Claimed by My Bully Alpha Chapter 374

Aurora’s P.O.V

The corridors passed in a blur, the polished stone and dark wood becoming a tunnel guiding me toward the courtyard. I pushed the doors open and was hit by the crisp midnight air—cool and fresh, laced with the scent of pine and damp earth. It cleared my head, but only a little. My legs moved faster than my thoughts, carrying me across the courtyard, past the training grounds and toward the tree line that separated the central compound from the condos and other pack houses.

Of course they had to be on the opposite side of the woods. Of course.

I didn’t hesitate, even as the shadows stretched long and the woods loomed quiet and watchful around me. My bare feet barely made a sound on the leaf-strewn path as I broke into a brisk walk, hugging my arms around myself for warmth and comfort. The wind whistled softly between the trees, and every so often a twig snapped or a bird took flight overhead, but nothing alarming. Still, my heart wouldn’t settle. Not until I saw them.

“I hope I can catch up to them,” I muttered to myself, biting my lip. “I hope they’re really just heading back home…”

Because I had checked the time before I came out to follow them on instinct…and it’s the time that Avery told me about…the time Ashton and Maggie usually vanished from their rooms…

Leaves crunched underfoot as I pressed on, moving faster now. The condos couldn’t be too far. I just had to get there. Just had to see her—see them both—and make sure they were okay.

Because after the constant nightmares that I had been having recently…I couldn’t shake off this sense of dread that something big was about to happen. And I wasn’t willing to let any nightmare become real. Not again.

The gravel crunched unevenly beneath my feet as I stumbled forward, the lingering buzz of vodka and champagne humming in my bloodstream like a distant, familiar tune. My head was spinning just enough to make the trees sway a little too much, and the moon above—full and sickly bright—seemed to taunt me with its smug silence. I cursed under my breath when I almost tripped over a pebble, flailing my arms a bit too dramatically before catching myself against the twisted bark of a tree. "God," I muttered, blinking hard, "pull it together, Aurora."

But just as I took another step, the haze parted for a split second—and I saw them.

Two shadows.

Ashton. And Maggie.

I knew it instantly. The way his broad shoulders curved slightly as he supported her. The way Maggie clutched onto his arm like she was made of glass and he was the only thing keeping her from shattering. Relief flooded me for a heartbeat. They were okay. They were only heading back to the condo after all. I exhaled, my chest easing for the first time all night.

But then I looked up.

And the breath caught in my throat like broken glass.

There—hovering above them—was it.

That thing. That thing from my nightmares.

The same creature that had haunted me for weeks now, hiding in the folds of my sleep like it belonged there, whispering things I couldn’t remember but woke up screaming from anyway. A shadow, not made of smoke but of something darker—something cold, ancient, and angry. It floated just above Ashton and Maggie, a sick parody of a guardian angel, with its long limbs curling unnaturally, like they were boneless. No face. No features. Just eyes.

Red.

Burning.

And looking right at me.

I froze. My legs refused to move. My voice—God, my voice—was gone, swallowed by the fear that clawed up my throat like ivy.

It was real.

This wasn’t a dream. This wasn’t one of those alcohol-fueled hallucinations I could laugh about in the morning and write off as my subconscious being a drama queen.

This was real.

“Ashton!” I wanted to scream. I tried—I swear I did—but a broken whisper came out, caught in the wind like a ghost. “Maggie—!”

The creature moved. Just a twitch. A ripple in the air. But it was enough to make me flinch. Enough to make me take a step back like a coward. And yet, I couldn’t look away. My eyes were locked on it, that nightmare beast that shouldn’t exist, that shouldn't be here. Not in the waking world. Not with them.

The forest should’ve been silent, the kind of eerie silence that makes your skin crawl—but it wasn’t. It was suddenly alive with the guttural snarls of the creature standing only feet away from them. My blood ran cold. My chest tightened. I didn’t even realize I had stopped breathing.

The form hovered over them like a looming shadow ready to strike.

And then…it hovered lower…