The Heartless Alpha’s Beloved Luna (Avery and Gideon) novel Chapter 424

Avery’s POV

The dancing helped. For a little while, at least.

Sebastian had a way of making things feel lighter, and by the time we had spun through our third song, my cheeks ached from laughing and I had almost forgotten about the greenhouse, and Gideon, and the way my wolf had been clawing at the walls of my heart like a rabid animal all evening.

Almost.

But not quite.

She wanted Gideon. That was all that mattered. Despite everything that had happened between us, none  of it mattered a lick to my wolf, so long as she got him.

At first, I tried to focus on dancing with Sebastian. Then, I tried to focus on drinks and food and laughing at anything and everything.

None of it helped, of course. The higher the moon climbed into the night sky, the more potent my wolf’s desire for Gideon became. And no matter how hard I tried not to let it happen, my eyes kept drifting toward him, seeking him out in the crowd like an arrow seeking its mark.

Sebastian and I had moved to one of the tables. He was standing nearby, talking to someone with a drink in his hand while I rested my feet in a chair. I had kicked off my shoes under my gown, feeling the cold tiles beneath my bare feet.

Around us, the banquet had turned more… frenzied. I watched a couple slip off the dance floor. I saw a man pressing his lips to the mark on his mate’s neck in the middle of a conversation. Off to the side, a woman was pulling her partner by the hand toward the hall.

The energy in the room had taken on that restless, electric quality that full moon nights always carried, and even the musicians had begun to play with more fervor.

My eyes instinctively scanned the crowd. I saw movement everywhere, the guests turning into a churning sea that was difficult to make sense of. But I could feel him there, his wolf beckoning to mine.

Finally, my gaze landed on Gideon.

I wasn’t alone, of course. The courtyard was full of people, mostly couples, wandering between the rose bushes and lingering near the fountain. A couple was leaning beneath the magnolia tree, locked in an embrace that seemed to be teetering on the edge of propriety already.

I huffed out a small breath, picking up my skirt, and made my way over toward the fountain. The water misted slightly into the air, tickling the side of my face as I sat on the cool stone.

For a moment I just sat there, forcing myself to breathe as if that could somehow make my wolf stop roiling in my chest. I knew I shouldn’t have cared if Gideon found another woman at the banquet; if anything, it should have come as a relief. I was just surprised it wasn’t Fiona.

And yet…

I didn’t want Gideon. I had told myself that so many times over the past weeks that it had started to feel like a mantra. I didn’t want him; I feared him.

I feared what he represented-the version of myself that had been naive enough to love someone who kept her at arm’s length for years. Feared what would happen to my son if things went wrong. Feared the parts of myself that had never fully healed from the last time.