Claimed by My Bully Alpha (by Anna Kendra) novel Chapter 161

Chapter 161

Caleb’s POV

The sight of it made my chest tighten, the soft pastel curtains and the neatly made bed a stark contrast to the chaos outside.

This was Aurora’s room…I could scent her from every corner, as if she had only just left this room. Thankfully, it wasn’t empty like the room downstairs, int the simplicity of it all didn’t sit right with me.

The room was tiny, barely having space for a single bed, a tiny study desk and a closet. It felt like a sharp contrast to the vastly different lives we had been living before we even met. And it made me feel even more guilty about how i had ignored her, scorned her before the Moon Goddess made me realize she was my mate.

Damien must have noticed my hesitation, so he strode forward to take action.

“We can’t stay here,” Damien said; his voice hoarse as he slammed the door shut, keeping the fire at bay, for now. “The fire will catch up to us any minute now.”

“There’s got to be another way out.” He crossed the room in quick strides, heading for the window, and I followed, desperation clawing at my chest. If this didn’t work, we were out of options.

Surprisingly, as Damien opened the latch, the window swung open on its own, giving us an exit way that we desperately needed.

But I couldn’t help but look back. The room felt stark and empty, its bare walls and minimal furniture doing little to mask the weight of what had transpired here. My gaze flickered to the window Damien had already managed to pry open, letting in the cool air that carried with it the faintest scent of smoke–a reminder that time was slipping away.

“Jump down after me,” he said, his voice steady but clipped, urgency wrapped around each word. “The fall isn’t too hard, but it’s better to turn before we hit ground. Can’t take any chances with this blasted house.”

He didn’t wait for my response, trusting that I’d follow, as he threw himself out of the window. Mid–air, his form shifted, muscles and fur replacing skin in an instant, his wolf landing gracefully below without a stumble. He looked up, his eyes glinting with the glow of the firelight in the distance, waiting for me to follow.

I stepped closer to the window, bracing myself against the sill, but something tugged at me, keeping my feet firmly planted on the floor.

“I’ll be down in a second,” I called down to him, my voice low, but he must’ve heard because I saw him nod briefly before lowering his head to scan the area. I turned back into the room, heading straight for Aurora’s closet. The small space was unassuming, like the rest of the house, but it carried her scent–soft and unmistakably hers.

My fingers moved quickly through the sparse belongings, pulling aside hangers and brushing past folded fabric until I found something that felt right. A scarf, worn but familiar, and a small silver bracelet that must have slipped off her wrist one careless day. They weren’t much, but they were hers, and they’d mean something when this place was nothing but ash.

My heart was pounding in my chest, the roar of the fire growing louder behind me. I flung the items away, hoping to find something–anything–that could be of use, something other than this mess, that would actually hold an emotional value, but all I saw were old clothes and books, relics of a time that seemed distant and irrelevant now.

Frustrated, I was about to turn away when a small box tucked into the corner caught my eye. Something about it compelled me, and without a second thought, I grabbed it. The heat was unbearable now, the fire having reached the door, and thick black smoke coiled around the room, making it almost impossible to breathe. I coughed violently, clutching the box to my chest as I stumbled back, every instinct screaming at me to get out.

I made it to the window, the only escape left. The flames were relentless, devouring everything in their path, and the smoke clawed at my throat and eyes. I paused for a split second, looking back at the room one last time–my mate’s room. The memories here, the love and warmth, now reduced to ash and ruin. My chest tightened, not just from the lack of air but from the realization that this was it. I turned to the window, ready to leap, when something made me freeze.

The smoke at the door wasn’t just smoke anymore–it had twisted itself into the shape of a grotesque human face, its features distorted and horrific. Its mouth opened wide, and an unearthly scream erupted, shaking me to my core. My grip on the windowsill faltered, and I was so startled that I lost my balance entirely. My body plummeted through the air, the ground rushing up to meet me. For a moment, I was certain I would hit the earth with a bone- shattering impact, my heart racing with the inevitability of pain.

But then, like a force of nature, Damien appeared. His strong arms wrapped around me mid–air, the collision jarring but undeniably life–saving. We hit the

1/2

Chapter 161

ground together, the impact knocking the wind out of me, but I was alive.

Verify captcha to read the contentVerify