Claimed by My Bully Alpha Chapter 335

Caleb’s P.O.V

But as the night breeze blew through the trees, providing momentary relief, I couldn’t help but sigh in exhaustion.

It’s been a long night, a night that had drained me more than I’d like to admit. The weight of the situation felt like it was crushing down on my chest, but there was no choice. We had to figure this out. We had to get to the bottom of it before everything spiraled out of control. Damien, Caroline, and I stood around outside the packhouse, the cold air biting at our skin as we discussed the attack that had rocked us to our core. We’d been going in circles for what felt like hours, trying to make sense of the mystery surrounding Lucas and Harmona and their connection to Ashton and Maggie.

Caroline, always the one to think outside the box, suddenly cut through the tension. “Do you think it’s possible that Lucas and Harmona had another accomplice?” she asked, her voice sharp with concern. “Someone behind the scenes pulling strings? That could explain the sudden attack…or the power required by someone to pull it off.”

I didn’t have to look at Damien to know what his response would be. We’d both been chewing over the same thing for the past few hours. “No,” I said firmly, shaking my head. “If there had been another accomplice, they would’ve been there with Lucas and Harmona. You saw the ceremony—they were alone. No one else could’ve been involved if they had wanted that power for themselves as well.”

Damien nodded in agreement, his jaw tight as he processed the information. “We’re at a dead end, then,” he muttered, frustration clear in his voice. “There’s no other logical explanation. Unless—” He stopped himself, eyes narrowing. “Unless those rogues were just a distraction for something else? But why attack now? Why wait? Or is this an omen that the danger isn't over yet?”

I let out a breath, trying to make sense of it all. “I don’t know. There’s something off about this entire situation. But for now, we have no answers. We’re just stuck chasing shadows.”

Caroline’s face darkened, the usual calm replaced by a flicker of uncertainty. “So, what now?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper, as if she was afraid the wrong answer would make it all worse.

Damien shifted his weight, staring off into the distance. “We keep digging,” he said, but it wasn’t convincing. There was something weighing heavily on him, a realization he wasn’t voicing. I could tell that much.

The night was growing colder, and I was growing tired of the endless possibilities, each one more confusing than the last. “Damien,” I said after a long silence, “you should stay with us for the next few days. We can brainstorm, go over everything, see if we’re missing something. Maybe if we approach it from a different angle, we’ll find something we haven’t yet.”

Damien looked at me, clearly exhausted but still nodding in agreement. “Yeah, I think that’s a good idea,” he said, though I could hear the hesitance in his tone. He was just as drained as the rest of us. “I’ll head home for the night, but tomorrow... we figured this out.”

As he started to walk away, I turned to Caroline, feeling the heavy weight of the situation sink in. We hadn’t even come close to a solution, and yet, the pressure to find one was suffocating.

“Let’s go back inside,” I said, my voice barely more than a whisper. “We need to regroup.”

Caroline gave me a tired smile, the kind of smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “Yeah, let’s.” She wrapped her arms around herself as we made our way toward the door.

But just as we stepped through the threshold, something in the shadows caught my attention. My instincts flared. There, in the distance, beyond the tree line—just a flicker of movement, a shadow blending with the darkness. It was like someone—or something—was watching us.

“Do you see that?” I asked, my voice tight as I stopped in my tracks. Caroline followed my gaze, her eyes narrowing as she scanned the trees.

“Yeah,” she said, her voice low. “I saw it too.”

I couldn’t shake the feeling that we were being watched. “It’s probably nothing,” I said, though I didn’t believe it for a second. “Probably a patrol guard circling the area.”

But Caroline, ever the skeptic, didn’t seem convinced either.

We both stood there, staring into the darkened woods for a long moment, the weight of the unknown pressing in on us. Finally, I broke the silence. “Let’s get inside. We can’t deal with this tonight.”

We stepped into the safety of the packhouse, but even as the door closed behind us, that feeling lingered. The shadow in the trees—something about it wasn’t right. And I had a sinking feeling that it wasn’t the last time we’d see it.