The Heartless Alpha's Beloved Luna Novel

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Chapter 246

Avery's POV

Now, in addition to my own internal war about leaving, | had

added shame for my own hypocrisy, and guilt for letting Dierdra

be recaptured by the Rogue King.

At least my desire to ignore being left alone to stew in my own

emotions meant | threw myself into the preparations for the

Annual Mating Ceremony. The logistics were daunting, but

unfortunately there were also a few key events leading up to the

day where Gideon and | were expected to appear as a couple.

There was a solstice luncheon, where everyone gathered on the

pack house's south patio to bat eyelashes at each other under

sweaty brows. Romantic.

Then there was some sort of rustic hay wagon ride, where

flirtatious young wolves could get hauled behind an ancient

tractor that spat great clouds of black exhaust as it chugged

through the orchard and along the river.

By the time the Moon-Viewing Cocktail Soiree arrived, | was very

ready to just throw myself into the lake and let my body become

a habitat for zebra mussels. 1

It didn’t help that Gideon's behavior towards me had done a

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complete 180 since the day Dierdra was recaptured. Previously

he had been trying to earn my affection. Even when he forcibly

returned me from Sofia’s house, he had still been trying to

convince me to soften towards him. 1

Now he seemed cold and distant. 1

| knew | shouldn't feel as hurt by it as | did. After all, | was the

reason he had put up this wall between us. | had given him

reason to believe | was lying to him.

And | was. At least, by omission.

| was still in the early stages of pregnancy, but | had cramping

intermittently as the embryo embedded itself firmly into my

womb, and | felt extremely fatigued.

All of these symptoms were normal and expected, and | did

wish that | could talk to him about them. This was supposed to

be an exciting time for any couple, and | wished we had the sort

of relationship where | could do those silly things other couples

did. Take photos of his hands on my belly. Spend time picking

out colors to paint a nursery. 2

Instead, | couldn't tell him anything.

My child could not be raised here. The recent incursion by the

Rogue King had made that crystal clear. What if it had been my

child playing out in the fields who had been kidnapped? If it was

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so easy to capture Dierdra, then it would be just as easy for

someone to snatch a kid and take them from me.

| would never allow that to happen.

Any child of mine would be subjected to the same belief the

Rogue King had touted, that my bloodline was destined to be

extremely powerful. There were a lot of terrible people who

would use that information to their advantage.

So | kept my mouth shut about my developing pregnancy, and |

accepted Gideon's cold demeanor as the price | deserved to pay.

Which made ceremonies like the one we were standing in right

now all the more awkward. This was supposed to be a show of

unity, where half the eligible wolves interested in the mating

ceremony lit candles and then the other wolves who were

interested in them lit their candles off of each other. Gideon and

| were supposed to kick it off by lighting each other's candles,

but we were performing the ritual with almost no show of

emotion.

| could tell that the young people gathered together were not

sure what to make of Gideon's stoic face as he lit his white taper

off of my red one. They were similarly not sold by my reading of

the traditional poem, which was supposed to be a romantic

inspiration for the wolves to write their own poems and give

them to each other in secret.

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However, my hands were shaking as | held the paper, because

Gideon hadn't stopped staring at me with that angry stare. |

feebly worked my way to the end of the poetic verse, and the

clapping afterwards was polite but awkward.

“Excuse me,” | said to the facilitators who were present to lead

the young people through the exercises, “I’m not feeling well. I'm

going to step out for a moment.”

“Of course, dear,” the older woman winked at me, “Try drinking

some cold water.”

“Uh, yes. I'll do that,” | said, heading for the exit.

“alpha, your Luna is stepping out,” | heard her say to Gideon as

he approached the table, “She's not feeling well.”