The Heartless Alpha’s Beloved Luna (Avery and Gideon) novel Chapter 465

Avery’s POV

The hallway was dark and silent when I stepped out of the guest room. I pulled the door shut behind me as quietly as I could, wincing as the click echoed through the corridor. I stood there for a moment without moving, listening for any sounds. All that I heard was that of the rain hammering against the windows and the occasional rumble of thunder in the distance.

I moved down the hall, keeping my footsteps silent against the wooden floors, stepping over creaky floorboards whose locations I instinctively remembered from ten years ago. When I reached Gideon’s door, I hesitated.

For a moment, I almost considered knocking. I knew Gideon, of all people, would come with me if I asked.

But truthfully, I didn’t know if I could bring myself to do it. What was I supposed to say? That I’d had a dream about some plant I’d never even heard of that only bloomed in the rain? That I’d woken up with this distinct feeling that I needed to find it, because it might contain the medicine I needed to save Bjorn?

It sounded insane. I had had prophetic dreams before, and they had never steered me wrong. Not once. But I wasn’t sure if I wanted to drag anyone else into it, or waste precious time waiting around, so I turned and kept moving.

I made it down the stairs without incident and slipped out through the side door that led to the gardens. The moment I stepped outside, the rain hit me like a wall. It was cold and relentless, soaking through my shirt in seconds and making me shiver. I pulled my hood up, but it didn’t do much. The wind tore it right back down, whipping my hair into my face.

Ducking my head, I pushed forward into the storm and hurried toward the forest.

The woods beyond the gardens were dark, the trees looming like spindly fingers reaching up into the night sky. Lightning flashed overhead, illuminating the path for a split second before plunging everything back into darkness.

During the daytime, these woods were beautiful, awash with golden dapples coming in through the canopy overhead. They used to be a refuge for me, back when I lived here. When things felt chaotic, I could slip away and be alone with the trees, occupying myself with studying new plants and tending to old ones.

Now, I stopped in front of the treeline, heart pounding, and looked into the darkness and swallowed.

I pulled out my phone and turned on the flashlight, sweeping it across the ground. The forest was empty, not so much as a bird stirring in the trees. I was the only one insane enough to venture out in this weather.

Taking a deep breath, I stepped beyond the treeline and into the darkness.

I didn’t know where I was going, exactly, but I remembered the large oak tree with its knot from my dream. The forest seemed like the most logical place to search.

Beyond the treeline, the ground was soft and muddy beneath my feet, sucking at my sneakers with each step. I nearly slipped twice, but managed to catch myself on a tree trunk before I could fall each time.

The rain was coming down hard enough that not even the canopy could fully protect me. I could barely see more than a few feet in front of me, and the sound of it was deafening, drowning out everything else.

I kept going.

My clothes were plastered to my skin, heavy and cold. Water dripped into my eyes, blurring my vision. My fingers were numb around the phone. I kept pushing forward. I had to find the tree from my dream. The plant with the pale white pitchers.

As I hurried through the forest, I tried wracking my brain for the plant from my dream. Moonveil. I couldn’t recall ever reading about it before. I didn’t know if it would even really help Bjorn if it did exist, but I knew I had to try.

I pushed through a thicket of brambles, wincing as the thorns scraped across my arms. My wolf stirred beneath my skin, restless and uneasy.

“We should go back,” she whispered. “Something is wrong…”

I ignored her and kept moving.

An arm wrapped around my neck before I could react, pulling me backward. I cried out and twisted, slamming my elbow into whoever was behind me. The grip loosened just enough for me to drop into a crouch and spin away.

I looked up.

There were more of them now: five wolves in total, all circling me, their eyes glowing in the darkness. And standing behind them, watching me with a smirk on his face, was a man.

He was tall and lean, with a shaved head and a scar running down the side of his face. He was soaked from the rain, his shirt clinging to his frame, but he didn’t seem to notice it at all.

I knew him.

My breath caught in my throat as the recognition slammed into me.

That man had been at Asher's camp. He was one of the guards. The one who had stood outside my tent every night, watching me with those same cold eyes. The one who had followed me everywhere, making sure I didn’t try to escape.

He was older now, more grizzly looking, with a scraggly beard that was slightly yellowed at the ends and soaked from the rain. But it was him; I was sure of it.

And judging from the look on his face, he recognized me too.

His lips curled back, revealing extended fangs, yellow and dripping with hungry saliva.

“Well, well,” he said. “Long time no see, Princess.”