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.”

something

seduced him. I played my part. But Dylan…” Her

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Chapter 269

held my

anything he want. He

slightly, her gaze narrowing as though

the way he watched me, the way he

a smile, but it

me as a weapon. Dylan

forced

herself. “Because for the first time in

be used.

me, something almost

so I told him everything. Who I was, how Damien had sent me there with orders to undermine him. But instead of 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 hang between us, her

between us thickened. I felt my pulse in my

She said simply. “That was the moment

my jaw. “So you switched sides?”

smiled then. A slow, deliberate

made a choice.”

took a step closer, her voice softer, but no less lethal. “I chose him. And that’s why I had to

“What?”

me a reason 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 going to take me away. But this?” She placed a hand over her stomach. “This gave me

her lips, but it lacked real amusement.

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 my time–until

took another step forward, her gaze burning into mine.

was, all Dylan had to do was

me, my hands curling

you, Crystal. Just like Damien

with

Chapter 269

her voice unwavering, “He sees me. And I love him. Just

swallowed hard, my throat

whispered, her gaze locked onto mine, her next words chilling me to

I will stand

+48)

the lingering pain warping my senses, but no–the

on Crystal, who was watching me with that same

are we?” My voice came

than I would’ve

tilted her head, amusement flickering in

going to regret this–but I still asked. “Why? What are we doing on a ship?” Her smirk deepened, but before she could answer, footsteps echoed from outside the room. Heavy. Purposeful.

barely had time to register the sound before the door swung

Dylan.

a shadow swallowing light, his cold, calculating gaze sweeping over me before settling on Crystal. But for the first

A smile.

had seen before. Not the ones that dripped with amusement at someone else’s suffering. No-