New Neighbor–1
Thea’s POV
It was a lazy day. Leo had gone to school, and I was relaxing at home, enjoying the rare moment of peace. The morning sun filtered through my kitchen window as I sipped my coffee, savoring the warmth and silence.
Since my mental breakdown, I’d decided to step back from work for a while. My students weren’t thrilled about it, but they understood I hadn’t been in the best shape these past few weeks. I planned to restart after the baby was born. For now, my focus was on my pups and the foundation.
I was still trying to process everything that had happened in the past few weeks, including everyone’s change of behavior. The only person who still maintained their consistent hatred toward me was Aurora. Everyone else seemed to have changed overnight.
I didn’t dwell on these thoughts for long. Instead, I picked up my phone and dialed Seraphina’s number. She answered almost immediately.
“Hi, Mom,” I greeted. Though I wasn’t fully used to calling her that yet, I was slowly
adapting.
“Thea!” she exclaimed excitedly on the other end. “Maximus, darling, our baby girl is
calling!”
I heard rustling on the other end, then a sort of echo. I knew she’d put me on speaker.
“Hi, Dad,” I greeted him too.
Their love fascinated me. They weren’t fated mates, but they’d been together since they were thirteen. Thirty–five years later, they were still in love, with nothing changing that. If I were still pursuing love, theirs would be the kind I’d want. But now, I’d accepted that love might not be for me. I was prepared to spend the rest of my life alone. O
“Hi, sweetheart, how are you?” he asked.
“I’m good, nothing special. Just wanted to check in on you guys.”
I still hadn’t told them about my pregnancy. Though my belly was starting to show, I
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could easily hide it with loose t–shirts. I knew they were hurt deep down, even if they
tried to hide it.
As for Kane, what he did to them was wrong, but I understood his feelings too. After what he’d done, he avoided them because he felt unworthy of their kindness and love.
I’d sent him my latest ultrasound. He responded with gratitude, constantly saying how much he longed to see his pup. He also agreed to wait until the day I gave birth to know the baby’s gender.
“Thea?” Mom’s voice pulled me back to reality.
“Sorry, I zoned out,” I mumbled awkwardly.
“That’s okay, dear. I was just asking if you’re still coming this weekend as planned. Like we
discussed.”
“Yes, though Leo won’t be joining me this time. It’s his weekend with his father, so it’ll just be me and you guys.” The Sterling and Ashworth families used to have monthly Pack gatherings. As the unwelcome wolfless, I was rarely invited. On those rare occasions when I was, I was treated like I didn’t exist, completely ignored, an outsider. The only person who would speak to me at those gatherings was Leo. Most times, I’d end up leaving early
or crying in the bathroom.
There hadn’t been gatherings for months. I guessed now that their parents were back, they were starting to hold them again.
“Shame he can’t make it, but glad you can,” Dad said.
I was about to say something when a noise distracted me. I heard a bark, then scratching. At first, I thought I was hallucinating, until I heard it again.
“I’ll call you back later, Dad. I need to check what that is,” I said distractedly.
“Alright, sweetheart.”
I hung up and walked toward the sound. Reaching my backyard, I found a huge golden retriever digging in my garden. Nothing was left except a mess. It was odd since werewolves usually didn’t keep canine pets because their own wolves felt offended.
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New Neighbor–1
I stared at it in shock, my mouth hanging open.
“Do you know how fucking long it took me to plant those?” I said angrily.
It looked ashamed, lying on the ground, giving me puppy eyes, but I wasn’t going to be persuaded.
“I wanted organic food, which is why I started this damn garden, and let me tell you, it took a lot of time and effort.” It whimpered, but I was too angry to care.
“Oh, no, no, no. You’re not getting away with this by flashing those cute eyes.” I shook my head as I stared at it. At least I assumed it was male. “How are you going to make up for
this, huh?”
As I looked at it, my heart began to melt. It was big and fluffy and absolutely adorable.
New Neighbor–2
“I’ve never seen anyone soften toward my dog so quickly. Most people usually find him annoying,” a warm voice made me whip my head around so fast I nearly gave myself whiplash.
