The Alpha King's Contracted Luna by Nelson Claudia

Chapter 269

Chapter 269

Ava’s POV-

48

I exhaled slowly, trying to steady myself. The pain was still there–sharp, relentless–but I forced it aside. There was no time for weakness, No time for doubt.

Crystal stood across from me, her expression unreadable, her gaze cold and calculating. But I had to try.

“I know a lot has happened, Crystal. I know nothing I say can erase what you’ve been through. But I’m pregnant.” My voice was steady, but my heart pounded violently against my ribs. “You can’t have so much hate in you that you would kill two children, too.”

Something flickered across her face–too quick, too fleeting for me to fully grasp–before she shut it down.

“And so are you,” I continued, looking at her stomach, “This isn’t a world a child–any child–should be brought into.”

She didn’t move, didn’t speak further. Just stared. Watching. Calculating.

I swallowed hard and pressed forward, “It’s not too late.”

She exhaled sharply, shaking her head with a bitter laugh, “Save the redemption speech, Ava. It’s never going to work.”

Her voice was flat, emotionless, but her eyes–they burned. With what, I couldn’t tell. Anger? Pain?

“You still don’t get it, do you?” She asked, tilting her head slightly. “I don’t care about fixing this. I don’t care about making things right. The only thing that matters to me now is taking over–with Dylan.”

I tensed. My fingers curled at my sides.

“How did that happen?” I found myself asking before I could stop myself. “Damien sent you to Dylan’s pack to dismantle it, to ruin him. So why did you stay? Why did he mark you? Why are you carrying his child?”

For a moment, she just watched me, her lips pressed together as if she was deciding whether or not I was worth answering. Then, slowly, she rose to her feet.

Her fingers trailed lazily along the edge of the table as she moved toward the window, her back to me.

“You really want to know?” she asked, her voice light, almost amused. “Fine. I’ll tell you.”

She turned fully then, arms crossing over her chest as she leaned back against the wall.

“Damien thought he had me on a leash. Thought I was just another one of his pawns, a weapon he could control.”

Her eyes darkened, something venomous creeping into her tone.

“But the thing about weapons, Ava? If you’re not careful, they cut you, too.”

She exhaled, her gaze drifting somewhere beyond me, lost in memory.

“I was sent to Dylan’s pack with one goal–to ensure its downfall. To get close to him, to make him trust me, and then to destroy him from the inside. Damien wanted his pack to be the first to fall.”

lower, something unreadable laced

I played my part. But Dylan…” Her

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Chapter 269

held my breath.

he never pretended to be anything he want. He was fohtees calculated–just like his uncle. And he had his own plans already

gaze narrowing as though she were recalling something

the pack, the way he watched me, the way he memored every wordt end. He never trusted me–not fully. But he never treated me

something close to a smile, but it didn’t reach

Dylan saw

in my stomach, but I forced

for the first time in

be used.

looked back at me, something almost amused

pushing me away, he welcomed it. He let me in. Let me see how he worked, how he operated. And then one day, he looked at me and said-” she let the words

between us thickened. I felt my pulse in

that was it,” She said simply. “That was the

my jaw. “So

smiled then. A slow, deliberate curve of her lips.

a choice.”

her voice softer, but no less lethal. “I chose

“What?”

to stay.” Her tone was matter–of–fact, as if this were just another strategic move in a long list of plays. “Damien was planning to pull the plug. He was

laugh left her lips, but it lacked real amusement.

was. He wanted me to get rid of it. And for a while, I let him believe I was considering it. Let him think I was still on his side. Meanwhile, I watched. I waited. As he tore through the realm, as he threw everything into chaos, I bided

forward, her gaze burning

had to do was

ran through me, my hands curling into fists at my

Just like Damien did.”

eyes flashed with something

Chapter 269

And I love him.

hard, my throat dry,

whispered, her gaze locked onto mine, her

the ashes, I will stand beside him and this child I carry, he will be the future of the

+48)

shifting my focus away from all she had just said just like it had before and at first, I thought it was my body betraying me, the lingering pain warping my senses, but no–the entire space tilted, the walls shifting ever so slightly. My

on Crystal, who was watching me with

we?” My

I

tilted her head, amusement flickering in her

What are we

had time to register the sound before the door swung open, and he stepped in.

Dylan.

me before settling on Crystal. But for the first time since I had known him, I saw something I hadn’t

A smile.

before. Not the ones that dripped with amusement at someone else’s suffering.