Chapter 126

Agnes

Thea’s violin lesson was the highlight of her week, and it was quickly becoming the highlight of mine, too. Watching her skip ahead of me, holding her violin case in both hands, was enough to make my heart swell to twice its size.

I walked her to the door of the music studio, crouching down to adjust the bow in her hair. “You’re going to do great,” I said, brushing a strand of hair out of her face. “I’ll be back in an hour, okay? But I won’t go far. If you need me, just ask your instructor to call my cell phone.”

She nodded. “I will. I promise.”

I kissed her forehead and watched as she disappeared into the studio. The sound of her laughter as she greeted her teacher made me smile, and I lingered for a moment before turning to leave.

The streets were quiet, the late afternoon sun casting long shadows across the pavement. I walked aimlessly, my hands tucked into the pockets of my jacket, letting my mind wander. Thea’s joy was infectious, and for a little while, I allowed myself to forget about everything else.

Just for a little while.

I made my way down the street, stopping at a nearby cafe for a cup of tea to sip. Then, I was on my way again. There was a small park not far from the music store that boasted a cute little duck pond, and I made my way there, finding a bench beneath a tree to sit and enjoy the view.

I was so lost in thought that I didn’t notice Elijah until he was standing right in front of me.

“Agnes.”

I blinked, so startled that I nearly spilled my tea all over myself. “Elijah? What are you doing here?”

He glanced around, as if making sure no one was watching, then sat beside me and turned his body so he was facing me. I turned to face him as well, confused.

“We need to talk,” he said, his expression serious.

My stomach twisted for reasons I couldn’t explain. “Is something wrong? Is it about Thea?”

“No, no, she’s fine,” he said quickly, waving his hand. “It’s about… us.”

I frowned, my heart skipping a beat. “Us?”

He hesitated, running a hand through his hair. “I need to tell you something. Something I should have told you sooner.”

“Okay... What is it?”

He took a deep breath, his eyes searching mine. “When you were unconscious during the ritual, you did say something. I lied and said you didn’t, but you did. Because it was something about… about us.”

My stomach dropped. “What did I say?”

“You said, ‘You were my mate first. You were mine, but she stole you from me.’”

I stared at him, my mind racing. The words echoed in my head, familiar and foreign all at once. I had no memory of saying them yesterday, but nonetheless they felt… true.

“I’m so sorry,” Elijah said, leaning back slightly. “I wanted to tell you, but I needed to think first because… Because I had a dream a couple of months ago where you said the exact same thing. That you were supposed to be my mate, but ‘she’ took me from you. Agnes, I—”

“Elijah,” I cut him off, my voice trembling. “I… I need to tell you something, too.” I swallowed hard, my heart pounding in my chest. “The night we kissed on my birthday, I heard a voice in my head. My wolf’s voice. It said, ‘He was supposed to be ours.’”

Elijah’s eyes widened, and for a moment, neither of us spoke. I couldn’t believe I had just revealed the secret I’d held onto for months. But even more than that, I couldn’t believe that it had been confirmed by Elijah—it wasn’t just in my head. I’d said it out loud. And in his dreams.

“So it’s true,” he finally murmured, his voice barely more than a whisper. “You were supposed to be my mate, weren’t you?”

I felt tears pricking at the corners of my eyes. “If it’s true, then that means something stopped it from happening.”

He reached out, his hand brushing against mine for the briefest moment before he pulled back. He glanced around, as if expecting someone to jump out at us just for that brief contact. “I think Olivia had something to do with it,” he whispered, lowering his voice even more. “I think she might have been the one who hid your wolf.”

The words hit me like a punch to the gut. He explained that he’d spoken to Ava today, that Ava had saved one of the letters after all and that the handwriting matched up to Olivia’s.

Olivia. Of course it was Olivia. She had always been jealous, always possessive, always angry.

But to go so far as to curse me, to steal my wolf… it was almost too much to comprehend. This whole thing felt ridiculous and contrived.

“I didn’t even know her when I lost my wolf, though,” I said, furrowing my brow.

Elijah shrugged. “I could be wrong. Maybe it wasn’t her. But either way, none of this makes sense, Agnes. No one should be able to have more than one fated mate.”

“We need to find out the truth, then,” I said. “Maybe we should talk to Olivia.”

But Elijah shook his head vehemently. “Not yet. If we confront her now, and if she was the one who did it, she might use the mate bond against me. She’ll manipulate it, and I won’t be able to resist her, and thus I won’t be able to help you get your wolf back. I can’t let her have that kind of control over me—or over Thea.”

“Then what do we do?”

He hesitated, then said, “I need to find a way to unmark her. To break the mate bond. Then, we can confront her and get your wolf back.”

I blinked, surprised. “I don’t think that’s possible,” I said. “I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t scour that book from beginning to end in search of a spell that could accomplish it.”

Elijah stared at me in shock. My face reddened, and I added, “I know how much of a struggle it’s been for you, and I just wanted to help. Offer you a solution. I wasn’t going to go behind your back, for what it’s worth.”

To my surprise, Elijah didn’t look angry. Just… tired. “Well, first thing’s first, we should take that book to the witch,” he said. “Maybe she’ll have some insight on the missing pages.”

“You want to go back there after what happened yesterday?”

He shrugged. “What else are we supposed to do?”

I sighed, realizing he was right. Suddenly, Elijah took a deep breath and said, “I’m sorry for lying when you asked if anything happened yesterday. I was just—”

“It’s okay,” I cut him off, forcing a tiny smile. “I didn’t tell you when I heard my wolf’s voice, either. I guess we’ve both been keeping secrets.”

We sat there for a moment, neither of us having the strength to speak. It all felt so muddled that I wasn’t sure if there even was anything to say. I felt like we were grasping at straws, drawing connections where there might not have been any.

But at least we were on the same page now about the mate bond. It felt… relieving to not have to keep the incident from my birthday to myself anymore.

Then, Elijah glanced at his watch and sighed.

“We should get back,” he said. “Thea’s lesson is almost over, isn’t it?”

I nodded, and we walked back to the music studio in silence. Thea was waiting for us outside, her violin case slung over her shoulder and a wide grin on her face.

“How was it?” I asked, crouching down to her level.

“Great!” she said. “I have a recital in a few days. Will you come?”

I glanced at Elijah, who nodded. “Of course we will,” I said, smiling.

“We wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Elijah added, ruffling her hair.

Thea beamed, her excitement contagious as she skipped back to the car. And for a moment, everything felt normal. Like we were a family.

But it was bittersweet, too, because it was still a distant dream that we had yet to reach.