Claimed by My Bully Alpha Chapter 349

Aurora’s P.O.V

I watched as Mary broke down again, her sobs wrenching through the walls of the room like a storm that wouldn’t pass. Her mate—tall, steady, but visibly shaking inside—was trying to hold her, whispering soft reassurances that barely held any ground beneath the weight of her anguish.

Her fingers clutched at his shirt as if she’d drown without the anchor of his presence, and even then, she was already slipping. I stood there for a few long seconds, heart heavy, my own breathing shallow with guilt. The grief in this room was too big to ignore, too loud to pretend I didn’t hear it echoing through every fiber of my being.

Without thinking much, I walked forward, my steps slow, deliberate. My knees met the cold floor in front of Mary, and I bowed my head low, my voice trembling as I spoke.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, not even sure if she could hear me through the pain. “Mary… I am so sorry. For everything. For not getting there in time. For not being able to save her. For not protecting Violet the way she deserved to be protected. You have every right to hate the world right now, but please don’t carry this alone. We all failed her… not just Ashton. Not just Maggie. All of us.”

Her sobbing stilled for a moment—just a breath, maybe two—as she looked at me. Her eyes were red and swollen, her face pale, but her expression held something raw and hollow. “She was just a child,” she choked out, barely above a whisper. “She was just a child, Aurora…”

“I know,” I murmured, my chest tightening. “I know, and it kills me every second.”

Hunter gently pulled her against his chest, his hand smoothing over her hair with a tenderness that broke something in me. He swallowed hard, his voice rough as he finally spoke, looking up at me and the others who had gathered.

“She went missing during a carnival,” he said, the words dragging out like they were stitched with razor wire. “She begged us to take her. She wanted to see the lights, ride the carousel, eat cotton candy until she was sick. We didn’t want to—hell, we were tired that day, stressed about something in the pack—but she pleaded with us, said it was the only thing she’d asked for that whole month. We gave in.”

He let out a dry, painful laugh. “God, I wish we hadn’t. I’ve gone over that night a thousand times. Every step we took. Every second we looked away. She was just… gone.”

Mary clutched him tighter at that, and Hunter pressed a kiss to her temple, his voice faltering. “I found Mary a month after… after what Lucas did to her…at her work place. She was broken. Shattered. And I—” His voice cracked. “I promised I’d never let anyone hurt her again. I promised I’d be there. For her. For Violet. I stepped in. I was there when Violet was born. I named her…raised her. She called me Dad.”

He paused then, eyes brimming but he didn’t let the tears fall. “And now look at me,” he said bitterly. “I let them both down. The two people I love the most in this goddamn world, and I couldn’t save either of them. What kind of mate… what kind of father am I?”

I couldn’t hold back my own tears. They spilled freely now, tracing down my cheeks as I reached out, gently placing my hand over his. “You were everything to her,” I whispered. “You gave her love, warmth, protection. She knew you were her dad. She hated Lucas, we all did. What matters more than anything, Beta Hunter…is that Violet loved you till her last breath. You didn’t let her down. The monsters did.”

Mary's hand slid into mine then, her grip weak but real. She looked at me, pain still etched into her very soul, but her voice was steady when she said, “I know you tried your best…but my Violet is still gone. After knowing that she was alive for a year after she was taken…and then to have that hope dashed from you…I don’t think you understand what we are going through right now.”

I nodded, my heart splitting with the weight of her words. “I know,” I whispered. “I know…I’m so, so sorry...”

I sat on the cold floor, my knees aching from how long I’d been there, hands clenched so tightly that my knuckles had turned white. The silence in the room was unbearable, almost as if it was holding its breath with us. The weight of everything pressed down on my chest until I thought I would suffocate from it. I didn’t even realize Alpha Camden had moved until I heard his boots echo against the stone and then his voice — steady, heavy with authority, but with something else too. Guilt. Regret. Pain.

“Aurora,” he said, his tone like a father trying to hold the pieces together for the sake of his children. “Look at me.”

I looked up slowly, tears still clinging to my lashes like stubborn memories. He stood there beside me, eyes not just looking at me — but seeing me.

“I need everyone here to understand one thing,” he said, raising his voice slightly to address the room. “There is only one party to blame for what happened. And that’s Lucas and Harmona. No one else.”

He turned, slowly, and pointed to us — Ashton, Maggie, and me — one by one, like he was marking a wound with truth. “These children… they were taken. Ripped away. They were going to be sacrificed. We were a breath away from losing all of them. All of them.” His voice cracked at the end, and I felt Maggie clutch at Ashton’s hand a little tighter.

Alpha Camden drew in a slow, shaky breath and let it out. “I am so… so sorry we weren’t able to save your daughter in time.” His eyes locked with Mary’s, and her shoulders trembled as her mate placed a hand on her back. “But we must also remember that they are all children…all who had been taken from their homes and had to face unimaginable terrors.”

I watched as Mary inhaled sharply, blinking back the fresh tears that spilled over. Her hand trembled, fingers brushing against the fabric of her dress like she was trying to ground herself. “I shouldn’t have overreacted,” she said softly, and then her gaze fell to me. “Aurora, please… get up. This isn’t your fault either.”

I stared at her in disbelief, my lips parting slightly as I tried to speak — but nothing came. She knelt beside me, the pain in her face deepening. “When I heard Violet’s name… when they said it,” her voice broke into a whisper, “we felt hope for the first time in so long. I thought — maybe, just maybe… she was alive. Maybe we had a chance to see her again. Maybe she had escaped.”

Her voice faltered as a sob tore through her chest. Her mate pulled her into his arms, holding her like she might fall apart. “But then we heard the truth. And it was… gone. That hope,” she whispered. “It vanished the moment we knew. But I’m grateful, in a way. Because at least…” Her voice cracked. “At least she wasn’t alone. She had people around her. People who cared about her until the end.”

My chest ached at her words. I saw Violet’s smile in my mind, the way she used to light up a room even when she was hurting.

And then… Ashton’s voice cut through the stillness like a blade. “Wait,” he said, frowning, eyes narrowing as he turned toward Alpha Camden. “What… what did she mean? When she said she heard Violet’s name?” He looked between Alpha Camden and Mary. “How did she hear it? Who said it?”

There was a beat of silence. Everyone froze.

Alpha Camden turned, his expression darkening slightly as he exchanged a glance with Mary and her mate.

And then the room wasn’t silent anymore — it was a storm, and we were all standing right in the eye of it.