Omega Bound Chapter 54

Thane

I lift my head, and I am met with Ayla’s beautiful teal eyes except they are glowing in wolf form. I fell asleep against Little Wolf's bedroom wall last night and she remained as her wolf the entire night. I can sense that Aramana remains in control, and I am not sure how to convince her to give Ayla the reigns so we can fix our mate bond. I have an ache in my chest despite being near her.

The bond wanting to become permanent.

I want my mate.

I just want her to want me in return.

I stretch and reach out my hand towards Aramana's head. She flashes me a fang but doesn't growl. That is an improvement. The look on her face tells me if I attempt to touch her fur, that I will probably lose some fingers. I have a lot to get to the bottom of today and need to start it intact, so I stop my attempts at winning over her wolf for now.

Ronan and I are forever in debt to Ayla's wolf.

She saved the mate bond.

Hopefully, she can keep it safe from her other half.

My other half.

My world.

I hear pounding on the door and realize that is why Aramana is up and staring at me. I got up to answer it, telling her to remain in the bedroom. I can't let her secret out and I don't want to let her out, fearing she won't return.

I looked through the peephole to see an angry-looking Cyrus. "What the hell Thane. Where have you been? You have the mind-link closed off and you aren't answering your phone."

Did I close the link? I must have shut it down when I was leading Ayla to the tunnels. "Come in Cyrus, we have a lot to talk about."

"What is going on? Why do you look like you have been thrown out of a moving vehicle and backed over a few times? Seriously, you look like shit. Have you even slept?"

"Thanks for the compliments. I knew I could count on you. Does it look like I slept? NO. I didn't sleep. I sat against a wall and kept waking up and checking on Ayla all night."

"Why? is something wrong with her?"

"Oh yeah, there is something wrong all right. The fated mate bond snapped into place last night."

"What? fated mate bond? Why would that be wrong? What about dick face? I thought he was her mate? Why do you look like utter shit if you have your mate dude?"

"I don't know what happened to Kian or what is going on. I want a team scouring for him. I think he hit Ayla and that is why she rushed to my office last night. She had a busted lip and when she hit my doorway the bond snapped into place. It was the greatest feeling of my life." I reluctantly replay the moment in my head, knowing the rest will of the memories will follow and hurt.

"Okay. Fated mates are great...check. So, you look like shit because....?”

"I look like shit because Della was in my office when the bond snapped into place."

"Holy shit. Tell me you didn't get caught laying pipe into crazy pants when your mate bond manifested Thane."

"I wasn't screwing her or any part of her. She dry humped me and then presented herself over my desk begging me to screw her. That's when Ayla came in."

"Wow. You got yourself in a damn mess dumbass. I told you to stay away from that psycho, but you didn't listen."

"I know Cyrus, I know okay."

"Well, where is Ayla? Please tell me she put Della out to the curb with the rest of the trash where she belongs."

"No, I got Della to finally agree to leave before Ayla ripped her throat out. She wasn't happy. Still isn't."

"Yeah, I bet, you royal prick. How are you going to fix this?"

“I am not sure yet. It would help if I could have a conversation with her, but I can't." I explain to him just as I hear Little Wolf's bedroom door opens more, the bond telling me she is close without even having to look.

"Why? Is she refusing to come out of her room and talk to you?"

"Well, no. Yes. Kind of. She tried rejecting me, Cyrus."

"Damn man, that is serious."

I run my fingers through my hair and turn to face Aramana, still in control. Cyrus does the same and jumps back, grabbing a hold of my arm as he does it. He is acting spooked, half of his body now behind mine and that confuses me.

"Thane, is that a white wolf?"

"Yes Cyrus."

"Thane, why is there a white wolf in this room?"

"There is a white wolf here because it is Ayla. Her wolf reconnected, but she is refusing to shift back. I think she is trying to keep Ayla from rejecting me again. She shifted to stop her the first time. She could be protecting her, making up for lost time as well. I am not sure."

"Are you telling me that Ayla is an extinct white wolf?"

"Clearly, they aren't extinct Cyrus. You are looking right at her."

"Are you sure I am not still drunk?"

"Well, no I am not sure, but regardless, she is still here."

"Don't they have like mind control powers that can turn us into shifter zombies that do everything they want?" That dumb statement earns Cyrus a chuff and the wolf equivalent of an eye roll from Aramana.

"Clearly you and I heard different stories about them growing up. Yes, they are gifted and supposedly have powers of some sort. No, she isn't using mind control. If she had that, I am sure I would be long gone by now. You can't seriously be scared of her? I saw you fight a bear, but you want to hide from a white wolf?"

"The bear couldn't make me a zombie Thane."

"Neither can Ayla, dumbass. Now, get it together. This is serious. Nobody but you and I can know what she is. Ayla told me she had one shift and then was kidnapped. Clearly, they kept her for so long without killing her because they knew what she was. They probably used the poison to keep her wolf recessed, but maybe didn't want to kill her in case they decided they wanted to use her wolf, or someone wouldn't let them kill her that knew how valuable she was. Either way, I think someone from her old pack is the link to finding the trafficking leaders. Someone saw her shift and then got rid of her."

"I don't know. This could all be a giant coincidence. They will kidnap any young shifter, regardless. They may not have even known." he retorts, but I think he is wrong. My gut tells me someone in her old pack is connected and we need to find who.

"Could be, but there is only one way to find out. We need to find Kian as well. Clearly, he is not her fated mate and I would like to have some words with him. I also need to find out where Ayla came from, but that will be hard to do if her wolf doesn't give her back control. However, if her wolf gives her control, she will bolt. She doesn't believe me about Della, or she does but is too hurt to care."

We both stare at Aramana for a while, contemplating our next move. She seems unbothered. lying on the floor with her head on her paws watching us.

"I can do something about Kian. I will get a team together to find him quietly. Where do you want me to take him once we find him?"

"Take him to the dungeons. I plan on inflicting pain. If he did harm Ayla, I plan on inflicting death."

"Nice. I can't wait to watch. Good luck with your fated mate situationship. I think you are going to need it. Makes sense your equal would be some all-powerful, zombie army having shifter." He pats me on the shoulder as I scoff, and he heads out the door.

"He will keep your secret. He is my best friend and beta, and he also likes you very much. He always has."