Claimed by My Bully Alpha Chapter 363

Aurora’s P.O.V

The wind had started to pick up again as I made my way back to the packhouse, rustling the trees like they were whispering secrets I wasn’t ready to hear. My boots thudded softly against the path, weighed down by the silence in my chest. My heart was knotted, tangled between guilt and the ache of knowing something precious was slipping through my fingers.

The bond I’d been trying to forge with my half-siblings—fragile, new, and already bruised—was unraveling faster than I could sew it back together. And a part of me knew, just knew, that Shane had played a part in it, whether he meant to or not.

That’s when I saw him.

Shane was just ahead, walking down the same trail, laughing at something the boy next to him—one of the younger pack warriors, I think his name was Milo—had said. He looked lighter than I felt. That only made my jaw clench harder.

“Shane,” I called, my voice harsher than I expected it to.

He turned mid-step, eyebrows lifting when he saw me. “Aurora? Hey. You alright?”

“Can I talk to you?” I glanced at the other boy. “Alone.”

Shane looked between us for a second, clearly surprised, but then he nodded. “Yeah, sure. Milo, I’ll catch you later.”

We walked in silence toward the old gazebo in the woods—the one no one really used anymore except for me and Caleb, for quiet conversations and stolen moments. The wood creaked as we stepped inside, the air between us thick with something I couldn’t yet name. Shane leaned against one of the beams, arms folded, watching me.

“I’m guessing this isn’t just about saying hi,” he said with a soft chuckle, trying to lighten the mood.

I exhaled slowly. “You almost destroyed everything, Shane.”

He blinked, straightening. “What?”

“My bond with my half-siblings. Ashton, Avery, Maggie… even Caleb started to fall for what you told him. You don’t see it, but I feel it. It’s like I’m carrying glass and someone’s always threatening to smash it.”

“Aurora, slow down,” he said, his tone tightening. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about how your ‘intuition’—your eerie feeling about Ashton—turned into this wildfire of suspicion,” I snapped, the words burning my throat. “You gave Caleb some twisted idea that something was off with him. You fed into that paranoia. And now? Now I’m the one left trying to explain to my family why everything’s falling apart.”

Shane’s face paled, then hardened. “Wait—I gave Caleb the idea?” he said incredulously. “Are you serious right now? You were the one who ratted Ashton out to the Alpha. You were the one who said he was acting suspicious, not me! I didn’t go to Caleb or Alpha Camden. You did.”

My stomach twisted. I knew he wasn’t wrong. “I… I know,” I whispered. “I know I said things. I let my fear speak first, okay? But Caleb backed me up because he said you pulled him aside and told him you had a gut feeling that Ashton wasn’t who he seemed. Don’t you remember? You said his aura felt wrong. You said—”

“I said I felt something off,” Shane interrupted, his voice sharp now. “That’s different from telling you to accuse your own brother. That was your choice, Aurora. Not mine.”

I swallowed hard, blinking back the sting rising behind my eyes. “You don’t think I know that? You don’t think I’ve been replaying every word in my head since then? I messed up, but so did you. You pushed a domino, even if you didn’t know it would fall the way it did.”

Shane’s face crumbled for a second. Just a second. “I was just trying to look out for you. I didn’t want you getting too close to someone if—”

“If what?” I snapped. “If he turned out to be like him? Like my father?” My voice cracked. “That’s what this is about, isn’t it? You think the blood makes the monster.”

“I didn’t say that,” Shane muttered, running a hand through his hair. “God, Aurora, this isn’t what I wanted.”

“I know,” I said, softer now. My voice trembled. “But that doesn’t change the fact that everything’s changed. Caleb looks at Ashton differently now. Avery and Maggie won’t talk to me. Ashton barely speaks. It’s like the little bit of family I was starting to believe in is slipping away.”

There was a long pause. Shane didn’t meet my eyes. His jaw clenched like he was biting back words. Finally, he said, “So what do you want me to do?”

“I don’t know,” I whispered. “Maybe just… own your part in this. And maybe stop assuming that your instincts are always right. People aren’t puzzle pieces you can snap into place based on feelings.”