I shot him a warning glance, but he only smirked.“It’s written all over your face,” he continued, utterly unbothered by my glare. “You’ve been brooding all week. Something’s on your mind, and I’d bet my life it has to do with her.”“It’s not like that,” I muttered, although my tone lacked convictio
AgnesThea had been bouncing around my room all evening, pulling dresses from my closet and tossing them in a massive heap on the floor. She was so enthusiastic that I didn’t have the heart to ask her to stop. Finally, she seemed to settle on a deep emerald gown, one I hadn’t worn in years, and her
AgnesThe comedy show ended sooner than I wanted it to, the overhead lights coming on like a sudden burst of sunlight. I jolted upright, blinking rapidly and suddenly realizing that I had spent the better part of the show leaning against Elijah’s shoulder.“We should probably head out,” he said, cle
I glanced at him. “What did you do?”“I stopped going to the arcade, and started acting like a good little Alpha.” He shrugged as if it were nothing, but the muscle in his jaw ticked, indicating his true feelings.“You were just a kid.”Elijah paused and shot me a sidelong glance. “Alphas don’t get
AgnesThea cornered me at the kitchen island the next morning, planting her hands on her hips with that stern look on her face—so much like her father—that immediately made it clear that she had a bone to pick.“Are you and Daddy in love yet?” she demanded.I nearly dropped the coffee mug I’d been h
Even if, according to my wolf, he was supposed to be my mate once.Before my wolf left me. Or before she was… stolen from me.I couldn’t focus the rest of the day. Every sketch I started ended up with the color of Elijah’s filling the lines. Every fabric swatch felt like his hands brushing mine. By
AgnesElijah’s question caught me off guard. Honestly, I hadn’t even been expecting to make it this far, and now that I was here, I was utterly mortified and unsure of what to say. Here I was, standing in a lacy black nightgown in front of him, under the guise of bringing him tea.Of course I wasn’t
AgnesThe weeks after that night in Elijah’s study passed in a blur, and yet somehow more normal than I expected.Of course, I rebuilt the wall around my heart brick by brick, and made sure to build it thicker than it was before. I told myself I had been foolish—reckless, even—to think that I could
The elevator was at the far end of the lobby, requiring me to walk past the entrance to the hotel. As I approached, I noticed the guy from the bar, the one who had been with the woman, hurrying after me. He wore a blue hoodie and had a pair of glasses on.“Excuse me,” he called, “Alpha Elijah? Sir?”
ElijahHotel rooms always felt the same to me: sterile, impersonal, and far too quiet. This one was nicer than most—the pack I was visiting had surprisingly put me up in their territory’s best accommodations despite our trade disagreement—but it still felt wrong. The bed was too soft, the air condit
As if on cue, the doorbell rang. Thea bounded down the stairs, racing me to the door.“I got it!” she cried, yanking it open before I could reach her. “Miss Evelyn!”Evelyn swept in like a hurricane, bringing with her the scent of expensive perfume and a veritable horde of what looked like gifts in
AgnesI was buried in sketches for the next season’s line when a knock at my office door pulled me from my concentration. I glanced up, surprised to see Elijah standing in the doorway. He hadn’t mentioned stopping by my office today.“This is unexpected,” I said, setting my pencil down. “I thought y
“What do you think it was like for her?” I said after a moment. “My mother, I mean. Living her whole life afraid that someone would find out what she was.”Elijah’s thumb traced circles on the back of my hand beneath the water. “Lonely, I imagine.”“She never told me,” I whispered. “My own mother, a
AgnesThe saltwater felt like heaven against my overheated skin. I’d been soaking in my in-ground pool for nearly an hour now, but the heat that had built in my body still hadn’t completely subsided.Honestly, I was surprised that I hadn’t burned down the entire bar earlier. My finger had certainly
“Yes,” he insisted. “Because Elemental Enterprises is owned by your stepmother’s family.”The world seemed to tilt beneath me. I gripped the edge of the table to steady myself. “What?”“I’ve been keeping your true nature from your stepmother all this time,” he continued, the words coming out of him
AgnesI fidgeted in the passenger seat as Elijah pulled into the dive bar’s parking lot. The place looked exactly as I remembered it from my past life—grimy windows with neon beer signs, chipped paint on the exterior, and a crooked sign hanging above the door.Years ago, I’d spent many nights here t
“Elijah, wait.”I froze, expecting to feel the tug of the mate bond, that infuriating compulsion she’d used so many times to force me to listen to her, to stay when I wanted to go. But it never came. For the first time, she hadn’t used the bond to control me. Today was full of surprises, wasn’t it?