Claimed by My Bully Alpha Chapter 411

Aurora’s P.O.V

I stood there for a moment, just breathing in relief as I watched Jade’s breathing even out. My shoulders loosened, my lungs let out a breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding, and for a split second, I thought, It’s over… thank the stars, it’s over.

But then he shifted.

His body trembled and contorted, the fur retreating, bones reshaping, and before I could blink, he was back in his human form. My eyes widened and, immediately, I turned away, heat rushing to my face.

“Okay, uh—yeah, not looking,” I muttered quickly, staring hard at the ground because of course, he wouldn’t have clothes on. “Somebody… someone should probably, uh—cover him or something.”

That was when I heard it—Alice’s sharp, startled gasp. Not the kind of gasp you make when you see something mildly surprising, but the kind that clutches at your chest and makes the air around you heavier. I froze. My head turned on instinct even though I had promised myself not to look.

“What? What is it?” I asked, already feeling my stomach twist before I even saw him.

And then I did see him.

The breath caught in my throat. “Oh… gods…” Black, jagged patches mottled his skin, crawling over his arms, chest, and neck like some kind of spreading disease. It didn’t look natural—it looked like something was burning him from the inside, like his flesh was trying to char and peel away while he was still alive.

My voice shook as I stumbled back a step. “Alice, what—what’s happening to him?”

Her eyes didn’t leave Jade, her expression tight with both fear and understanding. “He’s being drained,” she said quietly, the words hitting me harder than if she’d shouted them.

“Drained? Drained of what?” I demanded, my voice rising without me meaning it to.

“Life energy,” she replied, finally glancing at me, her face grim. “The wraiths… they’ve been using him as a vessel from time to time. That’s why this is happening.”

I stared at her, the words not sinking in at first. “A vessel?” I repeated. “You mean—they’ve been inside him? Possessing him?”

She nodded once. “Yes.”

My skin prickled all over. My mouth went dry. “And… and what does that even mean for him? How do we stop it?” The panic was starting to creep into my voice, my mind running too fast, imagining too many things I didn’t want to imagine.

Alice’s eyes softened just slightly, but her tone stayed heavy. “If this keeps happening…” She swallowed before finishing, “…his body will start to decompose. Slowly. He’ll rot from the inside out.”

I felt my knees weaken, my whole body trembling from shock. “No… no, you’re joking. You have to be joking.”

“I wish I was,” Alice whispered, looking back at Jade’s still form. “But I’m not.”

She turned sharply to face me, voice tight with urgency. “Aurora, we can’t keep him here like this. You see what’s happening, don’t you? He's a wolf. There’s no magic in his blood—nothing to protect him from the possessions. That’s why…every single time that thing takes over, it’s eating at his life energy.”

I couldn’t even believe my ears. My eyes went back to his skin, those bark patches now holding a more sinister meaning.

How far were Lucas and Harmona ready to fall for their so-called illusions of immortality? How far were they going to go before they stared to destroy the pack itself from the inside out?

“We need to move him. Now,” I told her, my voice curt. “Separate him from everyone else. Especially Maggie and Ashton. No more waiting, no more hoping it’ll pass. It’s not passing. It’s killing him.”

She hesitated only for a second before nodding, already stepping toward Jade’s limp form. “Alright… infirmary?”

“Yes,” I breathed out, already slipping my hands under his shoulders while she grabbed his legs.

“We get him under the lights. At least there, we can monitor him… and maybe buy him some time.” I spoke through gritted teeth. “And maybe sedate the fuck out of him. Because if he wakes up, he’ll want to get back near Maggie again. And I’m not letting that happen.”

The walk to the infirmary felt longer than it was. Jade’s head lolled against my arm, and I had to bite the inside of my cheek to stop from losing it right there. When we laid him on the bed and those bright, unforgiving lights hit his skin, I felt my stomach turn. He looked worse—so much worse. His skin was pale and clammy, the dark veins along his neck more pronounced than I’d ever seen them. I gripped the railing at his bedside, my nails digging into the metal.

“I can’t let this go on,” I muttered under my breath, but loud enough for Alice to hear.

She straightened up slowly, giving me a wary look. “Aurora… what are you thinking?”

I couldn’t tell her what I was thinking just yet, because god knew what shadow was watching our every move. But looking at Jade’s form, I couldn’t  help but think that I’d been a naïve fool for far too long.

This guise of family…ends now.

“I’m thinking,” I said, forcing my eyes away from Jade, “that I can’t just sit here and watch him be drained to nothing. You stay with him. Take care of him. I’ll take care of something else.”

Alice’s brows knitted together, suspicion and worry flickering in her gaze. “Something else? That sounds like you’re about to do something reckless.”

“Foolish, reckless, call it whatever you want,” I shot back, though my voice softened at the end. “But we already have our backs to the wall, Alice. There’s no safe play left. Might as well go all in.”

She stepped in front of me before I could turn away, her arms folded. “And if ‘all in’ gets you killed? Then what, Aurora? What do you expect me to say to the pack? To Caleb?”

Caleb’s name made me pause, but only momentarily. Because if there was one thing I had learned for him, it was his determination to do anything he could to save his loved ones. And right then, I was doing the same.

I smiled faintly, though there was no humor in it. “Then at least I didn’t just stand here while someone I care about slipped away. That’s not an option for me, not when I’m finally realizing that I trusted the wrong ‘family’.”

Her jaw worked, but she didn’t stop me when I stepped past her. “Just… don’t make me regret letting you walk out that door,” she murmured behind me.

“You won’t,” I promised, though deep down, I wasn’t sure I believed it myself.