The Alpha King's Contracted Luna by Nelson Claudia

hapter 189

Chapter 189

-Ava’s POV-

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| felt a sudden rush of cold sweat, my heart pounding in my chest. Pregnant? How could that be? | mean, | knew

how, but how?

FD

And then, before | could even process it, laughter bubbled up from somewhere deep inside me. It was shaky, out

of control, a sound that didn’t even feel like mine. But | couldn't stop it. | laughed, a sharp, hollow laugh that

echoed through the room, bouncing off the walls like it belonged to someone else. It was the kind of laughter

that cwhen there was nothing else left-when crying wouldn't cut it anymore.

My mother’s frown deepened, her eyebrows furrowing in a mix of confusion and frustration. “What's so funny?”

she asked, her tone low, clipped, like she was trying to hold back sunspoken irritation.

But | couldn't stop laughing.

It was all too much. Isabella’s words played on repeat in

repeat in my mind, as clear as the day she said them: “From all the sex you've been having.” And there had

been a lot of sex-more than I'd ever imagined I'd have in such a short time. Especially after Grayson took my

virginity. It hadn't been the focus of anything before, at least not until I wrote that list.

Now | was pregnant. With Grayson’s child.

The laughter cracked and died in my chest, leaving behind a hollow ache that | couldn't fill. My throat tightened

as my eyes dropped to my stomach, my trembling hands hovering just above it. A child. A human being.

Grayson’s child.

Grayson. The man who didn’t want me. The man who wanted nothing to do withanymore. The man who

never wanted a child in the first place.

“No.” My voice was barely above a whisper, trembling like the rest of me. My fingers hovered over my abdomen

as though touching it would somehow confirm the truth | was desperate to deny. “No, | can’t be pregnant.”

But deep down, | knew | was. The moment my mother’s words left her lips, something insidejust... clicked,

Like body had been waiting for someone else to say it before it admitted the truth to me. And yet, | couldn't

accept it.

| couldn't let it be real.

my

“You're wrong,” | said, my voice breaking. “This... this can’t be happening.” My eyes darted around the room,

looking for a way to escape, a way to undo all of this. “Where is Father?” | demanded suddenly, grasping for

anything else to focus on. “I haven't seen him.”

My mother’s face twisted in disbelief. She looked atlike | had lost my mind. “You've been here for three days,

and now you're asking about your father?” Her hands flew to her pearls, clutching them like they were the only

thing keeping her grounded. “He’s gone.”

| froze. “What?”

“He’s not dead, Ava,” she snapped, exasperated. “He’s overseas. His expertise was needed for a procedure.”

“Oh. Okay.” | nodded slowly, as if her words made perfect sense. Then, without another thought, | climbed off the

bed, heading for the door.

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Chapter 189

“Where do you think you're going?” my mother demanded, her voice sharp and biting.

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“Overseas,” | said, my steps quick and unsteady. “To help Father le needs help, and | can help him.” | nodded

again, my thoughts racing too fast to make sense of them.

“That's enough,” She barked, her voice cutting through my spiraling thoughts like a blade. It was so sudden, so

forceful that it madestop dead in my tracks. “I have tolerated this behavior for three days, but | will tolerate

it no longer.” Her voice was cold, firm, the way it always got when she was at the end of her patience. “This slow

descent into madness because of that man has to end. You are going to shower, then eat, and for goodness’

sake, you are carrying a child!”

Her words hitlike a slap to the face. My entire body tensed, and something insidesnapped. All the anger,

the frustration, the helplessness | had been holding in cpouring out in a scream so raw it felt like it ripped

through me. “I do not want this child!”

The words exploded out of me, shaking the room. The walls seemed to hum with the force of it, my voice

echoing long after | had stopped speaking. My breath cin ragged gasps as | stared at her, my vision

swimming.

“I don’t want this child,” | repeated, my voice cracking as tears blurred my vision. “This can’t be happening to

me.” A bitter laugh slipped out, sharp and ugly. “How could this happen to me” | half-laughed, half-cried, the

sound breaking into hysterics. “How could Grayson do this to me?”

