Claimed by My Bully Alpha Chapter 357

Aurora’s P.O.V

The morning air was thick with tension, and despite the sun rising slowly in the sky, casting golden streaks across the packhouse walls, I couldn’t breathe easy. Caleb stood beside me, arms crossed, leaning against the wall, but I could feel the way his knee bounced every few seconds—he was just as nervous as I was. Avery was pacing back and forth, chewing on her thumb in silence, while Maggie stood across from me, stiff as a statue, her jaw clenched and her eyes darting to me every so often like I was a ticking bomb about to go off.

We had been waiting outside that damn room for what felt like an eternity. The night had dragged on endlessly. None of us slept. I sat there on that cold bench, counting the seconds, praying that Alice would come out with good news. Ashton was inside, hooked up to all kinds of machines, undergoing every kind of test Alice could think of. She hadn’t said much—just that she needed to be sure. That we all needed to be sure.

Finally, after what had to be twelve hours or more, the door creaked open. We all turned sharply. Alice stepped out, exhaustion evident in the way her shoulders sagged and her eyes barely stayed open, but there was the smallest tug at her lips. I stood up so quickly I nearly tripped.

"He's clean," Alice said softly, and even though her voice was low, it was like a thunderclap in my chest. "There’s no sign of dark magic. No trace of manipulation. He’s clean. He’s safe."

My knees buckled slightly, and I let out a long, shaky breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. Caleb reached for my hand, squeezing it tightly. From the corner of my eye, I saw Maggie exhale too, but just when I thought we might all fall into a moment of relief—just when I thought she might let things go—her voice sliced through the air like ice.

“This is what I meant,” she snapped, glaring at me with eyes full of fire. “You jumped to conclusions. You wanted to believe he was compromised. You turned on him. Just like you turned on Violet when we ran.”

My mouth opened slightly, stunned that she would bring up Violet like that—again. The wound still felt too fresh. The memory of her slipping from my grasp… of her scream echoing into the darkness… haunted me. And Maggie knew it.

I could barely form a sentence, “Maggie, I—”

But Ashton’s voice came from inside the room, cracked and tired but strong enough to cut her off. “That’s enough, Maggie.”

We all turned. Ashton stood in the doorway, pale and worn, but standing. His eyes met Maggie’s, and the pain behind them wasn’t for himself—it was for all of us.

“Violet wasn’t just Aurora’s responsibility. She was all of ours. Every single one of us failed her,” he said, and his voice trembled near the end, but he kept going. “Aurora’s family gave us a way out. If they hadn’t risked everything, we’d still be in chains, in that damn stone table. Or worse, dead. So stop treating her like she’s the villain in all this.”

Silence. Thick and heavy.

Maggie looked away, her eyes glassing over. Her arms folded tighter around herself, and for a moment, her lip quivered, but she didn’t say anything. She just swallowed hard and stepped back. But I could see the way her shoulders were still tense, like a

I looked at Ashton, my eyes burning. “You didn’t have to say that.”

“I did,” he replied, gently. “Because you weren’t the only one blaming yourself.”

I didn’t know what to say. My throat tightened, and the tears that had been clawing their way up all night finally slipped free. I let them fall silently as Caleb wrapped an arm around me and pulled me close, grounding me. Avery stepped forward and gave Ashton a small nod before brushing past us all and heading down the corridor—probably to breathe, probably to be alone.

The moment wasn’t whole. It wasn’t a reunion. It wasn’t a happy ending. But it was a start. A reckoning. A tiny piece of healing in the middle of so much wreckage.

Maggie’s voice broke the silence first, sharp and accusing, her emotions boiling just beneath the surface. “How can you still say that, Ashton? After what they did to you all night? Are you hearing yourself?” Her words echoed in the room, bouncing off the walls like a slap.

He didn’t look up right away. His mouth twitched — not quite a smile, more like the ghost of one. “I had to take some simple tests,” he said, his tone maddeningly calm. “Just some readings. Blood magic traces, neural link responses. They all came back negative.”

I could hear Maggie’s breath hitch next to me, but Ashton continued before she could say anything more. “And honestly... I’m grateful for that. Because I’ve been wondering the same damn thing for weeks.” He looked up at us then, finally — and there was pain in his eyes, yes, but also something more: resolve. “Why didn’t Harmona stop us when we were performing magic? The symbols engraved into us ... they should’ve lit up the second someone used even a flicker of magic. That’s how they were designed.”

His words stopped me cold. I blinked slowly, trying to process what he was saying.