Claimed by My Bully Alpha Chapter 333

Caleb’s P.O.V

I couldn’t shake the knot in my stomach as I listened to Damien’s words, each one twisting a little tighter, the weight of them pressing down on me. There was something off, something I couldn’t quite put my finger on, but Damien seemed to see it more clearly than I did. His words were clipped, like he had already been turning this over in his mind for days.

“Do you think Aurora’s half-siblings could have something to do with this?” Damien cut to the chase right away. “After all, they lived with a man who could bring people back from the dead…transfer souls or whatever shit that magic was. You think the two older ones would be strong enough to pull something like this? After all, they had a wicked teacher.”

"Damien, you’re telling me you think Ashton and Maggie might be... what? Groomed? Brainwashed?" I asked, trying to grasp the enormity of what he was implying. My hands were restless, fingers tightening into fists at my side, my mind racing, trying to connect dots that hadn’t seemed connected before.

Damien met my gaze, his eyes sharp, focused. "I'm not saying it's a certainty, Caleb. But if you look at it... from the start, Ashton and Maggie were Lucas's first recruits. He brought them in, made them a part of his circle, and they’ve been with him for over five years now. Who's to say that, all this time, he hasn’t been molding them, turning them into exactly what he wants? They're loyal, but what if it's not loyalty, Caleb? What if it's something else? What if they don’t even know what they’ve become?"

I felt a chill run through me at the thought. My mind snapped back to the conversations I’d had with Shane. He’d mentioned something about Ashton and Maggie—there was a shift, a change in the air when he spoke their names. It was subtle, but it was there, like a crack in the facade of something I’d trusted.

"I... I don’t know, Damien. I’ve thought the same thing. Shane brought it up too, about Ashton and Maggie. There’s something going on with them. I can feel it, I just can’t... I can’t prove it. How do I even bring this up to Aurora? She trusts them both, and so does everyone else." My voice was tight, my mind swirling with questions. "What if I’m wrong? What if I’m just imagining things?"

Damien’s lips thinned, his tone hardening as he leaned in closer. "You can’t keep ignoring the signs, Caleb. This isn’t just a feeling anymore. It’s a pattern. You need to trust your instincts, not just hope it’ll pass. You think Lucas wouldn’t have used that time to manipulate them, bend them to his will? You’re not the only one who’s noticed this change in them."

I exhaled, running a hand through my hair. "Yeah, but there’s a problem with that, Damien. Avery—Avery’s still just a kid. She hasn’t even gotten her powers yet, not like the rest of them. And Ashton and Maggie... together, they don’t feel strong enough to—" I paused, my throat tight. "They couldn’t bring back thirty or more wolves from the dead, not on their own. Could they?"

Damien’s gaze softened, a flicker of something like sympathy passing through his eyes, but the edge of his words didn’t soften. "You’re not thinking big enough, Caleb. Lucas doesn’t need them to do it alone. What if it’s not just about raw power? What if they’re not the key to bringing them back? What if they’re just a part of a much bigger plan? A tool for Lucas to carry out his plan from the grave, whether they realize it or not."

My heart started to race again, a cold sweat prickling on the back of my neck. This... this was too much. My mind couldn't wrap around it all. "But how do I confront them, Damien? How do I even bring this up to Aurora, especially if I have no concrete proof? I’ll look like a damn fool."

"You don’t have to have all the answers right now," Damien said, his voice lowering, something almost comforting in the way he spoke. "You just need to watch, listen. Pay attention to the little things. You’ve got to make sure they’re not too far gone, Caleb. You’ve got to monitor their move and make sure they don’t do something like Harmona and we find out about it too late."

I swallowed hard, the knot in my stomach tightening again. "I don’t want to believe it," I admitted, my voice barely above a whisper. "But what if... what it it’s already too late to bring them back from the edge? What if they’re lost already?" The words left my mouth before I could stop them, and the weight of them crushed me.

Damien’s gaze softened just a little, his voice quieter now. "You don’t have to believe it right away. But you can’t ignore it either. You owe it to them, Caleb. You owe it to Aurora, to all of us." He paused, his eyes burning with an intensity that almost made me flinch. "And if it’s true? If they’ve already fallen too far? You have to be ready to do what’s necessary. No matter how hard it is."

I nodded slowly, the words settling heavy on my chest. I didn’t know what was happening with Ashton and Maggie, but I couldn’t ignore it any longer. Whatever it took, I had to get to the bottom of it. For their sake. For Aurora’s. For all of us.