The Alpha King's Contracted Luna by Nelson Claudia

Chapter 191

Chapter 191

-Ava’s POV-

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I had always felt like I wasn’t good enough–not by choice, but because that was how my parents had made me see myself. And when I turned eighteen, the feeling of inadequacy became more than just emotional; it became a defining truth.

I didn’t have a wolf so I felt incomplete.

But it wasn’t just the absence of my wolf that made me feel incomplete. It turned out, I had been incomplete from the moment I was born.

I had a twin.

There was me, and then there was her. Born on the same day, a human being. A sister.

“Ava?”

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I hadn’t moved from the spot where I nearly suffocated from a panic attack. I knew my name was being called, but I couldn’t bring myself to answer. Not from the woman who had lied to me my entire life, who had only now, after twenty–five years, chosen to tell me the truth. The truth that my birth had been prophesied by the ancestors, and that the child born would be the perfect match, the fated mate to the Alpha king.

But there were two of us.

So my parents had to make a choice. Pick one, and transfer the essence to her, because if they hadn’t, both of us would have died. So, they chose one. A ritual was performed, transferring the essence from one to the other, leaving the unchosen child hollow.

Somehow, after the transfer, my sister–the twin–was stolen. They believed I was the weaker twin, but they were wrong. I was the one who carried the essence. I was Grayson’s fated mate.

If I weren’t so exhausted, if I didn’t feel like everything was unraveling around me. If I wasn’t actually scared that all the laughter might actually mean I was going insane, I might have laughed again.

I might have laughed and never stopped.

“Where is she? Who is she?” I whispered, forcing myself to look at my mother–even though I couldn’t meet her eyes.

I would have been stunned by the way Evelyn Pierce, of all people, looked almost apologetic, as if she were truly sorry for treating me like a mistake my entire life. She thought they’d lost the child they wanted, and no matter what I did, I would never be good enough. I would always be weak. Inadequate.

But I was the twin. The chosen one. Now she sat there, after all these years, telling me that she and my father had been wrong. She’d realized it the night of the ball, and now, with everything that had happened, it was clear that I was the one who carried the power.

I wasn’t your choice? Is that why

“Ava-”

my name.” I pushed myself to my feet, every emotion within me silenced, leaving only the sense of anger. “You treated me as if my very existence was a mistake. You made me become a version of myself that projected perfection, but it wasn’t perfection you wanted from me, was it? You were trying to mold me into the person you expected

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Chapter 191

supposed to make

“You don’t-”

up, Mother. Stop

ས ་ 89%i

moment to realize that my claws had extended. I let

was Grayson’s fated mate. But if that was true, why didn’t the bond break his curse when he marked me?

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wasn’t going to think about him right now, or my head

here. I couldn’t bear

extended again, slicing through her hand. Blood flowed immediately. Her eyes widened

hell away from me. I never want to

knowing where I was headed, but just needing to

eyes, not even knowing what I was feeling anymore. All I knew was that I

So, so angry.

wolf stirred inside me. I opened the mental link between us. ‘Did you know?‘

silent for a moment before her voice resonated in my head. “That you

was a subtle tone, like she’d tried to tell me, but I hadn’t listened.

followed through the link before the next words reached her before I could think them. ‘Why did you take so long to

darker version of myself had said it was because I was weak, that my wolf was powerful and I hadn’t been a strong enough counterpart.

didn’t let me.‘

her only reply before the mental link broke off, and I knew that she wasn’t one

to reach out again for an explanation. I knew she

“Dr. Pierce?”

Mikayla

for the past few days. But I knew it was no use. I didn’t need to look at myself in a mirror to know how I must have looked–like I’d been living on the

streets.

next to her turned away and spoke to her. “I’ll see

as a tiny blush crept up on Mikayla’s cheeks, but her attention quickly shifted back to

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Chapter 191