The Alpha King's Contracted Luna by Nelson Claudia

V

Chapter 268

-Ava’s POV-

I blinked, pushing myself up, but pain tore through me, sharp and unrelenting. A gasp slipped past my lips as the sensation threatened to pull me under again. At the same time, memories poured into me, scattered and disjointed, and my hands flew to my stomach in an instinctive, desperate movement. My heart pounded as I focused, searching–feeling.

Relief crashed over me when I knew, just knew, they were okay.

If I survived this–if I actually brought them into this world–I was going to scream to the heavens for hours.

I tried again, forcing myself up despite the protest of my body. The pain bit down even harder, but I gritted my teeth and pushed through.

Where was I?

What had happened?

The last thing I remembered clearly was Dylan’s voice, venomous and cold, I’m going to kill Grayson. Then the overwhelming pain of my legs healing, the way it consumed me–dragging me under.

I must have blacked out.

Despite the pain, I tried to move again, but a voice cut through the silence.

“Do you want to know the first time I saw you?”

I froze.

My head snapped toward the sound, and my eyes locked onto Crystal.

She sat there, perfectly composed, sipping tea as if we weren’t in the middle of whatever this was. A small smile curved her lips, and for a moment, the room seemed to sway.

I stared at her, but I didn’t say anything. I didn’t trust my voice.

She leaned back, completely unbothered, and continued, “It was on our eleventh birthday. Long before that, Damien had already told me who I was, where I came from–who all of you were. He told me I had a sister.”

Crystal’s fingers traced the rim of her cup, her eyes distant, “And I hated him for taking me away from my family. But I never said anything. I let him mold me into what he wanted. Still, I was just a child. I was naive. So, one day, I snuck out because I wanted to see you.”

Her voice was steady, but there was something beneath it. A flicker of something unreadable in her expression.

She placed the cup down and tilted her head slightly, “I remember everything about that night. I found my way back to our parents‘ house–it wasn’t difficult. I knew who they were, what they represented. But what struck me the most was celebration. It was your birthday. And it was grand.”

Her lips curled into something almost amused, almost bitter, “There was music, lights, an endless parade of people there just to celebrate you. And I stood outside, watching from the shadows, taking it all in. Watching my mother, my father-” Her voice hardened slightly, “-watching the family I was stolen from dote on you, the daughter they got to keep.”

The weight of her words pressed against my chest, but she didn’t stop.

“I remember thinking, ‘I want to go inside. I want to see her up close. I want her to see me.”

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I did. I slipped in through the crowd, blending in as much as I could. No

forward slightly, her eyes gleaming with something sharp, something dangerous. “Then, finally, I got

I said nothing.

smile widened, slow and deliberate, “You bumped

A pause.

unspoken connection would ignite, maybe there would be

Her eyes darkened.

and

between

words like a slap to the

beloved parents turned, looked at me, and their expressions were exactly the same. Cold. Disapproving. Like I was something that didn’t belong. And you know what they did? They told

gave a light, breathy laugh, but there was nothing joyful about it.

the moment I learned exactly who we were. Prideful, stuck–up people who didn’t care

“And I realized something that night. I had spent my whole life mourning a family that had never mourned

deep, unsettling void. I had no recollection of that night. No memory of ever treating someone like that. Of turning my nose up at a lost little girl, of standing by while

how they would have wanted

me like a

daughter–the perfect heir. Proud. Untouchable. Unbothered by those beneath me.

had never

Had I?

never dismissed someone as if they weren’t worth acknowledging. And yet… memory of Crystal that night, no recollection of

ad no

version of me. The one showed me how I like to bury every painful truth so deeply that I had convinced myself they had never existed

Repression.

so good at it.

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finally forced myself to speak, “I don’t remember that happening.” My voice

cut in sharply before I could finish, her voice laced

so was I!”

lashed out like a whip, raw

a child who wanted to meet her family. The family she had been stolen from. But you-” Her voice cracked, just slightly, before she pressed forward, “you all

The fury ebbed, but

just like that, her

Cold. Calculated.

the end of me ever seeing you

shiver ran down

detached. “That I carried the

the table, “So I made a choice. I stopped caring about the family that had never cared about me. I chose to focus on what mattered. I stayed quiet. I learned.