Agnes

The sun reflected off the clear blue water, the ripples shimmering like liquid glass in the late afternoon light as Thea splashed in the shallow end of the pool. She shrieked with laughter, darting around like a fish while two other kids chased after her. The sound of her happiness made my chest swell.

I leaned back in the lounge chair, the cold glass of a tropical drink with one of those tiny umbrellas in my hand. I couldn’t remember the name of it if you put a gun to my head, but it tasted fruity and refreshing.

Elijah, who had claimed he was ‘just supervising’ the kids, was now fully submerged in the pool. One of the kids, a little boy with a shark floatie around his waist, roared, “Sea monster!” and slapped at the water, sending a wave in Elijah’s direction.

Elijah retaliated with a splash of his own, chasing after the kids and roaring like a monster. Thea squealed and launched herself at him, clinging to his back and giggling uncontrollably as he pretended to sink beneath the weight of her tiny body.

“Lucky woman,” a voice beside me said, pulling me out of my thoughts. I turned to see a woman in her forties sitting beside me, a wide-brimmed hat shielding her face from the sun as she adjusted her sunglasses. She nodded toward the pool, where Elijah was now lifting Thea out of the water and spinning her around in the air.

“I’m sorry?” I said, a little confused. And if I was being honest, I was a little tipsy, too.

She smiled, the kind of knowing smile that made my stomach do a little flip. “You’re lucky to have a husband like him,” she whispered conspiratorially. “Men like that aren’t easy to find, trust me.”

I blinked, my mouth opening slightly before I closed it again. Husband. Right. It still felt strange to think of him like that, a little surreal. Yes, the union was really just for Thea’s happiness, but I was his Luna now. For real. On paper.

My throat tightened, and I glanced back at the pool, watching as Elijah let Thea ride on his shoulders. His muscles flexed under the water as he hoisted another kid up to join her, laughing as they all clung to him like he was some kind of human jungle gym.

The woman sighed wistfully. “And look at him—fit, handsome, great with kids. If I were you, I’d count my blessings every single day.”

My face burned as I took in the sight of his chiseled muscles, his tanned skin, the way the water droplets trailed down his body. I wanted to correct her, to tell her that the absolute specimen in the pool wasn’t mine, not really. But the words stuck in my throat. It wasn’t like I could tell anyone the truth, anyway.

Instead, I offered a weak laugh. “He’s, uh, definitely something.”

The woman tilted her head, her sunglasses slipping down her nose just enough for me to catch a glimpse of sharp brown eyes. “Something? Sweetheart, that man is a catch.”

I didn’t know what to say to that. Instead, I took another sip of my drink, letting the tangy sweetness roll over my tongue as I stared into the pool. Elijah’s face was lit up with a rare smile, his dark hair glistening in the sunlight. He tossed Thea into the water gently, and she came up laughing, her little face glowing with joy.

A pang shot through my chest. He really was a good dad. And… a good man. Too bad he wasn’t mine where it counted.

Unbidden, my thoughts drifted back to the night my wolf had whispered, “He was supposed to be ours.” I’d felt it then—the pull, the connection that should have been—but I’d ignored it, buried it. It didn’t even matter if he had been my mate at some point in the distant past.

Elijah was marked to Olivia now, and that bond was something I could never compete with. No matter what connection I might feel, it would never compare to the depth of a mating bond. And unless he wanted the mother of his daughter to die, there was no getting rid of that bond.

I swallowed the lump rising in my throat and pushed the thought away. What was the point of dwelling on something I couldn’t change?

“You okay?” the woman asked, her voice cutting through my spiraling thoughts.

“Yeah,” I said quickly, plastering on a smile that didn’t quite reach my eyes. “I just realized I need another drink. Excuse me.”

I stood and made my way toward the bar, leaving the woman behind with her knowing smile.

The bartender greeted me and I slid onto one of the stools, setting my empty glass on the counter. “Another of these, please,” I said, feeling the effects of the drink now that I had stood up.

As he set to work making my drink, I let my elbows rest on the counter and buried my face in my hands for a moment. What was wrong with me? I shouldn’t be feeling like this—not about Elijah. He wasn’t mine, not really, and he never would be.

But he was kind. Steady. Safe. And the way he looked at Thea, the way he cared for her like she was the most important thing in the world… It was hard not to feel something. Especially when he smiled like that, when he let himself relax, and I caught glimpses of the man beneath the composed Alpha exterior.

“Here you go,” the bartender said, sliding the fresh drink in front of me. I mumbled a thank you and took a sip, letting the cool sweetness soothe my frayed nerves.

My phone buzzed on the counter then, and I picked it up, my heart skipping a beat when I saw the notification. It was from the DNA Results Center.

My breath caught as I opened the email, my hands trembling slightly. This was it. The answer I’d been waiting for. The answer to whether Thea was really my daughter or not.

I scanned the email, my eyes darting over the words. And then I saw it.

“There was an issue with your sample. Unfortunately, we will need to restart the testing process. It may be a few more weeks before we have your results.”

The air left my lungs in a rush. All that waiting, all that hoping, and still no answers. My shoulders sagged, and I shut my phone off and dropped it on the counter with a little more force than necessary.

Of course, I thought bitterly as I took another sip of my drink. Why not? Let’s just drag this out even longer.

I rested my chin in my hand, swirling the straw in my glass as I stared at the colorful bottles lined up behind the bar. It wasn’t fair. None of it was fair. I hadn’t asked for any of this—not losing my child, not the conflicting feelings for Elijah, not the lingering pain of what could or could not have been.

I didn’t realize someone had approached until I felt warm fingers brush against my back.