face the law. All you need to do is stand aside and watch while your wolves and mine take down his wolves."
He chuckled, dark and mirthless. "You think I'll betray an old ally for a promise?"
"No," I said, my voice steady. "I think you'll betray him because he already betrayed you and because you've waited too long for your cut and because if I succeed, you walk away richer and cleaner than if you tried this alone."
He didn't answer, not with words. But something in the air shifted. He was thinking about it. Good. Now I just had to push once more before the whole thing crumbled.
"I know you wanted to take him down, but for the power he wields. Let me do the honor of taking him out of your way and give you the mines you desire legitimately," I concluded.
He stared at me for a long, excruciating moment. Then, finally, his mouth curled into a smile, a slow, greedy, wicked smile.
"Interesting," he said. "Tell me what you need."
The door creaked as I stepped into Ruby's house. It was too quiet, like an abandoned sanctuary. I stepped into her home, quiet and cautious, as if the walls could speak, and maybe they could. Everything here still bore traces of her…the faint perfume on the curtains, the knocked furniture where she must have fought hard to escape with Liora. Goddess, just standing in this space made my chest ache.
The living room was a mess, chairs knocked over, a cracked vase bleeding dried petals onto the hardwood floor. My heart ached at the thought of how Ruby and Liora were faring, a stab of guilt piercing my heart. Ruby had foreseen this happening, but the fool I was thought I had it all under control.
Then I saw her. Nia.
She sat on the bare floor in the living room, barefoot, one leg tucked under the other. She was perfectly still, her back straight, hands resting calmly on her thighs like a woman waiting for a verdict she already knew. She looked up without surprise.
"I was wondering how long it would take you to come." She said, her tone calm
I didn't have time for riddles. "I need your help," I said, stepping into the light. "Now."
Her eyes searched mine. "To find them?"
I nodded once. "They're gone, taken, and I have no trail, no map, no link, but I know you can do something. You've always had this ability."
She raised an eyebrow, her expression unreadable. "You want me to reach for your mate."
"Yes," I replied, grateful she had spared no time to say what I couldn't.
Nia sighed, "You know that's not like dialing a number, Drew. It requires emotional alignment and openness."
"Then teach me how to open it." My voice cracked. "I don't care what it takes."
Nia studied me for a moment longer, then stood and crossed to the center of the room. "Sit."
I obeyed, my heart pounding so loudly I could barely hear Nia's footsteps. She moved behind me, gently placing her fingertips against my temples. Her touch was light, almost reverent, as if she knew she was unlocking something fragile and broken.
"Don't force it," she murmured, her voice a balm over jagged wounds. "Just breathe. Let your soul settle. Feel for her… not with your mind, but with your bond."
Bond. The word cut through me. I did as she said and tried to breathe, to quiet the static inside my chest, but all I found were ghosts. I tried. Goddess, I tried to breathe and tried to listen, to open myself up, but the moment I closed my eyes, the silence wasn't peaceful.
It was a battlefield.
I was a child again, standing at the edge of hell. I was back there again. The smoke, the screams, the scent of burning fur and blood-soaked soil. I smelled the smoke first. Then I smelled the burning fur and scorched wood. Then I heard the screams and my father's roar as he shifted to fight. I saw my mother's face, twisted in terror as she screamed my name, her voice shrill and raw as she shoved me and my aunt into the hidden tunnel.
"Go, Drew. Don't stop. Don't look back."