Holy shit. The man looked handsome up close. Golden hair shining in the sunlight, deep blue eyes as fathomless as the ocean, high cheekbones, defined jawline. He wore a simple t–shirt and jeans, but his mouth was tempting, and his body made me want to do unspeakable things. And I bet he knew it too.
“Calm down, Thea, you’ve been deceived by a handsome exterior once, don’t make the
same mistake,” I told myself.
I wouldn’t. I’d sworn off love and men, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t appreciate a good-
looking specimen when I saw one. I wasn’t blind.
“Have we met before?” The words tumbled out of my mouth before I could think them. through. “It’s just that you look familiar.”
He stared at me for a moment before answering. “Yes, we went to the same school. You were two years behind me.”
I tried to recall him but still drew a blank. Probably because I was so obsessed with
Sebastian back then that I didn’t see anyone else.
“Jaxon Everett,” he added when I continued to stare at him in confusion.
When he said his name, it suddenly clicked.
“Oh my God, you’re ‘Nerdy Jax‘,” I screeched the nickname for some reason.
He groaned at his old school nickname. He glared at me, but it didn’t intimidate me at all.
“Wow, you’ve really fucking changed,” I gaped at him.
The Jax I remembered was thin and weak, wearing oversized glasses that constantly slid down his nose. He had braces and his face was covered with angry red pimples.
He was also a nerd who spent most of his time studying in the library while his peers
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were busy having sex in the janitor’s closet.
Simply put, he wasn’t someone you’d look at twice. Now he looked good. Really good. I was glad things had turned out better for him. He’d transformed into someone any woman would want to have. He was in Sebastian’s league now.
“Yeah, thanks,” he said awkwardly.
“I remember you had a massive crush on Aurora, what happened with that?” I joked. I wasn’t trying to be mean or anything.
When he wasn’t studying, like all the other boys, he was busy following Aurora around like a lost puppy.
The only problem was that Aurora only had eyes for Sebastian. When they started dating, they became the star couple of the school.
Every boy except Damien and Roman wanted to stand in Sebastian’s place. Every girl wanted to stand in Aurora’s place.
“And you were in love with Sebastian, how did that turn out?” he snapped back, irritated.
“Touché,” I said softly.
The pain was still there, but I managed to push it away.
I didn’t know Jax that well, but I thanked the Goddess on his behalf. Thank her for looking after Jax. Aurora’s love for Sebastian would have destroyed him just as Sebastian’s love for
Aurora had destroyed me.
“Dad, can I watch TV?” a sweet voice pulled me out of my bitter memories.
I turned to see an adorable boy standing behind Jax. He had the same enchanting blue eyes as his father.
“Hi, I’m Thea,” I couldn’t help saying.
“Hello,” he said shyly, and my heart immediately fell in love with him.
“What’s your name?” I asked gently.
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New Neighbor–2
“Wyatt.”
“I have a son about your age, his name is Leo. If you’d like, you can come meet him after he gets back from school? He’d be thrilled to have a new friend.” I paused, then added, “Of course, if your dad agrees.”
I watched him look up at Jax. There was a silent communication between them, and finally, Jax sighed, as if being persuaded.
“Fine,” he said simply.
I stared at him, my eyes focusing on his. I tried to read him and was shamelessly doing so. There was something in his eyes that called to me.
He shifted uncomfortably. “Well, sorry about Fenrir destroying your garden. I’ll have
someone come fix it tomorrow.”
So the golden retriever was named Fenrir? The name suited him well.
“Fenrir,” Jax called, and he immediately ran to his master.
After nodding at me and Wyatt giving me a smile, they left through a wide opening in my backyard that I’d never noticed before.
I stared after them as they walked toward their house. It wasn’t until they were gone, and I was still standing there like an idiot, that I realized what I’d seen in his eyes.
I’d seen pain. I’d seen hurt. I’d seen a wounded soul.
In his eyes, I saw the same darkness I’d been trying to escape for years without much
success.
In him, I saw a kindred spirit.
And I couldn’t help but wonder what had caused him such pain.
