Chapter 93

Agnes

I woke up with a jolt to the sound of my alarm blaring in my ears. My hand shot out to silence it, and as I did, I felt the weight of the book from the restricted section sliding off my chest and onto the bed. I groaned, rubbing my eyes as the events of the previous night came rushing back.

I had stayed up late last night reading, hoping to find something—anything—about the spell that was keeping my wolf locked away in that book. But so far, the book had been a dead end. The text was dense and hard to decipher, filled with ancient runes and cryptic passages that made my head spin.

Still, I wasn’t ready to give up. Not just yet. But for now, I had to go to work.

I tucked the book under my mattress, careful to hide it from prying eyes, and got dressed in a hurry. The fashion show was less than a week away, and I didn’t have time to waste. But as I stepped into the design department that morning, I was met with chaos.

The room was in disarray, fabric strewn across tables, sketches crumpled on the floor, and the designers huddled around the worktable at the center of the room. The models, who were supposed to be here by now, were nowhere to be found.

“What’s going on?” I asked as I strode up to the group.

The designers all turned to face me, and their pale faces and wringing hands caused me to stop in my tracks. “Olivia and the other models walked out,” Maria explained. “They’re refusing to wear the clothes.”

My stomach dropped. “What? Why?”

“Olivia said the designs are… well, she called them ‘frumpy’ and ‘uninspired’,” another designer replied. “And the other models followed her lead, since she’s an ex-Luna and wanted to impress her. They’re all refusing to model unless we make a lot of changes.”

I clenched my fists so hard that my nails started to dig into my palms. Of course Olivia would do something like this. I should have known she was up to something when she showed up unannounced, claiming that Elijah had asked her to model the star piece.

“We don’t have time for this,” I said, setting my bag down with a huff. “The show is in less than a week. We need to find new models.”

“Where are we supposed to find new models on such short notice?” one of the designers asked, eliciting a chorus of frantic murmurs and nods.

I didn’t have an answer for them. Not yet. But I wasn’t about to let Olivia ruin everything I had worked for. I had poured my heart into this fashion show, and I wasn’t going to let her take that away from me—or from the women that the funds from this show would benefit.

As I suspected, Elijah showed up in my office not long after, his presence filling the room like a storm cloud. He looked as put-together as ever, his suit perfectly tailored, his tie neatly knotted. But there was a tension in his shoulders that hadn’t been there before, and I could tell he had heard about the models walking out.

“Agnes,” he said, stopping in the doorway. “I heard about what happened. Do you need help finding new models?”

I hesitated, my fingers tightening around the pen in my hand. Part of me wanted to say yes, to lean on him for support just as I had so many times before. But I couldn’t bring myself to do it—not after everything, and especially not after Olivia had so kindly reminded me that I was a burden as a wolfless Luna.

“No,” I said, forcing a tight smile. “I can handle it. You have your own things to worry about.”

Elijah’s eyes narrowed slightly, and for a moment, I thought he might argue. But then he nodded, and his expression was just as unreadable as ever. “Alright. But if you need anything, I’m here.”

“Thank you,” I said, my voice a little softer now. “I’ll let you know if it comes to that.”

He gave me one last lingering look before turning and leaving the room. I let out a breath I didn’t realize I had been holding that entire time, my shoulders slumping as the tension drained from my body.

Deep down, I knew I should have accepted his help. But the memory of Olivia’s words—her claim that Elijah was stressed because he had to pick up the slack for me, his Luna with no wolf—lingered in my mind.

No matter how much I knew that Olivia was just trying to get under my skin, I couldn’t shake the guilt that came with her statement. She was right, in a way. And I didn’t want to add more to his plate, not when he already had so much to deal with.

That evening, I found myself back in my room, the book from the restricted section spread out on my lap. I had spent the entire day scrambling to find new models, but so far, I had come up empty-handed. The stress was starting to get to me, and I hoped that losing myself in the book would help take my mind off things, even if it would just make me focus on another problem in my life.

But just as I was starting to get into it, a voice broke through the silence.

“Agnes.”

I jumped, my heart pounding as I looked up to find Elijah standing in the doorway. He looked… disheveled, for lack of a better word. His shirt was partially unbuttoned, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and his tie was loosened around his neck. His hair was mussed, like he had been running his hands through it, and there was a tiredness in his eyes that took me by surprise.

I quickly hid the book under the covers, pulling them up to my chest as if that would somehow shield me from his gaze. “Elijah. What are you doing here? It’s late.”

He hesitated, and for a moment, just a moment, a hopeful little voice in the back of my mind wondered if he would close the distance and kiss me. I would have been lying if I said that I hadn’t been pining for him these past weeks, after that night in his study.

But he didn’t.

“I wanted to ask if you’d attend an Alpha meeting with me tomorrow,” he said. “All of the Lunas will be there. It’ll be a good chance for you to meet the other Lunas.”

I blinked, caught off guard by the request. “An Alpha meeting? Tomorrow?”

He nodded. “You don’t have to, but…” He hesitated again, and this time, when he looked down at the floor, a muscle ticked in his jaw. “I’d like to have my Luna by my side,” he finally finished.

His words sent an unexpected sensation of warmth spreading through my chest, but I quickly pushed it aside. Now wasn’t the time to get sentimental. He wasn’t being romantic—he was just being practical. An Alpha should always have his Luna beside him during matters of the state, after all.

“Alright,” I said, nodding. “I’ll be there.”

Before Elijah could respond, a small voice piped up from the hallway. “Ooh, can I come?”

Thea came scurrying into the room with her teddy bear clutched to her chest and a hopeful look in her eyes.