Revelations

Thea’s POV

My temples throbbed like someone had stuffed a tiny drummer inside my skull. I hadn’t had a moment’s peace these past few days. Thoughts rushed through my mind like an uncontrollable flood, washing over every inch of my consciousness until I could barely breathe.

“So, let’s look at the current Alpha succession system,” I smiled at Lauren, my newest tutoring student. “Pack Alpha positions mostly follow bloodlines, but it’s not exactly like human monarchies. There are several key differences…” I flipped open the textbook, pointing to a diagram as I explained.

I’d thought teaching might give me a temporary reprieve from the chaos in my head, but I was wrong. Damn it, my mind kept wandering off despite my best efforts to stay focused.

When Lauren finally grasped the concept, I felt genuinely happy for her. Watching her confidence grow made me smile. As a teacher, patience was key. Each student had their own pace, and some needed more time to understand concepts, which was perfectly normal.

After the tutoring session ended, I collapsed onto the living room couch like a boneless sack of flour. My brain was still a fucking mess, desperately needing something to distract it. Leo and Wyatt were playing together, so I had the house to myself for now.

I gently stroked my swollen belly, trying to think of something to do. The mystery of Wyatt’s mother kept gnawing at me, along with those words exchanged between Jaxon and Sebastian. These puzzles refused to leave my mind, like a knot I couldn’t untangle.

I changed into some old clothes and headed to the backyard. Maybe gardening would help calm me down, give these thoughts a chance to settle. Kneeling on the damp soil, I grabbed some seeds from the tool shed. Today I planned to plant carrots and tomatoes. Focusing on growing things might help me.

“You seem distracted,” a voice interrupted my motions. Looking up to find Jaxon standing in front of me, I realized I’d been so lost in my gardening that I hadn’t even noticed his arrival.

“Yeah… too much on my mind. Hoping planting stuff might help me sort through it,” I replied, brushing dirt off my hands.

“Anything I can help with?”

“I don’t think so.”

Jaxon had always been tight-lipped about his son’s mother. That breakdown Wyatt had was the only time he’d mentioned her. Beyond that, I knew almost nothing. What kind of relationship did they have? I doubted he’d ever voluntarily tell me the truth. And whenever I brought up the topic, he either tensed up immediately or became uncharacteristically angry.

“That’s okay… I get it. Sometimes I like to process things on my own too,” he paused. “But I can help you with this,” he gestured to the small garden in front of me.

“Thanks,” I nodded and smiled, and he knelt down to join me. I handed him a pair of gardening gloves, and he followed my lead.

“What are the kids up to?” I asked casually.

“Video games… Honestly, I’m surprised they’ve gotten so close. They’re practically joined at the hip. Never thought this would happen considering how much I despise Leo’s father.”

I frowned at that. He couldn’t even say Sebastian’s name. Why?

“Why do you hate him so much? Whatever happened between you, it was a long time ago. Can’t you just let it go?” I asked, thinking about his high school infatuation with Aurora.

His obsession with Aurora back then was just as intense as my fixation on Sebastian. Sure, Aurora had countless admirers, but Jaxon was definitely the most persistent and stubborn one. Like the lovesick protagonist in those teen movies. He would show up at her locker on Monday mornings with carefully selected flowers; Tuesday would bring handwritten poems on her car windshield; Friday was her favorite chocolates and a movie ticket.

Once, before homecoming, he decorated the entire school hallway with colorful balloons and huge posters just to ask Aurora to be his date. Amid the envious whispers and admiration from other girls, Aurora simply smiled politely and walked away with her arm linked through Sebastian’s. It was humiliating for Jaxon, but it didn’t dampen his enthusiasm one bit.

What irritated Sebastian most was that Jaxon never seemed to know when to quit.

“It’s nothing,” he answered, but I could hear the lie in his voice. There was something he wasn’t telling me, and I chose not to push it, at least for now.

“Either way, you two need to learn to put your past differences aside. Our sons are best friends, you can’t keep fighting with Sebastian every time you see him.”

I made a mental note to talk to Sebastian about this too. Both of them needed to start acting like grown-ups.

“Think about what Wyatt needs. This isn’t about whatever beef you have with Sebastian, it’s about our kids,” I added when he didn’t respond.

At the thought of Wyatt, an image of his smile suddenly flashed through my mind. I tried to push it away, but it stubbornly remained. My thoughts flipped through memory after memory of his smile, finally settling on one particular smile—a smile strikingly similar to Wyatt’s, one I’d only seen during high school.

My entire body froze, breathing became difficult, and my heart pounded like a drum. No, it couldn’t be. If it were true, she wouldn’t have kept quiet about it. She would have told her family. I wanted to deny the possibility, but the evidence was right in front of me.

“Thea?” Jaxon called, but I felt like I’d been hit with a freezing spell. No wonder Wyatt’s smile bothered me so much, no wonder it had been nagging at me. His smile was identical to hers when she used to be happy, the way the corners of his mouth turned up, the hint of dimples that appeared—it was like a carbon copy.

“Aurora,” her name escaped my lips involuntarily. I felt Jaxon tense beside me instantly. If my memory wasn’t enough to convince me, his reaction confirmed everything.

“I need to go,” I mumbled, struggling to get to my feet. When I finally stood up, he grabbed my arm. I turned to him, and he must have seen something in my eyes.

“You know,” he said quietly. “You figured it out.”

I nodded, tears welling up in my eyes. Without another word, knowing he would look after Leo, I broke free from his grasp, rushed into the house to grab my car keys, and left.

I couldn’t fucking believe it was her. The Aurora I knew would never abandon her child. She couldn’t be that cold-hearted toward her own flesh and blood. I needed to get to the bottom of this.