The Heartless Alpha’s Beloved Luna (Avery and Gideon) novel Chapter 447

Chapter 447

Avery’s POV

“Avery…”

Gideon’s hands came down to cup my face. His lips were soft and sweet when he kissed me, and my name was so low I almost couldn’t hear it. But he said it again and again, like a mantra, and each time he said it, it sounded even sweeter to my ears.

“Avery… I love you.”

I smiled, tilting my head back to look at him. His eyes were gentle. Everything about him was gentle. He pulled me close, and I let him. And for a moment, the world felt okay.

“Avery… Avery…”

“Gideon…”

“Avery. Wake up.”

A hand shook my shoulder, pulling me from the dream I had just been having. Groaning, I blinked my eyes open to see Claire’s face hovering above me, drawn with concern.

“Claire?” My tongue was thick in my mouth from sleep. “You’re still here?”

“I know. I should’ve hit the road two hours ago, but something came up.”

Brow furrowing, I pushed myself up against my pillows and rubbed my eyes. When my vision cleared, I took a glance at the clock. It was past seven. Claire should have left for the human lands already; she had only promised to come for two nights to help out with Bjorn on the night of the banquet and catch up on business, and it wasn’t like her to be late when it came to anything, let alone getting back to the HQ in the city.

“What happened?” I asked, looking at her.

She opened her mouth, then stopped herself and sighed. “I think it’s better if you see it yourself. Come

with me.”

A few minutes later, I was standing at the foot of Bjorn’s bed, watching as he coughed wetly into a handkerchief. His face was pale and his skin was coated in a cold sweat, and he was shivering.

“I was checking on him before I left and I found him like this,” Claire said quietly. “He must have gotten sick sometime in the night, because I remember he was fine yesterday.” She glanced at me. “Do you think it’s pneumonia? Maybe from that day he went missing?”

My teeth clenched. Seeing him like that sent a special kind of panic shooting through me that I hadn’t felt since we left the human lands. “No,” I said. “I don’t think it’s pneumonia.”

I turned to Colt, who was standing in the doorway.

1/4

“Call the healer,” I said.

+25 Bonus

The pack healer came straight to Bjorn’s room so we didn’t have to move him. Bjorn had seen the healer, a quiet, thorough woman, a few times before, in the early days after we arrived at Evergreen, when Bjorn’s fever first broke and we were still figuring out what was happening to him.

Her expression was unreadable as she worked. Bjorn sat up in bed as she moved the stethoscope across his back and asked him to breathe in and breathe out. He complied without complaint, which was how I knew he was really sick. Usually, Bjorn would be asking a million questions, but today he was staring blankly at his bedspread while the healer worked.

I stood near the window, chewing on my lips until they were raw.

When she was done, the healer pulled the stethoscope from her ears and draped it around her neck. She turned to me. “Well, the good news is that his lungs are clear. I don’t see any sign of infection.”

That wasn’t particularly comforting. “And the bad news?” I asked, although I had a sinking feeling that I already knew the answer to that question.

The healer glanced at Bjorn, then at me, then tilted her head toward the door. My heart sank, but I nodded and followed her out of the room. Once we were in the hallway, she quietly shut the door behind her and

lowered her voice so Bjorn couldn’t hear.

“His symptoms are getting worse again,” she said quietly.

“Again?” I blinked. “But the air here was supposed to help. I thought he was getting better.”

“He was. But his condition stagnated, and now it’s regressing.” She took a breath. “As long as his wolf remains unclaimed, he won’t get any better. In fact, his wolf will only weaken.”

I looked at her. “Speak plainly.”

“His wolf needs a home pack. A paternal claim. Without that, he won’t strengthen. He’s an Alpha wolf, Avery. His wolf knows it, even if he doesn’t fully understand it yet. And without being officially accepted into a pack, or claimed by an Alpha male, his wolf will retreat.”

I stared at the wall behind her head for a moment, my mind racing.

“So you’re saying I have to let his father claim him, otherwise he could die,” I growled.

The healer sighed softly. “It doesn’t need to be his biological father. But an Alpha will have to accept him not only into his pack, but as his heir. Otherwise, his wolf may even go dormant, and then his immune system will only be that of a human’s.”

My jaw tightened. “Bjorn has done just fine without a father so far.”

“Perhaps, but he needs one now. If not biologically, then symbolically. It’s all the same to his wolf. But it must be an Alpha who claims him.”

2/4

+25 Bonus

I considered the healer’s words as she turned and went back into the room. So. Unless Bjorn was claimed by an Alpha, his sickness would not only return, but his wolf would also regress and possibly even retreat entirely, weakening him further. Wolfless children rarely survived, and that was just an

unfortunate fact of life.

The most obvious choice was, of course, Gideon. He was an Alpha, Bjorn’s biological father, and would

claim Bjorn as his heir in a heartbeat.

That was the issue. Because I remembered all too well what Gideon had said ten years ago, about only wanting the heir and not me.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify