Chasing His Wolfless Luna Back Chapter 197: Evidence and Intuition

Thea's POV

My anxiety skyrocketed as we arrived at the police station. I was a fucking nervous wreck, uncertain if I really wanted to hear what Chief Hawthorne had to say.

What would I do if Aurora really was the mastermind behind the attempt on my life?

Despite our strained relationship, I'd known her since childhood. We grew up together. Even though it had been confirmed we weren't biologically related, we'd been sisters in name for many years. We lived in the same house until she graduated and left for college.

"Are you okay?" Sebastian asked, concern etched on his face.

"Just nervous," I admitted.

He took my hand in his and planted a soft kiss on it. I didn't pull away because right now, I needed this. I needed him. "Everything will be fine, don't worry too much," he reassured me after pulling away.

I nodded, and we got out of the car. My hand still firmly held in his, we walked toward the police station. The others quickly caught up with us, and we were led to the police chief's office.

"Thank you for coming," the chief greeted us. He gestured toward two chairs. My mother and I sat down while the men stood behind us.

"You said you had something important to tell us," Sebastian prompted.

"Just a moment," Chief Hawthorne held up a finger.

A few minutes later, the door opened, and Roman, Margaret, and Iris walked in. The officer who had brought them left, closing the door behind him.

"Why has my daughter been arrested?" Margaret demanded. It was obvious she'd been crying. Her eyes were red and swollen.

"That's exactly why I called all of you here," Hawthorne began. "We have evidence that suggests Aurora was indeed behind the attack on Thea."

Roman was quick to defend her. "That's impossible. Aurora wouldn't hurt Thea."

"But Ms. Sterling here seems to believe she would." Hawthorne dropped that bombshell, and everyone turned to look at me with questioning gazes.

I sank further into my chair, hating that all eyes were on me. I'd never liked being the center of attention.

"What do you mean by that?" Somehow, my voice was trembling.

"I know you've lost your memory, but when you were attacked, especially after the wolfsbane was placed in your car's ventilation system and then it exploded, I asked you who might have a grudge against you. You mentioned Aurora without hesitation. You suspected she was trying to kill you."

I remained silent. I could understand why I would have thought of Aurora. From what I'd learned, Aurora had been very unhappy about Sebastian's increasing attention toward me after she returned. She didn't want me near Sebastian, saw me as competition.

Roman and Margaret were about to argue, but Hawthorne cut them off.

"We found the gun that shot Thea and the car. We decided to look for fingerprints and run matching. The fingerprints matched Aurora's." He paused to let us digest this bombshell. "In addition to that, there were some civilian clothes with Aurora's hair on them. We believe those were the clothes she wore that day. She probably disposed of the black clothes she wore when she fired the gun but forgot about these."

Everyone in the room was stunned. The silence that followed was suffocating. You could probably hear a pin drop.

---

I couldn't sleep worth shit last night, and it showed in how I looked this morning. I was fucking exhausted, physically and emotionally drained. Sebastian and I hadn't shared a bed since the night of our date. And for the first time since returning from the police station, I wanted to invite him to sleep with me.

I walked slowly toward the kitchen. It was still early, and I was probably the only one awake. I needed a coffee immediately, because I had to take Wyatt home. Jaxon had said he'd be busy and might not be able to pick him up himself, so I offered to drop Leo off there.

Yawning, I entered the kitchen doorway but stopped abruptly. Sebastian sat at the kitchen island with a steaming cup in front of him.

When he heard me, he turned, and our gazes met.

"Couldn't sleep either?" he asked, standing up.

I just nodded, watching as he opened a cabinet and took out another mug. Without me having to say anything, he poured me coffee from the pot. "I thought I was the only one awake," I murmured, sitting down next to him.

"Clearly not."

Even now, my mind kept replaying everything Hawthorne had told us. All the evidence from yesterday seemed clear and irrefutable, staring me right in the face, with no way to prove otherwise. But why was my heart silently telling me she was innocent?

Hawthorne had told us they would begin the trial immediately, and given the current situation, Aurora was facing thirty to fifty years in prison.

It bothered me. I couldn't put my finger on what it was. It was there, in the back of my mind, but I just couldn't grasp it.

"Is it about Aurora?" Sebastian asked, pulling me back to reality. I took a sip of my coffee, trying to clear my head with caffeine.

"Yeah. I can't get everything we learned out of my mind."

He nodded. "Fuck. It's unbelievable. I never thought she'd go that far, but thinking about it now, maybe I didn't know her as well as I thought I did."

His voice turned cold, his eyes dangerous. I knew Sebastian, and right now, he was figuring out ways to make her pay for what she'd done to me. It was like he'd already forgotten his history with Aurora.

Having Sebastian hold a grudge against you was like death itself. He was still that dangerous, powerful Alpha who would crush you and make sure nothing was left. I knew this because I'd been his enemy once, and I wouldn't wish that on anyone. Many times I'd considered packing up and running away because of what he'd done to me.

If Aurora was truly guilty, I felt sorry for her, because compared to what was coming, everything she experienced the first time she went to jail would seem like a fairy tale. It would be like a bedtime story compared to the reality that was coming.

"I don't think she did it," I finally decided to say, staring at the steaming black liquid before looking up at Sebastian.

His gaze registered surprise. "What? Hawthorne showed us all the damn evidence, Thea."

"I know, but my gut tells me she's innocent. I can't explain it, I should be the first in line demanding justice, but I just don't believe the evidence. I think I know her as much as I know you. Aurora might be many things, but a killer isn't one of them."

He continued searching my gaze, as if he thought I was crazy. Maybe I was, but that didn't change the fact that I believed Aurora was innocent.

"How can you be sure?" he frowned. "This woman has been scheming, lying, and threatening since she came back. How can you be sure she didn't decide eliminating you was necessary in her quest to get back with me, because you were a threat?"

His questions made perfect sense. And all I had was my intuition. That wasn't enough...

What if he was right? What if the reason I thought she was innocent was because of our poor family bond from before? I mean, we'd been estranged for many years, but before that, we were family, even if we didn't get along well.

With a sigh, I took a sip of my coffee. I didn't know how to explain it to him. Sebastian was the type who believed in facts. Without evidence, I couldn't convince him. Without evidence, I couldn't convince anyone.