The Heartless Alpha's Beloved Luna Novel

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Chapter 365

Avery's POV

“He's so cool. | thought he had a mustache but that doesn't even

matter. Did you see how tall he was, too? | bet he’d be really

good at basketball.” Bjorn hopped out of the car, dropping to a

momentary crouch on the gravel, then furrowed his brow.

“Wait,” he said, looking up at me, “do werewolves have

basketball?”

“Yes,” | replied. | tried not to show the annoyance in my voice

but it wasn't easy. | patted Bjorn’s back, propelling him forward. *

Go wash up for dinner.”

Bjorn ran off toward the house, leaving me standing there. He

had been talking nonstop about Gideon ever since we left

Aldric’s pack; apparently, Gideon had already made quite an

impression on him, and Bjorn thought he was just the coolest

guy in the whole world.

It infuriated me, but also made my heart ache at the same time,

because | could only imagine how much Bjorn would look up to

Gideon if he knew Gideon was his biological father.

Sebastian stepped out of the car, shutting the door behind

himself, and gave me an apologetic look.

----

“I'm really sorry, Avery. | had no idea he would be there. Aldric

and Gideon's packs are so far away from each other, and as far

as | knew they never had much contact—”

“It’s not your fault.” | thought about that ring on Fiona’s finger

and winced, but quickly pushed the feelings down, refusing to

let it get to me. Again, not my circus, not my monkeys. “It’s

probably because he’s marrying Matthew's daughter now. He's

got a whole slew of new alliances.”

Sebastian rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah. | guess so.” He

looked at me as we made our way back to the house together.

You know, I was considering some potential solutions on the

way home...”

| stopped walking and looked at him. “Like what?”

Surprisingly, Sebastian's cheeks reddened ever so slightly. I'd

never seen him do that before, so it took me off guard.

“What if we told Gideon that Bjorn is my son?” he asked. “And

that we're... together?”

| blinked, stunned. He was being serious. “Sebastian—”

“Just for a while,” Sebastian clarified. “Until he and Fiona are

married, at least. There would be no entangled feelings, | assure

you. But | think, if Gideon thinks you're truly taken, he might back

off. Besides, he already failed to beat me in a challenge, so he

----

might hesitate to try again.”

| looked at my friend for a moment. Sebastian had always been

polite and gentlemanly with me. He had never made a romantic

move on me, which | appreciated. Not that | was conceited

enough to think that every man wanted to be with me, but

werewolf males, especially Alphas with no mate, could be...

Well. | didn’t need to think about that. Sebastian was a friend,

nothing more.

“Thank you for the offer, Sebastian,” | said, “but Gideon will just

target you even more if he thinks we're together. And you've

already been so kind to me, | don’t want to drag you into my

mess.”

“Very well.” He reached into his pocket and withdrew something.

“Consider it, at least. And feel free to wear this if you ever need

it”

He opened his hand, and | gasped. A golden wedding band was

sitting in his palm, glittering in the fading sunlight.

“Where did you—"

“It was mine,” he said. His face took on a wistful quality. “A long

time ago... Well, it doesn't matter now. Just wear it if you're ina

pickle, okay?”

| nodded, taking the ring, and slipped it into my pocket.

----

The next day, Aldric arrived for our first official meeting as

business partners. Sebastian and | prepared an intimate

conference to discuss first steps—supply distribution, trial

periods, that sort of thing.

| didn’t expect Gideon, of all people, to get out of Aldric’s car.

But he did. He climbed out with a smile on his face, wearing a

suit that admittedly fit him perfectly in the shoulder department.

He was looking at me like the cat that caught the canary. | hated

that my wolf perked up at the sight of those familiar eyes

glinting at me in the sunlight.

“What is he doing here?” | blurted out, whirling on Aldric. | didn’t

bother to hide my disdain. Sebastian's men moved forward,

surrounding Gideon, although he just stood there with his hands

in his pockets, making no move to fight back.

Aldric gave me an arch look. “Alpha Gideon approached me last

night with a request to join our partnership. Given his recent

union with Alpha Matthew, | told him he could attend our first

meeting.”

“You should have told me first,” | bit out.

Aldric glanced at the men surrounding Gideon. “Is this how you

treat respected Alphas in Evergreen?” he asked, turning to

Sebastian.

----

Sebastian bristled. “We're not working with Gideon. He's not

welcome here.”

“Then perhaps | should go, too,” Aldric said. “This is very off-

putting indeed..”

Sebastian and | exchanged looks. The partnership with Aldric

was something I'd made up my mind about ever since | saw

those kids in the clinic yesterday. The very thought of leaving

them high and dry over personal matters when my supplement

could potentially cure them didn’t sit right with me. And judging

from the look Sebastian gave me, he agreed.

| sighed, my shoulders sagging. “He can attend the meeting,” |

said curtly.

Sebastian waved his hand to his men, who backed off. Gideon

walked over and nodded politely to me. “Avery.”

"Gideon," | said, already turning.

We headed inside, where the meeting was held in the usual

conference room. | avoided eye contact with Gideon the entire

time, but | could feel him watching me.

He made no effort to stay quiet, either. He interjected his

thoughts and opinions at almost every opportunity.

And what pissed me off the most was that his business

----

strategies were actually incredibly sound. He suggested running

a clinical trial to start, using Nightwolf as a control population

while the children of Evergreen and Aldric’s pack were treated.

He also offered to pay for more soil, water, and air quality

testing, once again using Nightwolf as a control group.

| hated to admit it, but by the time the meeting was over, | knew

it would be utterly stupid of me to keep him out of the

partnership. Sebastian knew it, too.

But | needed to keep Gideon at arm’s length. | knew that.

My mind kept going to Sebastian's offer. | thumbed the ring in

my pocket, considering his words from the night before.

A temporary alliance, nothing more. Just until Gideon and

Fiona's wedding. Then, they would mark each other, severing our

bond for good. If | could just last that long, then | wouldn't have

anything to worry about anymore.

And if it would keep me and my son safe until then, then | would

be a fool not to take it.

So that was why, after the meeting, when Gideon tried to

approach me in the hall, | did it.

“Avery—" Gideon was moving toward me with quick strides. |

acted quickly before | could think better of it.

| grabbed Sebastian's tie and pulled him down to my level, then

----

kissed him on the cheek, ensuring that Gideon could see the

whole thing.