Claimed by My Bully Alpha Chapter 257

Aurora’s P.O.V

I watched as Alice's sharp gaze swept across the room, her presence demanding attention. Her voice was steady, unwavering, as she folded her arms. "Does anyone need a demonstration, or has anyone been able to connect with their powers before?" she asked, her words laced with an authority that made it clear she wasn’t here to coddle us. 

I hesitated for a moment before stepping forward, my voice quieter than I wanted it to be. "I... I connected with mine once," I admitted, feeling the weight of my own uncertainty pressing against my chest. "But it was Ashton who helped me. He used a spell, and it worked, but after that… I haven’t been able to use my powers since." The frustration in my tone was impossible to hide. I had felt it once—raw, untamed magic coursing through me, responding to my will. And then it was gone, slipping from my grasp like water through my fingers. 

Alice studied me for a long moment before nodding. "That’s normal," she finally said, her voice softer now, though still firm. "What you experienced was a survival instinct. Your magic protected you because you needed it to. But instinct alone isn’t enough. You have to learn how to summon it at will, not just when desperation forces it out of you." She took a step closer, and though there was nothing threatening in her posture, I still felt the weight of her words settle over me. "That’s what we’re here to do." 

She turned her attention to all of us then, her expression unreadable. "Close your eyes," she instructed, and I obeyed, letting the darkness wash over me. "I want you to imagine a candle burning inside your soul. Not just a flame—see it, feel it. The warmth, the light, the way it flickers but never truly dies." 

“I want you to summon that flame,” Alice continued. “Bring it to the palm of your hand, will it to move, persuade it to respond to your calls.”

I exhaled slowly, trying to follow her words, but doubt curled around my mind like smoke. What if I couldn’t do this? What if I was broken, empty? But then, deep within, I searched for the ember she spoke of, the one I so desperately hoped was still there.

I close my eyes, inhaling deeply, trying to focus on what Alice had said. The candle. The flame. Bring it into my palm. It sounds simple enough, but my mind refuses to paint the picture she’s asking for. Every time I try, my thoughts scatter like dry leaves in the wind, slipping through my grasp before I can shape them into something tangible. Frustration creeps in, curling itself around my ribs, making my breathing shallow.

A sudden gust of wind slices through the silence, cold against my skin, shattering my concentration. My eyes snap open just in time to see Ashton—his entire form engulfed in a radiant green light, his feet barely touching the ground as the wind around him thickens into something alive.

My heart stutters in my chest at the sheer force of it, the way the energy coils around him like an extension of himself, raw and untamed yet somehow controlled. Before I can fully process it, another light blooms in my periphery. Maggie. She stands with her eyes closed, serene, bathed in a blue-gold glow that pulses like the steady heartbeat of the earth itself. Leaves swirl around her, lifted by an unseen force, twisting and dancing in a rhythm only she seems to understand. 

Alice’s voice breaks through the moment, laced with awe and approval. “Incredible. You both found it so quickly.” There’s warmth in her tone, admiration, pride. It should be encouraging. It should push me forward. Instead, it feels like a blade between my ribs. Because I’m still standing here. Empty. Powerless. 

Why is it so easy for them? Why can’t I do it? 

I force my eyes shut again, swallowing down the lump of frustration in my throat. No distractions this time. No doubts. Just me and the power I know is buried somewhere deep inside. I reach inward, past the noise of my thoughts, past the sting of inadequacy clawing at my insides. I searched for it. That ember of something waiting to be ignited. 

Come on. Come on. 

And then, a flicker. Faint. Elusive. But it’s there. A warmth unfurling in my chest, like a whisper of fire in the dark. My fingers twitch, drawn to the sensation, and for the first time, I feel it—like a pulse of heat curling around my palm, waiting. 

I just have to bring it to life.

I take a deep breath, closing my eyes, trying to push everything else away. The world is too loud, too chaotic, and my mind feels like a battlefield where thoughts clash and collide with no sense of direction. I need to focus. I need to find the source within me, the place where my power lives.

Alice told me to imagine a candle, a single flame burning steady in the darkness. A simple enough image, yet the moment I try to summon it in my mind, it flickers and dies before I can even grasp onto it.