The Alpha King's Contracted Luna by Nelson Claudia

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Chapter 195

Chapter 195

-Ava’s POV-

“I really don’t care,” | said finally, my voice cold as the realization settled in that Liam was the one behind

everything. It all made sense now, didn’t it? Why hadn't | pieced it together before?

Liam had always been there-the perfect friend, the one no one would suspect because he was Liam. The nice

guy who stuck by Grayson'’s side like a shadow. But shadows hid things, didn’t they? He had the perfect agenda,

and as the pieces clicked into place, something else hit me.

That day Grayson was shot.

| had seen it in Liam's eyes. The anger. At the time, I'd thought it was because my orders to take Grayson to the

hospital were overriding his. But no. It wasn’t just anger-it was frustration. Frustration because I'd ruined his

plan. He hadn't wanted Grayson to survive. Grayson didn’t have his wolf then, and Liam knew. He knew Grayson

wouldn't heal, and he'd counted on it.

That meant Liam had known about Grayson’s wolf being gone. He was in the perfect position to exploit it. To

destabilize Grayson. The messages Grayson had found? They had to be Liam’s doing. Planted there deliberately.

“What do you mean you don’t care?!” Isabella’s voice cut through my thoughts like a blade. “Did you not just

hear what we said? What Eliza said? Grayson’s practically a zombie right now! If he’s in danger, he’s not thinking

straight enough to pull off an Alpha King move to save himself. And let's not forget-he’s wolfless. Only the moon

goddess knows how many people Liam has working for him.”

Her voice barely registered as the crushing weight of realization bore down on me. Grayson had believed those

messages because, deep down, he couldn't bring himself to trust me. And if we didn’t have trust, what did we

have? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

“Ava!” Isabella snapped again, her voice sharp and demanding.

| finally looked at her, but my resolve didn’t waver. My words didn’t change. “I really don’t care. And if you'll

excuse me,” | turned, gesturing to the line of people approaching the food truck, “I have to get back to it.”

“You cannot be serious right now,” Isabella said, her tone thick with disbelief.

I didn’t respond. | just walked away, stepping back into the food truck. Tessa’s eyes met mine, curious but

cautious.

With my heightened senses, | heard Isabella mutter svery colorful curses under her breath, and then Eliza

suggested they givea moment to cool off. But Isabella wasn’t having it.

“She’s not going to help,” she said firmly. “I need to call Rickon.”

“Who's Rickon?” Monica asked, her voice curious.

“My mate,” Isabella answered shortly, “and an Alpha.”

Their footsteps shuffled as they moved away, and then Isabella’s voice hitthrough our psychic link. “This is

bullshit, Lilian,” she said, her tone cold and cutting. Then she slammed a mental door in my head so hard |

flinched.

| let out a heavy sigh, rubbing my temples as | tried to push away the frustration boiling inside me.

“You okay?” Tessa asked gently.

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Chapter 195

1 plastered a fake smile on my face and nodded. “Fine,” | lied, turning my attention to the next customer.

| didn’t let myself think. | couldn't. If | let even a single thought slip in, everything would ccrashing down. So

| shot everything out-every single thing-and focused on the orders.

Then the sound of something slamming shut joltedout of my bleak haze. | turned to see Mikayla stomping

into the truck, her arms crossed and her face red with anger.

She dropped into a corner with a huff, glaring at the wall like it had personally offended her.

Tessa and | exchanged a look, both of us biting back smiles.

Finally, Mikayla snapped, “Aren't either of you going to askwhat's wrong? Or why I'm so mad?”

Tessa smirked, raising an eyebrow atbefore turning to Mikayla. “Okay, fine,” she said, her tone light. “What's

wrong? Why are you so mad?”

Mikayla exploded. “It’s Q! Can you believe it? Two days until prom, and he still hasn't asked me!”

Her words tumbled out in a tic rush, and | bit back a laugh.

Tessa, however, didn’t even try to hide hers. “Maybe he’s just looking for the right way to ask,” she suggested.

“Or maybe he’s nervous.”

Mikayla snorted, rolling her eyes. “He’s not nervous. And what do you know? You're so old.”

Tessa gasped, her hand flying to her chest in mock offense. “Old? Excuse me, but I'm a classic, thank you very

much.”

Despite the storm of emotions raging inside me, a laugh escaped before | could stop it.

Mikayla turned to me, her eyes wide and pleading. “Ava, what do you think | should do? Should I just ask him? Or

wait? Or- ugh, | don’t know-something to get him to ask me?”

| smiled faintly, her teenage tantrum cutting through sof the heaviness in my chest. “Honestly? If you really

want him to ask you, just give him a little nudge. Guys can be clueless sometimes.” | paused, considering her

frustration, and then added, “Or maybe you could just ask him.”

