Chapter 254

-Ava’s POV-

The question hung in the air, the world seeming to pause around us.

Rickon had just proposed.

Minutes after Grayson had clawed his way out of the earth–shocking everyone–Rickon had dropped to one knee and pulled out a ring.

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And yet, as crazy as it sounded, I knew my best friend. The chaos, the unpredictability, the sheer madness of this moment- this was exactly how Isabella would want to be proposed to. Rickon, knowingly or not, had done it perfectly.

Isabella blinked rapidly, rolling her head like she was physically shaking off the shock, “You’re asking me to marry you? Right now? Like, officially marry you?”

“Total screwup.” Elaine muttered under her breath.

But I knew better.

Isabella didn’t wait for an answer before she launched herself at Rickon with full force,“Yes!”

She crashed against him so hard they both toppled over, hitting the ground with a thud.

I screamed, bouncing on my feet, momentarily forgetting everything else. Isabella turned to me, yanking the ring from Rickon’s fingers before he could even slide it on. “Lilian, look! I’m getting married!”

Monica, still gaping at the scene, let out a half–laugh, half–hysterical noise, “You people are insane!” She declared, throwing her hands up, “And did you all just forget that Grayson literally rose from the dead?!”

Grayson.

The reminder hit me like a jolt, grounding me back to reality.

I met Elaine’s wide eyes at the exact same time. We both moved at once, scrambling to move our feet and sprinting back toward the mansion, pushing past the stunned pack members still standing there, gaping at us like we had collectively lost our minds.

I didn’t blame them.

A part of me still felt like I was trying to catch up with everything that had just happened.

Elaine reached the door first, hesitating only for a split second before knocking. Her voice was quiet, almost disbelieving, “Grayson? Are you in there?”

A pause. Then, from the other side of the door, his voice came–steady, composed, almost casual, “I’m dressing. Give me a

moment.”

I reached the doorway, staring at the wood like I could see through it.

I could go in. It wasn’t like I needed permission. We were us.

But after everything… after the sheer impossibility of what had just happened… a selfish part of me wanted more than just a fleeting moment now that we were not threatened to be pulled into oblivion. I wanted time. A long time.

So I swallowed that instinct down and took a step back, letting Elaine have the first moment with him.

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Chapter 254

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The air between us shifted immediately, the weight of everything thickening with silence. She glanced at me, awkwardness flickering in her expression. I looked away first, neither of us sure what to say until she finally broke the quiet now that everything had kind of settled.

“So… I shot Liam.”

blinked, caught off

but my brain was still

She added

again, “Is he… dead?”

out how to get over how I feel for

The door opened.

died mid–sentence.

going wide–wider than I had ever seen them–as she stared

moment, she didn’t speak. She didn’t

Grayson.

right there. I too needed a moment to

that reality.

-exce

sharp now, there was something deeper in

Her throat bobbed, her hands clenched at her sides then, in a sharp,

waver,

heartbeat of silence. Then, suddenly, Elaine

at him like Isabella had with Rickon. She didn’t scream or cry or shake

real.

took a single step forward and smacked

a shaky breath, “-absolute bastard-” She smacked him again, “-I

She sucked in a sharp breath, pressing a hand to her mouth like she was trying

faced death itself, who had clawed his way out of the grave–stood there

unsteadily, looking up at him with glassy eyes, “Don’t

head slightly,

Another silence.

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had finally crashed into her, Elaine let out a weak, disbelieving laugh, “You

now I’m

slightly, You’re

closest thing to a smirk I had seen

nose, shaking her head. “I hate

“No, you don’t.”

She pointed at him, “I hate

face and kissed his forehead, hard, before stepping back and smacking his chest one more time for

“Welcome back, cousin.”

and stalked off, mumbling something under her breath

Silence settled again.

still standing there, watching them, my

attention to me and just like

silence stretched between us.

sharp and searching, like he was trying to take in every detail

move at first, couldn’t.

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say–questions I needed to ask, emotions I didn’t know how to voice–but none of them

moved. I didn’t think, didn’t hesitate–I just went to

instantly, his arms wrapped around me.

Tightly.

anchor himself, like he was afraid that if he let go, I’d disappear. We didn’t

like steel around me, his heartbeat steady beneath my ear, his warmth seeping into my skin. And finally, in a breath so quiet it barely left my lips, I whispered, “The curse is broken.”

then slowly, he exhaled, “I

Another silence.

even fully realized I had been carrying but not

swallowed, forcing myself to step back just enough to look up at him,

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Chapter 254

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