Claimed by My Bully Alpha Chapter 330

Aurora’s P.O.V

The air felt heavy with anticipation, the kind that clings to your skin and holds your breath hostage in your lungs. I stood with my arms loosely folded across my chest, the toes of my sandals buried into the soft, cold sand as I watched Ashton. The orange-pink hues of the setting sun cast strange shadows across his face, highlighting the furrow in his brows, the clenched line of his jaw. But it was his hands that held my focus — the slow, steady glow gathering in his palms like stardust being coaxed to life.

I didn't dare say anything, afraid that even the tiniest whisper would break his concentration. The others stood behind me — Maggie, trying to be patient but obviously fidgeting with anxiety, and Avery, her little hands trembling, eyes wide and glistening with unshed tears. She looked at the still body of the turtle lying on the sand like it was a fallen star she couldn’t reach.

Then Ashton whispered something — a low, melodic string of syllables in a language I didn't recognize, a language that sounded older than time itself. His voice carried like wind through trees, like the hush of the sea kissing the shore at midnight.

And just like that, the light in his hands flared one last time before it flickered and went out entirely.

A sharp breath escaped his lips, followed by a sigh so heavy it felt like it had been lodged inside him forever. His shoulders slumped. Sweat beaded on his forehead, and his eyes, those usually bright, stormy-blue eyes, looked duller now, drained.

Avery’s lip trembled. I turned to look at her, and in that moment, I swear, her heart broke out loud. “It didn’t work,” she whispered, voice cracking, and she crouched beside the unmoving turtle with her hands hovering, unsure if she should even touch it. “I thought—I thought it would work…”

But before any of us could say anything to comfort her, there was a twitch. Just the tiniest spasm in the turtle’s back leg. Avery froze, her breath hitched.

Then another movement.

And then slowly — so painstakingly slow it made my own heart ache — the turtle’s front flippers scraped against the sand, and it started to move. Struggling, sure. Weak, definitely. But alive.

“Oh my god,” Avery gasped, falling to her knees. “Oh my god, it’s—it’s alive.”

Ashton sank into the sand beside her, exhausted, his body visibly trembling, but there was a faint smile on his face. He picked up the little creature with reverent fingers, like it was made of glass and sunlight, and offered it to her without a word.

Avery took it with hands that shook even more than before, pulling it close to her chest as if it was the most precious thing in the world. “Nova,” she breathed out, clutching it like a lifeline. “I’m gonna call her Nova. She’s gonna stay with me. I’m never letting her go.”

I blinked hard against the sudden sting in my eyes. There was something so deeply innocent in that moment, so pure, I felt like the world stopped spinning just to bear witness.

Maggie, always the one to swoop in and make practical sense of things, knelt beside her and tucked a strand of Avery’s hair behind her ear. “We’ll find a glass basin for her, okay? Something pretty. Maybe with some little pebbles inside. She’s gonna have a good home.”

Avery nodded wordlessly, tears streaming down her cheeks, holding Nova close like a secret she would never let the world steal.

Maggie gave me a look — the kind that said you good? — and I nodded just a bit. I watched them walk away, Maggie guiding Avery gently, murmuring something about the pet store down the road and seaweed snacks.

And I stayed behind with Ashton, who was still sitting in the sand, staring at his hands like he wasn’t sure what they were capable of anymore. I sat down beside him, not saying anything for a while, just letting the silence settle between us like dust.

Finally, I reached over and put my hand on his. “You okay?” I asked softly.

He didn’t answer right away. Then, without looking at me, he whispered, “It’s getting harder. Every time.”

The glow may have faded, but what he did — it was nothing short of a miracle. And I saw it. I felt it. That mattered. That had to matter.

“I know,” I murmured. “But look what you did.”

He turned his head slowly, and for the first time since the ritual, his eyes met mine. “She named it Nova.”

I smiled. “Of course she did. Stars always find their way back.”

Ashton looked ahead, his smile faint as he exhaled slowly.

The quiet between us was loud, pressing against my ears as I turned to the sea as well. My heart was still thumping with disbelief, awe, and something else I couldn’t quite name. The memory of the little turtle nestled in Avery’s palms, that had blinked once, then tucked its head into its shell as if nothing miraculous had just happened, was still fresh in my mind. I stared at the restless sea, then at Ashton, and finally blurted, “How did you do that?” My voice was low but trembling, half-wonder, half-accusation. “How did you bring it back to life?”

Ashton turned towards me, slow and hesitant. “I think I told you, Aurora…Maggie and I, we stole one of Harmona’s books.”

“Ashton, I’m not talking about the book or spells.”

“Then…what is it?”

I stepped closer to him, eyes narrowing as I searched his face. “I may be a novice when it comes to magic, sure—but I’m not stupid, Ashton. You brought it back. It was dead. Cold, lifeless. And now it’s… it’s breathing. You revived it.” My voice cracked with disbelief as I repeated the word, needing it to make sense in my own ears. “That’s not something even most elder witches can do. So don’t try to brush this off like it’s nothing. Tell me how you really did that, Ashton.”