The Heartless Alpha's Beloved Luna Novel

---- Chapter 124 Avery's POV The storms continued into the next morning. It turned the paths between the garden beds into thick mud that built up on my boots until | had to scrape it off with a piece of wood. The Full Moon was approaching, the second month since | had mated with the stranger in the woods. | wandered through the trees in my sanctuary and reflected on how different my life would be if that hadn't happened. Would | still be living in my father's house? Would | still have married Gideon? Ryan would still have betrayed me, | knew.

Zara's scheming was too effective, and his will was too weak. But if | hadn't run off into the woods that night, would I have entered my first heat and been marked? | had done magic to attract Gideon's mate to him, but the mate it had brought was false and instead of resolution, now | was in misery. Cold water soaked through my hair, which | had left unbound. The droplets soaking through my clothing was a reminder that | was here. That | was alive. ---- Before our wedding | had worried about feeling trapped. Now | was far beyond that.

| felt like a wolf ready to gnaw its own leg off to escape. My bandaged fingers snagged on the bark of the trees as | brushed past. They were impervious to the damp and the cold. | wished | could emulate their impassive faces. Beyond my personal injuries and wounded pride, the knowledge | had earned through my hard work as Luna so far told me that what Dierdra was doing was wrong. She was taking shortcuts that would ultimately hurt the pack.

If Gideon was resolute in turning a blind eye to my suffering, that was one thing, but surely he would care if he knew that Dierdra was putting the pack in danger? | bit my life and weighed the risks of taking what | had observed to him. Finally | turned my boots towards the pack offices and squared my shoulders. | had to try. | owed it to the pack, as their true Luna. | rapped my knuckles on Gideon's door, dripping water onto the welcome mat. "Come in," came his familiar baritone. | opened the door and froze.

---- Dierdra was perched on Gideon's lap, the top buttons of her blouse undone, and her tousled head resting on his shoulder. Above the crown of her head, Gideon looked at me with an impenetrable glance. "Luna, how can | help you?" He made no move to excuse Dierdra. | drew in a deep breath and marched towards the desk. "Alpha, you have previously given me permission to render punishments and corrections for minor infractions of pack rules.

| have come to ask that you allow me to do so in a few sensitive cases | have observed." "Oh?" Gideon straightened, absently shifting Dierdra to an empty chair nearby. She squawked at the upheaval, but he ignored her. "What sort of infractions have you observed?" he asked. "Disruptions to schedules and pack member assignments that do not take the greater good of the pack into account. Usurpation of authority in handling new residents' integration into the pack. Placing minors in dangerous assignments that they are not qualified to handle." | kept one eye on Dierdra as | spoke.

Gideon's eyebrows raised, "Those are serious accusations. Were ---- these infringements all by a single person, or several?" "One individual appears to be responsible." | said emphatically. "Who is it?" Gideon asked. "It's the Alpha's mate." | said vehemently. Gideon recoiled at the revelation, his expression shuttering. Next to him, Dierdra ceased twirling one of her curls around her finger and sat up straight. "Is what the Luna says true?" Gideon turned to Dierdra with a scowl. She shrunk back from his gaze. "No, Alpha!

| have been trying only to be helpfull" She protested, " | overheard some complaints about the way the Luna was. handling things, and | thought | could help make it better." Dierdra sniffled convincingly, avoiding my stare.

"Alpha, if you are serious about keeping me as your Luna, then | insist that | be able to handle my duties unhindered by Dierdra's meddling." | said stiffly, "She is seeking to undermine my authority, and it is creating confusion and discontentment." Gideon rubbed his hands across his face, "I don't have time to solve petty disagreements." He sat back in his chair and glared at me.