The Heartless Alpha’s Beloved Luna

Chapter 248 R&E +25 Bonus Gideon's POV Heartbreak was not a feeling I had experienced before. So unfamiliar that I still wasn't certain what was going on, I just knew that there was a pain in my chest that made me irritable, wistful, angry, and sad all at the same time. Stupid, stubborn woman! Never had I encountered a person so determined to make themselves miserable. Here, I was offering her everything I had. My whole heart, my pack, my life, and she rejected it all. Whatever her reasons, it was obvious she was suffering as much as I was, and still she would not relent to let me in.

(1 Underneath all of my frustration was the bone-deep hurt of rejection. I had spent my whole life building myself up to defy others' expectations. For the most part, I had succeeded. I was one of the youngest, most powerful Alphas over one of the largest and most powerful packs. So to be rejected by a slip of a girl that I had rescued from truly horrendous circumstances stung. I hadn't sought out anyone else's approval in years, and yet there was a small part of me that wanted to do whatever was necessary to ensure that Avery felt for me the same way I felt for her.

That impulse was terrifying, because it was not based on the principles I had followed for most of my life. The unspoken rules of leadership and power that said that I had to be the best, and that I couldn't show anyone else weakness. She drove me crazy. With the discovery of my mark on her neck, I had thought of little else except claiming her as my own over and over. My pride was bruised each time she rejected my advances. So I sought the place where I could once more feel the way I was accustomed to. I attended the she-wolf bachelorette party.

and get advice from older women. In practice, it was an opportunity for the women to get together and

for the ceremony, or even just this night. I was in the middle of politely deflecting their invitations when I noticed Avery arrive. To my irritation, she ignored my presence completely. Instead, she went to stand next to one of the few warriors in attendance, a handsome and powerful wolf named Julien who was known to be something of 1/2

was starting up in my throat. "It's so cute," I heard