Claimed by My Bully Alpha Chapter 399

Aurora’s P.O.V

I stayed awake long after Riley had succumbed to sleep, my mind a jumble of thoughts and emotions. My breath came in short, frustrated bursts. The silence was unbearable, the tension in the air crackling like a coming storm, and finally, I couldn’t take it anymore. I turned sharply to Caleb, who leaned against the wall with that unreadable look on his face—too calm, too distant, like none of this was shaking him the way it shook me.

I gave him a subtle hint, a slight tilt of my head, before I got up and moved towards the door, keeping it open so that I could keep an eye on Riley as well. Caleb, of course, got the hint and came out right after me, keeping the door open behind him.

“What on earth is going on, Caleb?” I demanded, my voice louder than I intended. “Why are the wraiths targeting Riley now?”

His eyes met mine slowly, tiredly. There was something in them—confusion, maybe even a hint of guilt—but no answers.

“I don’t know,” he said, and he actually sounded like he meant it. “I’ve been trying to figure it out since he told us. I’ve been thinking and thinking, and none of it adds up. Riley… he’s just a kid, Aurora. As far as we know, he’s human. There’s nothing Lucas or Harmona could possibly want from him.”

“But that doesn’t make me feel any better!” I snapped, trying not to let my voice crack under the weight of my worry. “That doesn’t explain what the hell they were doing in my brother’s room! If they weren’t there to take him, then what? Were they watching him? Studying him? Were they looking for something? Or… or maybe something’s changed. Maybe we’ve missed something. A detail—something crucial.”

Caleb ran a hand down his face and exhaled heavily. “It’s possible,” he admitted. “But it could also just be… curiosity. You’re your mother’s daughter. He’s her son. Maybe they thought—what if he has something? Some dormant ability, some kind of potential. Maybe they sensed it. Maybe they just didn’t want to take chances.”

I shook my head, biting down on the inside of my cheek until I tasted blood. “Riley doesn’t even know what we are. I’ve kept him out of everything, protected him from it all, because I thought that would keep him safe. I thought if I just kept him far enough away, this world wouldn’t touch him. And now—now there were wraiths in his room, Caleb. Wraiths. Do you understand what that means? That boundary I worked so hard to build—it’s gone.”

“I know,” he said, gently, almost too gently. “And I’m not saying this isn’t serious. But we don’t know their intent yet. Maybe it was a mistake. Maybe they weren’t there for him.”

“Then who the hell were they there for?” I barked. “There’s no one else in that room but Riley. They didn’t just end up there by accident, Caleb. This wasn’t some slip-up in their shadowy little plan. You know how precise they are. You know how calculated they move. If they were in that room, it was for a reason.”

He sighed again, and this time his composure cracked—just a little. “Then we need to find out why. Fast. Because if Riley is involved now, even if it’s just as bait, we’re out of time. Harmona doesn’t make idle moves, and Lucas… Well, he always said the best way to break someone wasn’t through them. It was through the people they love.”

I felt my knees nearly give out at that, but I stayed standing, forcing the fear back into the pit of my stomach where it could fester quietly, not consume me. “If they touch him, Caleb. If they hurt him in any way, I swear to the stars—”

“We won’t let it get that far,” he said, stepping forward now, his voice low, firm, but his eyes still soft. “I promise you, Aurora. We’ll figure it out before they do.”

I didn’t answer. I just stood there, staring at the room behind me, where my brother slept peacefully, completely unaware of the monsters that had come calling for him in the dark.

I took a deep breath, trying to calm the flickering nerves that had been eating at me all day. The shadows outside were thick, and the night air held a strange weight to it—as if it knew we were teetering on the edge of something far worse than we imagined. Caleb stood near the hallway window, his arms crossed over his chest, gaze steady but unreadable. I hated that look. The one he wore when he was trying to make sense of something he didn’t like but couldn’t change.

“We can’t let Riley stay alone, Caleb,” I said, my voice firmer than I intended, but I didn’t care anymore. “I don’t give a damn what they’re after or if Riley isn't in their plan at all. The fact is, whatever the wraiths are planning, it’s dangerous—and Riley being on his own only makes it worse.”