The Alpha King's Contracted Luna (Ava and Grayson) novel Chapter 268

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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.” 

1/4 

12:02 Sat, 15 Mar 

Chapter 268 

76% 

She exhaled softly, “And so, I did. I slipped in through the crowd, blending in as much as I could. No one noticed me at first. Why would they? They were too busy celebrating you.” 

She leaned forward slightly, her eyes gleaming with something sharp, something dangerous. “Then, finally, I got close enough. And do you know what happened?” 

I said nothing. 

Her smile widened, slow and deliberate, “You bumped into me.” 

A pause. 

“You looked at me, and for the briefest second, I thought–maybe–you saw something. Maybe some unspoken connection would ignite, maybe there would be a flicker of recognition, of something deeper.” 

Her eyes darkened. 

“But instead, you wrinkled your nose and asked, ‘Who let this thing in?” 

Silence rang between us. 

I felt the words like a slap to the face, but Crystal wasn’t done. 

“And then our 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 the guards to throw me out. They didn’t ask who I was, didn’t wonder why I was there. They didn’t see me at all.” 

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

“That was our first meeting, Ava. That was the moment I learned exactly who we were. Prideful, stuck–up people who didn’t care about anyone but themselves.” 

Her gaze locked onto mine, unwavering. “And I realized something that night. I had spent my whole life mourning a family that had never mourned me.” 

I stared at her, searching for any trace of familiarity in the story she had just told me, but all I found was a 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 our parents discarded her like she was nothing. 

But wasn’t that exactly how they would have wanted me to act? 

The realization settled over me like a thick, suffocating weight. 

They had raised me to be the perfect daughter–the perfect heir. Proud. Untouchable. Unbothered by those beneath me. 

But I had never been like that. 

Had I? 

I had never looked down on anyone, never dismissed someone as if they weren’t worth acknowledging. And yet… memory of Crystal that night, no recollection of the cruel words that had supposedly left my lips. 

ad no 

And then I thought of the other 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 at all. 

Repression. 

I was so good at it. 

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12:02 Sat, 15 Mar 

Chapter 268 

ས .76%E 

My mouth felt dry as I finally forced myself to speak, “I don’t remember that happening.” My voice was hoarse, uncertain, “And if it did, I was a child-” 

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

“And so was I!” 

The words lashed out like a whip, raw and unfiltered. 

“I was 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 treated me like I was dirty.” 

She exhaled sharply, reigning herself back in. The fury ebbed, but the resentment remained, simmering just beneath the surface. 

And then, just like that, her smile returned. 

Cold. Calculated. 

“That night marked the end of me ever seeing you all as family.” 

A shiver ran down my spine. 

“Damien had already told me what I was,” she continued, her voice smooth now, detached. “That I carried the essence. That I was going to hold so much power.” 

Her fingers drummed lazily against 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. And I never let him know what I truly thought of him.” 

She tilted her head slightly, watching me with something almost akin to amusement. 

“Because while you all treated me like dirt… he treated me like I was nothing more than a weapon to be used at his will.” 

I swallowed, unable to look away from her, the weight of her words pressing in on me. 

“So I followed his rules,” She continued, her voice softer now but no less dangerous. “I followed his commands. I waited. And then the time came-” She paused, her lips curling, “like a dog on a leash, he decided it was time to let me out.”