Chapter 24

Octavia:

November twenty-first.

I close the book that I had pulled of the shelf randomly. They say reading is good for the mind and soul but I don't think it counts if you don't genuinely enjoy whatever you're reading.

I shove an Oreo in my mouth and walk back over to the book shelf and replace the book, filling the vacant space. Cipher would kill me if she found out I'm having Oreos and milk for breakfast. She's such a health freak.

I take a seat at Ajax's desk and spin around quickly in his chair. I can't believe I chickened out. I came upstairs to apologize for my recent behavior and offer him some Oreos. But there were no guards in the hall, so I assumed there's no one up here. I didn't even bother to check if Ajax could still possibly be in his room.

Instead I just snuck into his office and decided to read until I heard some type of noise or sign of life come from his bedroom. It's been about forty five minutes and I think I might actually die of boredom in here. Plus, that was my last Oreo.

Stop being a big fat baby and go see if he's there.

I sigh as I stand up from the chair and shake away my nerves. I wipe any cookie crumbs off of his desk before making my way back out into the hall. There were still no guards out here, probably because it's unnecessary when the Alpha isn't home.

He's been very busy lately and easily frustrated. I close the door quietly behind me, before tip toeing over to his room. Considering the circumstances he had every right to be frustrated or stressed. I also was not helping the situation.

I just couldn't believe that Siren had actually disappeared like that. There have been whispers going around about her. People are saying that she's working with Jalex... I don't know what to believe. In my heart there's just no way Siren could do something like that. Ever. But I'm not stupid. In my head she's definitely a suspect.

I clear my throat and knock lightly on Ajax's door. I wait a moment for a response but get none. Wow what a surprise, no ones home. I knock again and call out his name softly. Nothing.

I crack open the door to find his room crisp and clean. No Ajax. I sigh at how foolish I feel. I wasted a good forty five minutes eating a whole bowl of Oreos waiting for no one. He's not even in here. I walk over to his bathroom and closet to make sure he's not hiding in there.

Nothing in the luxurious bathroom and he definitely wasn't hiding in between his many suits in the closet. I comb my fingers through my hair as I head back into the bathroom. It was beautiful really, much better the mine.

It was modern, white and extremely clean like the rest of the decor throughout the house. Although unlike the rest of the house there was a gold accent that brought out the marble in a fantastic way. I unconsciously walk over to the large bathtub that was calling my name. It looks like hardly anyone ever uses it. It was so crisp and clean, not even a water droplet graced the bottom of the tub.

I reach out for the gold handle and turn it slightly, allowing the water to flow into the tub. Should I? I look around carefully and even walk over to the window to look outside. There was no there. No one would even know that I used it. Not even Ajax. I don't think he would care though.

I walk back over to the tub and place my hand under the running water to make sure it was warm. It was beginning to fill up nicely and there was no way I was going to let this water go to waste and allow this beautiful tub to sit here unused.

Bubbles. I need bubbles for a bath. I search the cabinets under the sink for any type of soap that'll create lots of bubbles. He only had shampoo, conditioner, and a few body washes along with a bar of soap. I grab the body washes and squeeze a little bit of each into the tub. The bubbles weren't as dramatic as I'd hoped, but it'll have to do.

Once the tub is filled up to a decent point I turn the faucet off and add a tinge more body wash into the water before putting them all away. I take off my socks and allow myself to feel how cool and smooth the marble floor is. I take off the rest of my clothing and don't bother to remove the many necklaces that are clasped around my neck before sinking into the warm soapy water.

I felt tiny in this tub, like I could actually drown in it. I close my eyes and lean my head back, listening. There was nothing, just silence. It was beautiful honestly. With all the chaos that has taken place in my life it felt nice to have a peaceful moment like this.

"Well, she's not in my office so where is she!" He yells out causing me to jump up. Oh shoot! I look around quickly, he's back so soon.

"A-Alpha I apologize, we'll find her." A male stutters nervously and in response Ajax growls. I felt bad for whomever Ajax was yelling at. They didn't deserve that.

"Ajax!" I call out as I move over to the side of the tub, making sure that I wasn't exposed in anyway.

The bathroom door opens revealing a very pissed off Ajax. His tie was loose around his neck and his jacket was no where to be seen. He closes the door behind him after telling the man to leave and inform the guards that I've been found.

