The Alpha King's Contracted Luna by Nelson Claudia

Chapter 197

-Grayson'’s POV-

The triumphant smile returned to his face, sharp and self-satisfied. “Wouldn't you like to know? Well,

unfortunately for you, that’s a mystery you'll die knowing you were never able to solve.”

“Die?” Elaine hiccuped, her voice trembling as tears welled up in her eyes. “Liam, you cannot be serious. | get it-

you're trying to prove a point, and Grayson hasn't exactly been nice to any of us, but this... this isn’t the way.

You can stop this. Please.” Her voice cracked as she pressed her hands against her stomach instinctively even

though there was no child. “You can have my shares. | didn’t even know | had them in the first place. Just stop

this and let us out. It’s-it’s so hot in here...” Her words dissolved into broken sobs as her body shook.

| kept my gaze on Liam, unmoving and unfeeling. “Let Elaine out,” | said flatly. “Your problem is with me. Just let

her go. You want the company so bad? Fine, take it. Whatever you think the world has stolen from you and given

to me-take it. But let her out.”

Liam let out a sharp scoff, shaking his head like I'd just said something utterly absurd. “Even now,” he spat,

“even now, you refuse to climb down from your high horse. You're not givinganything, Grayson. I'm taking it.

Every single thing I've worked for-everything | deserve-I'm finally taking it.”

“Good for you,” | replied dryly. “Now let her out. You want to kill me, go ahead. | don’t care. But let her out.”

Not like | had much left to live for, anyway. Ava would never forgivefor what I'd done to her. My wolf was

gone. | wasn't fit to be king, and truth be told, | didn’t even want to be anymore. The weight of that title had

been suffocatingfrom the moment | was born. Whoever wanted the throne could have it. | didn’t care. | just

wanted peace. | was tired-so damn tired.

Maybe Liam would be the one to givethat peace.

“Grayson, stop aggravating him,” Elaine pleaded, her voice desperate. She turned to Liam, tears streaming down

her face. “Please. Stop this. I'm begging you, just stop!”

Liam's cold, calculating gaze flicked to her, his lips curling into a mocking smirk. “Stop being so delusional,

Elaine. Crying and begging isn’t going to save you. You've spent your entire life throwing tantrums, stomping

your feet, and expecting the world to cater to you. You're still that spoiled little girl who thinks tears will

magically fix everything.”

Her sobs turned louder, her hands trembling as she clutched at her sides. “So everything we had... everything

you said, every tyou toldyou cared about me... You were pretending? All of it?”

He tilted his head, feigning a thoughtful look before answering in a tone so nonchalant it cut like a blade. “Of

course, | was pretending. You were easy to manipulate, Elaine. | told you what you wanted to hear, gave you just

enough affection to keep you under control. It wasn’t hard. Someone like you? Starved for attention and love?

You practically beggedto use you.” His words were ice-cold, cruelly precise.

Her wailing intensified, the sound bouncing off the walls. She looked utterly shattered. “You... you lied to me!”

she choked out between sobs.

Liam sneered. “Oh, grow up, Elaine. You're not a victim. You're just pathetic.”

He turned his attention back tothen, his expression unreadable but his tone sharp. “You're probably

wondering why you can’t move, why your body feels so heavy.”

| stared back at him blankly, my voice dry with disinterest. “I'm not wondering. Whatever grand revelation you're

about to make... save it. You're wasting your time. | don’t care.”

Chapter 197

For a split second, his smug expression faltered, but he quickly recovered, his smile turning almost gleeful. “Well,

I'll tell you anyway. You're both drugged. That sluggish, heavy feeling? That's all thanks to me. Of course,

Elaine’s dose is laced with wolfsbane. It'll wear off eventually, but not in tfor you to do anything other than

accept your fates.”

He let the weight of his words settle, clearly waiting for skind of reaction from me. | gave him none. | was

too tired to give him the satisfaction.

Satisfied with himself, he turned away and started walking toward the door.

“Liam!” Elaine screamed, her voice raw and broken. She tried to push herself up, but her body betrayed her,

trembling weakly as she fell back. “Let us out of here! Please, don’t do this!” Her sobs grew more frantic as she

continued screaming, her voice cracking under the weight of her desperation. “Please, Liam! I'll do whatever you

want! Just let us out!”

