Claimed by My Bully Alpha Chapter 336

Aurora’s P.O.V

I paced my room, arms folded tightly against my chest as the soft flickering glow of the bedside lamp cast long shadows across the walls. My fingers absentmindedly traced the edge of the pendant hanging around my neck—my mother’s necklace. It had been hers for as long as I could remember, a delicate thing with an emerald set in gold, the colors always shifting from green to gold.

Tonight though, it felt different. Heavier. Warmer. As if it held a secret that was burning to get out.

Dinner had been quiet, almost too quiet, like the calm after a storm that you know is just gathering strength again. Riley had chartered endlessly about the new turtle Avery had found—something about its shell being the color of dusk and how it blinked like it understood him. He was so excited, tugging at my sleeve and bouncing on his toes like he couldn’t wait for morning.

“Can I name it?” he’d asked me with those big eyes, still full of wonder despite everything. “I want to call it Dune. Like the sand, but cooler.”

“Sorry, Riley…Avery has already named it Nova.” I told him apologetically.

His face fell, but only for a moment. “That’s alright. As long as she lets me see it from time to time…can I do that? Can I still go and play with Avery and Nova?”

I’d smiled and nodded, running a hand over his hair, promising softly, “I’ll talk to Avery tomorrow. Maybe she can show him to you then.”

He’d grinned, that sweet toothy grin that always made my heart squeeze, and I’d tucked him in moments later, brushing a kiss to his forehead as he whispered goodnight. Now the house was still. Too still. And that’s when the weight of it came rushing back.

The spell. The turtle. The sand. Ashton.

I stopped pacing and stared at the floor, remembering the way that black sand had shimmered where Ashton had performed his spell on the turtle. For a second, it had sparked—tiny bolts of energy snapping like it was alive. I’d reached out instinctively, my hand brushing the surface, and that’s when I felt it. That zap. A sharp sting that ran up my arm like lightning, and then—nothing. The sand had returned to its dull gray form like nothing had happened.

But my mother’s necklace… it had glowed. But not any color…a blood red hue.

Not just shimmered—glowed, pulsing with that same electric charge. And when I had asked Ashton about how he’d brought it back, he’d smiled. Not just any smile; it was one that held a thousand secrets. Like he was testing something. Like he knew something I didn’t.

I sat on the edge of my bed and let out a shaky breath, my hands trembling now that I was finally still. “Something’s wrong,” I whispered into the silence. “I don’t know what it is, but something’s off.”

How and why would Ashton even know how to perform a revival spell? And even know the exact requirements for it? He had said it was harmless—just a simple spell, borrowing a little energy from the vast repository that was our earth and transferring a bit to that tiny life.

But I’d seen the way his eyes flicked to me after he cast it. Like he was gauging my reaction, waiting for something. And the way the necklace reacted… that wasn’t normal. That wasn’t natural. My mother had been a priestess. She’d hidden so much in this piece of jewelry—spells, protections, memories. Maybe even warnings. What if this was one of them?

I stood up again, pacing faster now, my bare feet brushing across the cold wooden floor. Every part of me screamed that I was missing something crucial, like a puzzle piece just out of reach. And if I didn’t figure it out soon, if I waited until it was too late… someone could get hurt. Maybe even Riley.

And then I stilled.

The memory of Aston saving Riley from the fall…the memory of him telling Riley that they were all alone and had no one…the memory of him and Maggie when they had come to visit my room that first night in that nightmarish home…

They all resurfaced with a vengeance, and I couldn’t help the guilt that surfaced along with those memories.