The Alpha King's Contracted Luna by Nelson Claudia

Chapter 220

-Grayson’s POV-

Silence.

Absolute silence for exactly twenty seconds..

And then, like I could almost see the smile I always hated–the one he directed at Ava like he owned a piece of her–Damien finally spoke.

“I guess we can skip the pleasantries. We’ve met enough times, Yur Highness.”

I didn’t say anything.

‘His voice carried that irritating, easy confidence. That smugness like he knew something I didn’t, like he held all the cards.

“Can I share a story with you?”

Still, I didn’t speak.

He chuckled under his breath, unfazed, “Okay then, I’ll take your silence as a yes.”

There was a pause, a small breath of quiet, and then he cleared his throat. And I don’t know why, but I could picture him leaning back in his chair, completely relaxed, one arm draped over the side, a ghost of a smile curving his lips.

A smile filled with triumph.

Because right now, he was in control. And he knew it.

“You see, Grayson,” He began, his tone smooth, almost nostalgic, before Ava ever became the woman you know today, before she learned to keep her chin high and her guard higher, she was just a little girl. Just a child who wanted to fly.”

He exhaled softly, like the memory itself was something precious to him.

“She was five,” He murmured, “Barely tall enough to reach the bookshelves in the library, but stubborn enough to try anyway. That was always Ava–relentless, even when the odds were against her. But that day… that day was different.”

There was a pause, a shift in his voice, like he was seeing it play out in his mind.

“It was the first time she told me she wanted to leave,” He said quietly, “Not in the way children say it when they don’t get. their way. Not in a fit of frustration or childish rebellion. No, she told me in a whisper, as if even the walls had ears. ‘I want to fly, Uncle Damien,‘ She said. ‘I want to see the world! And I remember looking into those bright swirling little eyes of hers and knowing, right then and there, that they were going to try to break her.”

He let out a soft laugh, almost bitter.

“And they did, didn’t they? They held her down. Not with chains, not with ropes, but with expectations, with duties, with the crushing weight of who she was supposed to be. Her parents–oh, they loved her in their own twisted way, but love like that? It was never meant to let her soar.”

simply kept

clever, even back then,” Damien continued, his voice taking on that slow, measured rhythm of someone completely lost in a memory, “Too clever for them. Too wild for them. She didn’t throw tantrums. She didn’t scream or cry when they told her no. She just… found ways around

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Chapter 220

chuckled, and something about the sound made my grip tigen.

her–that she wasn’t free. That she was never going to be free, not the way she wanted to be. She had been sneaking outside for weeks, finding little cracks in their perfect little world,

that day, they caught

dropped slightly, and I could almost see

her first. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her more afraid in her life–not of him, not of the punishment, but of what it meant. Of

pause, heavy and deliberate.

that would’ve been too easy. They made a lesson out of it. They made her stand in front of them–her parents, the council, the people who would one day dictate her every move–and they told her, in front of all of

see was not meant for her, that her duty was more important than her desires. They told her

voice softened,

like he was mourning something.

બનાવવાન

just stood there. Five years old. Small. Quiet. Holding herself so still, so perfectly composed, while they chipped away at the fire inside her. And I remember thinking–this is how it starts. This

then, something happened.”

dark and

she would learn to

Another pause.

what she did, Grayson?”

I didn’t have to.

I already knew.

one that doesn’t reach her eyes.

was a lie. I knew the moment she said ‘okay,’ she was already planning. Already waiting for her moment. Because that’s the thing about Ava–you can cage her, you can hold her down, but she will never stop looking for a way out. She will never stop

shifted again, lighter now.

that, Grayson, is why I call

taste settled

my

mouth.

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Chapter 220

3

C

went on, “everyone else saw a fragile little bird. Delicate. Breakable. But I knew better. Doves aren’t just symbols of peace. They’re survivors. They find their way home, o matter how far they’re taken. No matter how many times you try to keep them caged, they always find a way

floor, my jaw