Liam didn’t stop, didn’t even look back. His hand gripped the doorfras he turned slightly, a cruel smirk

playing on his lips. “I would say this has been fun but you just

He stepped out, closing the vault shut behind him, leaving only the sound of her anguished cries filling the

suffocating

space.

| closed my eyes as my head pounded, each throb echoing through my skull like the beating of a war drum.

Elaine’s sobs filled the suffocating silence of the room, each one twisting the knife deeper into my chest. | didn’t

know how long Liam planned to keep us in here, nor what his ultimate plan was. But | knew this was to be it-our

end.

And maybe | would have accepted that, would have resigned myself to this as my punishment for all the

mistakes I'd made, if Elaine wasn’t here with me. Her cries pierced through the haze of my guilt, joltingout of

my own misery.

| needed to think. | needed to figure out how to get her out of here. But | couldn't move. | couldn't even breathe

properly, let alone form a coherent plan. My body felt like it was shutting down under the weight of everything

I'd done, everything I'd allowed.

| turned my head slowly, forcing my eyes open to look at her. “Elaine,” | said hoarsely, my voice barely above a

whisper. “Stop crying. He’s not worth it.”

Her head snapped up, her tear-streaked face twisted with rage. “Not worth it?” she spat, her voice sharp enough

to cut.

| didn’t answer. What could | say?

“This is all your fault!” she suddenly shouted, the words hittinglike a physical blow. “Do you hear me? All of

this is on you!”

| stayed silent, letting her words hang in the air between us.

“If you hadn't turned into this-this terrible human being,” she continued, her voice shaking with fury, “none of

this would be happening right now! None of it! Do you even realize that? Do you even care?”

| opened my mouth, but no sound cout. There was nothing | could say.

Her anger spilled over like a dam breaking, and | sat there, letting it drown me. “Liam was right,” she said

bitterly. “You do treat everyone like garbage. You've always treatedlike garbage! You didn’t care about me,

about anyone, unless it somehow benefited you. And now look where we are! Look what your selfishness has

done!”

| felt my chest tighten, but | didn’t interrupt her. | didn’t try to defend myself.

“You think you're better than everyone else,” she went on, her voice cracking. “You think the world owes you

something because of what you've been through, but it doesn’t! We've all been through things, Grayson! You're

not special! And instead of being the person you used to be-the person | trusted-you becthis... this

monster.”

Chapter 197

Her words sliced through me, each one sharper than the last. She was right. | knew she was right.

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“You think | don’t see it?” she said, her tears flowing freely now. “How you push people away? You don’t care who

you hurt, Grayson, as long as you get what you want.”

| lowered my head, unable to meet her gaze anymore.

“Liam said you changed after the fire,” she said, her voice quieter now, but each word sharp enough to cut. “And

you did. You did. But you didn’t just change. You beccruel. You beceverything you used to hate. You

becexactly like him.”

The last word hitlike a punch in the gut. Him. | becexactly like my father.

My father. The man | used to sneak into Elaine’s room to hide from, trembling as | climbed through her window

late at night. She’d make a big fuss about how she didn’t want boys in her room, crossing her arms and pouting,

but she always letstay. Always.

And now? What had I really become?

The silence between us stretched, her words lingering in the air like smoke after a fire. Then, suddenly, Elaine's

voice rose again, breaking the quiet like a thunderclap. “Why is it so hot in here? And what is that awful smell?”

Her words jolted me, and before | could respond, the smell hittoo-thick, cloying, unmistakable.

| lifted my head, my eyes scanning the cramped, suffocating space. That's when it clicked. That's when | realized

what Liam had meant when he taunted Elaine to save her tears.

| swallowed hard, my voice low but steady as the truth clawed its way out of my throat. “Gas,” | whispered.

Elaine’s head whipped toward me, her eyes wide with confusion and fear. “What?”

“It's gas,” | said, louder this time, each word like a hammer against the silence. “That's why it's getting hotter.

Liam isn’t just leaving us in here to rot.”

| turned to her, my gaze meeting hers as the full weight of the situation settled over us like a heavy shroud.

“He’s going to blow this vault up,” | said, each word dripping with grim certainty. “With us still inside.”

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