The Heartless Alpha’s Beloved Luna

Chapter 166 Gideon's POV Dierdra crumpled on the floor at my feet, her doll-like figure tragic and despondent as her waifish form was wracked with silent sobs. In front of me, Avery stood, pale and silent as a ghost. She was swaying slightly, as though shaken by an invisible breeze. My arms still felt the slight weight of her as I had carried her up the stairs. Her body was consuming massive amounts of energy just trying to heal the substantial injuries she had suffered during the rogue incursion. She needed to be in bed, resting.

When she had arrived in my office she had already looked like she was on death's doorstep. When she had told me she wanted a divorce, it had seemed to take the rest of her strength with it. Now, she looked on the verge of collapsing. Being stuck between the two of them, the waif and the wraith, filled me with helplessness. No matter what I did, it was impossible to please both of them. They were each so headstrong, and determined to achieve what they wanted from me. Had I not been clear with each about my limits?

I had told Avery from the beginning that she could expect nothing more from me than the obligations of an Alpha. ---- Though, I admit, I had crossed the line when I had slept with her. The memory of that night still filled me with shame, and I had buried the feeling so deeply that a part of me had even come to believe what I had told Dierdra afterwards... That I hadn't slept with her. That she meant nothing for me in that way. That there was nothing between us.

Now, Dierdra's demands and Avery's look of helplessness as she stared into my eyes, begging me to do something, left me feeling frustrated and confused. Avery had treated me with such intuitive gentleness when I had revealed the painful parts of my past to her. The truth of my Demonblood. The massacre of my childhood friends. 2 And then there was Dierdra who was an atrocious flirt, and whose companionship could border on demanding, but who adapted more naturally to the transactional nature of our relationship. With her, our roles were well-defined.

all accounts, her life in Silvermoon before I had married her had been a life of hardship. She tried to hide it, but I had seen the hovel where her mother had lived. I had met her sister, who was a real piece of work. Now she was a gold-digger if I'd ever seen one... ---- I didn't envy Ryan his scheming Luna. No, Avery had never seemed to covet the material benefits I brought

The happiest I had ever seen her had been when I had given her access to my sanctuary garden and the pack's kitchen garden plots. Literally, I had given her dirt, and she had expressed gratitude. With Dierdra, even the finest gifts felt like pouring water into a bucket with a hole in it. There was a hunger in her that would never be filled unless she had it all-

the mark on her neck that told me she was. There was that niggling doubt at the back of my mind that reminded me that Avery had told me she was a false mate on our wedding night. My wolf, too, had said that he felt no connection tohers. + The whole situation was baffling, upsetting, and while I was not usually one

Icouldn't afford to dissolve my marriage with Avery. Too much hinged on the important traditions that she fulfilled, and which lent legitimacy to my hierarchical leadership. The Alpha of Nightwolf must marry a Luna from Silvermoon. That

and starting to bleed through her bandages once more, she didn't wear the mantle of aggressor tome. 1 It would take a while to get to the bottom of this. I needed an elegant solution that would buy time. "What

she's not as virtuous as she pretends," she slid her eyes towards Avery accusingly. I frowned. I didn't love the idea of Avery being so far from the pack house, but she herself had said that she feared Dierdra's retaliation. While I hadn't