The Alpha King's Contracted Luna by Nelson Claudia

Chapter 261

Chapter 261

-Grayson'’s POV-

The night smelled like blood.

Or maybe that was just because Elaine and | had made it so but it didn’t matter because all | felt was

satisfaction.

FD

Liam had suffered and he would continue to suffer for as long as he continued to live, and | didn’t feel an ounce

of guilt about it. No part ofregretted what we had done. A tiny part ofmight have wished for things to be

different but what was done is done.

The boy | used to be—he would have felt differently. He would have mourned the loss of what Liam and | had

once been. He would have carried the weight of it, let it settle like a stone in his chest, suffocating him.

But | wasn’t that boy anymore.

Neither was Liam.

And while | had played a role in what becof us, in how our friendship rotted into something unrecognizable,

he had made his choices. He had done what he had done. And as vile, as monstrous, as utterly broken as Elaine

had become, she did not deserve what he had done to her.

So, he would pay. For the rest of his life, he would

pay.

“Grayson, quit standing around.”

Elaine’s voice cut through the thick fog of my thoughts. I blinked, only then realizing | had stopped moving.

I looked at her, but my feet wouldn't move. It wasn’t hesitation-it wasn’t even fear. It was something else.

| had chere for a reason because Elaine had said that if | truly wanted to move on, | had to face them.

My father. My mother.

But now that | was here, all the words | had carefully strung together in my mind unraveled like thread.

“Grayson?”

Elaine stepped closer, concern flickering in her eyes.

| let out a slow breath. “I don’t know what to say to them. Either of them.”

Her expression didn’t soften. It hardened.

“Do you remember all the times you used to cinto my room just so he wouldn't find you?” Her voice was

quiet, but there was a sharp edge to it, “How he used to hit you? No matter how many times your mother tried to

stop him, he never stopped. Do you remember how much you hated him? How badly you wanted to kill him?”

| swallowed hard, but | didn’t say anything.

She took another step forward. “And then you did. You started that fire, Grayson.” She sucked in a sharp breath,

as if steadying herself. “I know you learned to lock up your emotions. | know you taught yourself not to feel

anything. But after all this time... aren’t you still angry?”

I didn’t answer. Because | wasn’t. At least not at him.

| despised my father. | always would. But anger wasn’t what | felt-not anymore. | was angry at myself because,

in the end,

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Chapter 261

he had won.

I had becthe man he wantedto be.

Cruel Cold. Feared

And the worst part?

| hadliked it. | had liked being powerful. | had liked watching people tremble in my presence but now...

Now, | was stuck somewhere in between.

| had the promise of a future, but | wasn’t sure who | was supposed to be anymore,

Was | still the monster my father had created?

Or was | something else?

Elaine let out a short breath, shaking her head, “You know what? This was a bad idea. | never should have

ungeved it. Let's just go.”

She turned on her heel and started walking away and that was when | finally spoke, “I've never been here

before?

She stopped.

Slowly, she turned back toward me, watching as | looked around, really looked at where we were standing

Gravestones stretched before us, their inscriptions softened by time. Fresh flowers rested at the foot of her

parents graves, carefully arranged and | knew she had been here recently.

There was only one at my mother’s grave. A single, withering bloom.

The four of them-my mother, her parents, my father-had all been buried near the original Blackwood home. The

sh| had lived in.

The shthat still stood, not too far from here. The shI had burned to the ground in my

desperate attempt to kill him.

The hwhere they had all died.

Elaine’s voice was quiet when she spoke, “Not even once?*

I shook my head, “Not even once.

Neither of us spoke for a long time. The air between us was heavy, thick with everything that had been left

unsaid over the

years.

Elaine was the one who finally broke the silence, “So much has happened,” she murmured. “And | never thought

you and | would ever be standing here together because the fact that we were cousins becnothing but a

tag. but here we are.” She exhaled, almost like she couldn’t believe it herself, “Times are changing. So much

blood has been spilled, but if you really want to have a future with Ava, like you told Liam, you can’t do that

without facing your past. Maybe telling your father how you feel-what you feel-is too far-fetched. Maybe feeling

anything at all when it comes to him is impossible. But moving on has to start somewhere, so...”

She gestured toward my mother’s grave, “Why don’t you start with her?”

| followed her gaze, my eyes settling on the small, withering bouquet, “You really believe they can hear us?” |

asked.

Elaine didn’t hesitate, “I really do.”

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Chapter 261

Then she moved toward me, brushing a soft kiss against my cheek. It was brief, almost weightless, but I felt the

hesitation ins it, the silent permission she was givingto walk away from this if | wanted to

She smiled, just barely, “Start somewhere.”

Then she left.

| didn’t watch her go. I just stood there, staring at the grave, at the way the earth had settled, at the cracks

forming along the edges of the headstone. I let the silence stretch betweenand the dead woman buried

beneath my feet.

| wasn’t sure how much tpassed before | moved.

| wasn’t sure why | moved.

But eventually, | lowered myself to the ground, the dirt rough beneath my fingertips as | settled in front of the

headstone. My gaze flickered briefly to my father’s grave before landing back on hers.

I let out a slow breath.

ain

The word felt strange leaving my mouth.

Like it didn’t belong here.

Like I didn’t belong here.

| shifted slightly, rubbing my palm against my knee, trying to shake off the awkwardness creeping in.

“I didn’t think to bring flowers,” | said finally. | frowned, realizing how flat the words sounded, like | was just

making an observation, stating a fact. | let out a quiet, humorless laugh.

| guess | just... didn’t know.”

Didn't know what | was supposed to bring. Didn't know what | was supposed to say. Didn't know if there was

even a point to any of this. Didn't know how or why | had agreed to chere.

| exhaled slowly, letting my gaze drift over the inscription on the headstone, tracing the letters with my eyes.

“I wonder if you knew,” | said after a moment, my voice quiet, but steady. “That it was me. That | was the one

who started the fire that killed you.”

| tilted my head slightly, “I wonder if you hatedfor it.”

| waited, almost as if | expected an answer, skind of sign. But the only thing that metwas silence. | let

out a slow breath, staring at the ncarved into the stone. The weight of the years settled over me, pressing

against my chest like an iron hand.

“For a long time,” | continued, “I was mad at you.”

The words felt foreign, strange even, but they were the truth. | had buried this anger, buried how I felt back then

so deep adding the suppression of memories that | almost forgot it existed. Almost.

“But | was. | am.” My jaw tightened, and | curled my hands into fists against my thighs, “Mad because even after

everything he did, even after every promise he made that he would stop, he never did.”

My breath hitched, but | forced the words out, “And you never tookaway.”

| dragged a hand through my hair, fingers curling into the strands before I let them fall away. My pulse was loud

in my ears,

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Chapter 261

thundering in the quiet.

“You could have.” | murmured. “You should have.”

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| stared at the ground, at the dirt beneath my fingers, dry and cracked from tand neglect, “And the truth is

that in those moments, | hated you...”

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