'The Alpha and His Fox (18+) *Complete

Chapter 7: Theo

When Novah stepped out of the forest, Theo was on top of her, gripping her shoulder and looking over her.

“Novah! Are you okay?’’

The redhead gave him a blank look before pulling away from him.

She opened her mouth and he felt stupid for acting so fast.

“Why do you care?’’

Giulia chastised her gently before looking at Theo with a sweet smile and he felt even shittier. “I apologize for that, sweetheart. She can be mean.’’

She didn’t know about the rejection, it seemed. He had seen how the older lady acted with Artem so he could only guess how she was about her child.

He gave a strained smile and he could see Novah roll his eyes. “It’s ok, ma’am. Do you mind if I talk to Novah? It’ll be a second and you can have her back.’’

“Of course!’’ Giulia smiled brightly as she looked between the two and pushed Novah practically into him as she walked away. She paused to look at Novah, snapping her finger, and pointed at the redhead “Novah! Vienimi a cercare Quando hai finito.’’

The redhead nodded before looking at him with expectant eyes and he started to feel nervous.

“You better make it up to her. Tell her you were an i***t! Anything to make her not hate us!’’ Jahsen growled.

“I-‘’

Novah cut him off. “Listen if you’re here to try and take back that rejection, I’m not interested.’’

His mouth closed before opening it. “Look I understand that, but I was stupid! There’s got to be something I can do to get you to forgive me!’’

She placed a finger under her chin like she was thinking before snapping her finger. “Nope, nothing! Can I go now?’’

She didn’t even wait for an answer before she tried to walk around him, but he grabbed her arm and pulled her back. She stumbled and when he saw her knees buck, he wraps his hands around her elbows to keep her steady. He sees that her legs are shaking and feels a pinch of guilt, knowing what it's like after a shift before he notes that she's in nothing but a t-shirt that stops mid-thigh. His stomach curls before he takes off his hoodie and hands it to her. She stares at it and he rolls his eyes, taking the bottom of the fabric and placing it over her.

"Here, it'll keep you warm." He says, knowing it wasn't the full truth, and judging by the look on Novah's face, she didn't believe his words either but she accepted anyway. He then notes the dark circles under her eyes that weren't there before.

He cups the side of her head, his thumb gently rubbing under her eye, surprised she allowed the action.

“Please, I’ve been regretting it since the words came out of my mouth.’’ He said, desperately. She gave him a calculating stare before clearing her throat and pulled away, her eyes not giving anything away.

“Let me ask you something then. Why did you reject me?’’

“Because you were human!’’ He said without thinking. He winced as her eye twitched in annoyance. “I mean, I get that you aren’t, but I was scared to have a human mate because what if we were to go to battle and I couldn’t be there to protect you?’’

Novah was silent as stared at the ground before sighing. “Look, whether you had rejected me or not, it wouldn’t work out. Demons mate differently than werewolves. Besides, I won’t be here much longer. It’s for the best.’’

He gripped her wrist and looked at her. Her eyes, while not warm, weren’t cold. They stared at each other for a few seconds before Novah lightly placed her hand on top of his and gently pulled it off before walking back to where Giulia and Artem were.

He felt…sick. But he knew he didn’t have anyone to blame but himself. Maybe had he tried to talk to her sooner. No, he was pretty sure her answer would still be the same.

The rest of the Tournament went on without any more problems. Due to the shift, despite the rings melting off from the steam Novah produced, both Cairo and Novah were disqualified.

Novah didn’t seem too bothered as Artem gave her a hotdog. She looked elated as she took a bite and smiled at Giulia who patted her head.

Theo smiled.

His battle was against a druid but as strong as they were power-wise, they lacked speed and Theo knocked her out using his speed. Then the winners of each battle went against each other until one was left which, much to Megan and Mile’s dismay, was Marco.

His dad announced that because tomorrow was Friday, there would be a party to officially welcome the Oakland pack to theirs and everyone cheered, excited at the idea.

Of course, that meant that they had to set up, much to Theo's dismay.

Miles and Theo placed the cases of soda next to the table. He looked at the backyard as Joni and her sisters put up the lighting around the trees and deck. Joni looked at them and pointed to the tikis.

"Sweetie, can you light those for me?'' She questioned. Miles gave her a dopey smile and pulled Theo with him.

"Eh, Novah will be here, right? I mean her parents are a part of the fighting division so It would make sense if she came with them.'' Miles said as he pressed the base into the ground. Theo frowned and shrugged. Miles gave him a look. "Dude! If she shows, then you can try to woo her! Don't tell me you're giving up!''

Theo tsked and moved to the next tiki. "I'm not giving up, but I don't want to crowd her.''

"Why not? I did it with Joni and she loves me.'' Miles said, proudly.

Theo gave him a look. “That’s because Joni has been in love with you for years and she only rejected you because you were messing around with other people and she wanted to see if being with her was what you wanted.’’

Miles shrugged and muttered. “Still worked though… Anyways I’m sure she’ll be here! Then you can try again.’’

Theo could only hope as they finished setting up the backyard of the Packhouse. He left to grab a bite to eat, kissing his mother on the cheek as she prepped some meals with Oakland’s Beta's wife, and went to sleep, trying to figure out a way to at least get back into Novah's good grace.

He only got a couple of hours of sleep before his alarm ranged. Groaning, he ran a hand down his face before getting up. The house was buzzing, excitement running through the pack link about the party later and while Theo was excited too, his mind was elsewhere.

He was kind of shocked he made it to school without crashing into anything.

When he entered the school, he couldn’t help but feel pride as he watched his pack intermingle with the Oakland pack. It seemed the fight really helped them and he thinks that maybe the merge isn’t a bad idea.

“Theo, over here!’’

He looks up and sees Miles waving him over, his arm wrapped around Joni as she laughs at something Samara, a seer, says. Megan is talking with Carly and two others. They lock eyes before Megan looks away in a huff and Theo rolls his eyes. He walks over and tries to take Miles’ enthusiasm about the party when Joni speaks up loudly..

“Hey, Nov-’’

The group looks to see what causes Joni to pause when their eyes widen. The air around Novah is strong, commanding the attention of everyone as she strides through the double doors of the school in confidence, so much different than her normal wallflower self. She definitely didn’t dress like her normal self. Instead of her usual baggy clothing, she wore a maroon, sleeveless turtleneck sweater dress that ended mid-thigh and hugged her figure. A black leather jacket that was a size too big hung off one of her shoulders in a purposeful way, showing off the smooth freckled skin of her shoulder. She had on fishnets that were torn slightly with calf high combat boots that seemed to echo in the slowly quieting hall as everyone stares.

Her hair, which used to end around her mid-back, was now cropped short. Her curls framed her face and that’s when Theo knew that wasn’t Novah.

Two small, royal blue, four-pointed star-shaped markings resided right above the edges of where her eyebrows began and three silver upside-down crescents took home in the middle of her forehead, which started from the large then had a smaller one above it then an even smaller crescent on top of that. Her eyes were pure gold, a thick black ring around the iris and pupilless, just like the fox from yesterday.

He frowned as she walked past them, giving a wave and a charismatic smile. An enticing voice took place as the redhead opened her mouth to speak.

“Hello! How are you?’’

Joni frowned before she jumped towards Novah, hugging her with a big smile. “Aoife!’’

The others looked at each other with confusion. Who?