The Alpha King's Contracted Luna by Nelson Claudia

I'd heard her say those words before, though she hadn't meant forto. When | was unconscious, teetering on

the edge of life and death, her whispered confessions had reachedin ways she could never understand. She

had spoken of a different life, a quieter one, filled with hope, with love-and with children.

I'd been meaning to address it since then, but everything had gotten in the way. The killings, the attacks, the

endless fires that needed putting out. And if | were honest, I'd been using those distractions as an excuse.

Because I'd been scared.

For the first tin years, I'd felt fear.

But I'd faced it. Confronted it. Buried it. | was still Grayson, still the man who commanded armies and wielded

influence like a weapon. Still the man who could make the world bend to his will if | so desired. And yet, here |

was, caught in the crossfire of the one person who could unravelwithout even trying.

“I've thought about it,” | admitted, my voice low. “More than I care to. But no, Ava. Not even one.”

Her brows knit together, her frustration simmering just beneath the surface. “Why?”

| let out a bitter laugh, shaking my head as | leaned back in my chair. “Because in so many ways, I've already

becthe man my father wantedto be. The power, the control, the sacrifices... it's all there, whether | like

it or not. And I'll be damned if | bring a child into this world to put them through the shell | went through.”

“You're not your father,” she said quickly, her voice firm, like she was trying to convince me-or herself.

| looked at her, the words weighing heavy on my tongue. She meant well, but she didn’t understand. “Ava...” |

sighed, rubbing a hand over my face. “Can we not do this? Just drop it. Please.”

Her expression shifted, her lips pressing into a thin line. And then, in a voice sharp with frustration, she said,

“There you go again.”

| frowned, my patience thinning. “What are you talking about?”

“Sabotaging this,” she said, gesturing between us. “Things are good between us, Grayson. Better than good. But

every twe get to this point, where we could actually move forward, you find a way to pull back. To push me

away.”

“That's not what I'm doing,” | said, my tone harder than | intended. “I'm trying to be honest with you. | don’t

want to give you false hope.

She shook her head, anger flashing in her eyes. “False hope? You don’t even know what hope looks like, do you?”

| stiffened, my jaw tightening. “Careful, Ava.”

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Her voice rose, not in volume, but in intensity. “No, you need to hear this. You didn’t think you'd ever have this

with me, did you? You never thought you'd let someone in. But look at us. Look at what we've built. And you're

tellingit's impossible to consider more? To even think about a future where-"

“No,” | said sharply, cutting her off. “Nothing is ever going to change my mind about this. | don’t want children.

Not now, not ever. And honestly, | don’t even know why we're arguing about this. It's not like you've had any

luck with your parents either.”

The moment the words left my mouth, | regretted them.

Her face fell, her expression shifting from anger to hurt in an instant. “Excuse me?” she said, her voice trembling

with restrained fury.

| sighed, already cursing myself for going too far. “Ava, | didn’t mean it like that-"

“No, go ahead,” she said, standing up abruptly, her chair scraping against the floor. “Tellwhat you meant,

Grayson. Since you seem to think my past disqualifiesfrom wanting something better.”

“That's not what | said,” | snapped, standing to face her. “Don’t twist my words.”

“You said it's not like | had any luck with my parents,” she shot back, her voice rising. “What the hell is that

supposed to mean?”

“It means | don’t see why you'd even want to be a parent after everything you've been through,” | said, my

frustration boiling over. “Why would you want to risk putting a child through that?“||

“Because | know what it’s like to grow up without love, to be molded into a version of someone that they

wanted,” she said, her voice breaking. “And | would do everything in my power to make sure no child of mine

ever felt that way. That's why.”

Her words hitlike a blow, but | refused to back down. “And what if that’s not enough, Ava? What if no matter

what we do, they end up like us? Angry, broken, fighting battles that aren't theirs to fight?”

Her eyes glistened with unshed tears, but she stood her ground. “Then we try. We fight for something better.

Isn’t that what we've been doing all along? Fighting for a life that isn’t defined by the past?”

| looked away, unable to meet her gaze. “You don’t get it,” | muttered.

“Then makeunderstand,” she challenged, stepping closer. “Because right now, it feels like you're just scared.

Scared of something you haven't even let yourself consider.”

“I'm not scared,” | said, my voice cold. “I'm realistic. And | won't gamble with something as important as this. |

won't risk bringing a child into this world just to prove a point.”

Her shoulders sagged, and for a moment, | thought she might let it go. But then she said, quietly but firmly,

“You're not your father, Grayson. And I'm not my parents. We're not them.”

| clenched my fists, feeling the weight of her words but refusing to let them sway me. “It doesn’t matter,” Lsaid.

“This isn’t up for debate. I've made my decision.”

She stared at me, her eyes searching mine for something-anything-but | gave her nothing.

“Then | don’t know what we're doing here,” she said finally, her voice hollow.

Her words hung in the air like a death knell, and | felt something insidecrack. But | didn’t let it show. |

couldn't.

Neither do I,” | said, my voice quieter now, almost a whisper.

She turned away, her movements slow and deliberate, and for the first tsince I'd met her, | felt like | was

losing her.

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The dinner was ruined. The night was ruined. And as | watched her walk away, her shoulders tense, and her

steps deliberate, | couldn’t shake the feeling that maybe, just maybe, I'd ruined something far greater.

| sat down heavily, raking my hands through my hair. The aur was oppressively quiet, except for the faint sound

of the wind rattling the windows.

And then, as if the universe wasn’t done withyet, my phone buzzed on the table.

The sharp vibration cut through the silence, and | grabbed it, glancing at the screen. Maria.

| sighed, already knowing this wasn’t going to be good news. She almost never called unless it was urgent. I'd

reached out to her weeks ago to helpfigure out why my connection to my wolf had been flickering-why |

felt...off.

Bracing myself, | swiped to answer. “Maria.”

She didn’t waste ton pleasantries. “I found something.”

Her voice was calm, clipped, but there was an edge to it that made my pulse quicken. | leaned forward, gripping

the phone tightly. “What did you find?”

There was a pause. A long, deliberate one that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

Finally, she spoke, her voice low and heavy with something | couldn't quite place, “Grayson, | think you're

cursed.”

The words hung in the air, cold and foreign, as if they didn’t belong to this moment, to me.

| swallowed hard, my grip on the phone tightening. “What are you talking about?”

“This curse has existed for centuries, Grayson and it’s not just you,” she continued, her tone solemn. “The

Blackwoods. Your entire bloodline is cursed.”

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