Chapter 165

Elijah

The honeymoon phase of our wedding ceremony had me walking on clouds for days. Every morning I woke up next to Agnes, her body warm against mine, her scent mingling with the sheets. Every night I fell asleep with her in my arms, sated from lovemaking and our hearts full. Even Thea had noticed the change, and she was happier, too. We all were.

But the day before we were supposed to leave for our vacation, reality came crashing back when James knocked on my office door with a grim expression.

“She’s refusing to eat.”

I sighed, setting down the paperwork I’d been halfheartedly reviewing.

“Hunger strike?”

James nodded. “She says she’ll only speak to you.”

Of course she would. Even in captivity, Olivia was finding ways to manipulate the situation. To manipulate me.

By the time I made my way down to the pack’s holding cells, my mood had darkened considerably. The facility was in the basement of the main pack building, a series of reinforced concrete rooms with steel doors. We rarely used them—in this day and age, many individual disputes were handled by the police and not Alphas themselves—but I couldn’t bear to give up custody of Olivia to a third party. I needed her under my own watch at all times. She couldn’t be trusted.

The guard straightened when he saw me, nodding respectfully. “Alpha,” he said. He unlocked the door to Olivia’s cell, and I stepped inside, steeling myself.

The sight of her still stopped me cold.

Olivia was sitting cross-legged on the small bed, her once-elegant appearance now disheveled. Her hair hung limp around her face, dark circles ringed her eyes, and her slender frame was practically swimming in the prison uniform. The silver cuffs around her wrists, meant to keep her from shifting, clinked slightly as she moved.

For a moment, I felt a stab of pity. This woman had once been my wife, the mother of my child. I’d even once believed she was my fated mate. Seeing her reduced to this broke something in me, despite everything she’d done.

If only this didn’t have to be the case. If only she’d been a better mother to Thea, a better person overall. But she’d made her choices, and I had no choice but to act. If I didn’t imprison Olivia, I might have lost Agnes. I might have lost Thea. I couldn’t risk that, not for anything.

“Finally,” Olivia said, looking up at me with a surly expression on her face. “I was beginning to think you’d forgotten about me already.”

“You know I couldn’t forget about you if I tried,” I replied, keeping my distance. “The mate bond makes sure of that.”

A small smile tugged at her lips. “So you admit the bond is still there.”

“I never denied it existed. I just choose not to let it control me anymore.”

“Is that what you tell yourself? That you’re stronger than the bond? Than fate?”

“I’m not here to debate philosophy,” I said, crossing my arms. “I’m here because you’re refusing to eat, and because I have questions that need answers.”

“So ask,” she shrugged. “I’ve got nothing but time in here.”

I studied her for a moment, trying to gauge her state of mind. Despite her disheveled appearance, her eyes were clear.

“Let’s start with Agnes,” I said, watching her face carefully. “Did you curse her?”

Olivia’s expression didn’t change, but I caught the slight tensing of her shoulders. “What are you talking about?”

“Her wolf. It’s been suppressed for years. Did you do that to her?”

She laughed. “Why would I bother with some random woman’s wolf? I didn’t even know her until you married her.”

“That’s a lie,” I said flatly. “You’ve done nothing but torment Agnes since the moment she entered my life. You even showed up at our wedding in a white dress.”

“That doesn’t mean I cursed her.”

I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. “Stop playing games, Olivia. I know you’ve been interfering in our lives far more than you let on. Mason didn’t just decide to drug Agnes at our wedding—he had help. Your help.”

Her smile faltered slightly. “Prove it.”

“I don’t need to prove it. Not here.” I leaned closer, my voice dropping. “This isn’t a courtroom. This is just you and me, and if you don’t start talking, I’ll solve the problem another way.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

I reached up, tugging at the collar of my shirt to expose the mate mark on my neck. “I’ll unmark you. Right here. Right now.”

The color drained from her face. We both knew what that meant.

“You wouldn’t,” she whispered, but I could see the fear in her eyes.

