The Alpha King's Contracted Luna by Nelson Claudia

Chapter 145

-Grayson’s POV

That phone call with Isabella had been the moment everything graveled the moment I could no longer deny what had been right in front of me all along.

Her words had lingered in the air, heavy and inescapable, echoing in my mind like the haunting refrain of a songs

“Lilian is in love with you.”

Even now, I could still feel the weight of those words pressing against my chest, suffocating yet liberating. I’d spent so long running–running from my feelings, from her, from the very idea of love. But yesterday, something shifted.

Ava. In love with me.

It was like a floodgate opening, a deluge of emotions I’d kept buried for far too long. The memories came rushing back–the way she’d always looked at me, like I was more than my flaws, more than the darkness I carried. The sound of her laugh, bright and full of life, echoing in the spaces I’d thought were irreparably broken.

The way she believed in me.

And I’d realized, with a startling clarity, that I might not fully comprehend the feeling but if it was supposed to feel like this then I loved her too.

I wasn’t sure when it had happened, when she’d slipped past my defenses. Maybe it had been inevitable, like a tide slowly pulling me in no matter how hard I fought against it. But it was there, undeniable and overwhelming. Ava had my heart.

Just like Alaric had said but I had refused to focus ok then until now.

That was why, without hesitation, I’d booked the next flight home. Somewhere between the departure gate and takeoff, I’d called Isabella again, seeking her advice one last time. Her words had been simple: “Just show up.”

So, I did.

I had once told myself that Ava Pierce was beautiful, but it was a sentiment I had barely cared to acknowledge. At the time, İ had convinced myself it didn’t matter–it couldn’t matter. But even then, I knew I had lied to myself. I could lie no longer.

Ava wasn’t just beautiful. She was out–of–this–world beautiful. The kind of beauty that made the world pause. The kind that left me speechless. And I couldn’t even remember the last time I had been rendered so utterly lost for words. When I saw her tonight, standing there with her quiet confidence and an elegance that felt almost ethereal, the only words I could

muster were,

“Happy birthday.”

Utterly pathetic.

she had stepped in. She became the buffer I desperately needed

still hadn’t decided whether to tell her about her twin–the sister she didn’t even know existed. The sister who, wherever she was, happened to be my fated mate. The weight

into the hall knowing that I would ever let her walk away

Mon,

Chapter 145

carried me to the balcony of the mansion almost on their own accord, seeking the cool night air like it could calm the storm brewing in my chest. I leaned

Finding her–being with her was the only way to break the curse that had haunted my bloodline for generations. It was simple.

didn’t

I would deal with it only when I absolutely had to. For

never going to let her

head to find Evelyn standing a few feet away, her expression

the beginning of it all–the woman who had given birth to my fated mate. If anyone knew where her daughter was, it would be her. But I didn’t answer her question. She already knew the answer. Instead, I asked the question even though

know she’s

mild discomfort she’d shown when I told her Ava had gotten her wolf back at the restaurant. This was something deeper, something visceral. Her lips parted slightly, and for the first time, I saw the resemblance

Ava didn’t know.

the curse,” I said, my voice low. “That’s why you hate me so much.

eyes hardening as she spat, “I have no idea what you’re talking

“We both know you gave birth to two children, and only one could

her voice rising with a sudden anger. “One would

the way you do, isn’t it?” I pressed. “Because the one you the one who would never measure

daughter. If it weren’t for your cursed bloodline, I wouldn’t have had to make that choice! My daughters would have been normal. One wouldn’t have been born t hold so much power that she became a target and was stolen from me.”

I just stared at her, letting the silence stretch between us. She continued before I

not have been responsible for the first because we cannot fight fate, but you hold every ounce of responsibility for what Ava has

become.”

always meant to be. And for someone who lacks a heart, it’s sad—even to me -that you can’t see Ava is the best thing that could have ever happened