Claimed by My Bully Alpha Chapter 439

***Aurora’s P.O.V***

I heard the hum before I even opened my eyes, a soft, steady thread of sound that felt like it belonged to a room I had forgotten I used to live in. I thought at first it was a faraway radio, or the wind through the eaves, and because my head felt heavy and the world felt thin.

 I decided I must be dead; that was the only explanation that matched the memory pressing sharp and hot behind my ribs, the dagger, the way it slid in my hand, the way Lucas's laugh had twisted into something I couldn't unhear.

I let the hum grow into a song in my mind and then, because I couldn't stand the silence of my own panic, I opened my eyes. The ceiling was vaguely familiar. There was wallpaper with a pattern my childhood hands had once traced, and leaning over me, like something out of my wildest dreams...was my mother.

“Aurora?” she said, and her voice had the same lift it always did when she wanted to check if I was pretending to sleep. “Oh, love, you're awake.”

My mouth made a sound that was half a laugh and half a broken thing. “Mom?” I breathed, stupidly, as if testing a question that should not be answered, and she smiled , the smile that I had missed terribly for the last six years.

I sat up so fast I felt dizzy and then realized I hadn't been sitting on a cold stone or a bed of dried leaves like I had imagined…but on her lap. I had been curled there, head tucked into her knees, and she had been humming that impossible lullaby I had not heard since I was small enough to hide my face in her apron.

“You were asleep, darling,” she said, voice low but insistently gentle. “You fell asleep on me. So I sang to you.”

I shook my head, unable to believe what was happening. How could this be possible? How was she really here? Was I dreaming? Or…was I dead and in heaven, where she was?

“I… I thought I killed myself,” I said, the words spilling out in a tumble and the room tilting because admitting it made it feel even scarier. “I thought…I remember the blade. I remember Lucas.”

I looked down at myself then, but where I had thought to find blood…there was none. There was no blade protruding out of my chest, no wound, no blood. I wasn’t injured at all. How…was that even possible?

My mother's hand went to my hair and she patted my head like I was once again her little baby. “Everything is alright, child. You’re no longer bound to him.”

“No…you…you don’t understand! Lucas…” I said his name like a curse, a shiver running down my spine. “He… he was trying to take over my body. I had to…I thought the only thing I could do was…” I couldn't finish. The sound of my own voice teetered into a sob.

My mother hushed me, hummed the song again as if it were a salve, and then leaned in and pressed her mouth to my forehead.

“Listen to me,” she whispered. “You are here. You are breathing. You are warm. Whatever you remember, whatever storm you think you weathered, you are here, and you are mine.”

Her fingers were firm as she wrapped them around me, and she spoke like she had all the time in the world…like I had all the time in the world too, and that steadied me somehow. But still, it all felt too much. I was beyond confused. What was happening right now? Was I dreaming? Was I dead? I still couldn’t find the answers.

I stared at my mother’s face, at the fact that she was sitting right in front of me in the flesh when I had watched her being buried six years ago. But still, I wasn’t scared. I just wanted to know if this moment was real or a hallucination. Maybe that’s why…I asked her a ridiculous question: “Why were you singing that song?”

She smiled an almost knowing smile. “Because I wanted you to come back to me.”

I felt my resolve crumble right then, and I all but rushed into her arms. I could feel my hands trembling as I reached for her, my voice catching in my throat. “Mom…” I whispered, my chest tightening, “I don’t even know if any of this is real…but…you’re here…you’re here with me…I—”

Before I could finish, she looked at me with those warm eyes I thought I’d never see again, and her voice was soft, almost like a lullaby.

“Aurora, my sweet girl, I’ve been watching over you all this time. Every step, every breath, every tear you’ve shed, I was there. And I saw how you cared for Riley. You gave him so much love, more than I could have ever hoped for. You were everything I prayed you’d be.”

My lips quivered, and I shook my head, tears burning my eyes until they spilled freely. “No, Mom… no, you don’t understand,” I sobbed, gripping my dress.

“I failed you. I failed so badly. I never saw your pain. I never knew how much you were hurting inside, and I couldn’t comfort you. I couldn’t carry any of it for you…I couldn’t make it lighter for you. What kind of daughter does that make me?”

Her expression softened, and she reached out to brush my hair out of my face.

“Aurora, listen to me,” she said firmly, her thumb brushing over my cheek. “Those burdens were mine to bear, not yours. I never wanted you to carry them. I never wanted you to feel that kind of weight. You were just a child… my child. I would have never forgiven myself if you had to go through what I did. Do you hear me?”

I cried harder, shaking my head, clinging to her hand as though she might disappear. “But I should have been there! I should have tried harder, I should have noticed. If I’d just…”

“No.” Her voice cut through my protests, gentle but steady, like it had always been when she calmed me as a little girl.

“Don’t you dare blame yourself. You loved me, Aurora. That’s all I ever needed. And you gave Riley the same love, the same care. You didn’t fail anyone, you carried on where I left off. You made me proud.”

My body shook as I tried to swallow the lump in my throat, but my words came out broken. “I don’t want to do this without you anymore. I don’t want to keep pretending I’m strong when I’m not. I’m tired, Mom… I’m so tired.”

She pulled me closer, her forehead resting against mine, her voice a soft whisper that wrapped around me. “I know, my love. I know you’re tired. But you’re stronger than you believe. And it’s not your time yet. You still have so much to do, so many people who need your light. Riley still needs you. The world still needs you.”

“No, please.” I gripped her hand tighter, desperation dripping from every word as I whispered, “Take me with you. Please, just let me go with you. I’m ready… I don’t want to stay without you.”

Her smile was sad but radiant, her thumb wiping away the endless stream of tears on my face. “Aurora,” she said softly, “I want nothing more than to hold you forever. But you can’t come with me yet. You’re meant to live, to love, to fight, to fall and rise again. When the time comes, I’ll be here, waiting with open arms. But now… now you have to keep going.”

I shook my head against her shoulder, my voice cracking. “How do I do that without you? How do I even breathe knowing I can’t see you again?”

She kissed my temple the way she always used to, her voice warm with unshakable certainty. “You breathe because I’m in every breath you take. You live because my love is in every heartbeat of yours. And when you smile, Aurora, I’m smiling too. You’re not alone. You never were. But you must also understand sweetheart…this isn’t your place. You’re not dead.”