“Try me.” I held her gaze, letting her see just how serious I was. “I’ve spent too long letting this bond chain me to you. I’m done. Either you tell me the truth, or I break it right now and let you die in this cell.”

For a tense moment, we stared at each other, locked in a silent battle of wills. Then, slowly, Olivia’s shoulders sagged.

“Fine,” she said. “Yes. I cursed her. I suppressed her wolf.”

Despite having suspected it, hearing the confession from her lips sent a surge of rage through me. “Why?”

“Because she’s your fated mate,” Olivia snapped, her eyes flashing. “I found out years ago.”

“How?” I choked out, hating how rough my voice sounded, as if that was somehow letting her win.

Olivia shrugged. “Does it matter? I just knew.”

Her vagueness frustrated me, but I decided not to let it get to me. She wasn’t going to leave this cell for a very long time, maybe even never. I had plenty of time to get all the details.

“So you cast a spell on her to make her wolf go away and forge a mate bond between us?” I growled. “So it was all fake?”

Olivia hesitated, her eyes darting away. “Not exactly. The mark we gave each other is real and can’t be broken. But it’s not a fated mate bond—just a regular one. I kept using the potion to intensify it, to keep up the appearance of a fated mate bond.”

My chest tightened. The postpartum medication. Agnes and I had been right after all. It wasn’t medicine; it was a potion. Every time she drank it, she’d be able to manipulate the mate bond in a way only fated mates could. Far more intense and intoxicating than chosen mates.

“Why?” I demanded, my hands clenching into fists. “Why go to all that trouble? What could you possibly gain from trapping me in a false mate bond?”

“Your power. Your position. Your money.” She ticked them off on her fingers. “Take your pick.”

But there was something in her tone, something that didn’t sit right with me. “There’s more to it than that. Tell me the real reason.”

Olivia’s eyes hardened. “Agnes—her whole family, really—cannot be trusted. I heard rumors about her after she lost her baby—that she had gone insane and would do anything to have a child. This was after you and I had Thea. I knew she would track you down and steal Thea from us. Who knows what sort of lengths she’d go to in order to achieve that?”

The accusation was so absurd I almost laughed. “That’s ridiculous. Agnes is the most stable, loving person I know. She would never—”

“She’s manipulating you! She’s fucking insane, Elijah. You have no idea—”

“Enough!” I slammed my hand against the wall, making Olivia flinch. “Agnes loves Thea for who she is, not as a replacement. She’s been more of a mother to her in less than a year than you were in seven. She’s not insane.”

“You’re just blind,” Olivia spat.

I shook my head. “The only manipulator here is you, Olivia. You cursed an innocent woman. You abused our daughter. You lied to me for years about the nature of our bond.”

I stepped closer, towering over her. “And now you have the audacity to call Agnes insane? You’re the unstable one, Olivia. You’re the one who couldn’t bear the thought of me being with someone else, so you destroyed her life—and mine—to keep me.”

“I protected you,” she hissed. “I protected our family.”

“No,” I said, my voice dropping to a dangerous growl. “You destroyed it. And now I’m going to fix everything you broke. I’m going to help Agnes’s wolf return. I’m going to be with my fated mate. And you? You’re going to stay in this cell until I figure out what to do with you.”

But instead of the fear or remorse I expected, Olivia’s lips curled into a smirk. “Good luck with that.”

Her smug expression infuriated me further. Without thinking, I reached out and yanked a strand of her hair, pulling it free.

“Ow!” She winced, her hand flying to her head. “What was that for?!”

I didn’t answer, simply tucked the hair into a small plastic bag I’d brought for the DNA test.

“Ensure she’s watched at all times,” I told the guard as I stepped out of the cell. “No visitors except those I personally approve of.”

“Yes, Alpha,” the guard replied, locking the door behind me.

“Elijah, wait!” Olivia called after me, banging her hands on the steel door. “You can’t leave me in here! I’m still your chosen mate, despite everything!”

But I kept walking, ignoring her pleas.

I wasn’t going to fall for Olivia’s tricks anymore. I wasn’t going to let her interfere.

And I was going to trust Agnes, choose Agnes, until the end of my days.