Omega Bound Chapter 195

Ayla

Thane and I head to the pack house while Cyrus and Raven recuperate from their heat. “I’m not sure what I’m looking for when we get there.” I watch Thane as he drives, wondering how hard this will be for him. On one hand, they were friends from a young age and grew up together, on the other well, I ripped her heart out on the porch, and he didn’t seem too fazed.

“Me either. Damon left the apartment open for us. We will do our thing and let him know from there.” Thane’s forearms are bulging as he tightly grips the steering wheel, clearly tense. The bond swirls with a mixture of anger and regret.

“What’s wrong? I bring my hand over and start kneading the back of his neck, quietly waiting for an explanation.

“I want to find something….it will certainly help us speed things up but if we find something….I don’t know if I can forgive myself for that. I should have thought of this a long time ago.” He sighs and I feel guilt through the bond.

“You act like there hasn’t been a million things come up between then. We were mated, we had a heat, an apparent car bomb…”

“Still sorry for not telling you.” He speaks up, apologizing again.

“Forgiven. There is a pack to run on top of trying to be this savior for the shifter community. There has been one thing after another since I got here, and you shouldn’t feel guilty about your choices made trying to keep us all safe. Every teammate you have is working hard, you included. Give yourself some grace.”

Thane gives me a little grin and floods the bond with his love as he reaches over, patting my leg and keeping his hand there as we finish the drive and pull into the lot.

He takes my hand as we open room 403 and enter. “Wow, she liked the color blue.” I’m shocked by the amount of blue in this apartment. Different shades of blue along with blue walls. Relaxing I suppose.

Thane lets out a pained exhale and groans as he shuts the door. “Figures.” He sees the confusion on my face. “I told her once I liked something blue of hers.”

He walks further into the apartment looking around. “I don’t see what Damon was fussing about. It’s a normal apartment.” Her lemon scent lingers, just slightly. It is a little sad. Guilt tries to rise within me. I shake my head like that will clear the wrong thoughts about myself.

“I’m just going to the back of the apartment and working my way to the exit,” I state as Thane nods at me, digging through mail on her table.

The first door I open is the bathroom. Not huge, normal looking. Nothing alarming in the cabinet. Everything is blue. She has…had a lot of normal she-wolf things. I leave and head for the next door. This door creaks open and my mouth falls as my eyes catch an insane sight. I feel a low, deep, fierce growl leave me.

If she weren’t already dead, she would be.

I walk into her bedroom and the entire ceiling above her bed is covered in pictures of Thane.

Not candid photos.

No photos of him with her even.

They are just random photos taken of him.

He was working, walking, talking, and eating outside.

Della was desperate and obsessed.

“Are you okay? I heard you….” Thane enters the room, his eyes going straight to where I am staring. “I…whaaa…tt…shit.” He’s at a loss for words. So am I. Aramana feels as though she should have died in a more gruesome manner. I don’t necessarily disagree right now.

“There must be a hundred photos up there.” I try to climb up and stand on her bed to get a better look, but Thane wraps his arms around me and pulls me back.

“I wouldn’t do that. It isn’t um…washed and I don’t want you climbing pregnant.”

“I climb the stairs all the time.” I scoff and swat at his forearms.

“Thanks for reminding me, we are getting an elevator.” He picks me up completely, turns around, and sets me back down, effectively blocking me from viewing the photos.

“That is ridiculous.” I decide to circle back to the elevator comment later. We’re here for a reason and I try to settle and get in touch with my wolf’s instincts.

I walk over to her bookshelf and there are a lot of random trinkets and a few books. I picked up a small black t-shirt with the outline of a black wolf embroidered on the upper left area of the shirt. It is way too small for her and appears out of place.

“Holy shit…” Thane mutters grabbing the shirt from me quickly.

“What?”

“I lost this shirt when I was ten. It was my favorite. My grandma made that wolf on there for me…I can’t believe this. She stole my shirt…” Thane trails off as he walks closer, examining the shelf of random items.

“Everything on this shelf is stuff I lost when I was little. This here..” He holds up a pocketknife, “Cyrus always tried to start fires with the magnifying glass in it. I thought my mom threw it away…I was so mad at her even though she kept denying it and then wouldn’t get me another because she thought Cyrus would burn the house down with it.”

“You’ve never been in here?” I knew they had a relationship and assumed that he had been with her here at some point.

“No. Had I known…” I place my hand on his and gently squeeze.

“This isn’t your fault, Thane. Her obsession runs…deep. You believe the best of those around you. You look for the good in others…whether you want to admit it or not.”

“I don’t even know how to feel about this. I mean she was always around. She was friends with my sister. Her parents….is that my hair?”

“What?” I look back to observe what he is holding. It appears to be a real, three-inch section of Thane's black hair.

“She kept a piece of my hair……what the fuck.” Thane is holding the lock in his fingers. His face is a mixture of emotions.

“How did she get it? Did she cut your hair when you were sleeping together?”

“No. I never let her….um stay.” He clears his throat. Yes, this conversation is uncomfortable and Aramana is snarling loudly within my mental barrier, but I also can’t help myself to find out more either.

Am I a nosy person? Is this a new personality trait? I’m becoming….inquisitive maybe.

That sounds better.

“I had a shaggy hair stage in my pre-teen pup years. My father hated it.” He puts the hair back on the shelf and picks the knife back up, twirling it around in his fingers, contemplating.

“If you want it back, take it. It’s yours. Just…wash her scent off it first.”

Thane holds the knife in his hand, studying it. Most likely, reliving memories. He smiles and puts it back in his pocket. “I may see if Cyrus can start a fire with it after all.”

“Look for his toenails.” Cyrus mind-links me, startling me slightly.

“Why am I looking for toenails?” I asked Thane as I pulled out a book from the shelf.

“Just tell him to shut up. I throw my toenail clippings in the trashcan like a normal shifter.” Thane walks across the room, pulling open her desk as I sit in the chair and open the book.

I quickly realize I have stumbled upon her journal….diary? Obsession book? Thane’s name is written a million times at least all over the inside cover. This must be something she started when she was younger, judging by the handwritting style. I look back up to the shelf and realize there are several of these journals.

Combing through them will take forever.

Do I even need to? These could all be old.

Screw it. She tried to take my mate.

I want to know it all.