Thea’s POV

Those threatening notes had been eating away at my brain for days. Whenever I was alone, those blood-red letters would flash before my eyes, consuming every goddamn thought. I had to find whoever was behind this, or I’d never have peace again.

The danger signals had turned me into a nervous wreck. Even Leo had noticed something was off with me lately. Each time he asked, I’d brush it off, saying I was fine, though we both knew that was bullshit.

Looking back, as painful as my marriage to Sebastian had been, at least my only worry then was whether he’d come home or if one day he might love me. Since the divorce, my life had been like a fucking rollercoaster with no brakes—wolf poison, my house burning down, multiple kidnappings and attacks, and Kane’s scheme. I thought things would calm down after accepting Graves’ protection, but now someone else had their sights on me.

“Mom, can I go play at Wyatt’s?” Leo’s voice suddenly appeared beside me, nearly making me jump out of my chair.

I tried to steady my breathing, pretending to be calm as I turned to him. “Sure, but go through the back door, okay?” He nodded, giving me a strange look, but I pretended not to notice. I stood up and took his hand, walking him out, wanting to make sure he safely crossed the backyard to Jaxon’s house and got inside.

“He brought back a new game yesterday, and we’re gonna compete,” Leo said as we walked. “I won last time, and he swore he’d beat me this time.”

“That’s nice,” I smiled and nodded. Since that day in my kitchen, I hadn’t seen Jaxon. He’d been avoiding me as much as possible. I wasn’t sure if it was embarrassment or hurt from my rejection. Probably both.

Either way, I’d been giving him space because I didn’t want things to be more awkward than they already were.

“See you later, Mom,” Leo said as he crossed the yard to Jaxon’s.

After making sure he safely entered Jaxon’s house, I turned back inside. I’d barely sat on the couch for a minute when the doorbell rang. My first thought: another note. Cautiously pecking through the peephole, I actually felt relief seeing Sebastian standing there. But then I tensed up again. Shit, I’d forgotten about our scheduled talk. With everything that had happened lately, this conversation was the least of my worries.

“Can I come in?” he asked when I opened the door, unusual hesitation in his voice.

“Yeah,” I said, unconsciously scanning the environment outside, making sure there were no suspicious figures or notes in sight.

He gave me a look.

“What?” I asked.

“I thought you’d refuse to let me in.”

“Are you coming in or not?” I asked, irritation creeping into my voice.

He gave me one last look before stepping inside. I quickly shut the door, afraid someone might be watching me.

I’d become so fucking paranoid over the past few days that it sometimes scared me. The sooner this threat was resolved, the better for my mental state.

I turned to him. “Would you like something to drink?”

“No, thank you,” he looked unusually nervous, his hands constantly rubbing against his pants.

I carefully lowered myself into the pregnancy recliner, trying to ease the ache in my lower back. “So, what did you want to talk about? Sounded important. Is it about Leo?”

He took a deep breath, his gaze fixed directly on mine. “No, Thea. It’s about us.”

I frowned. “Us? Sebastian, there hasn’t been an ‘us’ since we signed those divorce papers. You seem to forget that a lot lately.” I didn’t want to discuss this with him. Not when I had so much shit to deal with.

“I know I have no right to say this, but please hear me out,” he leaned forward, his voice almost pleading, which piqued my curiosity despite myself. “These past few months, I’ve been thinking about our relationship, about all the things I did. I…” He fell silent for a moment, as if struggling to find the right words. The longer he took to think, the more I—

“Thea,” he finally said, “I love you.”

My mouth fell open, staring at him like a fish out of water.