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

played my part. But Dylan…” Her

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Chapter 269

my

be anything he want. He was fohtees calculated–just like his uncle.

tilted her head slightly, her gaze narrowing as

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

a smile, but it

me as a weapon. Dylan saw me as a

forced myself

was dangerous,” She murmured, almost to herself. “Because for the

be used.

something almost

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

air between us thickened. I felt my pulse in

She said simply.

my jaw. “So you switched sides?”

deliberate curve of

a choice.”

softer, but no less lethal. “I

“What?”

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

lips,

Let him think I was still on his side. Meanwhile, I watched.

her gaze

had

ran through me, my hands curling into fists at my sides.

Crystal. Just like

with

Chapter 269

me. And I love him. Just like he

swallowed hard, my throat

now?” She whispered, her gaze locked onto mine, her next words chilling me to the bone.

stand beside him and this

+48)

like it had before and at first, I thought it was my body betraying me, the lingering pain warping

blinked rapidly, my vision sharpening just enough to focus on

are we?” My voice came out hoarse,

than I would’ve liked.

flickering in her eyes,

clenched. I knew, deep in my gut, I was 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.

to register the sound before the door swung open, and he

Dylan.

the room like a shadow swallowing light, his cold, calculating gaze sweeping over me before settling on Crystal. But for the first time since I had known him, I saw something

A smile.

the ones that dripped with amusement at someone else’s suffering. No- this was different.