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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Chapter 245

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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.

blood–soaked ground. My stomach lurched. I couldn’t

was

He didn’t move.

him, my fingers gripping his torn, bloodied shirt, shaking him gently, then harder. “Grayson, wake up!

Still nothing.

pressing my trembling hands against his chest, just above the wound. His body was still warm, his heartbeat faint beneath my palm. My breath

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

Footsteps.

the roaring in my ears.

Someone shouted.

My vision swam, my body numb, my mind unable to process anything except the overwhelming terror

I saw

My mother.

She froze.

the first time in my life, my mother–the woman who had always been composed, always in control, always detached-

my father and Grayson, the color draining from her face. Then, without hesitation, she ran to him.

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

dropped down beside me. “Ava-”

snapped, my

and ran, her voice carrying through the

blood–soaked shirt. “Just hold on,” I murmured, my voice barely audible.

how long I stayed there.

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Time had stopped.

only thing that existed was Grayson’s shallow breathing and the pounding of my own heartbeat in my ears.

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Elaine’s hands on my shoulders, trying to pull me back. I shoved her

My voice was raw, “No, I need

own voice shaking. “They need to take him.

I blinked.

me, trying to move me. I

I need–he

mother’s voice cut

I turned.

father, pressing her hands to his chest, her fingers slick with his blood. Her eyes met mine, and for the first time in my life, I saw something I had never

Tears.

was

doctor. We should be able to do

I could do was

turned back to Grayson as they lifted him, as his blood dripped from their hands, as my own hands reached for him but

couldn’t hold on.

blurred. My breath hitched and I barely registered the voices shouting over each other. I couldn’t even tell who they belonged to. Everything felt distant, muffled,

my nails, staining the fabric

him away, his head lolling to the side, the blade still buried in

didn’t move. Didn’t speak.

blood, her expression vacant. My mother–always composed, always cold,

so fast my knees buckled.

need to go.”

but I couldn’t place it.

person holding me. Everything was too bright and too dark at the same time, my vision tunneling in and

rang in the distance. More shouting. But it was like

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Chapter 245

“We have

I didn’t move.

still looking at my father, watching as the men carried

My mother’s voice cut through the