The Alpha King's Contracted Luna by Nelson Claudia

Chapter 247

Chapter 247

-Ava’s POV-

1 froze.

For a second, I forgot how to breathe, how to think, how to do anything but stare. My heart thundered so violently it hurt, my pulse pounding in my ears like war drums.

And then–when I finally moved, when I blinked-

He was gone,

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A fresh wave of grief slammed into me, knocking the breath from my lungs, crushing me beneath its unbearable weight. My entire body shuddered as the hope that had briefly flared within me was torn away, leaving nothing but an aching, gaping void. The wind howled, rattling the trees, kicking up loose leaves and dust, but I barely registered it.

Because he wasn’t there.

Because it had only been my mind playing cruel tricks on me, dangling the impossible in front of me before yanking it

away.

A choked sob tore from my throat, raw and broken. I collapsed forward, my forehead pressing against the cold, damp earth as tears poured freely down my cheeks. I cried until my voice was hoarse, until my lungs burned, until there was nothing left inside me but emptiness.

Until the world blurred.

Until everything faded into nothingness.

Until I was just an empty, shattered thing kneeling in the dirt, holding onto a love that no longer existed.

I didn’t know how much time passed. Minutes. Hours. Maybe longer. The sky had darkened, the last remnants of daylight bleeding into the horizon like a dying ember.

Then, after what felt like an eternity, I felt someone sit beside me.

At

first, I didn’t react. I was too exhausted, too hollow, too consumed by the weight of my grief to care who it was. But then, with every ounce of strength I could muster, I turned my head–just enough to glance at the figure beside me.

It

was Raina.

My grandmother sat there, her back straight, hands folded neatly in her lap, her silver hair catching the dim light. She wasn’t looking at me. Her gaze was fixed on the tombstone, her expression unreadable. She didn’t speak, didn’t reach for me, didn’t offer any empty words of comfort.

She just sat there, silent.

And so, I looked away.

The two of us sat in that silence for what felt like forever, both lost in our own thoughts, our own pain.

she broke

is a tedious thing, isn’t it?”

wasn’t speaking to

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Chapter 947

even if i did,

i

i wasn’t fair!

wanted to scream at the sky and demand to know why Grayson was taken from me? Why die

anything, everything, to

the reality of the ect, torty, gin front of

I said

thick and suffocating, wrapping, woed meenutade ute. Torn, Ken syke again, her voice

you could wwwynything that waynth for we the loss, the pain and know that this exact moment was waiting for good mood you have cars sex toonzekerer’s Would you have chosen not to love

shaky breath. My fingers day, who the cold dirt beneda me,

do you expect me to answer that?” My voice came out hoarse, raw with put, “How could I

much understanding, “Loving,

real.”

tightness

pain,” She continued, her voice Meady, certain. “But pain is not proof of weakness. It is proof of love. And love, no matter how brief, is never wasted”

one day, they would. Maybe, years from now, I would

comfort in them.

they

none of this would

wasn’t strong enough to move forward,

That Damien was still out there, waiting in the shadows, biding his

cared. About the realm. About the crown. About all the people focusing on

But I didn’t.

about

a sharp, searing pain exploded in my chest. It felt familiar. The kind that I hadn’t been able to understand

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Chapter 247

gasped, trying to breath but the breath never

sharp, metallic taste of copper flooded my mouth.

streaks spilled onto

something deep inside me–something old, something,

at once, it hit me.

pain. Burning. Tearing.

venom through my veins, like fire licking at my bones, like

throat, I doubled over, my nails raking against the dirt as my body convulsed, every nerve

voice cut through the haze, sharp with panic,

barely heard

the deafening roar of whatever was inside

point and then

that the earth trembled beneath us. The graveyard quaked, cracks splitting through the

body seizing, my breath stolen by the sheer force of whatever was happening to me. My limbs locked, my skin burned, my head pounded with