The Heartless Alpha’s Beloved Luna

Chapter 4 Avery's POV A few days later I stood in front of my mirror. I pulled my nightshirt away from where my shoulder met my neck. My bite mark was already healed. That was remarkably fast. I touched the smooth skin in disbelief. There was now no visible indication of what had happened under the Mating Moon. I knew the mark was still there, but it was sealed inside and invisible to others. If only I could reach out and find the man who had mated with me! However, since my wolf was dormant, I also could not sense my mate through the bond. I had no way to find him, or communicate with him.

I didn't even know what he looked like! Today was the Mating Ball where the Nightwolf Alpha would choose his mate. I needed to find someone to accept me by the end of today, or my father would kill me to save face. It felt like an impossible task. A commotion rose from down below, and I lifted my head from my knees, listening. "Alpha Gideon is about to arrive!" I heard my step-mother snap. "Finish the preparations." Zara's tone was tense and fearful. Alpha Gideon was not someone anyone would mess with. I pressed my hand over my heart, feeling it thud against my palm.

I could hear it clearly in the silence of my dusty, still, bedroom. It was time for me to leave, but when I stood and tried to leave my room, the door lock clicked loudly. From the other side, I heard Zara laughing. "No one want you anyway. You might as well just wait for death, dear sister!" Gideon's POV Being Alpha of Nightwolf pack means dealing with a large amount of bureaucratic bullshit. Tradition was a venerable word that sometimes felt more like a venomous curse. I had long ago learned to face uncomfortable duties head-on.

Still, there were few obligations I despised more than this one to which I was headed. It was the day of the mate selection. I had done my best to distract myself from the distasteful task to come. Spread across the leather seat next to me were thick dossiers detailing the most recent reports on attacks throughout my territory. The ledger in my hands detailed my commands for troop movements, and where to place our scouts as the dangerous time of the dark moon approached. Paperwork, unfortunately, was not enough to occupy my mind these days.

sleek sedan through the dense woods, I watched swirls of mist rise above the trees. Thick bands of vapor arced up towards the distant sun and shattered into smaller puffs, drifting down the valley into which we were descending. The motion reminded me of a woman, arching her back in pleasure off of the forest floor beneath me. She too, had shattered and disappeared. "Still no sign of that girl from that night?" I snapped. It came out more harshly than I intended,

all cost." Tegan flinched at my response but said nothing as the car rolled to a stop at the Silvermoon ceremony hall. Behind us in the drive, more vehicles from my pack parked behind us. I stepped out of the car, and straightened my jacket.

predators' attention? Foolish. I knew why they were running though. I had heard what the other packs said about me, and the things I had done. I couldn't care less. But with

this hall." "Alpha Leon." I nodded brusquely in return, suddenly weary of

on the far wall. "No, we haven't located that. We've had some other incidents that have required our focus." Something in his tone gave me the distinct impression the rogue issue hadn't featured in his attention

caused him to lose face in his pack, I couldn't bring myself to feel sorry about it. If his pack had been patrolling properly, my mate would not have been almost attacked. My wolf might be less angry, and I might not need to claim her right there in the forest to calm my wolf. If my wolf was patient enough to take her back to my packhouse, I wouldn't have let her just run