The Heartless Alpha’s Beloved Luna (Avery and Gideon) novel Chapter 551

I couldn’t remember, honestly. And looking at her sitting there in the morning light, relaxed and smiling and back to herself, I didn’t want to argue with any of it.

“Yeah,” I said, throwing the covers off. “Let’s do it. Bjorn’ll love it.”

She lit up. “Perfect. I’ll make sandwiches.”

By midmorning we were loaded up and out the door. Avery packed enough food for a small village, humming to herself the whole time. Bjorn had been quiet at breakfast, but came along without complaint when I told him where we were going.

We spread the blanket out in a patch of sun a ways from the house, overlooking a small stream that cut through the grass. Avery laid out the food, and for a while it was the kind of afternoon I’d been wanting for a long time. The sun on my back. Avery laughing beside me. Bjorn shifting into his pup form and tearing up and down the field, snapping at dragonflies, rolling in the grass.

After we ate, I lay back with my arms behind my head and watched clouds move in the breeze, and thought that maybe, finally, the worst of it was behind us.

Avery settled in next to me with her head on my shoulder. I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her closer.

“This was a good idea,” I said.

“Mhm.” She traced a circle on my chest with one finger. “We should do it more often. Just like this.”

I turned my head and kissed the top of hers. The bond was still foggy when I reached for it, but I was getting used to that now, telling myself it would clear in time, that she just needed more rest. Lying there in the sun with her warm against my side, it was easy enough to believe.

Bjorn, for his part, had wandered off a little ways away. I could see his pup rooting around in the grass, sniffing at something. He looked carefree and happy, comfortable in his skin after too long living amongst humans.

I was just about to close my eyes when I saw him stop abruptly, jerking his head up. He sat back on his haunches and whined, then shifted back to human form, chest heaving. He was staring at something in the distance. Something beyond the treeline.

The word he uttered was so quiet I almost didn’t hear it.

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