Claimed by My Bully Alpha Chapter 57

Caleb’s P.O.V

Before Shane could even process what she had said, I was already moving. Caroline, Jade, and even my father were right behind me, all of us storming down the hall like a force of nature. My pulse roared in my ears as we reached the basement door. My hands fumbled for the key, but my father was faster—he shoved past me, gripping the doorknob with white-knuckled intensity before throwing the door open with a loud, echoing bang. 

We charged inside. 

The room was empty. 

For a moment, I just stood there, my breath caught in my throat, my mind refusing to process what I was seeing—or rather, what I wasn’t seeing. No Aurora. No Mr. Hemming. Nothing but the faint smell of damp concrete and the sight of the overturned covers in the corner, as if someone had struggled. My chest tightened painfully. I turned to Shane, who had followed us in, his face ashen.

“Where is she?” My voice was low, dangerous, laced with barely restrained fury. 

Shane looked just as lost as I felt. His mouth opened, closed, then opened again. “I—I don’t know,” he stammered. “She was here! I swear, I—I only meant to keep her here until—” 

I didn’t let him finish. My hand shot out, grabbing the collar of his shirt, yanking him toward me.

“Until what, Shane?” I snarled. “Until what?” 

“I didn’t think—I didn’t think they’d be gone!” he sputtered, hands flying up in defense. “I just—I just thought it was the safest place! I didn’t—” 

“Safe?” Caroline’s voice cut through the air, sharp and furious. “You locked her up with Mr. Hemming! Do you even know what you’ve done?” 

Jade ran a shaky hand through his hair, his voice a mix of disbelief and panic. “We need to find them. Now.” 

I released Shane with a shove, my mind racing a hundred miles an hour. The door had been locked. There was no sign of forced entry. Which meant… someone had let them out. Or worse, someone had taken them. 

And I was going to find out who. 

I don’t even think before I move. My hands are on Shane’s collar in an instant, my fingers tightening around the fabric as I yank him toward me, his startled gasp lost beneath the fury roaring in my ears.

"Where is she?" I snarl, my voice barely human. My chest heaves, my breath ragged with rage. Aurora is missing, and Shane is the last person who saw her. He has to know something.

Shane’s eyes widen, but he quickly schools his features, shaking his head. "I don't know," he mutters, attempting to yank free, but I tighten my grip.

"Bullshit." My voice is a growl now, my patience nonexistent. "You locked her in here. You had her trapped. So don’t stand there and tell me you don’t know where she is." My hands tremble, not with fear, but with the sheer force of my fury.

"I swear, Caleb, I don’t know!" Shane protests, his voice cracking slightly. I don’t care. I don’t care if he's scared, if he's telling the truth or lying through his damn teeth. All I know is that Aurora is gone, and he’s standing in front of me acting like he doesn’t know a damn thing.

The red haze takes over before I can even think. One second, I’m gripping his collar, and the next, I’m throwing him to the ground with all the strength I have. His body hits the concrete with a dull thud, a sharp grunt escaping his lips, but I don’t stop. I can’t stop. My fists move on their own, slamming into him, one blow after another, the sickening crunch of impact barely registering in my mind.

"You don’t know?" I spit, my knuckles stinging, but I don’t care. "You don’t know?" Another punch lands, harder this time, sending his head snapping to the side. Blood drips from his split lip, but I still don’t stop. "You think I believe that?"

Shane coughs, groaning as he tries to shield himself, but I shove his hands away. My heart pounds, each beat fueled by pure rage.

"You locked her in here with a fucking monster! You knew what you were doing, and now she’s missing. So I’ll ask one last time," I growl, grabbing him by the front of his shirt again and forcing him to look at me, his face already bruising.

"Where. Is. She?"

His breath comes in short gasps, his chest heaving as he glares at me through swollen eyes. "I don’t know," he rasps, blood trickling down the corner of his mouth. "I swear."

I clench my jaw so hard it hurts. My hands shake with the urge to keep going, to keep hitting him until he does know, until he gives me something, anything to go on. But all I see in his face is pain and exhaustion, and for the first time, doubt creeps in. What if he’s telling the truth? What if he really doesn’t know?

I curse under my breath, shoving him back down before I force myself to take a step back, my chest heaving. The rage is still there, boiling under my skin, but now it’s mixed with something worse. Fear. Because if Shane isn’t lying, then that means Aurora is out there, alone, and I still don’t know where to find her.

Shane was barely recognizable beneath me, his face swollen, his lip split, blood seeping from his nose. My knuckles throbbed, the sting of torn skin registering somewhere in the back of my mind, but I didn’t care. I could still hear his voice, still see the smugness in his eyes before I started swinging.

My breath came in ragged, uneven gasps, my chest rising and falling like a storm barely contained. The only thing stopping me from finishing what I started was the firm grip on my shoulder, yanking me back, pulling me away from him before I could lose myself entirely.

“That’s enough,” my father’s voice was stern, unwavering, but it wasn’t anger that met me when I turned to face him—it was something far heavier. Disappointment.

"You need to stop this, Caleb." His grip was tight, but not painful, a grounding force against the chaos in my head. "Right now, your focus shouldn't be here. It should be on finding Aurora."

Aurora. Her name cut through the haze, and suddenly, I was aware of just how much time I had wasted here. I let out a sharp breath, running a hand through my hair, my fingers tangling in the mess of it. My heart was still pounding, the adrenaline making my limbs feel jittery, but I forced myself to meet my father’s gaze.

His eyes softened just slightly. "I’ll take care of everything here. You need to find her before something bad happens," he said, his tone quieter but no less urgent.

My stomach twisted at his words. The unease had already been there, gnawing at me from the moment I lost sight of her, but now it sank its teeth deeper, a vicious, consuming thing. What if something had already happened? What if I was too late?

I exhaled sharply, giving a single nod. There was no time to waste. Without another word, I turned on my heel and bolted, the world narrowing down to one singular thought—Aurora.