The Alpha King's Contracted Luna by Nelson Claudia

Chapter 245

-Ava’s POV-

People say

all is fair in love and war.

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But this wasn’t fair.

This wasn’t fair at all.

I stood frozen, staring between the ever–growing pool of blood pooling underneath my father on the ground and Grayson- Grayson, who had just taken an arrow to the heart to save me.

He had crashed to the ground.

He wasn’t moving.

He wasn’t moving.

Crystal let out a soft, breathy laugh, as if she were admiring a piece of art rather than the destruction she had caused. She tilted her head, her cold, calculating eyes scanning the scene before landing on me.

“This is way much better.”

Her lips curved into a final, cruel smile before she stepped backward, vanishing into the shadows as if she had never been there at all.

Move, Ava. Move.

I couldn’t.

I stood there, my breath shallow, my limbs frozen, my heart slamming violently against my ribs as if it were trying to break free. My mind screamed at me to do something–to move, to act, to help–but all I could do was stare.

My father.

Or the man I loved.

My father, who lay motionless with a blade embedded in his chest, the hilt dark with blood. His breathing was shallow–if he was breathing at all. The man who had raised me no matter how much I had hated it, still hated it, who had shaped me into the person I was, who had always seemed so untouchable, was now unconscious, his life slipping away before my eyes.

And Grayson.

Grayson, whose body lay twisted where he had fallen, his clothes soaked in crimson, his face pale. His strong, unyielding hands that had always held me steady, now slack at his sides. His heart–oh Goddess, his heart–an arrow protruding from his chest, as if the universe itself had decided to rip him from me in the cruelest way possible.

Move, Ava!

A choked sob tore through my throat as I stumbled forward, my legs weak beneath me.

I dropped to my knees beside my father first, my shaking hands hovering uselessly over the wound in his chest. Blood. So much blood. The blade was still lodged there, dark and glistening, mocking me. My fingers trembled as I pressed them against his throat, searching–praying–for a pulse.

There. Faint. Weak.

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Tears blurred my vision as I sucked in a ragged breath. “Dad?” My voice cracked, barely more than a whisper, “Please, please wake up.

Nothing.

I let out a strangled cry, my hands clutching at him, as if holding him would somehow stop the life from slipping away.

Then–Grayson.

turned sharply, crawling toward him, my fingers slipping in the blood–soaked ground. My stomach lurched. I couldn’t

My voice was hoarse,

He didn’t move.

gripping his torn, bloodied shirt, shaking him gently,

Still nothing.

out a sob, pressing my trembling hands against his chest, just above the wound. His body was still warm, his heartbeat faint beneath my

die,” I whispered, my voice broken. “Please, just hold on.”

Footsteps.

them over the roaring in

Someone shouted.

figures rushing toward us. My vision swam, my body numb, my mind unable to

I saw her.

My mother.

She froze.

had always been composed,

between my father and Grayson, the color draining from her face. Then,

my shaking hands. “Please stay with me,” I begged, my tears falling onto his skin. “Please. You’re not allowed

dropped down beside me.

my

she turned and ran, her voice carrying through the air as she shouted for

blood–soaked shirt. “Just

wasn’t sure how long I stayed

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Chapter 245

Time had stopped.

Grayson’s shallow breathing and the pounding of my own

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was muttering to myself until I felt Elaine’s hands on

My voice was raw, “No, I need to stay-”

whispered, her own voice shaking. “They need to take him. Let them

I blinked.

were on me, trying to move me. I fought them, my grip tightening

need–he needs-”

My mother’s voice cut through the haze.

I turned.

fingers slick with his blood. Her eyes met mine, and for the first time in my life, I saw something I had never thought I would see from her.

Tears.

was

was a doctor. We should

I could do was

as they lifted him, as his blood dripped from their hands, as my

couldn’t hold on.

voices shouting over each other. I couldn’t even tell who they belonged to. Everything felt distant, muffled, like

my hands, under my nails, staining the fabric of

shouted an order, and then they were lifting my father. His body sagged as they carried him away, his head lolling to the side, the blade still buried in his

move.

her hands still covered in his blood, her expression vacant. My mother–always composed, always cold, always in control–looked utterly lost. Like she couldn’t comprehend what

hand grabbed my arm, yanking me up so fast my knees buckled. I

to go.”

but I couldn’t

I couldn’t focus on the person holding me. Everything was too bright and too dark at the same time, my vision tunneling in

More shouting. But it was like I wasn’t even in the

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Chapter 245

again. “We have to

I didn’t move.

my father, watching as the men carried him away. His body hung limp in

mother’s voice cut through the chaos.