Claimed by My Bully Alpha Chapter 383

Aurora’s P.O.V

I had tried to ignore it, thinking it was just a trick of the light, or maybe something else entirely, but now, with Caleb and Caroline staring at me, I couldn't shake the truth that seemed to cling to my every word.

“Wait,” Caroline interjected, her voice soft but sharp, a slight tremor of realization in her tone. “You said to her eyes…They were glowing?”

I nodded, my gaze dropping to my hands. “Yeah. It was just like Lucas’s. It’s as if that same… thing was inside of her, pulling at the depths of her soul. But I didn’t want to jump to conclusions. I couldn’t. Not yet.” My words came out in a rush, as if speaking too slowly would let the weight of the situation break me. I couldn’t let that happen—not now.

Caleb leaned forward, his brows knitted together, and I could see the wheels turning in his mind. “But you’ve mentioned this before, haven’t you?” His voice was low, almost as if he were trying to piece something together, something he already suspected. “The shadowy figure… from the night of the rogue attack. You think it’s linked to whatever’s happening with Avery?”

I didn’t respond immediately. Instead, I glanced at Caroline, her eyes now narrowed in contemplation. She had always been sharp—too sharp for her own good, but it was one of the things I trusted most about her. She hadn’t been the same since that night. No one had. And now, hearing her speak, I realized how right she was. The connection was undeniable.

“That’s exactly what I’m thinking,” Caroline said, her voice low and almost resigned. “We can’t ignore this anymore, Aurora. This figure, whatever it is, has been lurking in the shadows for far too long, and now it’s starting to pull people in, like Avery.” She paused, her gaze drifting over to Caleb, who seemed lost in thought. “It’s time we find out what this really is, once and for all.”

God…it was at times like these that I missed Jade being in our group. I couldn’t believe how far he had gotten from us that he hadn't even come to visit me when he heard of my injury.

Jade was always the person who had all the answers. Be it from ancient textbook that he had read in his spare time, or just his gut instincts as the future beta. Jade always gave us useful insight. Even now, while Caroline, Caleb and I were struggling, I knew that if he was here…he would’ve helped us solve this case in a matter of minutes.

Was this why Maggie was distancing him from us? Because they knew just how valuable Jade was to us?

I let out a shaky breath, rubbing my forehead, trying to keep my thoughts straight. “But how? How do we even begin to track something that we know so little about?” The question slipped out before I could stop it, but as soon as I spoke it, I felt the weight of it hang in the air, like a thread dangling from a fragile rope.

“Maybe it’s not about tracking it,” Caleb said slowly, looking directly at me, his expression serious. “Maybe it’s about getting close to it, finding out where it’s been hiding, who it’s been controlling. The truth is, Aurora, this thing isn’t just some shadow. I feel like it’s something far worse than that.”

Caroline’s voice broke the silence again, her tone calm but filled with a quiet intensity. “We need to find out what that shadowy figure wants, and more importantly, what kind of creature it even is. Because if it’s shown itself to you more than once…I think it wants you to know that it’s keeping an eye on you, and can do whatever it wants without restraints.”

The finality in her words made the room feel even colder, and I had to swallow back the knot that had formed in my throat.

“I don’t know if I can stop it,” I whispered, more to myself than to anyone else. “I don’t know how to fight something that has so much power over all of us.”

Caleb met my eyes then, and for the first time, there was a soft hint of empathy in his gaze. “We’ll figure it out. Together. But first, we need to find out everything we can about this thing and what it even is. Whatever it takes.”

I nodded, trying to steady myself. The weight of what was to come felt overwhelming, but I couldn’t back down. Not now. Not when everything seemed to be unraveling right in front of me.

“Then we ask the only person who might have the answers.”