Omega Bound Chapter 288

Ayla

The bond doesn’t lie. I feel every spark of Thane’s rage as he forgets to mute the bond. It rolls over me in waves. Anger, grief, bloodlust so strong I can hardly breathe through it. He’s in the dungeon, and even though I can’t hear the chains or smell the blood, I don’t need to. It’s all pulsing down the tether between us, hammering against my chest until I think my ribs might crack.

I tuck myself deeper into my nest of blankets, hands curled over the swell of my stomach. The pups stir like they can sense him too, restless under my palm. “Your father’s fighting again,” I whisper. “But he’ll come back. He always comes back.”

The door bangs open without warning. Only one wolf enters like that.

Cyrus storms in, shirtless as always until he gets his own home, where he can be naked whenever he wants. Blood smears his jaw like he wore it here on purpose. His grin is feral, delighted. “Thought you’d like the update,” he says, striding into my room like it’s his. “Nikolai’s face looks like raw meat now. Split his lip clean through. Ribs cracked like kindling. Beautiful sound.”

“Don’t get that look. This is what he deserves. Blood for blood. You should be proud.”

The words twist in my chest. Proud? Of Thane down there drowning himself in violence? Proud that my uncle’s blood is coating his hands? I shake my head. “I don’t want him lost in it.”

Cyrus barks a laugh. “Lost? Ayla, he’s never been more found. He’s letting his wolf breathe. About damn time.”

The door swings again, and Raven slips in, her knife already flipping between her fingers. “You’re going to scare her, idiot.”

Cyrus winks at me. “She’s tougher than you think. Survived the ring, survived annihilating an entire army of shifers. She can handle hearing her mate making music with Nikolai’s ribs.”

Raven smacks him across the chest with the back of her hand. “I think pregnant she-wolves can barf easily. You'd better watch out.”

I press my palms harder to my belly, grounding myself. “I just don’t want Thane swallowed whole by this. If he gives too much of himself to hate, what will be left for us?”

For once, Cyrus’s grin flickers into something almost serious. “He’s not the one in danger, Luna. Nikolai is. Thane could gut him a thousand times over and still come home to you with something left. That bastard’s just lucky Thane hasn’t decided to finish it yet.”

My throat tightens. He’s right. If Thane wanted Nikolai dead, the dungeon would already be quiet. The only thing holding him back isn’t me; it’s that he wants Nikolai to suffer longer.

When the bond spikes again,I know Thane’s coming home. “I think he’s done for today. The bond feels slightly lighter, but still angry.”

After a while, the door slams open, and there he is: taller, broader than he used to be since taking the Alpha of Alphas mantle, but wrecked. His knuckles are split, shirt sticking to him with sweat and blood that isn’t his. His wolf is right there under his skin, pacing like a caged beast.

I push up, meet him halfway, and catch his ruined hands in mine. “You can’t keep doing this.”

“He deserves worse,” Thane rasps, voice torn.

“I meant how you feel. The emotions you have been living with in the past few days. I don’t want you drowning in them.”

His forehead drops to mine, and I feel the tremor running through him. “I don’t know how to stop when I think about what he did to you.”

“Just focus on what came out of it. Us.” Thane pulls me into him, despite the blood on his body. The smell stings my nose, but the protectiveness of his arms overrides how I feel about it.

We stay like that until Raven clears her throat sharply. “Well, if the lovebirds are finished—”

“Don’t ruin the moment,” I whine.

“Please, ruin it,” Cyrus says, grinning. “I’m gagging already. Let’s discuss what comes next. Stevens isn’t going to kill himself. And Eric’s still out there crawling like a cockroach.”

At Eric’s name, a chill slices through me. He was in the room when my power blew through the compound. He should’ve died. But we couldn’t find him. My mind races through the last few moments in that clinic room, with Eric touching me and his words, but then I suddenly have a thought, thanks to Mikhail, my father. He was able to survive their treatment, torture...

“His healing power,” I murmur. “He could have survived. What if he was able to rapidly heal? It makes sense.”

Thane’s jaw hardens. “Which means he’s still alive, and he still has an agenda.”

Raven flips her knife once. “Then we hunt him down.”

Cyrus grins sharp. “And we start with Stevens. Tear him limb from limb. I’ll even make it quick—ish.”

Later, after Raven and Cyrus leave to fight over who gets first blood in the next war, and we have showered, I pull Thane into the nest with me. His wolf is still restless.

“You can’t fight every battle at once,” I murmur, tracing his jaw.

His eyes burn into mine. “I don’t have the luxury of slowing down. Stevens. Eric. Every bastard tied to that ring—they all fall.”

“They will,” I insist. “But if you burn yourself out before our pups are even here, then what?”

That finally cracks something in him. His gaze drops to my belly. He lays a broad hand across it, thumb tracing in slow circles. “I hear them. Both of them. Two heartbeats. Two lives. Moving. Kicking.”

The bond swells with his wonder, and for the first time all day, the tension eases.

“Then don’t bleed yourself dry. You need rest.”

His mouth twitches into something like a smile. “You’re the only thing keeping me from tearing this world apart.”

“And you’re the only thing keeping me standing,” I say.

By the time Raven barges back in, Thane’s wolf has finally calmed down. “I thought they were moving.”

“We are, but we are also throwing you a pup shower,” Raven declares.

“What?”

“Cake, presents, pack gathering, the whole deal. You’re having it whether you like it or not.”

“I don’t—”

“Nope.” She plants her hands on her hips.

“I don’t think now is the time....”

“The pack needs something good to hold onto. And you’re it.” Raven looks as though she is prepared to argue this all night. “Should I invite the crusty uncle in the dungeon?”

I stare at her, then laugh despite myself. “You’re insane.”

“Perfect match for my mate,” she says smugly.

And then Thane laughs loudly, startling me.

I catch his face in my hands. “Don’t scare me like that.”

He kisses my forehead, voice rough but tender. “Then stop being the only thing that makes me happy.”

Thane’s hand rests warm and heavy on my stomach. His eyes soften, “Raven’s right,” he murmurs. “A shower might be good. Not just for you, but for the whole pack. Something to remind them life still goes on.”

The words sit heavier than I expect, because all I can think about is Monica. How she begged to throw me one the moment she found out. Monica’s gone now, burned out of existence by Eric, and the idea of a baby shower without her feels like a wound I can’t quite touch. I force a small smile anyway, because Thane’s right. The pack needs this. I need this, even if it hurts.

Cyrus throws his hands up. “This is going to be the best shower ever with us planning it.”

Raven cackles. “Yes, and instead of those stupid little shower games, we’ll play ‘guess how many bones are in the jar.’ Winner gets to keep them.”

Cyrus leans toward me, eyes wide and mock-serious. “Oh! And gifts. I’ll wrap up a stroller. Except it’ll be filled with liquor bottles and knives, because let’s be honest, that’s what new parents really need.”

Raven claps like she’s actually excited. “Yes! And instead of pastel decorations, everything can be blood red.”

Thane just sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose while I try not to laugh and cry at the same time.