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Chapter 3
Faye threw me a brand–new birthday.
She booked the biggest VIP room at our favorite lounge, invited friends who weren’t part of Theo’s
world–people who were mine, ours. Real ones. Loyal ones.
Everyone showed up. Everyone hugged me. Everyone told me happy birthday like they meant it.
We lit candles.
I made a wish–not for love, not for revenge. Just for peace.
After all the singing and laughter, Faye snapped a few pics–she called them my “comeback shots.”
I picked one, posted it with a caption: “Starting fresh. No more looking back.”
“}
Not even a minute later, another post slid onto my timeline: “At some point, drama stops being
cute and just turns into karma.”
It was from Elena.
And in the corner of her selfie, there he was–Theo. Clear as day, standing just behind her. Still glued to her side like nothing ever happened. Still stuck to her like a damn shadow.
I didn’t react.
Didn’t comment. Didn’t flinch.
Until she sent me
a video.
In it, someone off–camera laughed and asked Theo, “If Elena and Anya both fell into a lake, who
would you save first?”
Theo’s voice came through, lazy, careless. “Anya knows how to swim.”
A few people snorted. “So that means you’d save Elena, huh?”
“Duh. He’s been obsessed with her since forever,” someone chimed in. “Like,
he was crushing on her back in the day? The whole pack knew.”
“Honestly, Anya’s always been the third wheel.”
And then, right on cue, Elena chimed in like she was the voice of
Bemember how hard
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“Alright, alright,” she said with a laugh. “Anya is his official mate, you guys. If she hears this, she might get upset again.”
The video ended.
And right after that, a string of messages from Elena:
[Oops! Anya, I’m so sorry–I didn’t mean to send that to you!]
[Please don’t take it seriously, they were just messing around!]
[Don’t be mad at Theo–it was just a joke! I’d feel awful if you two fought again because of me.]
I stared at her fake apologies and that carefully crafted performance–so much guilt, so much innocence, all wrapped in one emoji–laced message–and for once, I didn’t feel rage.
No panic. No jealousy. No emotional spiral.
Just… nothing.
74 #45222F
Like maybe, finally, I was crawling out of that pit of self–doubt and emotional withdrawal. Like
maybe I was healing.
Then came another message:
[Anya, when are you coming back? Theo doesn’t say it, but I know he misses you.]
I took a screenshot of everything–her texts, the video, all of it–and sent it straight to Theo.
[Tell Elena to keep my name out of her mouth.]
And then I locked my phone, tossed it aside, and threw myself back into the night.
By the end of it, we were crying, laughing, crying all over again–sticky with cheap cocktails,
smeared makeup, and way too many inside jokes. We clung to each other like survivors of a storm.
Faye looked me dead in the eye and said, “Sometimes the only way forward is to take that first
step.”
And I believed her.
Faye and I got back from our trip the following week.
By the time she was dropping me off at my house, I felt lighter. Still bruised, but breathing.
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That’s when my phone buzzed.
Theo: [Where do you keep the disposable underwear?]
I didn’t think much of it. Just figured he’d forgotten something he left behind. Told Faye to wait downstairs and went up to check.
I honestly thought I wouldn’t see Theo again.
After all, we’d broken the mate bond weeks ago.
The pack house was mine. I’d bought it. He had no right to still be here. When we split, it was
supposed to be him who packed up and left.
I assumed he was gone.
But when I opened the door, I froze.
Elena was standing in my hallway.
Act
Wearing my bathrobe. My slippers. Even the microfiber hair wrap dripping down her shoulders was
mine.
She blinked, caught off guard. “Anya.“.
*F SEE TE
#
Water was still trailing down her neck, soaking into the collar of my robe. That one little drop hit something in my brain and-
Boom.
Theo’s message exploded in my head.
Without thinking, I stormed down the hall and shoved open the bedroom door–only to find Theo rifling through my closet like it belonged to him.
A surge of heat shot through my chest.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I shouted. “You don’t get to touch my stuff without
asking!”
Elena trailed in behind me, already blinking back tears, voice shaking like a scared bunny.
“I… I started my period out of nowhere and got it on myself,” she whispered. “Theo just said I could
rinse off in your bathroom. He tried texting you to ask, but you didn’t answer…”
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“And he remembered you usually keep disposable underwear here, so…”
She looked at me with those wide, fragile eyes.
But all I saw was red.
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Chapter 4
“So what exactly are you saying?”
I let out a bitter laugh, rage bubbling just beneath the surface. My voice was sharp, my tone shaking with fury as I glared at Theo.
“So you bring some girl into my home–without asking and let her use my things, wear my
clothes, shower in my bathroom, and you think it’s totally fine to go digging through my closet for
her like you’re doing me a favor?”
I snapped.
“Theo, that’s not just disrespectful. That’s theft.”
My voice was loud enough to rattle the walls. My whole body trembled with the effort to hold myself back, but when I looked into Theo’s eyes, something flickered–guilt? No. Defense.
Like a cornered dog, he
hell
apped.
are you even talking about?! God, Anya, do you always have to twist things like this? You make it sound so dirty. I didn’t steal anything!”
“No, you just ignored my messages, acted like you were too good to respond, and now you’re
a tantrum like it’s all my fault? Please.”
throwing
He scoffed, voice rising with every word.
“Do you even realize how exhausting you are? You’re always jumping to conclusions, always making a scene and embarrassing me in front of my friends. You think anyone else would put up with this crap? You’re lucky Elena’s patient enough to talk me down half the time!”
There it was.
The truth.
All the resentment he’d been holding in. The venom behind every little eye roll, every deflection.
And finally, he let it out.
And I-
I laughed.
Because of course.
