The Heartless Alpha’s Beloved Luna

Chapter 429

“Gideon, I came as soon as I could,” I would say. “I saw Avery collecting aphrodisiac plants in the forest. I should have told you sooner – ”

“Avery. I love you.”

I froze.

Silence fell inside the room. My hand, which had been reaching for the doorknob, hovered midair.

“You don’t mean that,” Avery whispered.

“I do.” Gideon’s voice sounded more certain now. “I love you, Avery. I always have. And I’m sorry that I didn’t make it clear enough before. I’m sorry that I pushed you away because I was too much of a coward to say it out loud.”

My heart cracked. My hand fell back to my side, and I took a step back, shaking my head. Avery and Gideon’s voices faded, or maybe that was just the blood rushing through my ears and blocking it out.

He loved her. And the way he said it…

He meant it.

instant, everything I’d planned in the last ten minutes turned to dust. I thought about Avery and Gideon together, locked in an embrace, their mate bond-the bond that

to me that maybe I had a mate out there somewhere. That maybe, just maybe, I could be like one of the guests at this banquet, dancing and laughing

I love you.

that most people found their mates and marked each other for life. For a woman like me, it should have been simple. A happily ever after to

was a child, I’d been told by my father that the most important thing, far more important than love or a mate, was marrying the right person. That my one and only duty in life was to ensure the future of our line

guilt of luring a ten year old child into a hostile terrain

But… did it?

back the tears that had begun to prick

bad enough I had nearly gotten a little boy killed, I was now associated with her. Scheming to drug a man all for

what had I

what dirty tactics I had resorted to, Gideon would always love Avery. That much was clear She didn’t need the aphrodisiac he would have taken her as his wife any day, regardless

fool for thinking it could

walking. At some point, though, I had turned away from the room and left them there, no longer rushing through the corridors but staring at the tiles beneath my feet as all of these thoughts raced through my mind,