The Alpha King's Contracted Luna by Nelson Claudia

Chapter 238

-Ava’s POV

Dylan was a bastard.

I knew it the moment I felt the mating bond with him, and I still don’t understand how the hell that even happened. Even without my wolf, I had been sure it was him. I knew he was a bastard on the day of our mating ceremony, and every single day since then, he has done nothing but prove it over and over again.

And today?

Today, he outdid himself.

I called him. I hadn’t even gotten a single word out before he cut me off with a voice as cold as death itself, “You found your way to hell. Stay there.”

Then he hung up.

Stupid, stupid Dylan.

Well, so much for trying to rat Crystal out and hoping Dylan would have enough sense left to pull her out of whatever mess she was tangled in. He was a lost cause.

“So, I take it that didn’t go well,” Isabella muttered, still scrolling through her phone, her expression blank.

I huffed, shoving my own phone into my pocket. “He’s an idiot. And he still remains one.”

The gates ahead creaked open, and our car rolled forward smoothly. The estate was quiet, too quiet for my liking. I was the first to step out the moment we came to a stop, inhaling deeply. The air was thick, humid, like the sky was seconds away from splitting open with a storm.

Rickon, my father, and Maria would be arriving soon. Grayson and my mother–if they hadn’t killed each other yet–were supposed to be meeting us back here after tracking down the High Priestess. Once everyone was together, we’d finally sit down and discuss… everything.

Ricardo had suggested a feast for the occasion.

A feast.

The thought of it had struck me as odd when he first mentioned it, but now… now it felt like something else. A last meal before the battlefield.

A final send–off.

I exhaled sharply and started walking toward the house. My mind was already racing through everything we had to handle, every piece of the puzzle that still wasn’t fitting-

Then it hit me.

A sudden, sharp, blinding pain ripped through my body, white–hot and searing. My knees buckled. A cry tore from my throat before I could stop it and the world tilted but before I could fall, a hand grabbed my arm.

“Lilian!” Isabella’s voice was sharp, panicked. “What the hell–are you okay?”

I could barely hear her.

The pain—it wasn’t normal. It wasn’t just pain. It was something else. It burned, not on my skin, not in my bones, but inside

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me, coiling through every nerve like fire, like my own body was turning against me.

I sucked in a sharp breath, shaking my head, “I’m fine.” I forced out. “I don’t know what just happened”

Liar.

wasn’t fine. I didn’t know what this

.

ignore it, to shake it off

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so violently that my vision blurred. My entire

her knees beside me. “Lilian–what

think. The pain was suffocating, like I was being crushed from all

focus

speak, but the words wouldn’t come. My fingers dug into the pavement, my breath coming in short, uneven gasps. My skin

happening

what, but I could feel it–something inside me

the security team. “Don’t just stand

for their weapons. That

out.

the air like

Then another.

And another.

air was ripped apart by bullets. The men standing closest to us shouted, ducking for cover, but I was still on the ground; still

“What the fuck-”

head up, blinking past the haze, past the way the world tilted around me and then I saw them.

They were slaughtering the men Grayson had hired to protect me. What the hell was seriously

ground near me, blood pooling across the pavement.

arm, her voice frantic,

I tried.

But the pain–fuck.

wolf, for her strength, for something to

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Chapter 238

happening to

body still wracked with the unbearable pain that wouldn’t let up. I clenched my teeth, trying to breathe through it, trying to focus–but every movement sent another

around. “Why the hell are Ricardo’s men shooting at

had no

house instead of running straight into the crossfire? But before I could say it, another body

grabbed my face. “We need

trying to ground myself, trying to push through the agony still gripping me. “If Ricardo’s men are the ones shooting,” I forced out through

your mind?!” Isabella cut me off, eyes flashing. “There’s a fucking war zone happening right now,

rang out, closer this time. She was right. I wasn’t thinking clearly.

cover,” Isabella said firmly, scanning the area. “Inside is safer than standing out here waiting

barely finished before she was hauling me up with surprising strength, dragging me toward the entrance of the house. My legs were unsteady, my muscles still trembling, but I forced myself to move, to push through whatever the

cracked behind us, men shouting, bodies hitting the ground. One of Grayson’s guards was still standing. returning fire, but he was outnumbered.

locked it immediately before turning to me,

the wall, my chest rising and falling rapidly.

“Bullshit.”

“Isabella-”

like someone yanked the fucking floor out from under

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