Claimed by My Bully Alpha Chapter 197

Aurora’s P.O.V

I lay there, wide awake, staring at the ceiling. It felt like I hadn't slept in days, but every time I tried to close my eyes, my mind refused to rest. The exhaustion was pulling at me, but it was like I couldn't surrender to it. The small clock on the bedside table ticked away in the silence of the night, each second reminding me of how much I needed sleep. But the minutes stretched on, dragging me deeper into an anxious state, as if the night itself was refusing to let me go.

Then, right when it seemed like the world would finally give me a break, I heard a soft knock on the door. It barely made a sound, but I froze immediately, my heart racing. I sat up, trying to rub the sleep from my eyes, when the door opened just a crack. Ashton and Maggie stepped in, their faces a mix of urgency and something else—something I couldn’t quite place.

I couldn't hide the worry in my voice when I asked, “Is it really safe for you to be here at this hour?”

Ashton stepped closer, his usual calm demeanor replacing any tension. “It’s fine. You’re okay.” His voice was steady, but I could hear the undercurrent of something deeper. “Between two and three a.m. is called the Witching Hour. Witches and wizards meditate during this time to connect with their magic. For the next forty minutes, we’re safe. Nothing can harm us.”

I stared at him, trying to process what he’d just said. “You’re telling me it’s safe because of the time?”

Maggie nodded, her usual quiet presence not matching the seriousness in her eyes. “Exactly. It’s like a protective window. During this hour, everything aligns. Trust me, we’re not in any danger.”

I still wasn’t entirely convinced. “But why come here now?” My voice was shaky. "What if we’re being watched?"

Ashton gave me a reassuring look, though it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “We just need to talk, Aurora. There’s something important we need to discuss.”

I wasn’t sure what to make of it all, but I had a feeling this wasn’t just about the time. Something else was going on, and I had a sinking feeling it was about to change everything.

I motioned for them to hop onto the bed, my voice steady despite the chaos swirling in my mind. The two of them didn’t flinch as they crossed my mother’s glass coffin, didn’t hesitate. They just moved, their feet hitting the ground lightly as if they'd done this a thousand times before. I could see it in their eyes—the same unease I felt, but they were already used to the horror of it. We all were.

I forced myself to swallow the unease. I couldn’t let myself spiral. There were too many questions I needed answers to. I met Ashton’s gaze, his eyes dark, distant, haunted. "Is everyone like this?" I asked, my voice soft but heavy with the weight of the question. "Did we all suffer because of him?"

Ashton’s lips pressed into a thin line, and he exhaled slowly, looking at the glass case, then back at me. “Yeah, we all did.” His voice was flat, but there was an edge to it. "Lucas made sure of that. And we were too powerless to stop it."

Maggie, who had been silently taking it all in, finally spoke up. "Lucas has been doing this for a long time, Aurora." Her words hung in the air like smoke. “All these children, all these… hybrids. He’s creating them for a reason. He’s feeding off of them, drawing power, trying to build something." She paused, her face tightening with frustration. "This... It's an experiment. A sick, twisted one."

I swallowed hard, my throat burning. "I... I have so many questions. I don’t even know where to begin," I admitted, my head spinning. Every inch of this place, every story they told, felt like a puzzle piece I couldn’t put together.

Ashton leaned forward, his eyes locking onto mine with a strange intensity. “I’ll answer them," he said, voice low. "I was the first one to be taken. I’ve seen what he’s capable of. Just... ask.”

“The first?” I asked, my eyes wide.

“Yes,” he nodded, shaking his head on a rueful smile. “It’s been five bloody years in this hellhole.”

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. The words felt like they were too heavy for me to fully grasp, but they were spilling out of his mouth, raw and painful, and I couldn’t turn away. "I was lucky, I guess," he said, his voice distant, like he was somewhere far away, in a place where I couldn’t follow. "I had my mom until my teens... until she took her own life." I felt my heart tighten at the weight of that.

“Wait, what?” I asked, my voice breaking slightly, but I couldn’t stop myself. I needed to understand. “She... how? Why?”

“She was raped,” he answered, his eyes fixed on the ground, his jaw clenched like he was fighting against the memory. “By Lucas. He’d stalked her for months, pretending to be someone he wasn’t. He befriended her at her school... and then... he took everything from her."

The anger surged inside me like a tidal wave, my hands trembling. “Lucas...” I whispered, the name making me sick. "Why... why would he do that? Why would he do this to all of our moms?"

He just shrugged, shaking his head as if the answer wasn’t something he wanted to remember. “He said he loved her... that he loved all of them. But it didn’t matter, did it? It didn’t change what happened. What he did to her...in the end, that’s how all of us are here.”

I didn’t know what to say. How do you even begin to process something like that? And yet, somehow, it didn’t stop there.

Maggie, who had been quiet beside me, suddenly spoke up, her voice soft but laced with pain. "It’s the same with my mom," she said, her gaze meeting mine. “Lucas claimed to love her too. But... look at what it did to her. Her marriage, her family—it was all ruined. My mom’s life, my whole family—nothing was the same after Lucas came into it.”

I felt a pit form in my stomach, my mind racing. “But... why? Why would he do this to all of us?” I asked, my voice trembling, more to myself than anyone else. “Why did he hurt so many people?”

Maggie looked down at her hands, as if she couldn’t bear to meet my eyes anymore. "He’s broken," she said, the pain in her words clear. "And I think he wanted to break all of us. But the worst part? He convinced everyone that it wasn’t his fault—that it was us, our moms. The men believed their wives had cheated, that it wasn’t their fault, but..." She paused, swallowing hard. "They all just... left us to pick up the pieces."

The silence stretched between us, thick and suffocating. I wanted to scream at Lucas for what he’d done to them, to all of us, but somehow, that wouldn’t change anything. It wouldn’t undo the damage.

All this time, all this pain, I realized... I wasn’t the only one who had been hurt. I wasn’t the only one who had suffered. “You weren’t alone,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper. “None of you were. And neither am I.”

Maggie looked at me then, her eyes searching mine like she was trying to see if I understood.

“No,” she said, shaking her head, a small smile tugging at her lips. “We weren’t alone. And... maybe that’s the only thing that matters now.”

I didn’t know if I agreed with her. But in that moment, I knew one thing for sure—nothing would ever be the same again. And I wasn’t going to let Lucas get away with it. Not if I could help it.