Claimed by My Bully Alpha Chapter 390

Aurora’s P.O.V

I barely had time to blink, let alone open my mouth to say something, before Caroline surged forward like a force of nature. It was so sudden that for a second, I thought she’d tripped—until I realized she was launching herself straight at Damien. Her arms flew around his neck as she nearly tackled him with affection, and before I could roll my eyes, she tilted her head up and pressed a long, dramatic kiss to his lips.

Not the quick, shy kind. No. It was the kind that made you feel like you were intruding, like you should politely turn away or at least find a corner to stare into while pretending you weren’t witnessing an entire love scene unfold five feet in front of you.

That’s when Caleb groaned, loud and exaggerated. “Oh, come on,” he said, practically gagging.

“Do you have to do that right now? Like—right now right now?”

That broke the tension. Laughter spilled from my mouth before I could stop it, and soon enough everyone else joined in. Even Caroline, lips still curved from her kiss, snorted against Damien’s chest before pulling back to throw Caleb a withering look.

“If you’re going to choke on your own bitterness, at least do it quietly,” she snapped, tossing her hair over her shoulder like a diva on stage.

Damien, ever the calm center of the storm, merely raised a brow as he wiped a smudge of her lipstick off his cheek. He didn’t say anything, just gave Caleb that half-smirk of his that somehow managed to both mock and forgive at the same time.

Then Caroline turned to me, her smile sweet as sin. “Aurora,” she said, her tone dripping with faux sweetness, “please leash your mate before he ruins the moment.”

I blinked, and then I laughed—loudly, unapologetically, because I’d been waiting for this. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” I said, one hand going to my hip. “After all the times you’ve scarred us for life by interrupting our ‘moments’? You deserve this. Every awkward, eye-burning second of it.”

Caleb let out a dramatic sigh of relief. “Finally. Someone said it.”

Caroline narrowed her eyes at me, though the corners of her lips twitched. “You’re impossible.”

“And you’re predictable,” I shot back, smirking. “Still not over your dramatic entrances, are you?”

“Guilty as charged,” she said, with a little shrug.

Damien finally decided to intervene, which was rare enough that we all actually stopped talking to hear what he had to say. He slid his arm more comfortably around Caroline’s waist, pulling her closer—not possessively, but in that quiet, protective way he always did when things got too loud. His voice, when he spoke, was calm but pointed. “Alright, alright. That’s enough. I’ll make sure my mate doesn’t do mean things from now on.”

Caroline scoffed. “As if.”

But he turned his head and kissed the top of her hair, eyes briefly catching mine over her shoulder. There was something quietly amusing there, something that said, She’ll never change, but I wouldn’t want her to.

And honestly, neither would I. Because despite all the dramatics, the sass, and the full-blown romantic assaults in broad daylight, Caroline had finally found someone who matched her chaos with quiet strength. And I had to admit—it was kind of beautiful.

I turned to Damien with a soft smile, placing my hand gently on his arm, needing him to understand that I wasn’t just saying it for the sake of peace, but because I meant it. “Look,” I said quietly, trying to keep my voice level even though Caroline was already making faces in the background.

“I promised Caleb I’d try to be fair. So I’m promising you now—if Caroline behaves, then Caleb will too. He won’t start anything if she doesn’t.” I held Damien’s gaze, the kind of gaze that begged for trust, for a little faith in this fragile truce we were trying to maintain. “But you’ve got to keep her in check, Damien. She’s got this way of lighting matches and acting shocked when the fire spreads.”

Just as he nodded, his hand covering mine briefly as a silent thank-you, Caroline, of course, couldn’t let a moment pass without adding her usual flair. She folded her arms, letting out the most dramatic sigh known to mankind. “Ugh, traitor,” she muttered, glaring at Damien like he’d just announced he was switching sides in a war she created in her head.