Chapter 158

Agnes & Elijah

Agnes

The cool champagne slid down my throat as Mason tilted the glass against my lips. The alcohol warmed my chest almost immediately, and my nausea ebbed away like a receding tide.

“Better?” Mason asked, lowering the glass.

I nodded, trying to process what I’d just seen. Olivia in a wedding gown. Here. Tonight. The implications made my head spin all over again.

“Come on,” Mason said, gently taking my elbow. “Let’s get you somewhere quieter.”

Before I could protest, he was guiding me away from the curious stares and whispers, through a side door and into a small room. It was dimly lit and furnished with a few plush chairs and a small sofa. The heavy door closed behind us, muffling the orchestra and chatter from the main hall.

My hands were shaking. I placed the champagne flute on a nearby table before I dropped it, then sank onto the sofa, my elaborate gown pooling around me.

“What the hell is she doing here?” I choked out. “In a wedding gown, no less!”

Mason remained standing. “I think you know the answer to that, Agnes.”

I shook my head, refusing to accept what he was implying. “No. She’s just trying to cause trouble again. It’s what she does.” I stood up again. “I need to find Elijah. He’ll put a stop to this.”

But as I moved toward the door, Mason stepped in front of me, blocking my path. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Get out of my way, Mason.”

“Agnes, think about it.” His eyes were intense, almost pleading. “Why would Olivia show up in a wedding dress unless she was invited? Unless this was planned?”

“That’s ridiculous,” I scoffed, taking a step back.

“Is it?” Mason moved toward me, closing the distance between us once more. His cologne was overwhelming in the small space. “Elijah’s been acting strangely for weeks, hasn’t he? Secretive. Always having some kind of grand explanation for every late night and forgotten moment. And now this elaborate event that no one will tell you the purpose of?”

I swallowed hard. “He wouldn’t do that to me.”

“Wouldn’t he? The man with a mate bond to another woman? A bond he’s never broken despite having every reason to?”

“Stop it,” I said, my voice cracking. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I know exactly what I’m talking about,” Mason insisted. “He invited Olivia here. This is their wedding, Agnes. And the two of them plotted to humiliate you in the most public way possible.”

“No. I trust Elijah. He wouldn’t—”

“He would and he has!” Mason’s voice rose slightly before he caught himself and lowered it again. “He’s manipulated you. He’s made a fool out of you.”

“I don’t believe you,” I said, stepping toward the door again. “Now move. I need to find Elijah.”

But Mason didn’t budge. “I can’t let you go out there and humiliate yourself further.”

Something snapped inside of me then, a surge of anger that felt like fire under my skin. How dare he try to control me? How dare he stand there and tell his Luna what to do?

I whirled around, my hand raised to slap him, my palm tingling with anticipation of the impact—

But Mason was faster. His hand shot out, catching my wrist before I could make contact with his face.

And the moment his skin touched mine, something strange happened.

A jolt of electricity ran up my arm and straight to my heart, which seemed to expand in my chest until I could barely breathe. The world narrowed to a pinpoint focused entirely on Mason—his fiery eyes, the curve of his lips, the strength in his grip.

In that moment, everything else faded away, became fuzzy and distant and unimportant.

The sensation of attraction to him was like a dam had burst. This was what my wolf had been trying to tell me in my dream, wasn’t it? Mason…

I stared at Mason, seeing him clearly for the first time. Had he always been this beautiful? This perfect?

Without conscious thought, I surged forward at the same moment he seemed to do the same. Our lips met, and I knew.

I knew that Mason was my mate.

…

Elijah

I stood in the bathroom, staring at the ring I’d had custom-made for our wedding.

My hand shook slightly as I curled my fingers around the ring. In just five minutes, I would walk out there and tell her that this was no ordinary event. It was our wedding—a proper ceremony with vows and rings and everything she deserved. Everything I should have given her from the beginning.

It was a risk, I knew that. I was still bonded to Olivia, and without the witch and the spellbook, I had no safe way to break that bond. But I couldn’t wait any longer. Couldn’t keep Agnes wondering and doubting and feeling like she was second-best. She deserved better than that. Deserved to know, beyond any doubt, that she was mine.

