Chapter 241

Agnes

The moment my teeth broke Elijah’s skin, everything changed.

A rush of power surged through me, unlike anything I had ever experienced before. It started at the point where my mouth met his neck, then cascaded outward, flooding every inch of my body with heat and energy. My fingertips tingled, my skin flushed, and deep inside of me, something that had been sleeping for far too long finally stirred.

My wolf.

But this wasn’t the same wolf I remembered from eight years ago. That wolf had been young, naive. This wolf was different. Stronger. Wiser. Far more powerful than ever before, despite being held under a curse for nearly a decade.

“Our mate,” she purred. “We’ve done it. Finally, after all these years, we’ve marked our mate.”

I pulled back from Elijah’s neck, his blood still warm and tangy on my lips. His eyes were wide, pupils dilated, as he stared at me in wonder. His hand came up to touch the mark I’d left on him, and a smile spread across his face.

“Agnes,” he whispered, “you are my mate…”

Before I could respond, an acrid scent caught my attention. Smoke. I whipped my head around, momentarily confused, until I saw the source.

The bushes surrounding us had caught fire.

“Oh, Goddess!” I gasped, stumbling backward. The flames were spreading rapidly, dancing across the dry underbrush with alarming speed. “I did that?”

Elijah was already moving, pulling off his jacket to beat at the flames. “James!” he shouted. “Help us!”

James sprinted from where he was standing by the car, and without hesitation, he joined Elijah, using his own jacket to smother the growing fire.

Between the three of us, we managed to extinguish the fire before it spread too far. By the time we were done, we were all breathing hard. But Elijah was laughing. Laughing.

“Of course,” he breathed between laughs. “Of course, only you would start a small wildfire from marking your mate.”

My cheeks heated, but it had nothing to do with my abilities. Even James was smirking impishly. “It’s not like I meant to do it,” I muttered, looking away. But despite the close call, for a moment, everything felt… right. Complete. As if all the broken pieces of my life had finally clicked into place.

My wolf had returned. Finally, after eight years of missing her, she was back and even more powerful than before. We had marked our mate, our true mate, our fated mate. I could have set the whole forest on fire and still be happy.

I wanted to shift, more than anything, and run through the forest with my mate. But unfortunately, Olivia was still waiting for us, and the guards at the prison expected her back by a certain time. Running wild and free would have to wait for now.

When we returned to the car, Olivia was sitting in the backseat, staring at us through the window. Her face was pale, her eyes wide. She’d seen everything.

Elijah opened the door and gestured for me to climb in first. I slid into the seat beside Olivia, acutely aware of her gaze on me.

I exchanged a glance with Elijah as he settled into the seat beside me. She knew I was an elemental, of course, but seeing it firsthand, especially in such a dramatic display, was clearly not something she’d been prepared for.

“So,” she said, her lip curling slightly, “it is true. Honestly, I wasn’t entirely certain until now. That was…”

“I know,” I said, looking out the window. “I’m sorry if it scared you. I’m still working on controlling it. That’s why marking Elijah and bringing my wolf back was so urgent; it’s supposed to help.”

Olivia snorted. “Doesn’t seem like it.”

As much as I hated it, I couldn’t help but think that she was right. I’d thought that unbinding my wolf from her curse would help control my powers, but the very first thing I had done was set the bushes on fire.

Inwardly, I reached out to my wolf—something that I’d fallen out of practice with and would need to get used to again. “I really do need your help,” I said.

She hummed in response. “All will be well. Trust me.”

I pursed my lips. “How very cryptic of you.”

There was no response. My wolf was still stretching languidly, waking up, and utterly enamored by our newly formed mate bond—another thing I would have to get used to. Even now, I could feel Elijah’s pulse through the bond, steady and sure. For now, I would let my wolf rest and be happy.

Elijah turned and fixed Olivia with an intense stare. “This stays between us,” he said firmly. “You can’t breathe a word of this to anyone. Do you understand?”

Olivia almost rolled her eyes. “Who exactly would I tell, Elijah? It’s not like I have a packed social calendar these days.” She glanced between us. “Besides, I’d like to not spend my life in prison. So at least until I’m free, you’ve got nothing to worry about.”

“Thank you,” I said softly.

Olivia blinked as if she hadn’t expected any gratitude. When she turned away, I could have sworn I saw the tiniest smile tug at the corner of her mouth.

The drive back to the prison was silent after that. I leaned against Elijah’s shoulder, letting my wolf explore our strengthened bond. Every time he shifted or took a breath, I felt it as if it were my own movement, my own breath. Every so often, one of us would send a small tug along the bond, resulting in the other tensing in recognition.

This was going to take some getting used to. But I couldn’t help but smile like a giddy fool.

My mate.

When we arrived at the prison, James parked near the entrance. Elijah pulled out the paperwork he’d prepared—the documents that would reduce Olivia’s sentence once more as promised.

“As agreed,” he said, holding them out to her. “You’ve fulfilled your end of the bargain.”

Olivia took the papers, glancing over them briefly before folding them and tucking them into her pocket. She reached for the door handle, then paused and turned back to us.

“Despite everything,” she said slowly, “I am glad it worked. That your wolf is back.”

I blinked, surprised. “I—Thank you, Olivia. And thank you for helping us. We wouldn’t have been able to do this without you.”

She nodded once. Then, without another word, she opened the door and stepped out of the car. We watched as she walked through the prison gates, her back straight, her steps steady. She didn’t look back.

“Do you think we’ll see her again?” I asked softly.

Elijah sighed. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s better if we don’t.”

I wasn’t sure if I agreed, but I didn’t argue. Olivia had been a complicated presence in our lives, bringing both harm and, ultimately, help. Maybe, deep down, she wasn’t as evil as we’d once thought. Just… scared.

That night, after we’d returned home and checked on a sleeping Thea, I stood alone in our bathroom. Elijah had already climbed into bed, exhausted from the past few days’ events, but I’d wanted a moment to myself—to process everything that had happened.

I stared at my reflection in the mirror, taking in the subtle changes that had come with my wolf’s return. My skin seemed to glow from within, and my eyes… my eyes had changed the most. They shimmered slightly in the dim light, tiny red flecks dancing in my irises. Like embers floating through the night sky.

Fire.

“Will I be able to control it now?” I asked my wolf. “I need your help.”

My wolf seemed to consider this. “Your power isn’t something to be controlled and hidden away, Agnes,” she finally said. “It’s meant to be channeled, harnessed. It’s a gift, not a curse.”

I frowned at my reflection. “A gift that sets forests on fire when I kiss my husband?”

“A gift that can protect your family. A gift that makes you uniquely capable of fighting back against those who would abuse similar powers.”

“You mean Elemental Enterprises.”

“Yes.” Her voice grew serious. “There are others like you, Agnes. People with elemental abilities who hide them out of fear. And there are those who have already been taken, trapped within the underground facilities of Elemental Enterprises.”

“And you think I should help? These others?”

“I think you have to. You were given these abilities for a reason. And now that I’m back, now that we’re properly mated to Elijah, you have the strength and support to use them as they were meant to be used.”

I gazed at my slightly glowing eyes in the mirror, thinking about what my wolf was suggesting. All I wanted was the quiet, peaceful life that Elijah and I had discussed.

But yet again, that dream was just out of reach. None of us could have that unless I did something to help the elementals. To help my people. And frankly, I didn’t know where to even start.

But now that I had my mate and my wolf by my side, I knew I could do it.