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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Chapter 268

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in as much as I could. No one noticed me at first. Why would they? They were too

something dangerous. “Then, finally, I got close enough. And do

I said nothing.

slow and deliberate, “You bumped into

A pause.

saw something. Maybe some unspoken connection would ignite, maybe there would be a flicker of recognition, of something

Her eyes darkened.

instead, you wrinkled your nose and

rang between

to the face,

know what they did? They told the guards to throw

laugh, but

exactly who we were. Prideful, stuck–up

had spent my

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 our

exactly how they would

realization settled over me like a

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

I had never

Had I?

if they weren’t worth acknowledging. And yet… memory of Crystal

ad no

showed me how I like to bury every painful truth so deeply that I had convinced myself they had

Repression.

so good

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Chapter 268

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“I don’t remember that happening.” My voice was hoarse, uncertain,

she cut in sharply before I could finish, her voice laced with

so was I!”

like a whip, raw and unfiltered.

been stolen from. But you-” Her voice cracked, just slightly, before

The fury ebbed, but

like that, her smile

Cold. Calculated.

end of me

ran down

me what I was,” she continued, her voice smooth now, detached. “That I carried the essence. That I was going to hold

choice. I stopped caring about the family that had never cared about me. I chose to focus on