I loved her. I had never said those words to her, had been too afraid of the mate bond and its implications to make such a declaration. But it was true. I loved Agnes with a depth that made what I felt for Olivia pale in comparison. Whether Agnes was supposed to be my mate from the beginning or not didn’t matter. All that mattered was that I chose her now.

And if Olivia tried to cause trouble tonight, if she had another meltdown or tried to manipulate the situation… Well, I would do what I should have done years ago. I would unmark her, even if it meant risking her life. I didn’t want it to come to that, but I couldn’t let her hold me or Thea or Agnes hostage anymore.

Slipping the ring back into my pocket, I took a deep breath, straightened my tie, and reached for the bathroom door. The music from the orchestra drifted down the hallway, and I moved toward it, expecting to see Agnes looking like a burning sun in the middle of the dance floor.

The gown was utterly devastating, the sun to my moon, the star to my galaxy. The tiny notch she’d placed in the bodice perfectly held the locket, the very same one that contained the ring I’d had made for her. That wasn’t even intentional. It was just fate, I supposed.

But as I stepped into the hallway, something seemed off. I heard raised voices in the main area, what sounded like a commotion.

Before I could process what might be happening, Evelyn suddenly came tearing around the corner looking positively thunderous. When she saw me, her eyes narrowed, and before I could react, she strode up to me and slapped me across the face with enough force to snap my head to the side.

“What is wrong with you?!” she hissed. “Inviting her here like that!”

I held my stinging cheek, completely confused. “What? What are you talking about?”

Instead of answering, Evelyn grabbed my arm and dragged me toward the entrance to the main hall. “See for yourself.”

I peered through the doorway, and my blood ran cold. There, in the center of the room, was Olivia. She was wearing a fucking wedding dress.

Rage overcame me. How dare she? How dare she show up here, on this night of all nights, and try to ruin everything? I’d warned her that one more misstep could end in disaster, and she hadn’t listened to me.

I stormed across the room, barely aware of the guests parting out of the way. When I reached Olivia, she turned toward me with a coy smile on her face, lips parted to greet me. But I didn’t have time for greetings. I grabbed her arm and pulled her roughly to the side, away from the prying eyes and ears of our audience.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I growled, keeping my voice low.

Olivia had the audacity to look hurt. Her delicate fingers touched the silver locket at her throat, the very same one Agnes was wearing. Oh, how I wanted to rip it off of her and crush it under my shoe. “What do you mean? I’m here for our wedding.”

“Our wedding?” I repeated incredulously. “There is no ‘our,’ Olivia. There hasn’t been for years. This is my wedding to Agnes, and you weren’t invited.”

“Oh, Elijah.” She shook her head, a sad smile playing on her lips. “You don’t mean that. The mate bond—”

“Is just that. A bond. Not a chain.” I was practically spitting the words now. “I don’t love you, Olivia. I never really did. What I felt for you was a biological imperative and duty and nothing more.”

She flinched as if I’d struck her, but I was beyond caring about her feelings. She’d manipulated me, abused our daughter, and now she was trying to ruin my wedding. She deserved all of it and more.

“I love Agnes,” I continued. “She’s the one I’ve chosen. The one I want to spend my life with. The one who makes me better, who loves my daughter, who makes a house feel like a home.”

Olivia scoffed. “You don’t mean that.”

“I do. And I’m done letting you control my life with this mate bond.” I squared my shoulders, prepared to finally take the step I should have taken years ago. “Olivia, I unma—”

Before I could finish the words that would sever our bond forever, Olivia grabbed my face and forcibly turned it toward the far side of the room. “Look!”

My eyes followed her direction, and my heart stopped.

There, emerging from a small room, were Agnes and Mason. They were holding hands, looking around somewhat sheepishly, as if they’d been caught doing something they shouldn’t.

Mason’s neck was smeared with what looked like Agnes’s lipstick, and as I watched, they hurried toward the exit, heading in the direction of the staircase that led to the honeymoon suite—the very room I’d prepared for Agnes and me to spend our first night as a properly married couple.

My vision blurred red at the edges as rage and betrayal coursed through me. After everything…

She chose him?

Beside me, Olivia’s voice took on a smug, satisfied tone. “Do you still want to marry that cheater?” she purred in my ear. “Or will you choose me, the woman who never stopped loving you?”