Claimed by My Bully Alpha Chapter 315

Aurora’s P.O.V

With a shake of my head, I turned on my heel, heading toward the counter to collect my dish where I had left it. The hallway was buzzing with the usual noise—chatter, footsteps, the occasional burst of laughter. I was already lost in thought, imagining the years to come, when the sound of raised voices caught my attention. My gaze shifted instinctively, and my heart skipped a beat when I saw Riley standing in the middle of a heated argument.

But it wasn’t any argument…and it was who he was having that argument with that made my blood run cold.

Avery. My fourteen, almost fifteen year old half-sister, was standing toe-to-toe with him, her face flushed with determination. Avery was easily towering over Riley, and she had that sharp edge to her, the kind that made her a force to be reckoned with. I could hear the words, their argument growing louder as Riley's voice cracked with frustration.

"I’m telling you, it’s true! Aurora only has one brother, and that’s me!" Riley was saying, his little face scrunched up in defiance.

Avery scoffed, her eyes narrowing. "No, you’re wrong. Aurora is my sister. We’re family."

"No! No, she's not! You're not my sister!" Riley shot back, his small fists clenched at his sides. “Only Aura is my sister! Take that back!”

I wanted to smile at the sheer intensity of Riley's defense. He was so protective of me, even at his age, and it warmed my heart. But it was the way that things had suddenly started to crash and burn that made me freeze on the spot.

No…this couldn’t be happening…this wasn’t how I wanted Riley to find out the truth…

I needed Avery to keep quiet for once, to not escalate the matter. I had hoped that Avery wouldn’t cause trouble since she was almost a decade older than Riley. But Avery wasn’t backing down, and I could tell she wasn’t going to let it go. She stood her ground, stubborn and relentless.

"You don’t know anything!" Avery spat, her voice laced with bitterness. "Aurora is mine too. She’s my sister!"

The words stung a little more than I expected. I had always assumed Avery knew the situation—knew that I was her half sister, not someone she could claim as her own. But as I watched them argue, the confusion in Riley's eyes, I realized maybe I hadn't explained it well enough to him. He was just a little boy, after all and he didn’t deserve to know the truth in such a manner…

Riley’s eyes darted around in panic, his breath quickening as the tension mounted. He looked desperately toward me, as if seeking some sort of answer.

"Is that true, Aurora?" he asked, his voice quivering. "Do you have other siblings now? Is Avery my sister?"

I froze. My stomach twisted with an ache I couldn’t quite place. How could I explain this? How could I tell him that I was tied to Avery in a way he couldn’t understand yet? The words stuck in my throat, my mind racing for something—anything—that would make sense of this. But before I could even open my mouth, Riley's face fell, the realization hitting him before I could speak.

His lip trembled, his wide eyes filled with hurt and confusion. And just like that, the dam broke. His tiny body shook with sobs, and before I could move, before I could say anything, Riley turned on his heel and bolted, running down the hall with tears streaming down his face.

"Riley!" I called after him, but my voice was lost in the noise of the hallway, swallowed up by the chaos of it all.

I stood there, frozen in shock. I wanted to go after him, to pull him into my arms and tell him it was all okay. But I was paralyzed, unsure of how to explain what had just happened. Avery stood there, her arms crossed, watching the whole thing unfold with a mixture of smugness and something else I couldn’t quite read.

"I didn’t mean to make him cry," Avery muttered, her tone softer now but still holding that sharpness. “But it’s the truth!”

I didn’t know what to say to her either. How could I explain this was more complicated than just a simple sibling rivalry? But Riley was my priority, and I couldn’t just stand there. I took off after him, ignoring the fact that Avery was still standing there, looking after me with those unreadable eyes.

I had to fix this. I had to make things right with Riley, because I couldn't stand to see him hurt like that.