Claimed by My Bully Alpha Chapter 355

Aurora’s P.O.V

The evening had turned sour, a dark cloud hanging over everything as Alice led Ashton away to a room that no one in the pack was allowed near. I could feel the tension creeping up my spine, twisting into a knot as she whispered something in his ear before the door closed behind them. But it wasn’t just Alice and Ashton I had to worry about. Avery and Maggie were on the other side of the room, their eyes shooting daggers in my direction, seething with anger. The room felt suffocating, the air thick with the unspoken accusations, and as if on cue, the sounds of the searchers rummaging through their rooms echoed in the silence.

They didn’t speak. They didn’t need to. Their stares were enough to make me feel small, as if I were the one in the wrong, as if I were the one betraying them. The minutes stretched into hours, the silence between us heavier than any words could convey. I could feel Maggie’s eyes burning into me, her fury simmering beneath her calm exterior. And then, when the last of the pack members filed out of the house, their task complete, Maggie broke the silence.

She strode over to me, her footsteps sharp and deliberate, like the ticking of a clock counting down to her inevitable eruption. Before I could even register what was happening, her hand connected with my face, the sharp sting of her slap making my head snap to the side. My heart was in my throat, my breath caught in my chest.

I could hear Caleb growling from behind me, his protective instincts flaring, his anger a palpable presence as he took a step toward Maggie. His voice was low, dangerous, his muscles rippling with the urge to retaliate. "Maggie, don’t," he warned, his eyes narrowing in fury.

But I couldn’t let him intervene. Not now. Not when I knew this was something I had to face alone.

"Caleb, stop," I whispered, holding a hand out to him, my voice strained but firm. "Let me deal with this."

He hesitated, his body tensing like a coiled spring, but he didn’t argue. He stayed back, his growl still simmering in his throat as he glared at Maggie, but his eyes stayed locked on me. His protection meant the world to me, but I needed to be the one to take responsibility for this. To face it head-on.

Maggie wasn’t done, though. Her rage was still burning bright, fueling her words as she took another step toward me, her face twisted with fury. "You have no right to treat us like this, Aurora," she spat, her voice low and sharp. "We didn’t do anything wrong. We didn’t harm anyone. But you? You had to make Ashton the villain, didn’t you? You had to ruin everything, and for what? To make yourself feel better?"

Her words hit me like a physical blow, each one a reminder of the divide between us, of how my actions had torn apart something that had once felt so solid. Her anger wasn’t just directed at me. It was directed at everything I’d done to everyone I’d once trusted, once cared about. And it felt like a weight pressing down on me, threatening to crush me under the pressure of my own guilt.

As much as I wanted to shout, to fight back, to tell her she was wrong, I knew she wasn’t, not completely. I had ruined everything. I had made a mess of things, pushed everyone away in the process. Ashton, Avery, Maggie... they had all stood by me when I needed them most, but I had been the one who had reported Ashton to Alpha Camden, letting my fears of what might happen get the best of me.

"You don’t understand," I said, my voice trembling despite my best efforts to keep it steady. "I didn’t want this to happen. But I couldn’t ignore what was right in front of me. Ashton... I thought I was doing the right thing by keeping him away from all of this. But with the rogue attack, the recent incidents…I couldn’t keep this under wraps anymore, Maggie. He had been with Lucas the longest, and I couldn’t push away the implications that he might have unknowingly learned something he shouldn’t have."

Maggie’s expression didn’t soften. In fact, it hardened, her fists clenching at her sides. "You failed all of us, Aurora," she said, her voice cutting through the tension like a knife. "You made him out to be a villain when all he ever did was help you. And now? Now you’re the one who’s standing here, trying to justify it, and we’re supposed to just let you off the hook? Just like that?"

Maggie wasn’t finished, though. She glared at me as if wishing it could turn me to stone, her chest rising and falling with each breath as her anger simmered just beneath the surface. "You’d better fix this, Aurora," she warned, her voice low and dangerous. "Because if you don’t, you won’t just lose Ashton. You’ll lose us too."

I stood there in the middle of the room, my arms folded tight against my chest, as if that would somehow stop the ache that had settled deep in my ribs. Maggie’s voice still rang in my ears—sharp, trembling with the fury she didn’t bother to mask. Her words had been raw and unfiltered, with every intention to hurt. But I needed her to see what she was missing.

“I’m sorry,” I said quietly, not because I thought I was wrong, but because I could see the fire behind Maggie’s eyes, and I understood it. “You have every right to be angry. If I were in your place, I’d probably be furious too. I’d be thinking the same things, saying the same things.”

She didn’t say anything, but I could tell my words had given her pause. Her shoulders dropped slightly, though her jaw remained tight.

“But I’m not just your half-sister, Maggie,” I continued, stepping closer, hoping the truth in my voice would be enough to reach her. “I know we share the same blood, the same trauma—Lucas’s shadow still crawls in every corner of our past. But I’ve built a life beyond that. Long before I was taken, long before I even knew any of you existed. I’m Caleb’s mate now.”

Her eyes flickered at that, the tension in her expression deepening.

“That means something,” I said, softer this time. “The pack—his pack—they didn’t just accept me. They saved me. When no one else wanted to look past my name, the mistakes of my step-father, they gave me a home. A purpose. I owe them that loyalty. I owe it to them to make sure they’re safe. That we don’t repeat history.”

Maggie’s arms were crossed now, just like mine had been earlier, but her fingers were twitching, restless. I knew she was struggling with it—defending Ashton while knowing the ghost of Lucas still hung heavy between us all.

“If Ashton is innocent,” I told her, holding her gaze, “then everything will work out. You’ll see. But if there’s even a sliver of doubt, Maggie... we can’t afford to ignore it. I can’t. I won’t let what happened with Lucas happen again. Not on my watch. Not when I have the power to stop it.”

She flinched a little, and I hated that. I hated that this conversation had to exist between us. That we were here again, on opposite sides of a story soaked in fear and survival instincts.

“I’m not your enemy,” I whispered, my voice thick with emotion. “I love you, Maggie. But I have responsibilities now—to a whole pack who sees me as more than a broken girl with a fractured past. I’m doing what I believe is right. I need you to trust me. Just this once.”

Her silence was deafening. But I stayed there, letting the weight of my words fill the space between us, hoping that somewhere beneath the fury and grief, she still saw me—Aurora, her sister—not a traitor or a stranger.

Just someone trying to keep everyone safe, even when it meant standing in the fire alone.