Claimed by My Bully Alpha Chapter 69

Caleb’s P.O.V

The next morning, I woke up early despite not having had much sleep all night. Caroline had stayed with Aurora until she had fallen asleep early in the morning and then she had informed me that she was leaving.

I had asked her to sleep over, in one of the guest rooms inside the pack house that was reserved for her, but she had told me about her parent’s over-reaction to finding out she wasn’t my mate. I wasn’t particularly interested in finding out about their reaction in details, but for the sake of my father’s business, I would have to.

Caroline’s father was my father’s current beta and he would be one of my greatest allies when it came time for me to become the Alpha, so it was only fair that I took his advice to heart. However, I knew he wasn’t an irrational man, but now that he knew that his daughter won’t be the future Luna and will have to bow to a simple human instead…I had a pretty good idea of how good of a fit he was going to be throwing.

Adults weren’t supposed to be irrational, but adults who wanted to bask in power had a way of turning a blind eye to the most common rules that were set in stone, the most important one being the fact that the mating bond couldn’t be forced.

It was around eight o’ clock when I came down to the private dining area to meet both Jade and Caroline, to have breakfast with them as well as discuss everything that we missed last night when I had gone to the Sheriff’s office to meet with Mr. Hemming and his goons.

Shane and Mia used to be a part of the team, but I wasn’t sure of what exactly happened to them yet. However, if Shane did dare show up, I was going to rip his guts out, finish what I had started last night and just be done with it, come what may.

“Good morning.” Caroline and Jade greeted me as I took a seat at the table. Both of them looked weary and I was sure I mimicked their sentiments.

The dining room we were in right now was a smaller room, for private occasions only and used especially by the members of my family. There was another larger dining area just down the hall and it was built to accommodate up to two hundred people. And it was specially made for the pack. They could come and go at any time and everyone was welcome no matter what their hierarchy in the pack may be. The hall was always stocked to the brim with food.

The larger hall too seemed to be in a dull mood today, however, well, it was either that or last night’s party had left everyone hung-over since the hall that should be brimming with people was almost empty.

“So?” I looked around the room to make sure we were alone. “What did I miss?”

“Presuming that you’re asking about Shane…he’s being transferred.” Jade sighed. “Your father gave him an ultimatum the previous time, but since he acted like a dick within the span of a month, he will now be sent to New York, on a disciplinary camp made especially for delinquent wolves.”

I’d heard of this camp when I had been a rebellious boy in my early teens. My mom used to scare me with stories from that camp so I would stop misbehaving. As I grew older, I had gotten a lot better with my temper and had forgotten all about that camp until today.

“It’s a real thing? That camp?” I asked suspiciously, to which both Caroline and Jade nodded.

“My cousin brother was sent there for two months a couple years ago, when he did something stupid.” Caroline shook her head in disappointment. “He tried to sell our pain meds to some junkies down the street to get extra cash and got caught in the process. It’s pretty much like a military school. They train you to be disciplined soldiers and that training is gruesome.”

“That’s why he got selected as a senior soldier so early on.” I mused. “I just hope Shane learns from his mistake rather than come back as a major dick with extra training. God! Why did he even do all this? What the hell did he have against Aurora? It’s like he hated her guts for absolutely no reason at all!”

“It’s not for no reason. Cal, you know that,” Jade shook his head. “Remember that day at the restaurant when Aurora managed to insult him in front of all of us? Shane took that way too personally because it was true.”

“What do you mean?” I frowned. “What was true?”

“He doesn’t get along with his parents, and I had heard rumors that they were abusive towards him for every little mistake he made.” Caroline said, looking a bit unsure. “I had tried to ask him about it, about what he was going through at home when I saw a few bruises around his neck that looks like finger marks, but he would brush it off as a simple accident.”

“His family was hell-bent on putting on a perfect font for the pack, but inside those four walls, there was something else going on altogether. He was forced to be friends with us so his father could get favors from the Alpha, and if that wasn’t enough, he was treated harshly for every mistake he made, no matter how small.” Jade told me, intertwining his fingers in front of him. “It’s kinda ironic in a sense, if you consider how both Aurora and Shane had been abused by their families and had nowhere to go or no one to turn to. But it’s also astounding to see how different both of them turned out to be, personality wise.”

“Yeah, that’s true.” Caroline nodded, while I took some time to absorb all this new information. “Shane became an uglier version of himself, letting the hate and anger accumulate until it spilled over and he stated to bully others. As for Aurora, she didn’t let her circumstances stop her from becoming a good person. She worked hard to survive knowing she had only herself to turn to, and showed a kind of strength and backbone not a lot of people would have, despite her circumstances being so dire.”

Shane was being abused in his own house…and I had had no idea what was happening to one of my best friends right under my nose…it was astounding how much I hadn’t noticed because I had been too caught up with all the things that I had no control over…like denying the fact that Aurora was my mate.

Fuck! My head was about to explode. Now I knew exactly how Aurora felt when she had heard about the existence of the supernatural.

Now I was scared to ask how things were at Caroline’s house because I wasn’t sure if I was ready for yet another surprise. I knew things were going to be tough, but I wanted to focus on my priority for now, deal with one issue at a time.

Any other time, I would’ve asked Caroline how Aurora was doing, but not today. Today, I wanted to talk to her myself and help her deal with the situation. Aurora was my responsibility and it was time I started owning up to it.