Chapter 171

Agnes

The moment Thea screamed, Elijah’s eyes snapped open. He was out of bed in an instant, not bothering with clothes. I scrambled after him, grabbing his discarded t-shirt from the floor and yanking it over my head as I rushed to follow.

My heart pounded in my chest as we raced down the hallway, my mind instantly going to all the worst scenarios. What if Olivia had somehow escaped and come for revenge? What if she’d hired someone to hurt Thea?

All the worst possibilities flashed through my mind in those few seconds it took to reach Thea’s room.

But when we burst into Thea’s room, all we found was her sitting up in bed with tears streaming down her face.

“Daddy,” she sobbed, holding her arms out toward Elijah.

He was at her side in an instant, gathering her small body against his chest. “It’s okay, princess,” he murmured, stroking her hair. “I’m here. We’re here.”

I moved to sit on the edge of the bed, placing my hand on Thea’s back. “What happened, sweetie?” I asked. “Did you have a bad dream?”

Thea nodded against Elijah’s shoulder.

“Do you want to tell us about it?” Elijah asked, rocking her gently.

For a moment, she just continued to cry. Then, she finally nodded again. “I dreamed that I was a baby,” she said. “And... and she took me.”

“Who took you?” Elijah asked, although I could see in his eyes just as much as I could feel in my chest that he already knew the answer.

“Olivia,” Thea whispered. “She stole me from my crib.”

A chill ran through me, raising goosebumps on my arms. I caught Elijah’s eye over Thea’s head, seeing my own shock reflected there.

“I kept crying and crying,” Thea continued. “I wanted to tell people that she wasn’t my real mommy. But nobody could understand me because I was just a baby. And then... and then I grew up and I forgot.” Fresh tears spilled down her cheeks. “I forgot the truth.”

Elijah pulled her closer, his large hand cradling the back of her head. “It was just a dream, princess,” he said softly. “Just a bad dream.”

Was it, though?

I bit my lip, biting down on the hope that dared to flutter in my throat. No. I wasn’t going to let my mind wander, to conjure up what had to be mere coincidences—perhaps Thea’s imagination had run wild over my missing daughter, that was all.

That had to be it. It couldn’t possibly have been a memory.

It was just a dream.

Just a dream.

Later that day, to cheer Thea up, we decided to take a small boat to another beach, one that had a little coastal town nearby. The change of scenery would do Thea good, help take her mind off the nightmare—and honestly, I needed the distraction too.

Thea’s mood improved dramatically once we were out on the water. The fresh sea air and sunshine seemed to wash away the shadows of the night before, and by the time we reached the beach, she was laughing and pointing excitedly at the colorful buildings of the town visible beyond the shoreline.

We spent the day wandering through the quaint town, exploring small shops filled with local crafts and souvenirs. I bought a beautiful hand-painted scarf for Evelyn and a set of carved book ends for Gertrude.

Thea insisted on picking something out for Beta James as well—a ridiculous hat with the words “Island Life” embroidered on the front.

“He’ll love it,” she declared confidently.

I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing at the thought of the serious, stoic Beta wearing such a touristy hat. But Elijah just nodded solemnly and paid for it without comment.

By late afternoon, we were exhausted but happy, our arms full of bags and our skin warm from the sun. The boat ride back to our villa was peaceful, with Thea nodding off against Elijah’s shoulder as I trailed my fingers through the crystal-clear water.

Back at the villa, we decided to make pizza from scratch using the woodfired oven on the deck. Thea was delighted to help knead the dough, her little hands covered in flour as she giggled at her own efforts.

“I’m making mine with pineapple,” she announced, which sparked a good-natured debate between her and Elijah about whether pineapple belonged on pizza.

I stayed out of it, content to watch them banter as I chopped vegetables and grated cheese.

After dinner—the pizza was probably the best I’d ever had, and the pineapple was actually delicious—we soaked in the hot tub on the deck, watching the stars appear one by one in the darkening sky. Thea splashed around with her goggles, occasionally coming up for air.

Eventually, Thea’s eyelids began to droop, and Elijah carried her to bed. I helped tuck her in, pressing a kiss to her forehead and staying until I was certain she was asleep.

But despite the exhaustion of the day, sleep wouldn’t come nearly as easily for me. I lay in bed beside Elijah, staring at the ceiling as my mind raced with all the possibilities I’d tried so hard to push away.

Could Thea really be my daughter?

I tried to push the thoughts away, just as I had so many times before. But this time, I couldn’t seem to shake them.

Seven years ago, my biological daughter, with a little crescent-shaped birthmark on the back of her neck, had been stolen from her crib.

And now, a seven-year-old little girl with a similar birthmark was having dreams about that very thing.

I felt like I couldn’t ignore it anymore. I supposed we would make headway once we got the maternity test results back, but the anticipation just made everything so much worse. And the fact that I’d had not one, but two DNA tests confirming that Thea was not my daughter was even more confusing.

Was it possible that the tests had been tampered with, perhaps even by Olivia? She was a snake in the grass on her own, and she had plenty of money and connections. I wouldn’t have put it past her, if she had already gone to all the trouble of cursing my wolf and manipulating Elijah for years.

And he had never seen her pregnant…

Maybe she had paid off the DNA testing center to give us false reports.

Maybe….

Enough, Agnes, I thought to myself, turning on my side, away from a sleeping Elijah. No what-ifs tonight. No false hope.

After an hour of tossing and turning, I gave up on sleep altogether. Careful not to wake Elijah, I slipped out of bed and padded out to the balcony. The night air was cool against my skin, soothing the heat that had formed there.

I settled into one of the comfortable chairs, pulling my sketchbook onto my lap. If I couldn’t sleep, I might as well work on the design idea that had been floating around in my head all day.

The pencil moved across the paper almost of its own accord, sketching out the lines of a summer dress inspired by the colors and textures of the island. Flowy fabric that would catch the sea breeze, a cut that was both elegant and practical. As I worked, my mind quieted, the worries fading to the background.

I was so engrossed in my drawing that I didn’t hear Elijah approach until something warm settled around my shoulders. I looked up, startled, to find him gently placing his sweater around me.

“You’ll catch a cold if you sit out here half naked like that,” he murmured.

“I’m fine,” I replied, but pulled the sweater closer around me anyway, breathing in his familiar scent. “Go back to bed. At least one of us should get some sleep.”

Instead of listening, Elijah settled into the chair across from me with a book in his hand. He opened it to a marked page and leaned back.

“Nope. If you can’t sleep, then I can’t, either.”

For some reason, that simple gesture—sitting with me when my mind was on fire, keeping me company when the hope forming in my chest felt like shards of glass piercing my lungs—made a smile touch my lips. It was a reminder that I wasn’t alone anymore, and that I never would be again, no matter what happened.

“Thank you,” I whispered, picking up my pencil once more.