Claimed by My Bully Alpha Chapter 201

Caleb’s P.O.V

I stepped forward, trying to make sense of it all, but all I could think about was her, the lone survivor, sitting there like a fragile shell. "What happened to the others?" My voice sounded distant, like I was asking but not sure I wanted to hear the answer.

Jackson's gaze dropped to the floor before he met my eyes, and in that moment, I saw the weight of it all. "She won’t talk about it. No one’s gotten through to her yet." He let out a sigh, looking frustrated and worried. "We don’t even know if she’s gonna be of any use to us. But she’s all we’ve got now."

Alpha Camden gave a low growl, pacing for a moment before his gaze hardened. "We can’t afford to have another loose end right now. Not with everything else going on."

My chest tightened. I knew my father was right. We couldn’t have any more uncertainty, but looking at the girl—this child—I couldn’t just see her as another piece in the puzzle. She was just a kid. What had they done to her?

I couldn’t help but feel the chill crawl up my spine as I looked at her state. The weight of them was heavy, suffocating even. “What do you mean by ‘only survivor’?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper, despite myself. “Do you have any idea what happened to her coven?”

Alpha Jackson let out a long sigh and ran a hand through his disheveled hair. “Something happened during the storm last night,” he started, his voice gravelly. “The entire coven, Caleb… they’re gone. Every last one of them.”

My heart skipped a beat. "Gone? How? Where?" The words tasted bitter, like I couldn’t quite grasp what he was saying.

Jackson met my gaze, and I could see the unease in his eyes. "We don’t know. The child… she’s the only one left." His words felt cold, even though they weren’t meant to be. "She came to the pack to play like she always does, but when the storm hit, we let her stay with us for the night. Thought it would be safer for her. In the morning, when we went to send her back to the coven…" He shook his head, the memory clearly still fresh. "There was nothing left. The houses… all empty. No signs of struggle, no trace of anyone. It’s like they vanished into thin air."

I felt a shiver crawl down my spine, and my thoughts spun wildly. “That’s impossible…” I muttered, still trying to make sense of it. “An entire coven? Disappearing? Just like that?”

Caroline’s voice cut through my rising panic. “No,” she said firmly, crossing her arms. “There’s no way. An entire coven doesn’t just vanish. This has to be connected to our friend’s abduction, Alpha Jackson. There’s no way it’s a coincidence. Whatever happened to them is what we need to understand. We need to find out what happened, and that means we need to examine the coven, figure out what went wrong."

I looked between her and Jackson, both of them as tense as I was, if not more. The sense of dread only deepened. "So what do we do now?" I asked, feeling my pulse quicken.

“We find answers," Caroline said, her voice unwavering. "We figure out why they disappeared—and what it means for us."

I stood there, listening intently as Alpha Jackson's words echoed in the room. “Go ahead, search all you want,” he said, his voice steady. “We did the same thing and came up with nothing.” I could tell there was a sense of frustration in his tone. My father, ever the strategist, didn’t waste any time. He immediately motioned for his guards to take action, ordering them to conduct a thorough search—find anything they could.

I couldn’t shake the tension that lingered in the air. There was something off about the whole situation, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. I wasn’t about to stand around and wait. I needed answers, and right now, the little girl sitting quietly at the edge of the room was the only one who might have them.

Taking a step toward her, I could feel every pair of eyes on me. The women taking care of her glanced up, their faces softening with a mixture of concern and curiosity. I stopped just in front of them, my voice low and calm as I asked, “Is it okay if I talk to her?” They hesitated for a moment before nodding in agreement.

Kneeling down in front of the girl, I gave her a reassuring smile, though I wasn’t sure if she would understand the gesture. Her big pale eyes met mine, wide and filled with fear. “Hey there,” I said softly, trying to make her feel comfortable. “What’s your name?”

She looked up at me hesitantly, her voice barely above a whisper when she finally responded,

“Silvia.”

I nodded, then decided to take the risk, hoping that she might remember something important.

“Silvia, do you know anyone in your coven by the name Harmona?”

The change in her expression was immediate. Her eyes widened, her small frame tensing as if she’d just been struck by a wave of recognition. I watched her closely, noticing the way her breath quickened. She didn’t speak for a long moment, but I could tell that the name had hit a nerve. The silence between us grew heavy.

“Harmona,” she murmured, barely audible, as if saying the name out loud made the situation even more real than before.

I could feel the tension rising in the room, and something in the air shifted. I glanced over at Silvia, watching her lips tremble slightly as she spoke, her voice barely above a whisper. "She... She wasn't really liked by anyone. Harmona, I mean. But we took her in anyway. We needed thirteen for the coven to be complete, you know?" Her gaze flickered to the floor before meeting mine.

"She was always... scary. Didn't talk much. Spent most of her time at the house in the woods."

The moment the words left her mouth, a chill swept through the room. It was like a collective breath was held, and everyone's eyes snapped to Silvia. I could feel the weight of their gaze on me, but my focus was solely on her. I couldn’t let that slip go unnoticed. There was something more there, something deeper she wasn’t saying.

I leaned forward, keeping my tone gentle but insistent. "What do you mean by 'scary,' Silvia?" I tried to keep my voice steady, but even I could hear the edge creeping into it. "What is the house in the woods? Can you please tell us more?"

Her hands were clenched tight in her lap, and she looked like she was about to bolt from the room. I softened my voice, trying to reassure her without pushing too hard. "Silvia, I need you to tell me. Why are you scared?"

Her eyes darted to the others in the room, and I could see the hesitation. She was holding back, I could tell. But when she spoke again, it was like the words were dragging themselves out of her.

"She... she had this darkness about her. Not just in how she looked, but in what she did. The others never really talked about it, but... I think they knew." Her voice faltered, and she shook her head, as if trying to shake off the memory. "The house... the woods…I saw it by accident…she went there often and I followed."

The air in the room felt heavier now, and I realized I wasn’t the only one feeling it. Every eye in the room was on Silvia, and I could tell no one had expected this. The coven’s secrets, the ones they’d buried so deep, were starting to surface.