The Heartless Alpha's Beloved Luna Novel

---- Chapter 132 Avery's POV "Wake up." Someone was calling to me. I groaned in protest. I felt like I had only just dropped off to sleep. "Avery." the voice persisted. Slowly I opened my eyes and searched the dark room. The sun had not yet started to rise and shadows stretched from every corner. "Yes?" I asked, but there was no response. There was no one there. Confused, I sat up in bed and looked around. My body felt sluggish with fatigue, but I wasn't as tired as I thought I would be after only a few short hours of sleep. "Hello?" I called. Had I dreamed that voice?

Now that I thought about it, it hadn't sounded like anyone I knew. A woman's voice, strong and strident. ---- What an odd dream. I rose and went to the washroom. I stared at my face in the mirror in the moonlight that streamed through the windows. I looked like a ghost. My hair draped over my shoulders in long tresses and my eyes were deep and dark. Ineeded a bath. I turned on the hot water and sat on the edge of the tub, watching the porcelain fill with steamy water. "Avery," the voice spoke again and I yelped. It sounded like it was right behind me.

I whirled and jumped as I saw a pale face next to me, then a second later realized it was just me in the mirror again. I peered around the dark bathroom, but the white tile hid no intruders. I got up and looked back into my bedroom, but my door to the hallway was locked and no one was present. So strange. Perhaps I wasn't fully awake. ---- As I returned to the washroom I saw something in the mirror that made me pause. The mark on my neck was back, and it was dark and whole, covering where my neck met my shoulder. I stared at it in wonderment.

It had faded weeks ago when the Moon Goddess had given me her blessing and obscured it for my safety. Now, in the moonlight, it showed stark against my pale skin. I raised my hand to my neck and laid it over my mark. At my touch, I felt it flare hot, as though feverish, and then I felt her. 'Avery', came the voice once more, and this time I could recognize that it wasn't coming from outside, but from inside my head. There was a presence along with it, that could only have been my wolf. She was here!

Joy suffused me, and I grinned like a fool at myself in the mirror, seeing my irises flash yellow for the first time in my life. 'You exist!' I thought to her, exultantly, 'I always knew you did, but no one ever believed me!' ---- 'Tam here,' her voice sounded distant but strong, 'I always have been.' 'Then why...?' I asked, letting my confusion and frustration seep through, '...is there still something wrong with me, that you have not appeared before now?' There was a long moment, but I could still sense her presence.

It felt as though she was considering her words carefully, or perhaps that there was a delay between us, like we were shouting over great distance. 'You must get stronger,' my wolf said at last. I frowned. Stronger in what way? It was true that I hadn't been eating lately, was that what she meant? Or was it something to do with my magic? I conveyed this confusion through our bond, but the wolf did not speak further. Instead, a flood of emotion came from her. Acceptance, love, support, and confidence flowed into me so strongly that it made me gasp.

Tears sprung to my eyes at the loving emotions. They were stronger than anything I had ever felt before. ---- 'Thank you,' I said to my wolf, 'I will get stronger.' I stared at myself resolutely in the mirror as I watched the mark on my neck fade away once more, leaving unblemished skin. Despite the confusing message, I felt overjoyed. My wolf had spoken! She was with me. Although her presence had now faded, I could still summon that sensation of her sending me her support. With that, I felt like I could do anything.

The sound of flowing water reminded me of my bath, and I turned off the tap and undressed. Climbing into the hot water felt luxurious on my skin, and I slid down until I was submerged. The moonlight through the window dappled the water and stroked along my skin. Ihadn't forgotten the forced apology that Gideon and Dierdra had wrung out of me, but encountering my wolf had eclipsed those feelings temporarily. As I floated in the bath, my anger and frustration was still present, but no longer all-consuming.

Which was good, because I was going to need a clear head to tackle the challenges the morning would ---- bring. Miraculously, my fatigue had fled, and with my body cleaned, I climbed from the water feeling rejuvenated and renewed. The obstacles I faced had not changed, but I had. I was no longer just Avery, Luna, or even the Moon Goddess heir (whatever that meant). Now I was a woman who had the strength of her wolf behind her. My closest friend had revealed herself to me, and I hoped we would never again be parted.

I dressed quickly and descended to the kitchens, thankfully meeting no one along the way. I wasn't yet ready to encounter Gideon or Dierdra, but there were battles I was ready to fight. For starters, I was going to revise how I had been approaching my duties as Luna. Being reactive to Dierdra's bullshit wasn't working. I was always responding to her schemes, not anticipating them. I would go over all my files, and all my processes, and find ways to build in more fail- safes that would make it harder for external sources to interfere.

---- Full of ideas, and eventually coffee, I took my notebook down to the coffee shop and took up my usual seat in the window, scribbling furiously. By the time the sun arose, I had a list of things I could improve for so long as I was here. That did not solve the issue of leaving the pack eventually, however. My relationship with Gideon had been damaged by his actions, and I still needed an escape plan in the event he did remove me as Luna, or it became necessary for me to flee. My wolf had told me to get stronger, so I would.

For the first time in a while, I made myself eat a full breakfast. The first step was feeding my body adequately. Then I drafted a note. When Maverick, the messenger, appeared on his rounds, I gave him the message. "Deliver this for me, please," I requested. Maverick nodded, bright eyes sparkling at me, "You are looking well today, Luna," he complimented, "I hope you don't mind me saying so, but you've seemed a bit down lately. Today you look happier." ---- "Thank you," I gave him a genuine smile, "I feel better." And to my surprise, I found I meant it.