"What the hell is wrong with you? You can't just hide in certain places and not tell anyone where you are. You could've been stolen for all I knew!" His voice raises towards the end as he begins pacing the length of the room. How typical of him.

"Ajax, look at me. I'm fine." I say lightly, wanting him to calm down. "I wasn't even gone for that long."

He pauses mid pace and looks up at me. His blue eyes were distant. "The guard just told me that you've been up here for two hours."

Two hours?! I look down at my finger tips to find them wrinkled like a raisin. I dip my hand into the water, it was much too cool to be a relaxing bath. A shiver makes its way down my back at the realization of how cold the water is.

Ajax walks over to me with a towel in hand. I watch as he unfolds the towel and holds it out, waiting for me to stand from the tub. I was a bit nervous. He's seen my naked before but now it's different. I actually feel something for him now. I would be completely embarrassed if he saw me now.

As if sensing my uneasiness he turns his head away, while maintaining the towel in the same position. I stand quickly, wanting to get out of the cold water and into something cozy and warm. I wrap the towel around myself in a rushed manner, like if I didn't have the fluffy white material around me in under twenty seconds I would freeze into a popsicle.

"I'm sorry about not telling anyone where I was. I was looking for you and then I just lost track of time." I say resisting the urge to shiver violently.

"You were looking for me in the tub?" He looks down at me, his blue eyes back to normal and smirk adorned on his lips.

"Oh gosh, no!" I smile and push him away playfully.

"You're not very good at finding people then, especially when you take a bath break."

"Can I borrow some fresh clothes?" I ask, ignoring his previous statement. I didn't want to put on the clothes I had before because they were light and fitted. I wanted something warm and comfy.

"No." He says, following me out of the bathroom and into his bedroom.

"Fine." I huff and begin walking over to the door. "I guess I'll have to walk the halls in nothing but a towel until I reach my room. I sure do hope the guards aren't there."

His mood changes instantly and in a flash he's standing in front of the door, a stern look on his face. "That's not funny ducky." He whispers down to me. His eyes had gone slightly darker but all I could do was give him a bright smile.

"Then can I borrow some clothes?" I ask again in a sickly sweet voice.

He rolls his eyes before stepping away from the door and heading over to his closet. He comes back with a pair of jogging pants and hoodie. He tosses them at me and I struggle immensely to catch the pieces of clothing. "Asshole." I mumble as I pick the jogging pants off the floor.

"What was that?" He asks teasingly as he takes a seat on the couch and begins to untie his dress shoes.

"Nothing!" I say quickly as I move back into the bathroom.

I dry myself properly and pull the large hoodie over my head. It landed just past my mid thigh and there was no point in wearing the pants except for the fact that I had no clean underwear with me. So I pull on the pants and roll them as high as I possibly can and even then they were too long for me. At least I was warm and comfy now.

I pull my hair out of it's messy bun and I comb my fingers through my hair in a feeble attempt to tame the wild mess.

I exit the bathroom to find Ajax in his previous position on the couch. He was unbuttoning his shirt and beginning to peel it off just as I walked into the room.

"What are you doing?!" I turn my head away, not wanting to invade his privacy. My wolf shook her head at me in a disappointing way. She was eager to see any part of his body nude, while I on the other hand was more shy and timid. I was in no way ready to be that imitate with Ajax. Our relationship is so strained and... well fragile.

"Getting comfortable." He replied sassily as if it was the most obvious thing ever. I roll my eyes even though he can't see me. I guess its a good thing that he can't.

"Ugh, whatever. I just wanted to talk about whats been going on this past week, but I guess it can wait until later when you have time." I say, beginning to make my way over to the door.

"Wait," He says causing me to turn around almost immediately. "I have time now." I watch as he reaches to grab the tv remote that sat on the coffee table.

"Oh really? Is that why you're undressing and getting ready to watch tv?" I ask, sarcasm lacing my tone heavily. I cross my arms over my chest in a stubborn way as he shoots me a small smirk. He pats the spot next to him gingerly in a teasing way. Must he always be so annoying?

I move towards him but refuse to take a seat next to him on the couch.

"What is that you have to say?" He asks. His cool blue eyes were focused on the tv as he opened the Netflix app. I roll my eyes once more and shift slightly on my feet in annoyance. I want apologize to him properly, but instead here he is shirtless and paying more attention to the tv.

