Chapter 211

Elijah

Hotel rooms always felt the same to me: sterile, impersonal, and far too quiet. This one was nicer than most—the pack I was visiting had surprisingly put me up in their territory’s best accommodations despite our trade disagreement—but it still felt wrong. The bed was too soft, the air conditioning was too cold and I couldn’t figure out how to fucking turn it off for the life of me, and most importantly, Agnes wasn’t here.

Goddess, when did I become so addicted to her presence?

I’d spent the entire day in tense negotiations with the new Alpha, a twenty-something hothead who thought bearing his teeth and raising his voice would somehow intimidate me. All it did was give me a headache and make me miss Agnes more. She would have laughed at his posturing, probably would have made some cutting remark that would have put him in his place.

But she wasn’t here, and I was stuck playing diplomatic games with a child who’d inherited his father’s position without earning any of the respect.

By midnight, I’d given up on sleep. I’d tossed and turned for two hours, checked my phone a dozen times for messages from Agnes (finding only a goodnight text and a photo of Thea covered in cookie dough), and channel-surfed through every boring program the hotel’s cable package offered.

Fuck it. I needed a drink.

I pulled on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, not bothering to do anything with my hair. The hotel bar would be nearly empty at this hour anyway.

The elevator doors opened to the dimly lit lobby. A bored-looking security guard nodded as I passed, and I followed the signs toward the bar. As expected, the place was dead—just a bartender leaning behind the bar and two middle-aged men in suits nursing their drinks at a corner table, probably after a failed business deal if the grim looks on their faces were any indication.

I took a seat at the bar. The bartender came over with a pleasant smile. “What’ll it be?” he asked.

“Whiskey, neat,” I replied. “Whatever’s decent.”

He nodded and reached for a bottle on the top shelf, pouring a generous serving into a glass and sliding it toward me.

“You look like you’ve had a day,” he chuckled, leaning against the counter once more.

I wasn’t really here for small talk, just a drink to take the edge off, but whatever. “Something like that. Pack business.”

The bartender’s eyes widened slightly. “Oh, you’re that Alpha from the central territories! I almost didn’t recognize you without your lady by your side. You’re always together when I see you on the news.”

I snorted. “Trust me, I feel weird without her here.”

“Can I ask why you’re here?” he asked, lowering his voice slightly.

“Just a meeting with your new Alpha,” I said with a terse smile.

“Sorry, I don’t mean to pry,” he said. “It’s just that around here, everyone knows everyone’s business.”

When I didn’t respond with more than a nod and a polite smile, the bartender left me alone. The whiskey was good, better than I’d expected for a hotel bar. Not that it mattered—I wasn’t here for the quality, just needed something to help me fall asleep without Agnes beside me.

Just then, two people entered: a man and a woman. They took a seat at the other end of the bar. I didn’t pay much attention to them, but out of the corner of my eye, I noticed them glancing my way.

One of them whispered something to the other, who nodded and kept staring. I didn’t let it get to me; they likely recognized me. Being an Alpha meant living in a constant spotlight as it was, and after the very public fallout with Olivia, the spotlight had turned into a damn floodlight.

I drained the last of my whiskey, dropped a generous tip on the counter, and nodded my thanks to the bartender.

The elevator was at the far end of the lobby, requiring me to walk past the entrance to the hotel. As I approached, I noticed the guy from the bar, the one who had been with the woman, hurrying after me. He wore a blue hoodie and had a pair of glasses on.

“Excuse me,” he called, “Alpha Elijah? Sir?”

I paused, turning to face him. Nothing about him or his scent triggered my internal alarms, although I remained cautious.

“Yes?” I answered.

The man stopped a respectful distance away, shifting his weight from foot to foot. “I’m sorry to bother you, sir. I just... Are you Thea’s father? I saw you in the newspapers, after that business with Olivia went public.”

My guard immediately went up. I didn’t like strangers bringing up Thea, especially not past midnight in a random hotel. Even my wolf began to bristle slightly. “I am,” I replied cautiously. “What’s this about?”

The man’s face flushed slightly. “I just wanted to extend my condolences. For what your family went through. I...” He swallowed hard. “I read the articles about how your ex-wife mistreated Thea, and it... it hit close to home.”

I softened slightly. “Oh. That’s kind of you.”

“I was abused too, as a child,” he continued. “My mother. She wasn’t... well. It was a long time ago, but reading about what happened to your daughter...” He trailed off, seeming embarrassed now. “Anyway, I just wanted to say that Agnes seems like a wonderful mother to Thea. It’s good to see her with someone who treats her right. Lots of us out here are rooting for her. For all of you.”

I wasn’t sure how to respond. The man was clearly sincere, if a bit awkward, but the interaction felt surreal. A complete stranger, discussing my family’s private business in a hotel lobby at one in the morning.

“Thank you,” I finally said. “I appreciate that.”

The man nodded, then reached into his pocket. “Oh, and I got this. I heard you’d be in town, so I kept it on me just in case I ran into you. It’s not much, just a silly thing, but...” He pulled out a small keychain with a cartoonish dinosaur attached to it. “Could you give it to Thea? My daughter has one just like it. Says it protects her when she’s scared.”

I stared at the small plastic toy dangling from his outstretched hand. Part of me wanted to refuse—this was weird, even by my standards. But the man’s expression was so earnest, so hopeful, that I found myself reaching out to take it.

“I’m sure she’ll like it,” I said, pocketing the keychain. “She can put it on her school backpack.”

The man beamed. “Great! That’s great. Thank you, Alpha Elijah.”

“Have a good night.”

“You too, sir,” he said, backing away with an awkward wave before rejoining his companion, who was waiting by the entrance.

I continued to the elevator, shaking my head slightly as I pressed the button for my floor. The interaction had been bizarre, but ultimately harmless. Just a person who’d been through something similar to Thea, reaching out in his own strange way.

The keychain was a bit much, but Thea would probably get a kick out of it. She had a collection of random trinkets on her backpack already—what was one more?

The elevator dinged, the doors sliding open to my floor. As I walked down the silent hallway to my room, I found myself smiling despite the oddness of the encounter. It was touching, in a way, to know that strangers were rooting for Thea. For Agnes. For our little family that had somehow, against all odds, found its way back to each other.

I swiped my keycard and pushed open the door to my room, and sleep came much easier after that.