Chapter 254

Agnes

I paced back and forth across the small forest clearing, dead leaves crunching under my feet with each step. Seven fifty-eight. Just two more minutes until we would know if my father would actually show up, or if this whole thing was just another disappointment to add to the pile.

Elijah was standing near the edge of the clearing, shoulders rigid and face set in a grimace. I knew, even without sensing his emotions through the mate bond, that he wasn’t happy with this. He’d made it very clear what he thought of this meeting, but he was here anyway.

For me. Always for me.

I glanced at his phone in his hand, the screen showing the feed from Thea’s room. Our daughter was fast asleep, curled up in bed, completely unaware of what was happening. Two guards were stationed outside her door, and we had installed the cameras just that afternoon. We had taken every possible precaution.

The guards stationed around the perimeter of the forest thought we were just out for a run. They had worked for Elijah for many years, but we still couldn’t risk telling them the truth, couldn’t risk word getting back to the wrong ears. Trust was a luxury we couldn’t afford anymore.

“One more minute,” Elijah murmured.

I stopped pacing and faced the treeline where there was a slender path into the forest, which led out to a dirt road about two miles away. If my father was coming, it would be from that direction.

My hands trembled slightly, and I clenched them into fists. I wasn’t nervous. I was angry. Furious, actually. Furious that I had to do this. Furious at myself, honestly, for choosing to basically beg my father for help after everything he’d done.

I felt like a fool, but what else was I supposed to do? We needed help. He may have information that could do just that, and if it was true that he cared for Thea’s safety, then hopefully he would give it to us.

The seconds ticked by. Seven fifty-nine, then… eight o’clock.

Right on time, a gray wolf padded out of the shadows.

So he had actually come. The wolf was smaller than I remembered, his gray fur dulled with age. Had he always looked so… diminished? Or was that what years under my stepmother’s thumb had done to him?

The wolf shifted, and there stood my father. He was wearing simple clothes, nothing fancy. His face looked haggard, older than his years.

“Agnes.” He cleared his throat. “You wanted to talk.”

Before I could respond, Elijah was moving. In three quick strides, he crossed the clearing and slammed my father against the nearest tree with one hand around his throat. My father’s eyes went wide, but he didn’t fight back.

“I know what you’ve done to my mate,” Elijah snarled, fangs and eyes flashing in the moonlight. “And let’s be clear: I think you’re a coward, a good for nothing piece of shit who deserves less than what Agnes is giving you now. But my mate wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt, and I trust her judgment—a trait that she clearly didn’t inherit from you—so the only reason why you’re still breathing is because of her. But try anything, and I’ll cut your throat so deep the last thing you feel is your head rolling across the forest floor.”

My father just stood there, accepting the threat without protest. He didn’t try to defend himself, didn’t make excuses. He just waited.

Elijah held him there for another long moment, then finally released him with a shove. My father stumbled but caught himself, rubbing his throat.

“I deserved that,” he said quietly.

“You deserve worse,” I said, stepping forward. “Do you have any idea what you put me through? What you put Thea through?”

He didn’t respond.

“You manipulated Olivia into cursing my wolf and kidnapping my daughter,” I went on, my voice beginning to shake. “My baby. And then, when I was at my lowest, when I’d lost my wolf and my child and everything that mattered to me, you kicked me out. Your own daughter. You threw me onto the street like I was nothing.”

My father flinched with each word, but I kept going.

“All because you were too much of a coward to stand up to your new wife. Too pathetic to protect your own family. You chose her over me. Over your granddaughter. You claim it was for the best, but really, it was just your own cowardice.”

“Agnes, I—”

“I’m not finished,” I snapped, taking a step forward. “Do you know what it was like? Being out there alone? Wolfless? Grieving? I had nothing. No one. For weeks, I slept in alleys and on park benches before I could find someone willing to take me in. I stumbled through the forests in search of my daughter, I was treated like a crazy person, I barely scraped. And where were you? Safe in your big house with your new family, pretending I never existed.”

Tears burned my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. Not for him.

“I know,” he said, his shoulders slumping. “I know what I did was unforgivable. I’m so sorry, Agnes. I was… I was still grieving your mother, and I was terrified of the same thing happening to you. I thought I was making the best decision at the time. I thought if Thea wasn’t linked to you, and if you were away from us, you’d be safe...”

“Safe?” I laughed bitterly. “You thought throwing me out would keep me safe?”

“I knew you’d be alright,” he said, and those words made my blood boil. “You were always strong, just like your mother. Proud. Determined. I knew you wouldn’t stay down for long, that you’d pull yourself up by your bootstraps and make something of yourself. And you did. Look at you now—mated to an Alpha, your daughter back, your wolf returned.”

Fire erupted in my palm before I could stop it. The flames danced between my fingers, casting flickering shadows across the clearing. I wanted to throw it at him. Wanted to watch him burn.

“I wasn’t okay,” I said, my voice breaking. “I was alone and afraid and broken. You broke me. All I needed was my dad, and you failed me.”

He stared at his feet, unable to meet my eyes. The fire in my hand grew hotter, brighter. One throw. That was all it would take. Elijah wouldn’t stop me. He would probably help.

But Thea needed protecting. And as much as I hated it, we needed allies.

I closed my fist, extinguishing the flames. The clearing fell back into darkness, lit only by the moon filtering through the trees.

“There might be one thing you can do,” I said quietly. “One thing that might partially redeem you. You’ll never have a relationship with me. Thea will never call you Grandpa. We’ll never be a family. But at the very least, I won’t spit on your grave when you finally do the right thing and die.”

He looked up at that.

“You have to help us take down my stepmother. You have to help us stop her before she uses the Lunaris Stone to create her army.”

My father was silent for a long moment. When he finally spoke, his words chilled me to the bone.

“She’s going to the facility tomorrow, where the stone is waiting for her.” He paused, swallowing hard. “She plans to take me and Ava with her. To hole up while she begins building her army of thralls.”

“Then we’ll stop her,” Elijah said. “You can get close to her, kill her if you have to—”

“You don’t understand,” my father interrupted. “She has trained elementals protecting her at all times now. Even I can’t get close to her anymore. She doesn’t trust anyone, not even me. The only reason why she’s even bringing me is to keep me under her thumb. And Ava is meant to inherit everything should anything happen. Ava is just her backup.”

“There has to be a way,” I insisted.

My father shook his head slowly. “There is only one way. The facility… It’s powered by a geothermal plant. Highly unstable if damaged. If you could get close enough to destroy the main supports…”

I blinked. “The whole place would…”

“Explode,” he confirmed. “Either way, it would be destroyed. Along with everyone inside.”

My eyes widened. “Everyone. Including the innocent elementals being held prisoner.” Were Henry and Krystal inside, I wondered? More people like Elise? Like Olivia? Like me?

Like Thea?

Children. He would have us kill children to stop my stepmother.

“Yes.” His face was grim. “But it would end this. It would stop her permanently. The stone would be buried or destroyed. The army would never be created.”

“There has to be another way,” Elijah growled.

“There isn’t.” My father met my eyes, and for the first time all night, I saw the man he used to be. Determined. Certain. “I’ve thought about this for years. Planned. Schemed. There’s no way to get everyone out. No way to stop her without casualties. This is the only option.”

He stepped closer to me, and Elijah tensed, but my father just held up his hands.

“Please, Agnes. You must destroy the facility. All of it. With everyone inside.”