My fingers flexed against the fabric of my dress, my wolf’s earlier whisper fading into silence. She was gone again, like she had never been there at all. And with her also went the certainty that Elijah was ever supposed to be mine.I swallowed the bitterness rising in my throat. “Right,” I said te
AgnesHearing Thea cry, even over something as small as not wanting to leave vacation, made my heart break.“Oh, baby,” I murmured, dropping to a crouch and pulling her into my arms. She melted into me instantly, her little body shaking as fresh tears soaked into my shirt. I held her close, rubbing
AgnesAs soon as I saw that headline, I practically bolted out of bed and ran straight to Elijah. I found him in the living room, his tie loose and his feet kicked up on the ottoman with a book open in his lap. I shoved the phone in his face without preamble.“Look at this.”He frowned, leaning clos
AgnesI stepped into Elijah’s office, and was immediately hit with the familiar scent of his cologne. He was sitting at his desk, flipping through a stack of papers. His head lifted when the door clicked shut behind me, and his eyes found mine instantly.“You called?” I asked.He gestured toward the
“Yeah, and maybe some better lighting? These fluorescents give me migraines every day. It’s awful.”“Don’t even get me started on the coffee machine,” another chimed in. “It’s been broken for months! I don’t want to traipse halfway across the building to the marketing department just to refill my cu
AgnesWithin a few days, everything I had ordered finally arrived: new cushions, a couple of armchairs, plants, lamps, ergonomic desk supplies, and more. It wasn’t a lot, but it was enough to shift the design department from a cluttered chaos to something cozier and more conducive to work.Once ever
“Don’t worry, Agnes,” she purred. “It’s official.”I took a step closer, snatching the papers from her to read them. Sure enough, the transfer from her original department to this one was legitimate. Signed off by one of Ava’s superiors.“I see,” I said evenly, handing the papers back to her.Inside
AgnesWhen Ava handed me the folder, I didn’t expect much. If anything, I thought it might be a blatant attempt to one-up me or prove that she had some hidden edge in the department. But when I flipped open the cover of the folder and caught sight of the first sketch, I froze.These drawings weren’t
“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?
ElijahThat morning, I made yet another trip to the prison. I’d hoped to never set foot in this place again, because frankly it was cold and uncomfortable and unsettling, but here I was. I just hoped that Olivia would keep true to her word and that this conversation would be worth it—and that it wou
I hated that he was making sense. And even more than that, I hated that a part of me—a much bigger part of me than I wanted to admit—was actually considering it.“What if it’s a trap?” I asked quietly. “What if he’s involved with Elemental Enterprises somehow? He could be trying to get to Thea.”“Th
AgnesI stared at the letter in my hands the entire night, reading and rereading the words until they were practically burned into my brain. By morning, the paper had taken on a slightly crumpled appearance from how many times I had folded and unfolded it.By the time the sun rose, I wasn’t sure if
Elijah, noticing the tension leaving my shoulders, offered me a soft smile. “And I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t sexy as hell when you get like that.”I blushed and looked away. “Stop it…”“But I mean it,” he murmured, his voice growing husky as he leaned closer to me. His lips brushed mine ever so
AgnesElijah gently pulled me out of the banquet hall before I could say another word.We reached the nearest bathroom—a small powder room off the main hallway—and Elijah ushered me inside, locking the door behind us. Without a word, he turned on the faucet and soaked a washcloth in cold water.“Her
My hand tightened around my wine glass, and I felt a flicker of heat race through my veins, which I quickly pushed down with a big gulp of wine. It wasn’t enough, though. “Water, please,” I said abruptly to the bartender. “Extra ice.”The bartender nodded and handed me my glass. I chugged half of it