The Alpha King's Contracted Luna by Nelson Claudia

Chapter 209

Chapter 209

-Grayson’s POV-

Kiss

69

The debt I owed to Luther Pierce–one I never wanted to acknowledge–had been paid, and because of that, he would live to see another day and in a twist of fate I never could have predicted a year ago, he and I were now allies.

Because now, we had a common enemy.

Damien Cross.

I would have never seen it coming. If someone had asked me to try to pinpoint the mastermind behind the chaos, the killings, and the destruction, Damien wouldn’t have even made the list.

He had been insignificant. Unnoticed. A shadow lurking in the background.

The only reason I had ever acknowledged his existence was because of how close he had been to Ava. That alone had been enough to make me hate him, but I hadn’t thought much beyond that. I hadn’t seen him as a threat. I hadn’t considered him capable of anything beyond being an annoyance.

Little Dove, my foot

But I had to give him credit. He was good. Extremely good. He had played his insignificance well, so well that he had managed to orchestrate everything without anyone suspecting him. He had taken calculated hits, and Liam, who had now vanished off the face of the earth right alongside him was just one if his foot soldiers.

So while Liam had been a pawn, Damien was the mastermind.

For the last week, I had worked tirelessly to reclaim my position, to solidify my power. And while the climb back to the top hadn’t been as difficult as I had imagined, it carried an unfamiliar weight–a touch of vulnerability.

Because the entire realm knew I didn’t have my wolf.

They knew I wasn’t at full strength.

But I was still King–and that wasn’t going to change. Wolf or not, I was going to find Damien and make him regret the moment he decided to interfere in Ava’s life from the very second she was born.

Ava.

I didn’t think there would ever come a time when just thinking her name wouldn’t affect me. But I also knew–anyone

be Ava.

But no one could be Ava Pierce.

And I had been right. She hadn’t forgiven me.

Not like I had expected her to even though she had gone through all of it just to get to me. The moment she regained consciousness after being unconscious for five days, she was gone.

could

And every night for those five days, I had sat by her bedside, watching her sleep, knowing that the moment she woke up, I would lose her again. Knowing that when her eyes finally opened, I would see the truth–the realization that she would never forgive me for what I had done.

But I hadn’t gone after her.

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Chapter 209

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to deal with, I would let her.

I knew that when the time came, I would have to beg–grovel, if necessary–to earn back even a sliver of

had to focus on fixing

“You okay?”

endless thoughts and I looked up from the company files scattered across my desk, my eyes meeting Elaine’s as she

she should

smile. “I’m fine.

out?” She sighed, stepping further

“Easier said

changed. We hadn’t spent much time together, but since the vault, something had

family bond that had existed when we were little had clicked back into place even though neither of us were sure of how to approach it now that so much had

subconscious act, no doubt. A mother’s instinct to protect

that had

really sorry,

But I had found myself saying those words more times than I cared to count.

drifting downward, “I guess I can’t really be sad about a child I never had,” she murmured, “Besides, after everything

her expression unreadable. “I still can’t

nothing. Because, honestly, I

for what he did? Because he would and when

in silence, the weight

broke it.

if it’d be okay for me to move back in here,” She said, her voice quieter now. “Monica says I can stay as long as

Monica.

thought I would owe a thank you to, but somehow, I did.

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Chapter 209

had gone to Ava. And that had led to Isabella selling Kitong ho that had led to them all trying to

as much as it pissed me off to admit it,

despite first telling him that I

back on Elaine, nodding, “The apartment is yours. That’s never going to change. If you need help moving, 1 can make a couple of calls.”

for a

And then-

sixteen years,” She murmured, “that’s the first time you actually

that. So, once

did she.

us, and for a moment, I thought that was the end of the

But then-

Ava?” She asked suddenly.

jaw clenched, “No.”

me. “And you’re

“No.”