The Heartless Alpha’s Beloved Luna (Avery and Gideon) novel Chapter 550

Gideon’s POV

I woke up to sunlight pouring through the curtains and Avery already awake beside me, propped up on one elbow, watching me sleep.

As I cracked my eyes open and saw her there looking at me, the night before came rushing back in a tsunami of conflicting feelings and confusion. My hand went to my neck on instinct, and the skin there was tender under my fingers, the punctures scabbed over. So it hadn’t been a bad dream after all.

But the woman looking down at me now didn’t seem fazed at all. She was smiling, soft and a little sheepish, her hair loose around her face. She looked rested. She looked like herself. And that was all I needed to see to feel the worries fade away.

“Morning,” she said.

“Morning.” I sat up against the headboard and rubbed my eyes. “You’re up early.”

“I’ve been thinking.” She reached out and traced a light line down my arm. “About last night. I think I owe you an apology.”

I waited, not quite sure what to say to that.

“You were right,” she went on. “I wasn’t acting like myself. I was wound up and pushing for things that don’t make any sense, and then I hurt you on top of it.” Her eyes dropped to my neck and her face crumpled with guilt. “I’m so sorry, Gideon. I don’t know what came over me. I just…”

“I know,” she said. “I just think I need it.”

If the apology had surprised me, that certainly did. Avery hadn’t taken a full day off in months. She’d worked through the fever the doctor put her on bed rest for, sneaking out to the greenhouse like I wouldn’t notice. She had human shareholders breathing down her neck and a formula that still wasn’t finished, and a deadline that was close enough to keep her up at night. The Avery I knew would sooner cut off her own arm than walk away from that worktable with the clock running.

“What about the shareholders?” I asked.

She waved a hand, like I had merely mentioned the weather. “One day won’t make or break it.” She leaned in and kissed my cheek, and her lips were warm and comforting, and I instantly forgot about everything else. “I want to spend the day with my family. Just the three of us. We could take Bjorn out somewhere, pack a lunch, enjoy the sunshine. When’s the last time we did something like that?”