The Alpha King's Contracted Luna by Nelson Claudia

Chapter 253

Chapter 253

-Ava’s POV-

I didn't waste another second.

I didn’t stop to find out what was happening or where exactly, all | knew was that | was back to reality and that

meant so was Grayson,

| didn’t even pause when | heard Isabella’s exasperated voice behind me.

“I swear, Lilian, if | could go back in time, | am punching someone in the face who won't givethis many heart

attacks.”

| kept running.

My legs burned, my breath cfast and sharp, but I didn’t stop. The moment my feet hit the ground outside, |

caught the bewildered expressions of Omegas watchingsprint past. They called my name, voices thick with

confusion, but I ignored them.

The only thing that mattered was reaching him.

Grayson’s grave. | barely registered the cold earth beneath my hands before | was digging.

My fingers clawed into the dirt, nails breaking, soil slipping through my fingers as | fought to reach him. My

breath was ragged, uneven. | didn’t care that my knees were sinking into the mud. I didn’t care that my hands

were bleeding. He was in there. He was suffocating. He needed me.

“What the hell are you doing?” Isabella’s voice rang out behind me, sharp and stunned, but I didn’t stop. |

couldn't stop.

| kept digging.

The dirt was too thick, too heavy. | wasn’t fast enough. | wasn’t strong enough. A growl of frustration ripped from

my throat as | yanked at the earth, but it was too slow-too slow.

And then-I felt it. A shift beneath me. Something deep. Something wrong.

The ground was moving.

| barely had tto process it before | heard my nbeing shouted, “Ava!”

| turned, breathless, heart hammering against my ribs.

Rickon. Elaine, Monica. Maria. Isabella.

They were all there, standing a few feet away, staring atlike | had lost my mind.

“You need to help me!” My voice was frantic, raw, “We need to get him out of there! He is suffocating!”

Isabella’s expression hardened, “I don’t know what the hell happened this time, but you've been unconscious for

a whole

day. You do not get to wake up and start acting like a madwoman-Grayson is dead, do you hear me? He is-"

She stopped suddenly mid sentence because at that exact moment, a growl rumbled from beneath the earth.

A deep, guttural, inhuman sound.

Everything stilled. Everyone took a step back.

| barely breathed.

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Chapter 253

“What the hell?” Rickon’s voice was filled with shock.

| didn’t hesitate. | kept digging.

“Hold on,” | pleaded, my fingers scraping desperately at the dirt, “I'm getting you out, just-just hold on!”

They didn’t move. They just stood there, staring, frozen in shock.

“Did you not just hear that?” | turned, my voice a frantic command. “Help me! He's still alive!”

0043% -

No one moved still and then the second growl came, louder, raw with power and rage and just as suddenly, the

ground shook.

The earth rumbled beneath us, deep and violent, like the very world had calive. | felt it tremble beneath

heard the startled gasps around me.

Then the wind picked up.

my knees,

FD

A wild, spiraling force that sent dirt flying, whipped through my hair, tasted electric. My heart slammed against

my ribs and before | could blink, the ground exploded.

A deafening crack split the air, and suddenly, the earth beneathburst apart. A massive force erupted from

below, sending debris flying. | threw my arms up to shield my face, barely processing the sight in front of me.

Grayson'’s wolf tore through the dirt, bursting from the grave with a vicious snarl, his fur gleaming like liquid

moonlight, his massive form pulsing with raw, unchained power.

For a single, breathless moment, everything stopped.

The air around us tightened, charged with something vast and electric. The weight | had carried for as long as |

could remember-the invisible, suffocating force pressing down on me-suddenly cracked.

A sharp gasp tore from my lips as something rushed through me. It wasn’t pain, but it was deep-a force surging

beneath my skin, through my bones, unraveling something | hadn't even realized was wound so tightly inside

me.

And then it snapped.

A tremor rippled through the earth, deep and resounding, like a distant drumbeat echoing through the sky. The

trees shuddered. The ground hummed. A wave of energy-ancient, unstoppable-unfurled in every direction,

racing beyond the trees, beyond the horizon, beyond me.

| staggered, my knees nearly buckling as the last thread of something wrong-something that had always been

there-was ripped away.

The curse was broken.

| felt it.

Not just in the air, not just in the way the world seemed to breathe for the first tin centuries-but in me.

Grayson stood there, chest heaving, muscles tense, his massive form still half-covered in the dirt of his own

grave. His eyes -those piercing gr eyes-glowed in the moonlight, locked onto me.

| pushed myself forward. Slowly.

My entire body was trembling, but | reached out-tentatively, hesitantly-until my fingertips brushed against his

fur.

Warm. Real. My breath hitched.

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Chapter 253

This was the first t| had ever touched his wolf.

A tremor ran through him at the contact, his body still taut, still unsure, “Go,” | whispered.

Grayson'’s ears flicked back. His breath was ragged, uneven. He hesitated.

“Go,” | repeated, firmer this time.

His lips curled back, revealing sharp, gleaming fangs then he threw back his head and howled.

The sound split the air, raw and alive, echoing across the clearing. The pack felt it. | felt it and seconds later, he

dashed off.

One moment he was standing in front of me, the next he was gone, a blur of silver fur tearing through the

clearing, vanishing into the trees.

Silence stretched in his wake, finally Isabella broke the silence, voice hoarse, “What. The. Actual. Hell?”

Monica let out a breathless, slightly hysterical laugh. “I-what just-what just happened?” Her voice wavered, eyes

darting between the shattered grave and the trees where Grayson had disappeared.

Maria was still staring at the gaping hole in the earth, one hand clamped over her mouth as if she was afraid to

breathe too loudly.

Elaine looked atlike I had sprouted another head, her wide eyes flicking between my dirt-covered hands and

the churned-up ground.

Rickon swayed slightly on his feet before muttering, “I think | am going to have a heart attack.”

| let out a breath still feeling the ripple of energy that had exploded outward when Grayson had surfaced. My

brain was still struggling to make sense of the fact that the curse had been broken when Isabella suddenly

rounded on me.

“You-" She jabbed a finger at me, her breathing ragged, “Explain. Now.”

The sharp demand snappedout of my trance. | blinked at her, my heart still hammering against my ribs, “I...

My throat was dry, the words catching before | could form them, “I brought Grayson back from the dead.”

Isabella continued staring like she wanted to strangleand demand answers at the stime, her chest

rising and falling fast, but before she could say another word-

Rickon let out a sharp breath. A sound somewhere between a laugh and a groan. Then, before any of us could

react, he dropped to one knee.

For a split second, | thought he was actually about to pass out but that wasn’t what happened next because he

revealed a small, black velvet box in his hands.

Maria gasped. Elaine gasped. Monica might have squeaked. Isabella, who had just been a second away from

screaming at me, froze.

“What are-?" Isabella’s lips parted slightly, her eyes flicking between the ring and Rickon’s face, and for the first

tsince | had known her, she looked completely, utterly lost for words.

Rickon let out a rough chuckle, shaking his head, his voice unsteady, “I— | was going to do this later. Somewhere

nice. With candles or fireworks or whatever the hell people do to make this romantic.” He exhaled sharply,

running a hand through his hair before looking up at her, his eyes raw and open. “But Grayson just actually came

back from the dead,” He let out another breathless laugh, shaking his head, “So it. Life is insane, and | don’t

want to waste another second.”

| looked at Isabella who | was sure wasn’t breathing and then | couldn't stop the smile that spread through my

face when Rickon swallowed hard, his voice quieter now, steadier and he said his next words, “Before | have an

actual heart attack- marry me.”

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