Claimed by My Bully Alpha Chapter 307

Aurora’s P.O.V

I woke up with a sharp gasp, my heart slamming against my ribcage like it was trying to escape my chest. My eyes flew open, the dim glow of the stormy light outside painting the room in cold, silvery shadows.

For a few seconds, I couldn’t breathe. My throat felt like it was tightening around invisible hands, my chest heaving as if I’d just surfaced from deep underwater. I blinked hard, trying to get my bearings, but everything felt… off. Disoriented, I looked around, frowning when I realized I was still in the room—Caleb’s room. The blanket was slightly askew, and my legs were stiff, still hanging off the side of the bed. I must’ve fallen asleep waiting for him. God, how long had I been out?

The last thing I remembered was sitting there, glancing toward the door every few seconds, my thoughts wrapped tightly around the sound of rain hitting the glass, and then the shadowy figure showed up…and then Violet...

Had it all been just a dream? A horrid nightmare born from my guilt? However, everything had felt so real...

But now the room was darker, colder, and everything felt unfamiliar in the worst possible way.

I stood up, shakily, my feet cold against the wooden floor. My heart hadn’t quite stopped racing, and the uneasy feeling in my gut still lingered like a sickness. I stumbled toward the window, needing to see something—anything—to ground myself. My breath fogged up the glass as I pressed closer, eyes scanning the courtyard below.

The rain was still pouring in relentless sheets, the soldiers below moving with weary determination as they cleared out the debris and checked every corner with keen focus. I watched their silhouettes pass back and forth, but other than the constant patrol, there was nothing out of the ordinary. No movement in the woods. No skeletal figures. No shadows. No twisted laughter or blood-curdling screams.

Just the rain, the living, and the dead.

I let out a slow, shaking breath and leaned my forehead against the windowpane, letting the cold seep into my skin. It wasn’t real. It wasn’t real. I kept repeating the words over and over in my head like a mantra, trying to will the nightmare away, but it still clung to me like a second skin. Violet’s voice echoed in my ears, too real to ignore. She told me I must pay…that I must repent for what I had done to her…

A soft knock broke through the silence, barely audible over the storm. I turned quickly, startled, but then the door creaked open and Caroline’s familiar face peeked through. “Aurora?” she said gently, concern etched across her face. “Are you okay? I felt something—”

I didn’t even think. I rushed toward her like a child reaching for a lifeline, and before she could say another word, I pulled her into a hug so tight I thought I might break. She froze for a second—maybe surprised—but then her arms wrapped around me, warm and grounding.

“I had a nightmare,” I whispered, my voice cracking as tears stung the corners of my eyes. “About Violet. She was screaming, and I—I couldn’t save her. I just stood there, and she was gone all over again. It felt so real.”

Caroline didn’t say anything for a moment, just held me tighter, one hand rubbing slow circles on my back. The dam inside me cracked, and the tears spilled over as I pressed my face into her shoulder. I hadn’t realized just how badly I needed someone—anyone—to tell me I wasn’t going crazy.

“She was in the hallway,” I went on, barely able to get the words out through the sobs. “Her eyes were hollow, and her hands were reaching for me. And I kept calling her name, but she just—she just smiled like it wasn’t me she was looking at. She told me I needed to pay for my mistake…that I was going to pay for abandoning her.”

“It was just a nightmare,” Caroline whispered softly, her voice trembling just enough to let me know it hurt her too. “She’s not here. You’re safe. I promise.”

But that was the thing—I didn’t feel safe. Not with the storm outside. Not with the enemy still lurking in the shadows of this broken world. And certainly not with the ghosts of the past crawling back into my dreams.

I trembled in Caroline’s arms, my body feeling like it was made of glass, fragile and about to shatter with every breath I took. She held me close, her hands stroking my back gently as if trying to piece me together again, but I couldn’t stop shaking. My eyes were wide, filled with the kind of fear I hadn’t felt in years — the kind that nestles into your bones and won’t leave. She kept whispering, “It’s okay, you’re safe. I’ve got you,” over and over, but her voice was a distant echo in my head.

“I—I don’t even know how I fell asleep,” I stammered, my voice hoarse and broken. “I was waiting for Caleb. I just... I sat on the bed, and then suddenly I was somewhere else. It didn’t feel like a dream, Caroline, it felt real.”

Her brows furrowed. “What happened? What did you see?”

I took a shaky breath and pressed my forehead against her shoulder, trying to ground myself in her warmth. “I saw Violet. Caroline, I saw her. And she looked… God, she looked like life had been drained from her. Her eyes—” I swallowed hard, my throat burning. “Her eyes were empty, hollow. And she said... she said I would pay for what I did to her.” My voice cracked completely at the end, and I nearly collapsed into her, the weight of those words crashing down all over again.

Caroline pulled back just enough to look at me, her eyes wide but calm, her fingers brushing my hair from my face. “Aurora, no. You didn’t do anything to Violet. That day... There were so many of us there. We all made decisions. We all missed something. Her death—” she hesitated, as if saying it out loud made it more real “—her death isn’t just on you. It’s on all of us.”

“But she spoke to me,” I whispered, my voice trembling. “Not you. Not the others. Me. Like she singled me out.” I paused, my heart hammering, and then I looked Caroline straight in the eyes. “And that wasn’t all. There was something else. Someone else. A shadow... a figure. I don’t even know what it was, but it was coming toward me. It felt cold, evil—like if it touched me, I’d disappear completely.”

Caroline’s eyes flickered with concern. She wrapped her arms tighter around me, and I could tell she was trying to stay strong for my sake. “You’ve always had dreams that felt like something more,” she said softly. “Visions. Warnings. But we’ve gotten through every single one of them. We’ll get through this too.”

“I don’t know if I can this time,” I confessed, my voice barely audible. “It’s like before, when the dreams started before everything went to hell. When no one listened. I ignored them then, and looked at what happened. Harmona managed to get to me. And Violet died. And now it’s happening again. I can feel it. Something’s coming, Caroline. I don’t know what, but it’s darker than anything we’ve faced before.”

She held me close again, resting her chin on top of my head. “Then we’ll be ready. Whatever it is, we face it together. You’re not alone in this, Aurora. Not now, not ever.”

But as she spoke those words, I couldn’t shake the weight of Violet’s empty gaze or the feeling that something was already reaching out for me from the shadows. I wanted to believe Caroline, I needed to believe her — but deep down, a voice kept whispering that this time, belief might not be enough.