Claimed by My Bully Alpha Chapter 319

Aurora’s P.O.V

As soon as I gently closed the door to Riley’s room, the air around me felt lighter than it had a few minutes ago. Maybe it was the sheer weight of emotions I had tried to bottle up while Riley’s wide, innocent eyes stared back at me, asking questions I couldn’t give answers to—at least, not yet. But thanks to Ashton’s explanations, the tension had now dissipated and Riley was sound asleep on his bed.

Ashton stood silently beside me in the dim hallway, his arms loosely crossed and his gaze fixed on the floor as though lost in thought. I watched him for a moment, tracing the line of his jaw, the slight furrow between his brows. It was the silence of someone who had just carried a fragile truth across a tightrope and miraculously made it to the other end.

I leaned against the wall, letting out a long, trembling sigh. “Ashton,” I began, my voice barely above a whisper. He looked up immediately, eyes warm and patient, waiting for me to continue.

“I just… I really need to thank you. The way you handled that back there with Riley… It was kind. Thoughtful. I don’t know how you managed to steer the conversation so carefully, but I could see it in his face—he wasn’t hurt. Not the way he could’ve been.”

A slow smile tugged at the corner of Ashton’s lips, modest, like he wasn’t quite sure he deserved the praise. “He’s a good kid,” he said softly, shrugging one shoulder. “He just needed someone to meet him where he was, not push him somewhere he wasn’t ready to go. I could see you were struggling. So, I stepped in. That’s all.”

“No,” I said, shaking my head and stepping closer. “It wasn’t just that. You read the room, you read him, Ashton. That’s not something people do without care. You protected him in your own way, and I can’t tell you how much that means to me.”

He gave me that boyish half-smile again, the one that always looked a little too honest, like it cut right through the armor I wore. But then, I let out a heavier breath and looked down, pressing my palm against the side of my neck, suddenly feeling the sting of what had happened before we’d come into Riley’s room.

“But…” I murmured, “As grateful as I am… I know that Avery’s hurt now. She saw everything. She heard it. And I didn’t even get to explain— As much as I wanted to keep Riley safe, I think I failed her tonight.”

Ashton’s expression softened, and he reached out, his fingers just barely grazing my elbow before falling back to his side. “You didn’t fail her, Aurora,” he said firmly. “You did what needed to be done in the moment. Riley was on the edge. You saw that. You had to make a choice, and I don’t blame you for the one you made.”

“But she’s our sister too,” I argued, biting down on my lower lip. “And she looks up to you. She probably thinks I’m the villain now. That I shut her out, that I don’t trust her. And that breaks me, because that’s not true. I do trust her. I just— I was afraid of breaking Riley even more.”

He was quiet for a second, then nodded thoughtfully. “I’ll talk to her,” he said after a beat. “I’ll explain everything as gently and clearly as I can. Avery’s not just a kid. She a lot older than Riley and she should’ve known not to push like that. But…she’s got more wisdom packed into her than most adults I know. She’ll understand—maybe not right away, but eventually. She just needs time. And someone to tell her she still matters, even when she’s left out of a hard decision.”

I stared at him, feeling an unexpected lump form in my throat. “Thank you,” I said again, softer now. “Really. For everything.”

Then, there was a pause. A subtle shift in the air between us. Ashton glanced past me, his gaze resting briefly on the door just opposite Riley’s. He tilted his head, an almost curious smile playing on his lips as he asked, “Does that room belong to you?”

His question caught me off guard. I blinked, then turned slightly to glance at the door he was referring to. For a moment, my mind scrambled to find the meaning behind his question—was it just idle curiosity? Or was there something in his tone I hadn’t picked up on?

“Yeah,” I said finally, brushing a stray strand of hair behind my ear. “It’s mine. Why?”

He gave a small shrug, though the glimmer in his eye betrayed something more playful, or maybe thoughtful. “Just noticed you always come from that direction. And… It's close to Riley’s. I guess I was wondering if that was on purpose.”

My lips curved into a small smile, a tired one. “It was. I asked for it, actually. I wanted to be nearby, in case he ever needed me in the middle of the night. Or just… so I could hear him breathe through the walls and know he was still here. Still okay.”

He nodded slowly, a look of understanding settling over his features. “Makes sense,” he murmured. “You care deeply. It shows.”

I didn’t say anything to that. Instead, I just looked at him—really looked. And something inside me ached with gratitude and something quieter, softer, unspoken.

“You should get some rest,” I whispered eventually.

“So should you,” he replied, his voice gentle.

But neither of us moved.

But the moment Ashton turned to me with that wide-eyed, expectant look, something inside me shifted—just slightly. A barely-there hesitation I couldn’t quite place, like the air had thickened around me for a second too long. He stood there, hand still on the doorframe, brows lifted like he needed me to confirm what we both already knew.

It wasn’t like I had any issues with Ashton being around this part of the hallway or the wing of the house. But there was something in the way he looked at me, not just for permission to enter, but for something more intangible—acceptance, maybe. An invitation into a space that was never just about bricks or paint or furniture. It was more than a room. And even as I said the words, a small voice in the back of my mind whispered that I was opening a door to more than just a guest suite.

“Y-you wanna come in?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. Something in me was hoping that he’d reject it, but he didn’t.

His lips curled into a smile—genuine, easygoing, that same boyish charm he always wore like a second skin—and I hated that it made my chest tighten. “Mind if I go in?” he asked, like he didn’t already know the answer. Like I hadn’t just given it to him.

I didn’t want to seem rude. Hell, I didn’t want to seem cold. Not to him. Not now. So I forced a smile and gestured with my head, stepping aside. “Yeah. Sure. Come in.”