Claimed by My Bully Alpha Chapter 394

Aurora’s P.O.V

The wind outside howled like a beast denied, thrashing through the trees and slamming against the walls of the packhouse with desperate fists of cold. Another storm. They always came at night now, as if the very world knew that peace didn’t belong to us anymore.

I lay curled up beside Caleb, the warmth of his body the only thing anchoring me in the present. My fingers gripped the fabric of his shirt as if holding on could somehow slow the unraveling of everything around us. The window panes rattled with each gust of wind, and the dim light of the lantern on my nightstand flickered, casting dancing shadows on the ceiling above us.

"I can’t stop thinking about them," I whispered into the quiet, my voice rough from hours of unspoken worry. "Maggie and Jade. I can’t save one and lose the other, Caleb. I can’t."

He wrapped his arms tighter around me, the scent of cedarwood and home grounding me for a breath. "I know, Aurora. But we can’t run in every direction at once. Alice can’t even begin unless we get her the blood she needs. That has to be our first step. If we don’t get that, everything else is pointless."

I pressed my forehead to his chest and let out a shaky breath. I hated that he was right. We were racing against time and shadows, and none of this had a guarantee. "I know. I just—what if it’s already too late? What if Ashton has done something to Maggie we can’t undo?"

Caleb’s voice softened, but there was an edge of steel underneath. "I already notified the guards. They’re not following Ashton and Maggie directly—they’re observing from a distance. Any closer and the wraiths would sense them. I don’t want to put anyone in danger unless we have no choice. But they’ll make sure to notify me when the two of them head out again, during Witching Hour."

I shifted slightly to look up at him, brushing his hair away from his forehead. The flickering lantern light caught the flecks of gold in his eyes, but they were shadowed tonight, dimmed by the same weight pressing down on my chest.

"Why didn’t you tell me?"

"Because you already carry enough," he said simply, one hand sliding up to cradle the back of my head. "And I knew you’d try to go after them yourself if you knew they were heading out. I’m not letting you face Ashton alone, not again. We need to make sure we’re not walking into a trap first, Aurora, we can’t be impulsive about this."

That stung, not because he was wrong, but because I hated being predictable in my recklessness. He knew me too well. I closed my eyes and breathed in slowly. The storm’s growl outside grew louder, shaking the windows like a creature begging to be let in.

"I have to do something, Caleb. Sitting here waiting is killing me. Jade is hanging on by a thread, and Maggie... she’s not even her anymore. She’s a shell, following Ashton’s orders like he owns her." My voice cracked at the end, and I didn’t even try to hide it. “Why…why did it have to come to this? It feels like…any time I try to build something…it crumbles right in front of my eyes.

"I know," he murmured, his thumb stroking small circles at the base of my neck. "But if we lose our heads now, we’re going to lose them both. So we plan. We find out what Alice needs. We make a list. And tomorrow, we start collecting."

I bit my lip hard, nodding into his chest. It was a cold comfort, but it was still a plan. My mind, though, couldn’t stop spinning. "Promise me something," I whispered, pulling back just enough to meet his eyes.

"Anything."

"If the time comes, and you have to choose between saving me or stopping Ashton... promise me you’ll choose stopping him."

His jaw clenched, and for a long moment, he said nothing. The storm rattled the world around us, but it was the silence in that room that chilled me to the bone.

Finally, he leaned in, pressing his lips to my forehead with a tenderness that broke something in me. "Don’t ask me that, Aurora. Because I already know I’ll choose you."

My heart ached as I reached up to touch his cheek. "Then let’s make sure it never comes to that."

The wind howled outside like a wounded beast, and the windows shuddered with each gust as if the house itself were nervous. Rain tapped against the glass in frantic patterns, a relentless rhythm that had no melody—only urgency. I pulled the throw blanket tighter around my shoulders, glancing toward the faint flicker of the fireplace trying its best to hold back the chill. Caleb tightened his grip on me, offering me his warmth. The storm hadn’t let up for hours, and something about it just didn’t sit right with me. The heaviness in the air, the low groaning of the trees outside… it all felt a little too ominous.

I turned my head toward him, brushing my fingers lightly against his arm as I leaned in. “Caleb,” I murmured, my voice just above a whisper, “Do you feel something different about tonight’s weather? It’s really bad out there. I don’t think they’re going to leave the condo in this mess.” I looked up at him, meeting his eyes.

“Let the guards follow them another day, please. Just tonight… let them rest. No one’s going out in this, and I don’t want them to get hurt.”

His jaw tensed for a moment like he was weighing it all in his head, and then he sighed, brushing his thumb absently over my knee. “I still have them on alert,” he said, his voice low but firm.

“Just in case Maggie and Ashton do step out. I don’t trust them to stay put just because of a little thunder. Wolves have far higher endurance than that.”

I nodded slowly, not wanting to press further. Caleb always erred on the side of caution—especially when it came to threats. Still, the warmth of his presence, even when laced with tension, was something I always clung to. I scooted closer to him, letting myself melt into his side, my fingers trailing up to the collar of his shirt as I burrowed in for his warmth. He smelled like cedarwood and something faintly spicy, a scent that always made me feel like I was home, even when everything outside felt unsafe.

And then—knock knock.

The sound jolted us both upright. Not a loud knock, not urgent or pounding, but soft… timid. Caleb was on his feet before I could even process the interruption, his instincts always a second ahead of mine. I sat up, clutching the blanket as I watched him make his way to the door. He peeked through the small peephole, then relaxed just slightly before opening it.

There, standing in the hallway, was little Riley.

He was a bundle of sleepiness, his cheeks flushed from bed, his pillow clutched tightly in one arm, the other hand rubbing at his eyes with a small whimper. His lower lip was trembling. He looked up at Caleb, then shifted his gaze to me behind him.

“I… I want to sleep with you,” he mumbled, barely loud enough to hear. “The thunder’s too loud. It’s… it’s scary.”

My heart cracked open.

Before Caleb could even respond, I was already nodding my head. “Come here, sweetheart,” I said softly. “You know you’re always welcome to sleep here.”