The Heartless Alpha’s Beloved Luna (Avery and Gideon) novel Chapter 546

I caught her by the shoulders and held her back so I could see her face.

“Avery. Slow down.” I searched her eyes for some sign she was joking, some flicker of the woman who had only just agreed to date again, let alone have a child. Right now, all I saw was heat and desire, like her wolf was going wild with lust. “You don’t mean that. You’re not thinking straight.”

“I’ve never thought clearer in my life.”

“We just started this again. A few weeks ago.” I sat up under her, my hands still on her arms. “We’re not married. You’ve told me a hundred times you’re not ready for that, and I promised to give you space until you are. This isn’t you.”

“Oh, Gideon.” She leaned close, her lips brushing my neck. “Don’t you want me?” she murmured against my throat. “Don’t you want to fill this house up? Give Bjorn a little sibling? Tie me to you for good, so I can never leave?”

The words turned my blood cold. This wasn’t like her at all. Maybe she was drunk, or the fever was still affecting her. Either way, right now, I didn’t feel like it was a good idea to be intimate. Not in her current state.

“Stop.” I tightened my grip and tried to ease her off of my lap. “Avery, I mean it. Get off for a second and just talk to me—”

She bit down on my neck, her fangs sinking in, before I could finish. I cursed out loud as I felt the skin break, felt the wet heat of blood well up under her mouth. Without thinking, I shoved her off hard, clutching at the side of my neck.

She hit the mattress on her side with a grunt. I shot to my feet, gasping, and pulled my hand away from my neck. My fingers were already dark and slick with blood.

I didn’t give her my hand. I went into the bathroom instead and ran the tap, pressing a wet washcloth to my neck until the bleeding slowed to a trickle. In the mirror, the bite was already turning dark purple around the edges of the punctures. That was going to leave a mark, just like the night she’d clawed me in her sleep. Only this time, it felt different. Deliberate, and remorseless, as if she didn’t really care. As if it were all an act.

When I came back out, she was already under the covers, asleep. I sighed and dropped my hand back to my side as I watched her chest gently rise and fall, her face smoothed out.

I told myself that she had been through hell, and that necklace Sebastian gave her had done a number on her. It had only been a few days since she’d given it back. Maybe she would feel better in the morning, or the next day, and then everything would go back to normal.

And yet, as I crawled into bed and pulled her against my side, and her lips twitched into that eerie smile for just a moment before her expression went neutral again, I just couldn’t shake the feeling that the damn thing wasn’t finished with her yet.