The questions cpouring out, one after the other, faster than could stop them. “Why did this happen? Who

did this? Why won't he just believe me? Why didn’t he listen? How could be pregnant? Why me?”

The room spun around me, my chest tightening as panic clawed its way up my throat. “What am | going to do?” |

whispered, my hands shaking uncontrollably. “I can’t- | don’t want to be pregnant. | can’t-"

My breaths cfaster and faster, shallow and desperate, until it felt like there wasn’t enough air in the room.

My chest heaved as | clutched at it, my vision narrowing. “I can’t breathe” gasped, stumbling back against the

wall. “I can’t- 1 can't

My mother’s face swam in front of me, her expression sharp with alarm. “Ava,” she said, her voice steady but

urgent. “Ava, look at me. You need to breathe. Slowly. In and out.”

But | couldn't. My body wouldn't listen. The walls felt like they were closing in, the air thick and heavy, pressing

down onfrom all sides. My legs gave out, and | slid to the floor, clutching my chest as tears streamed down

out, my voice barely audible. “I can’t do this.”

my face. “I can’t,” | choked

“Ava!” My mother’s voice was sharper now, demanding my attention. She crouched in front of me, her hands

gripping my shoulders firmly. “You are going to be fine. Just breathe. You hear me? In through your nose. Out

through your mouth. Now.”

| tried to focus on her voice, to do what she said, but my body refused to cooperate. The panic had taken hold,

and | didn’t know how to stop it. | didn’t know how to handle any of this. All knew was that | couldn’t do it. |

couldn’t face what was happening. | couldn’t face the truth.

| was pregnant. With Grayson’s child. And my entire world was falling apart.

The panic was consuming me. My vision blurred, dark spots creeping into the edges as my chest tightened to the

point of pain. My heart pounded so loudly it drowned out everything else, and | could feel myself slipping-losing

my grip on reality.

| tried to hold on, tried to claw my way back, but it wasn’t working. My breaths were shallow, fast, erratic, and no

matter how hard | tried, | couldn’t pull in enough air. My fingers clawed at the floor beneath me, desperate for

something to anchor me.

Then, through the chaos in my mind, a deep, guttural growl tore through me.

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Chapter 189

The sound echoed in my head, a powerful vibration that cut through the panic, snapping my focus away from the

suffocating spiral. My eyes widened, and for a moment, it was like the growl had shocked my system back to life.

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| gasped, sucking in a deep, desperate breath. The air hit my lungs like a jolt, sharp and grounding. | held it, and

then when | exhaled, it left my body with such force that it felt like the remnants of my panic were being

expelled along with it.

The suffocating feeling began to fade, and | could feel my heartbeat slowing, the chaos in my mind settling just

enough forto think again.

But it didn’t make the world feel any less like it was crumbling beneath me.

| could still feel the weight of everything pressing down on me, suffocating in a different way now, as if the

reality of my situation was trying to crush me.

And then | heard my mother whisper, her voice soft, almost reverent. “We had it all wrong.”

Her words barely registered, but something in the tone of her voice madelook up, even though my body felt

like lead. She wasn’t looking atlike she usually did-frustrated, impatient, or cold. This was different.

She was staring atlike she'd just uncovered the answer to a question she hadn’t even known she was

asking. Like she was truly seeingfor the first time.

“You are the twin the essence was transferred to,” she said, her voice low but steady, each word hittinglike a

stone. “You are the twin with the power.”

Lblinked, struggling to process what the hell she was talking about. Twin? Power? None of it made sense, not in

the state was in. My mind was still reeling from the panic attack, and now she was throwing cryptic nonsense at

me.

“I-what?” | managed to croak, my throat raw from screaming and crying. My head was spinning, and weren't

helping. “What twin? What are you even talking about?”

my mother’s words

But she wasn’t done. Her next words like it was the most scary realization shattered whatever fragile thread of

understandin | had left.

“You are his mate. You are Grayson Blackwood’s fated mate.”

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