Thea's Return (Book 2 in the Original SOCIETY Series) ✔

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Aunt Penny and I were still up past eleven when Thatcher and the guys went up to bed an hour ago. 

My aunt and I occupied the living room with a blanket for each of us and sipping her coffee while I stuck with a glass of orange juice. The taste of coffee never settled well with me so after she had offered it and I declined, she came back to the living room with my favorite beverage. 

I gratefully took the glass and took long gulps until it was halfway empty. 

Tucking my hair behind my ear, I lifted my eyes to my aunt only to find her staring at me the whole time. 

She had this sadness in them that I didn't like. i know it was because of what I had told her; about why I had never come back to Blood Moon Falls. She told me that though she understood my reason, it didn't mean that I had to exile everyone from my life. 

"That was a time when you needed someone the most, Thea," my aunt frowned, her thumb mindlessly caressing the rim of her coffee mug. Her lips formed a tight line and the crease between her brows deepened. 

My aunt shook her head, blinking repeatedly to keep tears at bay though they trickled down her cheek anyway.

"I just can't imagine you going through something like that alone. If only I'd known... known when you left then I could have done something. I would have certainly gone with you, Thea."

Staring at my juice, letting my finger trace the glass rim a few times, I shook my head. 

"I didn't know, Aunt Penny. Not until later. Months later." I looked up at her, sighing heavily, "But that doesn't matter now. What's done is done." 

Frowning as she set her coffee on the table beside the couch, my aunt scooted closer to me and I watched her take the juice out of my hands to put it beside her own cup. Turning back to her, Aunt Penny gave me this hard look and shook her head.

"Thea Saranto, I am very disappointed in you. Seeing you grow up when your parents were still alive, I have never thought you to be one who gave up so easily. Now... I know that you went through a great deal your senior year of high school..." 

I nodded, letting her continue. 

"But for you to think that what happened between you and that boy before you left, justifies as payback for why you ended up going through so much pain as you did..." my aunt scoffed, shaking her head. "That's ridiculous! No one should go through something like that alone!"

Raising a brow, I didn't look at her when I mumbled that technically i wasn't alone. 

I explained, "I had Maddox with me most of the time," with a shrug and added that Uncle Vincent and Kale were there for me too. When I allowed them anyway. 

"You know I've always been stubborn in that aspect, Aunt Penny. I push people away without really thinking." 

Frowning at our hands in my lap, I shook my head. "It just became a bad habit."

Aunt Penny tilted her head, taking the side of her finger to lift my head by my chin. 

"Sometimes... I think that you have more of your mom in you than I thought. She, too, was always trying to handle things on her own. It was like pulling teeth with her when I came to help her out with you. It took Jim to convince her a lot of the time that there wasn't any danger to be apart from you." 

She lowered her hand, lips in a tight frown again. 

"Course... Jim was always so optimistic about everything and never saw the bad in anyone. He was right up until the attack."