The Heartless Alpha's Beloved Luna Novel

---- Chapter 122 Avery's POV We had entered a period of rain. Every day the pack house windows rattled in their casements as thunder rumbled all around us. Wolves darted in and out, swathed in raincoats and parkas and smelling of wet dog | watched the rain pouring in thick channels down the glass and traced its path with my fingertips. Beyond, the distorted street that led through the village shone, the streetlamps reflecting off the wet pavement in halos of light. | turned away from the window and towards the table in my room where my untouched dinner sat upon a tray.

| took two swift steps and dashed the entire tray to the ground. China shattered, and food sprayed. Breathing heavily | stared at the mess. | had just come from a council meeting. The recent refugees to Nightwolf had requested an audience. | had attended as Luna to see what their needs were and to offer what we could. | arrived at the end of the meeting. The last refugees were trailing out, chit-chatting with each other amiably until they ---- noticed me, then they had quieted. "Luna," one woman had greeted with a cold nod, "were you planning on showing up to the refugee meeting?

I'm afraid we just finished." "Finished?" | tilted my head in confusion, "The meeting was set for 5?" "Oh! Well, the Alpha's mate had moved it to 4," the woman looked perplexed, "she didn't tell you?" "No. She didn't," | muttered. "Oh! She must have forgotten. She's such a dear, and so busy with helping everyone! She told us that she was setting aside some produce from the garden just for us. | can't imagine how she finds the time..." the woman rambled on. Inwardly | fumed, but | tamped my frustration down long enough to make sure she knew that | was also available to help her in any way.

"Oh, | wouldn't dream of bothering you, Luna." the woman sniffed, exchanging glances with her fellows, "Dierdra said that you don't really enjoy this sort of thing. We'll just take any future issues to her." | had stomped all the way back to the pack house, water sloshing in my boots. ---- Yesterday | had been summoned to another pack hearing, this time to decide on a punishment for a young man who had been caught stealing from his neighbor's henhouse. Or at least, that was the claim.

The neighbor had caught the young man sneaking around the back of his house, and looking at the neighbor's lovely daughter, | had a good idea why. | saw the looks the two young people were passing back and forth. He'd been raiding something, alright. "The defendant will do 40 hours of community service of the plaintiff's choosing." | had ruled, thinking that if the young man proved useful enough, perhaps the family would be more amenable to him seeking their daughter's company in more circumspect ways... And then Dierdra had spoken up.

"While | applaud the Luna's, erm, lenience, surely this young man's brawn would be better served scouting on our borders with our warriors? Safety should be our first priority, don't you think? We don't want any of those nasty rogues invading Nightwolf territory and threatening our women and children..." Dierdra had shuddered theatrically and the pack members in attendance had started muttering. "The defendant is not yet old enough to serve as a warrior," | had ---- reminded the council "Oh!

In my pack everyone learned how to fight at a young age, was that not the way you were raised, Luna?" Dierdra frowned, " How unusual... It must be a real adjustment for you to have joined a pack that makes protecting the village everyone's responsibility..." And so on. By the end of the meeting, the council had sided with Dierdra and the young man and woman had exchanged anguished looks as he was hauled away to the border. Now | stared at the broken pieces of my dinner and wished that | could smash Dierdra onto the floor with them. "Luna?" | heard Gideon knocking at my door, "!

heard a crash." "Im fine." | snapped, sinking to my knees to pick up the broken shards of china. | shouldn't have lost my temper, but I felt like | was fighting a losing battle I had been doing my best at my Luna duties, but every time | turned around, Dierdra was inserting herself, subverting my work or claiming it as her own,