Chapter 9

I carefully placed the strands of Thea's hair into a small cloth bag, taking care to stash it somewhere that no one would come across it.

All it would take was a simple DNA test. And if the DNA matched mine, then the truth about Thea's parentage would finally be revealed, and I would have to confront the reality of my situation.

As I secured the bag, I felt a tight knot forming in my stomach. If Thea was truly my daughter… then what next? How could I convince the Alpha that she belonged to me and not him? Would I have to steal her back and run away with her, forever living as fugitives? Would he imprison me outright, calling me a crazy lady who was trying to steal his daughter?

At least, those were the worst outcomes. I hoped it wouldn’t come to that. But right now, I had to actually run the test first instead of speculating.

Just then, I heard Thea's cheerful voice calling for me from the hallway.

“Mommy, come eat breakfast with me!” The warmth in her tone melted away the tension in my chest, if only for a moment.

I hurried to join her, and as I entered the kitchen, she looked up at me with her big, innocent eyes.

“Mommy, how did you sleep with Daddy last night?”

Her question caught me off guard. I pinched her cheek playfully, trying to maintain a facade of normalcy.

“Thanks to you, I had a ‘perfect’ night,” I said, smiling despite the nerves bubbling beneath the surface. The truth was, I thought she was awfully naughty for trying to play matchmaker, but I couldn’t bring myself to make her smile fade.

After breakfast, Elijah casually dropped a bombshell on me.

“I’ve arranged for you to quit your job as a server. Starting today, you’re coming with me to the Silvermoon central building.”

My stomach twisted. I had a feeling this was about more than just making sure I was being paid.

“What exactly will I be doing?” I asked.

“Just some light tasks.”

I suspected that meant fetching coffee and doing whatever grunt work was needed around the office. Interning. Ugh.

As we headed out, we dropped Thea off at preschool. She gave me a kiss, her tiny lips brushing against my cheek. I wanted to cling to her and not let her go, but I had to put on the face of the doting pseudo-nanny instead.

When Elijah and I arrived at the Silvermoon central building, a massive structure of glass and steel, I felt a wave of anxiety wash over me. The energy in the air was electric, and as I walked in beside Elijah, I could feel what seemed like a hundred eyes on me. I glanced around, trying to maintain my composure, but the whispers began almost immediately.

“Who is she?” one voice said.

“Don’t you know? She’s the new mate the Alpha chose,” another responded.

I swallowed hard, trying to ignore the stares and murmurs that made me feel like an alien in this world. Just then, I spotted Ava. She was surrounded by a group of employees, laughing and chatting effortlessly.

Of course she was here—most of the elites in our pack worked somewhere in this building—but the sight of her turned my stomach anyway. Thankfully, she didn’t look my way. I wasn’t sure if she just didn’t notice me or didn’t care to look at me, but I was glad for it regardless.

Once we reached Elijah’s office, he handed me a list of at least a hundred names, if not more, with headshots of each person beside each one.

“Your first task is to memorize the names of every employee here,” he instructed.

“All of them in one day?” I asked, my eyebrows raised in disbelief.

“Start with a portion. An Alpha should know every one of his subordinates, and so should a Luna.”

With that, he left for a meeting, leaving me alone in the spacious office.

I stared at the list, a jumble of names swimming before my eyes. My mind was racing, not just with the task of memorizing so much but with thoughts of Thea. I had promised myself I would visit the DNA testing center later, but that felt like a distant plan now.

Just then, the door swung open, and a woman entered. She was tall and sharp-featured, her brunette hair pulled back tightly.

“I’m here to collect Luna Olivia’s belongings,” she announced, not even really looking at me.

I felt my pulse quicken.

“You can’t take anything until Elijah returns,” I stated firmly, trying to maintain my ground.

“How dare you defy your Luna?” she said, raising her voice. I braced myself for whatever cruel words she had to throw at me.

But before she could say another word, Elijah walked in. The moment he entered, the atmosphere shifted, just as it had with the housekeeper.

“Luna? Olivia is in the past,” he said. “The future Luna is right in front of you.”

The woman’s mouth dropped open, shock plastered across her face. I could practically see the anger bubbling up beneath her skin, but she quickly masked it with a tight smile.

“Of course, Alpha. My apologies,” she said, looking at me like I was a bitter pill to swallow.

“Is that all you came for?” Elijah asked.

She swallowed hard. “As I was telling this wo—I mean, your Luna, I’m here to collect… Olivia’s belongings.”

Elijah’s eyes narrowed. “Olivia has no belongings left here.”

“But—”

“Tell Olivia that if she wants to spy on me and my new Luna, she can at least try a little harder,” Elijah said before waving his hand and moving past her, effectively dismissing her.

The woman stared at him for a moment, caught somewhere between being stunned and terrified. “Yes, Alpha,” she finally replied. With that, she turned on her heel and practically sprinted out of the room.

I didn’t know what the hell had just happened, or even what to say. But it seemed I didn’t need to come up with anything, because Elijah turned to me.

“Have you made any headway?” He nodded toward the list of names.

My cheeks heated a little. “I, uh… There are a lot of names,” I said. “But I’m working on it.”

Elijah blinked at me, and for a moment I thought I would get a scolding like he had just given that woman.

But to my surprise, his face softened.

“I know it’s a lot,” he said, walking over to me and taking the pen from my hands. “If it helps, sometimes I write down a brief blurb or a doodle to represent each person. Like this one: Malcolm Blanchard.”

As he spoke, he pointed to a name and a picture of a man with a rather impressive mustache. I didn’t expect what he did next, but it was nearly impossible to hide my snort.

He doodled on the picture, extending the mustache until it curled up all the way around the guy’s head and connected into an ‘M’ at the top.

I almost lost my shit. In fact, I had to turn away and bite my knuckles to keep from laughing.

“What?” Elijah asked, looking up.

I shook my head, my face reddening to an impossible shade. “Nothing, it’s just… I can see where Thea gets her talent for drawing from.”

If Elijah was embarrassed or flattered, he didn’t show it. He just nodded and stood, checking his watch. “I have another meeting. Good luck.”

And just like that, he was gone again.

Only once I was alone did I let out the shaky breath of laughter I’d been holding. I sat down in the chair, scanning the list of names for interesting ones to start with.

Soon enough, I’d filled half the page with little notes and doodles, finding the task much easier than I expected. Turning people into little caricatures or jotting down a single word that described them really did help to memorize the names.

But then I got to Ava’s name, and my lip curled.

“Evil stepsister,” I wrote next to that one.