The Heartless Alpha’s Beloved Luna (Avery and Gideon) novel Chapter 365

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Chapter 365

Avery’s POV

“He’s so cool. I thought he had a mustache but that doesn’t even matter. Did you see how tall he was, too? I 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,” I replied. I tried not to show the annoyance in my voice but it wasn’t easy. I 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 I 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. I had no idea he would be there. Aldric and Gideon’s packs are so far away from each other, and as far as I knew they never had much contact-”

“It’s not your fault.” I 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. I 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…”

I 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?”

I 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, I assure you. But I 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.”

I looked at my friend for a moment. Sebastian had always been polite and gentlemanly with

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1. He had never made a romantic move on me, which I appreciated. Not that I was conceited enough to think that every man wanted to be with me, but werewolf males, especially Alphas with no mate, could be….

Well. I didn’t need to think about that. Sebastian was a friend, nothing more.

Thank you for the offer, Sebastian,” I said, “but Gideon will just target you even more if he thinks we’re together. And you’ve already been so kind to me, I 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 I 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 in a pickle, okay?”

I 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 I prepared an intimate conference to discuss first steps-supply distribution, trial periods, that sort of thing.

I 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. I hated that my wolf perked up at the sight of those familiar eyes glinting at me in the sunlight.

“What is he doing here?” I blurted out, whirling on Aldric. I 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, I told him he could attend our first meeting.”

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

Aldric glanced at the men surrounding Gideon.” 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 I should go, too,” Aldric said. “This is very off-putting indeed…”

Sebastian and I exchanged looks. The partnership with Aldric was something I’d made up my

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mind about ever since I saw those kids in the clin 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.

I sighed, my shoulders sagging. “He can attend the meeting,” I said curtly.

Sebastian waved his hand to his men, who backed off. Gideon walked over and nodded politely to me. “Avery.”

“Gideon,” I said, already turning.

We headed inside, where the meeting was held in the usual conference room. I avoided eye contact with Gideon the entire time, but I 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.

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