Mikayla froze, staring atlike I'd just insulted her entire existence. Her eyes widened, and she leaned forward,

placing her hands flat on the counter. “Me? Ask him? Are you out of your mind?” she exclaimed, her voice a mix

of horror and disbelief.

Tessa let out a snort of laughter, clearly enjoying Mikayla’s tics. “Oh, the horror! Imagine the scandal,

Mikayla. A girl asking a boy to prom. What is the world coming to?” she teased, throwing a towel over her

shoulder.

Mikayla turned to glare at her, and then back at me, her expression somewhere between betrayal and

indignation. “That's not how it works, Ava! He's supposed to ask me! That's how it’s done! If | ask him, it’s going

to look like I'm desperate. Or worse, like | don’t think I'm worth him putting in the effort.”

| raised an eyebrow, leaning against the counter. “But isn’t it better to get what you want instead of waiting

around for someone else to figure it out? | mean, if you like him and you want to go with him, why not just say

something? You'd rather sit here stressing about it than take control of the situation?”

She crossed her arms, huffing loudly. “It’s not that simple. He's supposed to want it too. If | have to force it or

make the first move, it won't feel the same. It won't mean the same.”

| tilted my head, her words sinking in. “So what you're really saying is... you don’t just want him to ask you. You

want him to want to ask you.”

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Chapter 195

“Yes! Exactly!” Mikayla exclaimed, throwing her hands up. “How is that so hard to understand? | don’t want to

feel like I'm chasing him. | want to know that he’s thinking about me, that I’m important enough to him to take

the initiative. | mean, isn’t that the whole point?”

| nodded slowly, her words circling in my mind and stirring something | didn’t want to acknowledge. “You want to

know you matter to him,” | said softly.

Mikayla paused, her fiery energy flickering for a moment as she noticed the change in my tone. “Yeah,” she said,

quieter this time. “Exactly. | don’t want to feel like... I'm not worth the effort.”

Her words hitlike a ton of bricks, and | suddenly felt like | couldn't breathe. | straightened up, my hands

gripping the edge of the counter as my chest tightened.

| thought about Grayson. About everything we'd been through, about the messages he'd found, and how he'd

believed them. How he hadn't trustedenough to believe me.

Because deep down, he didn’t think | was worth it.

Or maybe it was the other way around. Maybe | hadn’t done enough to show him that he mattered. That | would

fight for him. That no matter what happened, | would always be in his corner.

Tessa’s voice broke through my spiraling thoughts. “Ava? You okay?” she asked, her brow furrowed with concern.

| forced a shaky breath, nodding as | straightened up. “Yeah,” | said quickly. “I'm fine.”

But | wasn't.

Mikayla frowned, clearly sensing something was off. “Ava, are you sure? You look... | don’t know, like you're

about to cry or something.”

| shook my head, plastering on a faint smile. “I'm fine,” | repeated, but the words felt hollow.

Tessa and Mikayla exchanged a look, but they didn’t push me.

As Mikayla continued to rant about Q, her words blurred in my mind, replaced by a single, overwhelming

thought.

| couldn’t do this, | couldn't just sit here and pretend like everything was fine when Grayson was out there,

probably walking straight into danger. He didn’t have his wolf, and if Liam really was behind all of this, he

wouldn't stop until Grayson was destroyed.

And what was | doing? Hiding behind a food truck, shutting everyone out, and convincing myself that | didn’t

care.

But | did care. More than anything.

Mikayla’s voice pulledback to reality. “So, what do you think I should do, Ava? Just wait around and hope he

figures it out? Or do I-”

| cut her off, my voice steadier than | felt. “You fight for what matters, Mikayla. You don’t wait. You don’t let fear

or pride stop you. If something’s important to you, you fight for it. Period.”

Mikayla blinked, taken aback by the sudden intensity in my voice. “Uh, okay...” she said slowly.

| turned to Tessa, my decision made. “I need to go.”

Tessa’s eyes widened. “Go? Go where?”

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Chapter 195

“To fix something,” | said firmly, already untying my apron. “To fight for something that matters.”

Tessa watchedfor a moment before nodding, understanding flickering in her eyes. “Go,” she said softly.

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| glanced at Mikayla, who was staring atlike I'd lost my mind. “And you,” | said, pointing at her, “stop

overthinking it and just talk to him. If he’s worth it, he’ll show you.”

With that, | stepped out of the truck, my heart pounding as | made my way toward the one thing that mattered

most:

| needed to find Grayson... | needed to find the father of my child.

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