The Alpha King's Contracted Luna by Nelson Claudia

Chapter 249

Chapter 249

-Grayson’s POV-

The winds came again.

+23

A violent force, howling through the in–between, ripping at anything left unanchored. I moved fast, pressing my back against the crumbling stone wall of an abandoned ruin, pulling the tattered shirt tighter around me. The wind was relentless, hungry, and if it touched me–if it reached me–1 knew what would happen.

It would pull me under.

It had happened before. I had been reckless, too slow to take cover, and the storm had nearly dragged me into the nothingness beyond. I had fought it, clawed my way back, but it had left me weaker each time.

This place wanted me gone. It wanted all of us gone.

“Still trying to fight it, huh?”

I didn’t turn. I didn’t need to. I already knew who was speaking.

Jonah.

A man who had been stuck here much much longer than I could imagine. A man who never shut up.

He sat on a broken column a few feet away, grinning like this was all some grand joke. He didn’t bother hiding from the wind. It never touched him. It had stopped trying a long time ago, as if it had given up on him. That alone made me suspicious.

“You know, you could just let go,” Jonah continued, swinging his legs like a child on a swing, “Wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.”

I ignored him, eyes scanning the horizon. The storm was easing now, the howling fading into the distance. It had found someone else.

Someone who wouldn’t fight as hard as I did.

I exhaled slowly, stepping away from the wall. My muscles were tense, my body coiled tight, always ready. Always waiting.

Jonah hopped off the column, stretching like he had just woken up from a nap. “So, what’s the plan today, big guy? More brooding? More glaring at the sky like you can intimidate it?”

I started walking. He followed. Of course he did.

I had found him a few days ago, or maybe he had found me. Time didn’t work right here. It twisted, slipped through your fingers, made you doubt what was real. I had learned quickly not to rely on it.

Jonah, however, had learned nothing.

“You’re not much of a talker, are you?” He mused, hands tucked into his coat pockets. “That’s fine. I can carry the conversation. I’m great at that. People used to tell me I talked too much, but I don’t think there’s such a thing, you know? Silence is unnatural. It makes people uncomfortable. It’s like-”

I stopped walking, “You never shut up, do you?”

I can help

sighed, pressing my fingers against my temple. I had survived everything this place had

1/4

Chapter 249

Jonah might be the thing that finally broke me.

me again, You’re strong, sure. Probably the strongest person I’ve met here. But even you

“I’m not staying.”

him up for

“Ambitious. I like it. Got a plan?”

as much as I had tried to come up with one,

place never really settled, never really rested. It was as if the entire realm existed in a state of waiting–waiting for something to happen, for something to shift, for something to finally break the unbearable monotony of

Jonah, of course, followed.

as always. Wherever I walked, he walked. I had stopped trying to lose him. He had a way of turning up again, like

been waiting for the perfect moment to ask, “how’d

I didn’t answer.

didn’t seem surprised.

me like we were out on a casual afternoon walk instead of trapped in a place that wasn’t quite life and wasn’t quite death. “Alright, maybe that was too direct. Let’s ease into it. What was your

I kept walking.

head in exaggerated disappointment. “Wow. Not even a hint? A little clue? Come on, man, you’ve been all broody and mysterious since I met you. That’s got to

mind

be a way out of here. There was always a way.

landscape stretched endlessly in every direction–ruins, shadows, and a sky that never changed. No sun. No stars. Just a heavy, muted gray, like the world was permanently stuck between night and day. The air smelled stale, like

kind that was meant to be heard, as if my silence was a personal offense to

No surprise there.

watching it bounce across the cracked ground. “You know, I was a werewolf. Not a particularly loved one, either. People don’t like it when you say things they don’t want to hear. And me? I was always big on truth

glanced at him from the corner of my

“Ah–ha! That

I ignored him.

2/4

hu, 6 Mär

Chapter 249

my mouth shut. Pack politics? Corruption?

23)

into something more thoughtful. “One day, I pissed off the wrong people, My own pack turned on me. Said I was a problem. Said I was making things difficult.” He snorted. “And, well… long

for details. I didn’t have

was written

something sharp beneath it, something bitter. “Funny, isn’t it? People always say they want honesty until they actually get it. Then, suddenly, you’re the bad guy.”

I didn’t respond.

sighed, stretching his arms over his head like we were just out for a casual walk. “Okay, okay, I’ll stop monologuing,” he said, holding

I kept walking.

groaned loudly. “You are the worst person to be

Just barely.

eyes widened, and he clutched his chest in mock shock. “Oh? Did I get a