The Heartless Alpha’s Beloved Luna (Avery and Gideon) novel Chapter 458

The fact of the matter was, Gideon would take Bjorn from me if he knew the truth.

And if he would become as enraged as he said, then there was a nonzero chance that he would ensure I could never see him again.

Gideon was kind at times, gentle. A good man when he needed to be.

But I had seen that ruthless side of him too many times to count. And I knew him well enough that it would come out the moment he found proof that Bjorn belonged to him.

I needed to keep that from happening.

“Well,” I said, keeping my voice even, “it’s a good thing, then, that Bjorn isn’t your son.”

Gideon didn’t seem convinced. “Forgive me if I don’t believe you, Avery.”

“I can forgive that. But it’s the truth.”

“Who was his father?”

My throat tightened. I shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“What?” Gideon’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean, you don’t know?”

“I never learned his name. You know the story—I needed a place to stay when I first left the packs. I had no money, and he ran an inn at the time. I spent one night with him. In exchange, I got to stay for the week.”

Gideon’s lips pressed together. “And the baby you were pregnant with when you left?” he asked. He took a step closer, close enough now to touch me if he wanted to. But he didn’t. “I know you were pregnant with my child, Avery. What happened to it?”

“I miscarried.”

Gideon pulled his head back so abruptly it was as if I had slapped him.

It hurt. It burned at the inside of my chest like someone had struck a match there. And what made matters worse was the fact that I was the one who was holding the match.

In the wake of Gideon’s exit, the noise in my head became almost deafening. My legs suddenly went weak, and I found myself sinking back onto my chair, still staring at the door.

I had told him I miscarried. I hadn’t just told him I had run away; I had told him that his child, the one thing left of the two of us, was gone.

And all the while, Bjorn was sleeping right upstairs, and I couldn’t even tell Gideon the truth.

All this time, I told myself that I was making the right decisions. That, for my son’s sake, lying to his own father’s face was totally worth it. It was safer, and easier.

But now, day by day, things were becoming more convoluted than they ever should have been. I’d just told a man that his child, his heir, was dead, and that ten years of searching were for nothing.

Not for the first time, and definitely not for the last, I wondered if I had just made a grave mistake.