I wanted nothing more than to be the mother she wanted, the mother she deserved. I wanted it more than oxygen sometimes. If I could have become her real, biological mother, if I could have erased the past seven years of heartache and losing my daughter and have had a family with her and Elijah, I wo
AgnesA few days passed after that, and I never located my letter. When I asked Evelyn and Gertrude about it, they said they hadn’t seen it. I wondered if one of the staff had picked it up and tossed it out, thinking that it was trash.Either way, I supposed it didn’t really matter at that point; El
Elijah simply shrugged. “I hate to see you suffer from losing your wolf. Besides, what happened in the forest was just proof that you’re weaker without it.”My lips parted. Of course, I recalled the way I’d stumbled blindly through the woods that night, unable to see properly without my wolf’s super
ElijahWithin moments of beginning the ritual, Agnes’s head fell backwards and her eyes rolled back. Panic lanced through me and I surged forward, reaching for her.“Agnes—”“Don’t touch her,” the witch said, holding out one hand to stop me. “She’s fine.”“Fine?” I echoed, letting out an incredulous
Agnes shook her head. “I just remember…” She frowned, looking confused as she pushed her hair out of her face. “The room went cold, and I opened my eyes, and it was all… dark.” She glanced at me and added, “But then I blinked and now I’m here.”The witch looked at me then, and there was a knowing ex
AgnesI stood in the bathroom, staring at the small vial of murky green oil that the witch had given me. The liquid inside seemed to swirl on its own, catching the dim light from the vanity. I uncorked it, the faint scent of herbs and something earthy wafting up to meet me.One drop, she had said. J
“I’m sorry,” he murmured, his lips brushing against the top of my head. “I know you were still holding onto hope.”I nodded, my throat too tight to speak.“I’ll call the detectives tomorrow,” he said. “I’ll get updates on the search for your daughter. We’ll find her, Agnes. I promise.”His words off
ElijahI didn’t tell Agnes where I was going. She’d been through enough lately, and I didn’t want to add to her stress. Besides, I wasn’t even sure what I was looking for. All I knew was that Ava had done something suspicious, something that might have had a connection to Agnes’s missing wolf, and I
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?