"I just wanted to apologize for my behavior lately, but seeing as you're more concerned with watching tv we can do this later." I turn on the heels of my feet quickly and I could barely take one step before he was up in a flash, grasping my upper arm. He turns me around faster than I could process. I stare at his naked chest for a moment before a take a step back, focusing my eyes on his face. His stupidly gorgeous face.

"I'm listening." His blue eyes dig around in mine and for a momentI I lose all ability to speak. My lips part to form some type of words but nothing comes out. He reaches out and tucks a loose strand of hair behind my ear.

"I'm sorry for wigging out this past week and acting like a big fat baby." I blurt out. Wigging out? What the hell? Did I really just say that? I've never even said that before in my life. Why am I such a moron?

"You don't have to apologize for that. I know how much Siren means to you." His hands land comfortingly on my shoulder and he gives me a small almost sympathetic smile. I've never seen him do that before... he actually looked sympathetic.

He turns and takes his previous seat on the couch and begins searching for something to watch. I don't know why he bothers searching when Supernatural is one of the best shows ever. But whatever, not everyone can have great taste in shows the way I do. I have an amazing taste in television shows.

"Can you be honest with me about something?" I no longer felt extremely hurt about the Siren situation. I was beginning to get over the pain her absence has inflicted on my heart. I wanted to know more about the incident. Ajax has been keeping me out of the loop purposely because of the state I was in. Now that I feel more comfortable speaking about it, I want back into the loop.

"Sure," He says not even bothering to look at me and patting the spot next to him on the couch once more. I sigh and give in, making my way over to the plush piece of furniture. I leave a decent amount of space in between us and turn my body slightly to face him.

"The rumors, about Siren, they're true aren't they?"

In my head it makes sense. She would be at the top of my list of suspects. She just so happened to send me outside for weird a plant that doesn't even exist and then all of sudden a herd of deer appear with my name spelled out in blood. Then soon after she disappeared. The whole thing was extremely weird and reeked of fish.

"We don't know for sure, but yeah it looks like she helped Jalex." He says, peeking at me from the corner of his eye. He seemed worried to be even talking about this subject. I watch as he shifts in his seat uncomfortably. "Alexander spoke to her family. She wasn't taken from her home, she ran away."

I could feel my eyebrows raise with shock. She ran away? Why would she do that? The Siren I knew was crazy and adventurous but she would have never ran away from home. Siren loves her family, similar to the way I love mine. She would never do anything to hurt them. So why else would she leave?

"I'm sorry, Ducky. I know you don't want to believe something like that, but right now its our best bet. We need to find how she escaped and if anyone else in the pack helped her."

My thoughts immediately silenced at his words. "You think someone in the pack helped her?" I was shocked. Everyone here was so loyal and loving to each other. I was sure that one hundred percent of them would give their lives too see that no harm comes to this pack. How could he think one of his own would betray him that way?

"I don't want to believe it, but how could she escape? She wasn't here long enough to know how to leave without anyone noticing her or catching her. There is just no way."

"Do you have any suspects in that department?" I ask, as I try to wrack my brain for anyone who would help Siren do such a thing. No one came to mind. Its like I said, I truly believe everyone here is loyal to Ajax and his cause.

"No. Siren didn't interact with many people so we have no idea who it could've been." He sighs and pushes his hands through his hair. It was clear the toll this situation is taking on him. He was beginning to develop bags underneath his tired eyes. His skin looked paler than usual and his hair was becoming long and unruly.

"I'm sorry this all happening." I'm not sure why but I felt extremely guilty. I know I shouldn't be, considering it is his fault for murdering someones father, but I feel so awful still.

"None of this is your fault. I promise you I will fix this." His ocean like eyes meet mine and I could not help but feel safe. As if there was a bubble force field protecting me when he's around. I nod my head at his words, I really do believe in him. I know that he would get to the bottom of this before anyone got hurt.

"You should go and see Cipher. She's practically got your entire party set up."

"I told her I didn't want a party." I sigh with a roll of my eyes. I was in no mood to celebrate my upcoming birthday, especially with everything that has taken place. Also because it'll be my first time celebrating it without my parents.

"Well you're getting one, she told me she's pulling inspiration from your favorite movie for decorations. Whatever the hell that means..." He mumbles the last part before placing his attention on the tv. He selects a show I've never even heard of before and I stand up from my place next to him.

I better find Cipher before she throws me the largest most extravagant party I've ever seen.

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