Chapter 118

Elijah

At some point during the night, Thea began to stir. I was already awake, staring at the ceiling of the tent with one arm propped behind my head. I hadn’t been able to fall asleep at all, and had just been laying there, ruminating over everything.

The more time passed since that afternoon, the more I wondered if I had overreacted when I found Agnes kissing her ex. I hadn’t even given her a chance to explain herself—I had just run away like a coward.

And yet, my decision still held firm. I had to protect my daughter from unnecessary heartbreak, even if it meant removing myself from the possibility of love.

Even if Agnes and I had decided to confess our feelings and truly be together, there was still the issue of my mate bond with Olivia. It was just a recipe for disaster, and Thea would be the one to suffer the most from it. She had suffered enough already.

“Daddy?” Thea sat up, rubbing her eyes. “I have to go to the bathroom.”

I nodded, sitting up and slipping my boots on. I helped her tug on her shoes and her jacket, then unzipped the tent. The cool night air was soothing against my skin as we stepped out of the tent, and somewhere in the forest, an owl was hooting rhythmically.

Taking Thea’s hand, I led her to the edge of our campsite, helping her find a spot where she could do her business. I wasn’t about to let her walk out into the woods on her own, so I turned my back while she went behind a tree.

“Remember,” I called over my shoulder. “Leaves of three—”

Thea yawned audibly. “I know, I know. Leaves of three, let it be.”

I couldn’t help but smile. It seemed all my training had paid off well, and I didn’t have to worry as much these days. Thea was only seven, and yet she probably had more general survival skills than ninety percent of other kids her age.

As Thea relieved herself behind the tree, I scanned the forest, my eyes easily adjusting to the dim light. The moon had slipped behind the clouds since we’d gone to bed, casting the forest into darkness. But with my wolf’s night vision, I was able to shift the expanse into shades of gray and green, making it much easier to see.

The forest was quiet, peaceful. Up ahead, an opossum skittered across the path, a litter of babies clinging to her back, which made me smile. The owl was still hooting in the distance, and toward the left, I could make out the form of a doe lazily chewing leaves, her ears twitching as she watched me.

All was well.

Until it wasn’t.

Suddenly, I heard a twig snap. The doe jerked her head around, stiffening, then bolted into the night. The opossum twittered and hurried away, nearly dropping her babies in her haste. The owl went silent.

I turned, my head whipping toward the sound. My eyes scanned the forest, every protective sense on high alert.

“Hello?” I called out. There was no answer.

Thea coughed. “What’s wrong, Daddy?”

“Nothing, sweetheart,” I said, although I kept my eyes fixed on the spot where I’d heard the sound. I didn’t want to scare her, but I could tell when there was an animal or a person coming, and that was definitely a person.

Suddenly, a familiar figure burst out from behind a tree.

“Olivia?” I blurted out, my shoulders dropping. “What are you doing here?”

Olivia looked breathless, but extremely relieved. “Oh, thank the Goddess,” she said, rushing toward me. She was holding something slender and orange in her fist. “I heard you came camping, and I had to bring you this. Where’s Thea?”

“She’s right here,” I said, glancing at the item in Olivia’s hand. She opened her fingers to reveal an epipen.

“What’s that for?”

“For her poison ivy allergy,” Olivia remarked. “You shouldn’t have brought her out here, Elijah. She could go into anaphylactic shock.”

I frowned. Of course I knew about Thea’s poison ivy allergy—I was her father. I knew about every allergy, every intolerance, every little quirk of hers. Olivia knew that I knew about it. And I certainly would never take Thea somewhere that was dangerous.

Before I had come here, I had carefully checked the area for poison ivy, ensuring that there was none. I did that every time we came, just to be safe. This particular camping spot was typically free of it, which was why I always chose it. And I had drilled the safety rhymes into Thea’s head from a young age, teaching her how to identify poison ivy as well as what types of clothes to wear to avoid contact and what to do if she got infected.

And I always kept an epipen in the glove compartment of the car, just to be safe. Thea’s allergy was severe enough that she could go into anaphylactic shock and die.

Thankfully, she had never gotten infected from it. I had never had to use an epipen on her.

At that moment, Thea stepped out from behind the tree, looking sleepy and confused. She stopped when she saw Olivia standing there, and instinctively moved behind my legs. “What’s she doing here?” she muttered.

I opened my mouth, not really sure what to say. Olivia, for what it was worth, looked frantic. Then, her face shifted to utter relief when she saw that Thea was unharmed.

Olivia dropped to a crouch, holding open her arms. “I was so worried about you, baby. I’m so sorry that awful woman drove you out of your home. Come give me a hug.”

Thea didn’t move. I said, “Olivia, if you know about her allergy, then you should know that you’ll have to change your clothes before coming into contact with her skin. You could be contaminated.”

Olivia’s eyes flashed. “I didn’t touch any poison ivy.”

I shrugged, refusing to budge. “It didn’t look like you came off the typical marked trail. If you walked through rugged woods to get here, you might have brushed up against the plant at some point.”

Olivia stood, staring at me. Her expression seemed to flicker first with disbelief, then annoyance, then… something else entirely.

Suddenly, I felt it—the undeniable pull of our mate bond. The fiery sensation of my mating mark flaring to life, like a hot brand on my skin. The irresistible tug toward her.

“Mate!” my wolf howled, desperate to get near Olivia. I felt my leg take one jerky step toward Olivia, then another.

Thea, frantic, jumped between us. “No, Daddy!” she cried, pushing on my legs. “No! Don’t kiss her again! Please!”

I didn’t want to—I hated this. But my body, my heart, was not my own. In that moment, I might have shoved anything and everyone, even Thea, out of my way to get to Olivia. And Olivia just stood there, grinning as I moved toward her.

Thea turned toward Olivia then, pounding her tiny fists on Olivia’s legs. “Stop it!” she cried. “Stop! I don’t want you to kiss him! I hate you!”

Olivia just curled her lip, sneering down at Thea, and said nothing.

Within a moment, our lips were brushing. My hand came up to touch Olivia’s neck, to cup the back of it and pull her closer. She tilted her head back, her eyes fluttering shut.

But then…

“Elijah!!”

The sound of Agnes’s voice snapped me back to reality. It was coming from the forest, and it sounded frantic, strained…

Like she was being choked.