The Heartless Alpha’s Beloved Luna (Avery and Gideon) novel Chapter 483

Avery’s POV

I was up and running out the door before my mother even had a chance to ask what was wrong.

The address for the testing center was easy enough to find, what with the giant, glaring sign that was hanging right over the door in the picture. Telling Claire to make sure Tegan didn’t leave before I got there, I plugged the name of the place into my GPS and started driving.

The entire drive, my mind raced. Gideon had taken a sample from Bjorn. I wasn’t sure how or when that had happened, but I knew exactly why he had done it, and it made me sick. He must have known that I had been lying about Bjorn’s parentage, and he wanted to find out for sure.

So he had gone behind my back and tested him anyway, despite the fact that I would never approve of such a thing.

The implications of the whole act were staggering. If Gideon was willing to do this, then it meant only one thing: he was trying to find a way to take Bjorn as his heir. And clearly, it didn’t matter how I felt or what I wanted, which only corroborated exactly what I had heard all those years ago in Asher’s camp.

That statement that had been haunting me for a decade, leading me to do exactly what I had been doing all this time—keeping Bjorn hidden from Gideon, lying through my teeth, and staying up at night fearing exactly this happening.

“I only want the child. Not her.”

My jaw clenched so hard my teeth ached.

Thankfully, the testing center was only ten minutes away. I pulled into the parking lot and scanned the area, looking for Tegan’s car. It was parked near the entrance, a dark SUV that I recognized immediately.

I pulled into the spot next to it and got out. Claire was waiting by the door and rushed over when she saw me.

“He’s still inside,” she said. “I think—”

“Avery?”

We both turned to see Tegan walking out of the building. His hand tightened around the door handle and his eyes were wide as he saw me standing there. I whirled on him and let out a snarl that was all wolf. A human passing by jumped and hurried away at the sound of it, looking over his shoulder at me.

“What are you doing here?” I barked, storming over to Tegan.

“I—” He glanced back at the testing center, then at me. “I’m just… running an errand.”

“Bullshit.” I crossed my arms. “He sent you here, didn’t he?”

“It’s not what it looks like.”

“Really? Because it seems to me like you’re testing a sample of my son’s DNA without my permission.”

Tegan’s mouth opened, then closed. He looked away.

I took a step closer. “Don’t lie to me, Tegan. We’ve known each other too long for that.”

He exhaled slowly and rubbed the back of his neck. “Avery, I’m sorry. I didn’t want to—”

“Did Gideon send you or not?”

He didn’t answer, but he didn’t need to. The guilt was written all over his face.

“He’s my Alpha,” he said quietly.

“And I was your friend,” I hissed. “Or did you forget about that just because your precious Alpha ordered you to go behind my back and violate mine and my son’s privacy?”

Tegan’s jaw tightened. “I didn’t forget. Trust me.”

“Then why didn’t you tell me what he was planning?”

“Because he’s my Alpha,” Tegan repeated. “And because…” He trailed off.

“Because what?”

“Ma’am, I could lose my job,” she whispered, lowering her voice.

“You’re working at the front desk of a DNA testing center at midnight,” I said. “Something about that tells me you could probably use this money. Five thousand?”

She hesitated, biting her lip, then sighed. “O-Okay. Just this once.” She glanced at Tegan, who was currently grumbling under his breath and ripping at his hair. “But please don’t tell my boss.”

“Cross my heart and hope to die,” I said, writing down the amount and signing my name. I ripped the check out of the book and handed it to her. She glanced around, then took it, quickly tucking it into her bra before she ducked away.

“I can’t believe you’re doing this,” Tegan muttered.

“Shut up,” Claire growled. Tegan curled his lip at her, revealing slightly extended fangs, but she didn’t even flinch.

A minute later, the woman returned with a plastic baggie. Inside was a single dark strand of hair. She held it out to me, and I snatched it away, shoving it into my purse as deep as it would go before Tegan could take a step.

“Thank you,” I said, then turned and walked out.

“Avery!” Tegan jogged after me. “Where are you going?”

“Where does it look like?” I pulled out my keys and unlocked my car, nodding to Claire. She muttered something about following me and ran to her car. “I’m going back to Evergreen to be near my son just in case that asshole tries to take him.”

Tegan stopped walking. His face fell. “Avery, it’s not like that.”

“I’ll be the judge of that,” I muttered, then got into my car. Tegan said something else, but I didn’t hear it. I slammed the door and started the engine, and peeled out of the parking lot without another word.

I still hadn’t slept since yesterday, when those rogues took me.

And I didn’t plan on it until I knew my son was safe.