The Heartless Alpha's Beloved Luna Novel

---- Chapter 361 Avery's POV The meeting was held in Sebastian's private conference room. I'd resisted at first when he told me a week ago that he wanted me to speak to some of his business associates, but with his encouragement, | eventually relented. | spent the week preparing. Honestly, it kind of soothed me, jumping back into my usual business routine. | enjoyed setting up presentations and preparing portfolios. | had to give Sebastian credit for talking me into it. Sebastian's associates arrived just after ten.

There were four of them, all Alphas or senior pack members from nearby territories, and they filed in with the kind of energy that reminded me of every board meeting I'd ever sat in on in the human lands. I let them get settled before | started. Sebastian sat at the far end of the table, and | stood at the head of it. Throughout the presentation, | walked them through everything: the product composition, the sourcing, the clinical results, and then the pricing model, the supply chain, and what a trial partnership would look like before any long-term commitments were made.

---- When | was finished, there was a period for questions. The associates had some good ones that kept me on my toes, but | relished it. The discussion was lively and interesting, and before | knew it, | was slipping back into my old routine from the human lands, forgetting entirely that | was working with the exact type of people I'd once said | would never speak to again. By the time we wrapped up, two of the four associates had expressed serious interest in a trial arrangement, and the other two had asked for the printed materials to bring back to their respective pack doctors.

Sebastian caught my eye from the end of the table and gave me a short nod of approval. The associates filtered out into the hall after that, where Sebastian's staff had set up coffee and light food. | gathered my materials and let myself breathe for the first time since the morning. That past week had gone by without incident. There was no sign of Gideon. Bjorn was settled and happy, eating everything in sight and coming home covered in dirt each evening. Even my own wolf was content. Life was good here. | was starting to think that maybe, just maybe, I'd made the right call coming here.

"Avery." ---- | turned. One of the associates was still in the doorway. He was a short, dark-haired man in his early forties named Aldric, who ran a mid-sized pack nearby. "| want to talk to you about something a little more specific, if you have a minute," he said. | set my folder down. "Go ahead." "We've been dealing with something in my pack. The pack doctor flagged it about three months ago-young wolves, all under age twelve, coming in with weakened immune systems. No obvious cause. We've tested everything we can think of." He folded his arms and glanced at Sebastian.

"You mentioned during the meeting that you've been experiencing the same thing here." Sebastian nodded slowly. | thought about the kids I'd seen in Sebastian's clinic on my first tour. The same thing was going on in two separate packs, with no connection between them that anyone could see. It piqued my interest. "Anyway, I'm hosting a private event at my pack next weekend," Aldric said. "A few Alphas, standard business. I'd like you to come. Maybe you could visit our hospital and see what we're working with." | looked at Sebastian.

| hadn't set foot outside the pack since ---- the day I'd run into Fiona at the store, but I'd grown a lot more comfortable. He nodded. "I'll go." His presence instantly soothed me. | turned to Aldric and accepted his offer. Once he was gone, the closet door creaked open. Both Sebastian and | gasped, whirling around. Bjorn stepped out with a sheepish look on his face. "Young mant"" | scolded, "Were you hiding in that closet the whole time?" "Yup." Bjorn walked over to one of the chairs and sat in it, spinning around. "Can | go to that thingy with you?"