Claimed by My Bully Alpha Chapter 313

Caleb’s P.O.V

So many truths I hadn’t shared, not out of malice but to protect her. But today, it felt like the walls I’d built around myself were crumbling. I wasn’t sure if it was the exhaustion from the battle, or the raw vulnerability that came with seeing her worried face, but something inside me kept telling me to say the truth.

But how could I end up hurting her like that when she was starting to enjoy time with her new family?

She sighed in relief, shaking her head slightly as she leaned closer. "Alright, Caleb," she murmured, her voice teasing, but her eyes were full of concern.

"I’ll forgive your dirty jokes this time. Just don’t make a habit of it while you're injured." Her attempt to lighten the mood made me chuckle, but the laughter felt hollow, distant. I pulled her into a hug, squeezing her tightly, and in that moment, I decided I couldn’t keep pretending that everything was fine.

I pulled back just enough to look her in the eye, and I could see the confusion flicker behind her gaze. "Aurora," I started, my voice lower than usual, betraying the weight of what I was about to say. "I don’t want to hide anything from you anymore. Not after everything we’ve been through." My hands trembled slightly as I spoke, but I steadied them, trying to keep my composure. "The wolves we faced today—they weren’t just regular wolves. They were... dead. Resurrected. Brought back by magic. It almost felt like..." I swallowed hard, the words choking me. "Like the way your stepfather came back, after Lucas got to him."

Her face changed in an instant. Her brow furrowed, and I could see her instinctively touch the mark behind her ear, a habit she’d had ever since she first discovered it. The same mark her stepfather had carried before he was resurrected. She was silent for a moment, her fingers still resting against the mark, as if searching for an answer. "Caleb..." she whispered, her voice tight with worry. "Was there a mark? On any of them?"

I shook my head, the answer already hurting more than I wanted it to. "No," I said, "The creatures—they disintegrated before we could even get close enough to check. There’s no way of telling." My voice trailed off, and I could see the fear start to settle in her eyes. The same fear that I knew all too well—the one that came with the thought of things we couldn’t understand, things we couldn't control.

She went silent, her hand falling slowly from the mark behind her ear, her fingers trembling slightly. She didn’t say anything for a long time, but the worry on her face was enough to speak volumes. I could feel her mind racing, the wheels turning, and I could see how hard she was trying to process what I had just told her. How could she not be worried?

I reached out, gently cupping her face in my hands, hoping she could feel the sincerity in my touch. "I’m sorry," I said, my voice barely above a whisper. "I thought we were done with this. I thought we left that nightmare behind." A lump formed in my throat, and I cursed myself for letting the words slip out so helplessly. "But I... I don’t think it’s gone. Not completely. I don’t think we’re safe from it, Aurora. Not yet."

She looked up at me, her eyes searching mine, and for the first time, I saw the raw fear she had been trying to hide. It wasn’t just the fear of what I had said; it was the fear of the unknown, of things she couldn’t control. "What does this mean, Caleb?" she asked, her voice soft but trembling. "What do we do now?"

I closed my eyes for a moment, letting the silence stretch between us. There were no easy answers. No quick fixes. But I knew one thing for sure: whatever came next, I wasn’t going to face it alone. Not anymore. I had to protect her—protect us. And that meant we had to face this head-on, no matter how terrifying it was.

"I don’t know," I admitted quietly. "But I promise you, we’ll figure it out together. We always do." And even as I said the words, I knew the truth—nothing would ever be the same again.