The Heartless Alpha’s Beloved Luna (Avery and Gideon) novel Chapter 413

Fiona’s POV

During the four days after the incident with the kid, I had called Gideon four times. Four. Every single call had gone to voicemail, and not once had he called back.

Father was furious about the whole situation, of course.

He hadn’t said it outright, but I could tell from the way he looked at me at breakfast every morning. Like I was a failure.

Maybe he was right.

thad replayed the incident with the boy over and over again in my mind, and every time I reached the same conclusion: I had panicked. What started out as a calculated move had turned into a mess the moment the storm rolled in, and then I had made the bone-headed decision to show up to the search party like l’d had nothing to do with it, which apparently hadn’t fooled Avery one bit. I’d seen it on her face in the car. She knew.

She didn’t have proof. But she knew.

And now Gideon wasn’t speaking to me, and Avery was still here, and the prospect of an engagement seemed further and further away by the day.

I had stayed in my room for most of the past few days. I didn’t feel like eating much, or talking, or doing much of anything, for that matter. Father didn’t check on me. Not that I expected him to.

But tonight, I was surprised when one of the servants knocked on my door and told me that my father wanted to come down for dinner.

When I reached the dining room, Father was already seated at the head of the table, and he wasn’t alone.

A woman sat to his right. Dark hair pulled neatly back.

Pale skin, sharp features, a small nose, and a set of full lips curved into a polite smile as I walked in. She was dressed in a crisp blouse, tailored slacks, and simple jewelry. She looked like the kind of person I had always wanted to be.

Father looked up when I entered. “Fiona, this is Katya,” he said, picking up his wine glass. “She’ll be staying with us for a little while.”

I looked at him, then at Katya. “Staying with us?”

“Think of her as an assistant,” Father said. “She has some experience that I think will be very useful for our current… situation.”

I hesitated, then decided there wasn’t much point in being cagey about it. If Father had hired her, then she already knew the bigger details. “He’s not speaking to me. He’s been ignoring my calls for almost a week.”

“And before that?”

“He made it clear a while ago that he wasn’t interested ingiving me the title of Luna. That he wanted Avery.” The words tasted sour on my tongue. “I’ve been trying for ages to get close to him, to show him that I’m capable of being a proper Luna.”

“You haven’t tried… other methods?” she asked.

I looked at her. “What do you mean?”

Katya looked at me like the answer was obvious. “I’m taking about what’s inside his pants, darling.”

I flushed. ” You’re saying I should sleep with him?”

“It might be your only way into his heart,” she said.” You’ve been playing the long game, but with Avery – around, there might not be enough time. The full moon is coming up. Their wolves will be in heat and their mate bond will pull them together. Unless there’s something standing in the way, of course.”