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

response, but my brain

times,” She added flatly.

her again, “Is he…

passed over her face, “But until I figure out how to get over how I feel for him after all that he did he is going to spend the rest of his days locked up. For now, he’s

The door opened.

died

eyes going wide–wider than I had ever seen them–as she stared at the figure standing in the

she didn’t speak. She didn’t breathe.

Grayson.

right there. I too needed a moment to

that reality.

-exce

now, there

throat bobbed, her hands clenched at her sides then, in a sharp, disbelieving whisper, she

didn’t waver, “I was.”

silence. Then, suddenly, Elaine

Rickon. She didn’t scream or cry or shake him

real.

and smacked him across the chest. Hard.

sucked in a shaky breath, “-absolute bastard-” She smacked him again, “-I mourned you!

She sucked in a sharp breath, pressing a hand to her

faced death itself, who had clawed his way out of

unsteadily, looking up at him with glassy eyes, “Don’t ever-” Her voice wavered, “-ever do

inclined his head

Another silence.

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the last week had finally crashed into her, Elaine let

now I’m

eyes narrowed slightly,

corner of his mouth lifted–the closest thing to a smirk I had seen from him

exhaled through her nose, shaking her head. “I hate you.”

“No, you don’t.”

She pointed at him, “I

forehead, hard, before stepping back and smacking his chest one more

“Welcome back, cousin.”

with that, she turned on her heel and stalked off, mumbling something

Silence settled again.

there, watching them, my

me and just like

stretched between us.

searching, like he was trying to take in every detail of me all

move at first,

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needed to ask, emotions I didn’t know how

he opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, I moved. I didn’t think,

his arms wrapped around

Tightly.

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

my ear, his warmth seeping into my skin. And finally, in a breath so quiet it barely left my lips, I whispered, “The

second, he didn’t respond then slowly, he exhaled,

Another silence.

one I hadn’t even fully realized I had been carrying but not everything

at him, “I don’t mean to

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