Claimed by My Bully Alpha Chapter 185

Caleb’s P.O.V

I barely have time to react before Caroline lets out a sharp, blood-curdling scream, her hands flying up to clutch her head as if something is splitting her skull in two. Damien and I are beside her in an instant, dropping down next to her as she gasps for air, her body trembling like a leaf caught in a storm. 

"Caroline!" I grab her wrist, feeling the heat radiating off her skin. "What's wrong? Talk to me!" 

She doesn't answer at first. Her wide, unfocused eyes dart around the room, her chest heaving, as if she has no idea where she is. The way her fingers dig into her scalp makes my stomach twist, like she’s trying to ground herself before she slips away entirely. 

"Caroline, hey, look at me!" Damien urges, shaking her shoulder lightly. "You're okay. You're safe. Just breathe." 

For a second, it feels like she isn't even hearing us. And then—suddenly—her whole body tenses. Her breath catches in her throat, and she finally blinks, her gaze snapping to me in pure confusion. 

"What... what is going on?" Her voice is hoarse, like she’s just woken up from a nightmare she can’t quite shake. 

I hesitate, glancing at Damien before turning back to her. "Caroline, you’ve been out for almost four hours," I say carefully, watching her closely. "Everyone else woke up about two hours ago, but you—" 

"Four hours?" she interrupts, her brows furrowing. She presses her fingers to her temple like she's trying to push the information into place. "That doesn’t make any sense… I—" Her breath hitches. "Where’s Aurora?" 

I exchange a look with Damien before turning back to her. There’s something about the way she asks that makes my stomach sink. It isn’t just concern—it’s fear. 

"I was hoping you could tell me that," I admit, my voice lower now. "I found you at the base of the stairs. Everyone else was in the cafeteria, but you... you were alone." 

Caroline's face pales. Her fingers tighten into fists against her lap, and when she looks up at me, I see it—the flicker of something dark behind her eyes. A memory? A realization? 

"Care," I whispers, my voice barely audible. "Is something wrong?" 

I stared at Caroline, watching as her brows knit together in confusion. Her lips parted slightly, as if she wanted to say something but wasn’t sure how to phrase it. “I… I remember bits and pieces,” she finally said, her voice uncertain. “I was chasing someone, but—I don’t know who. Everything's so blurry.” 

Blurry? That wasn’t enough. That wasn’t going to get us anywhere. I felt frustration claw at my chest, impatience bubbling over before I could stop myself. I grabbed her by the shoulders, shaking her slightly. “Caroline, you have to remember! Who were you chasing? What happened?” My voice came out sharper than I intended, but I didn’t care. We needed answers. We needed them now. 

Before I could press her further, Damien stepped between us, his expression darkening. “That’s not going to help, Caleb,” he said firmly, gripping my wrist and prying me away from Caroline. “Shaking her, pressuring her—it’s only going to make things worse. She needs time.” 

I scowled, clenching my jaw. Time? We didn’t have time. I looked at Caroline again, her eyes darting between us, clearly overwhelmed. Her breathing was uneven, and she brought a trembling hand to her temple, pressing her fingers against it as if trying to force the memories back. 

Caroline’s mother stepped forward, her voice softer, more patient than mine had been. “Sweetheart,” she murmured, “just focus. Tell us what you remember last. What happened when we were all unconscious?” 

Caroline’s eyes fluttered shut for a moment, her fingers still pressing against her temple. “Aurora…” she whispered. “Aurora got her powers.” Her breathing hitched, and when she opened her eyes, there was something distant in them, like she was reliving the moment right in front of us. “The force of it… it was too strong. It knocked everyone to the ground.” She swallowed hard, her voice barely above a whisper now. “Everything after that is blank.” 

The room went silent. My hands curled into fists at my sides. That still wasn’t enough. We needed to know more. But looking at Caroline now, the way she looked so lost, I knew pressing her any further wouldn’t do any good. I exhaled sharply, dragging a hand down my face. 

Damien glanced at me, then at Caroline, and his voice was calmer when he spoke. “That’s a start. We’ll figure out the rest.” He looked at her with something like reassurance, something I couldn’t bring myself to give just yet. 

But I knew one thing—whatever happened when Aurora’s powers awakened, it changed everything. And we weren’t ready for what was coming next.

I stood there, my pulse pounding in my ears as Caroline took a shaky breath, her eyes darting between me and Damien…before a gasp left her lips.

“What?” I was immediately next to her. “What it is, Care?”

"I remember," she started, her voice barely above a whisper. "I remember seeing someone walk in right after..." She swallowed hard. "A man in a black hoodie and a mask…green eyes. He picked Aurora up and was leaving... along with Harmona."

I felt something cold settle in my gut. "Harmona?" My voice came out sharper than I intended. "She was with them?" I knew my guess had been correct. Right from the beginning there had been something strange about her. But now, this…it proved my worst fears.

Caroline nodded, her fingers tightening into fists. "I tried to go after them. I did, Caleb, but..." Her voice broke slightly, and she exhaled shakily. "When I was following them down the stairs, she turned and—she put some kind of spell on me. I don’t know what it was, but everything went blurry, and then I... I fell. That’s the last thing I remember."

I clenched my jaw, my hands curling at my sides. Harmona. Betrayal. A mysterious man in the pack? "Are you sure?" I asked, though I knew I shouldn't have. Caroline’s glare cut through me like a knife.

"Do I look like I’m making this up?" she snapped, frustration bleeding into her tone. "I saw her, Caleb. She was there. She did this."

I turned sharply to my father, my chest tightening with something I couldn’t name. "Which coven was she from?" My voice was colder now, edged with something close to fury. "She was with us. She fought with us. If she turns, if she’s the reason Aurora is gone, I need to know who she really is."

My father exhaled, rubbing a hand over his face, and for the first time in a long time, I saw hesitation in his eyes. "Harmona was always a wildcard," he admitted, his voice low. "She wasn’t born into a coven—she was taken in. Raised by the Lunar Sect, but never fully accepted."

I scoffed, shaking my head. "And you never thought that was important to mention before?" My voice rose slightly, my patience thinning. "She was with us, and now she’s gone, and you’re telling me she was never really loyal to anyone?"

"Caleb—" he started, but I cut him off.

"No," I snapped. "Because if she’s with them now, that means she was never with us. And that means we have a bigger problem than just Aurora being taken." I took a deep breath, trying to steady myself. "It means we have no idea what she’s truly capable of."

Silence stretched between us, heavy and suffocating. My father’s expression darkened. "We’ll find out," he said finally, and I nodded, swallowing back the anger burning my throat.

Because we had to. We didn’t have a choice.