Claimed by My Bully Alpha Chapter 81

Caleb’s P.O.V

I didn’t get it. I didn’t understand what could’ve happened to make Aurora think that I wasn’t capable enough to handle my own pack.

What Mia had told her hadn’t been wrong, but her words had been coloured with her own insecurities about losing Shane and her loss of faith in me. She hadn’t had the strength to ask me directly, so she had gone to Aurora instead, to try to poison her mind against me. And it had worked.

But what I found surprising was the fact that I was disappointed in her just as I was disappointed in myself. Did she truly think I wasn’t capable of handing my pack? The question had haunted me again and again. It had been on my mind ever since I stormed out of the dining room, trying to find an outlet for my anger.

It hadn’t helped when I had gone out into the woods for a run in my wolf form; it hadn’t helped when I had taken an ice-cold shower and it bloody hell wasn’t helping now that I was trying to get some rest. I thought we had been making progress…that we were finally getting somewhere, developing an understanding…but all that seemed to have been for nothing!

Did she really think it was easy to let her go? Did she really think that once she walked away, we would both be free of this cycle and end up with another person? That wasn’t how the mating bond worked, damnit!

If only she were a wolf…then she would know the intensity of what I was going through. If only the Moon Goddess hadn’t been this stubborn…fuck!

‘Aurora is confused and I think a part of her, doesn’t believe that she deserves to be happy. That’s why she had never reported her father’s abusive nature to the police, in hopes that she could protect her brother from the foster care system.’ Caroline had told me right after I had left, via our mental link. ‘Give her some time Caleb, give her the time to come to her senses that she can’t live without you either. I think she will start to understand more about the mating bond soon, when she finds how impossible it is to live without your mate.’

‘But she is human! How can she possibly understand how it feels, Care?’ I had asked Caroline then. ‘How can she possibly imagine the magnitude of what a wolf feels for their mate?’

‘That’s the thing, isn’t it? She had had a crush on you even before you knew she was your mate.’ Caroline had answered. ‘The Moon Goddess works in mysterious ways. And I think Aurora just needs time to figure that out.’

“Hell!” I got up from my bed and stormed out of my room.

Time could go fuck itself. I was done waiting for some stupid ‘time’ to work its magic and make Aurora realize what we had and what she was giving up on.

Ever since she told me she wanted to leave, my wolf had been utterly restless, gnawing and tearing at my insides to claim its mate. But the only thing holding me back from sinking my teeth into her neck and marking her as mine was the fact that Aurora wasn’t yet an adult. And the full power of the mating bond didn’t start working until both parties were adults.

But fuck that shit! I was tired of waiting!

I wasn’t giving her a chance to escape. If she wanted to know what would’ve happened to the pack, what would’ve happened when I became an Alpha, then she should’ve asked me about it directly. But instead, she went to the last person she should’ve gone to, Mia! The one person who was angry at me for her boy toy being thrown off to the boot camp for being the asshole!

But I was done with all of this! If Aurora thought this was going to be a piece of cake when she just up and left, then she had another thing coming. I was going to make her acutely aware of how deep this bond pulsating between us was and I wasn’t going to back off just yet, not without a fair fight.

Coming out of the elevator, I headed straight for her door and knocked on it, harder than I had intended to.

I was getting impatient by the second, so when Aurora finally opened the door, I pushed past her into her room without waiting for her permission.

“Caleb…” Aurora gave me a weary look. “Can you please leave? I really don’t have the strength right now.”

I noticed then what I hadn’t before. Tear marks and puffy eyes. Aurora had been crying. Fucking hell! If it was hurting her this bad, then why the fuck was she making this so difficult for the both of us?

I caught her hand before she could move away and backed her up against the door. The sparks were there, and it meant that our connection was just as strong and alive as the day that I had felt the wolf call her my mate.

“Just so we’re clear, I’m not letting you go and I’m not giving up either.” I placed a finger on top of her lips before she could speak. “I’m giving you the space you need to adjust and get your thoughts together. The mating bond isn’t a joke, Aurora and I wish you were a wolf so you could feel just how crazy I feel when I’m not near you.”

Her eyes widened the slightest, but my attention was temporarily drawn to the soft texture of her lips against my finger. “You have no idea how much I’m holding back. A wolf only has one mate decided upon by the Goddess and no one has the right to go against it. So if my pack goes against the will of the Goddess, they’ll be committing treason.”

I looked up at her once more, the icy depth of her eyes catching onto mine, holding me captive. “Deny the connection all you want, but I know you feel it too.”

“I don’t.” Aurora whispered against my finger, but I felt her voice tremble. I saw the way her gaze shifted slightly to my ear as she spoke.

“Liar.” I smirked, because I could hear the spike in her heart rate, the shortness of her breath. “Look me in the eye and tell me you don’t feel anything towards me anymore. Tell me that you can move on in life as if you never felt anything for me! Push me away now and I’ll never bother you again. Do you really have the strength to do that, Aura?”

“Stop it! Please!” Aurora begged, avoiding my gaze at all costs. “I don’t want to cause any more problems for you!”

“I don’t need your sacrifice, Aurora!” I told her sharply, hoping that she would understand. “I need you by my side! I need you to trust me.”

“I do…” she whispered desperately. “I trust you, but-”

This time, I didn’t silence her with my fingers.

Tilting her head up with my hand under her chin, I captured her lips with mine and felt the entire world come to a standstill right then and there.