The Heartless Alpha’s Beloved Luna (Avery and Gideon) novel Chapter 534

Sebastian’s POV

I was sleeping, dreamless, floating in a dark void. All I heard was Avery’s voice, that sound of betrayal on her tongue, the final words she might ever speak to me echoing in the darkness.

“Go fuck yourself, Sebastian.”

Cold and final and full of hurt.

The hurt I had inflicted on her.

I hadn’t stopped blaming myself since it happened. I hadn’t stopped wondering if I had made the wrong decision, if I had taken things too far for my own gain. Avery would never willingly choose me over Gideon now, not when she looked at me and saw a traitor who sold her soul to a witch.

The feeling of a cold, gnarled hand against my shoulder pulled me out of sleep.

I opened my eyes, and she was there.

Even now, after weeks of nights just like this, nights where she just appeared in my room like a shadow forming in the darkness, my body reacted before my mind could. My heart slammed wildly against the inside of my ribs, my skin crawled like I’d swallowed a mouthful of cockroaches, and somewhere deep in my chest, in the place where my wolf once stood proud and tall, the creature now whimpered and slunk away like a frightened pup.

“You let her take it off,” the witch whispered, pulling her hand back. “Again.”

Moonlight came through the gap in the curtains, but it didn’t seem to touch her. She was always darker than her surroundings, always followed by that dark mist that wrapped around her. I never saw her complete features because I simply couldn’t. They were always shadowed under that tattered hood she wore. I swore there were dozens more eyes watching me from beneath it.

I sat up, pushing myself up against the headboard. My pulse fluttered, but I forced myself to remain calm. “I didn’t let her do anything. She figured it out. She knows. She took the pendant off and left.”

“So?” The witch tilted her head. “Even if she knows, that shouldn’t stop you.”

“You told me it wouldn’t hurt her,” I said, sitting up a little further. “You said the bond would fade. That’s all. That it would fade, and she would be free to choose, and…” My voice cracked, making me wince. Goddess, when had I gotten so pathetic, so scared of an old woman that I could hardly speak? “She almost drowned. The necklace is burning her. I don’t think this is a good idea.”

The witch blinked at me with those rheumy eyes that felt like so much more than two.

“The charm does what the charm must,” she said. “If the girl insists on tearing it off, throwing it away, fighting it, then the charm will cling to her harder.” She clicked her tongue. “That’s not my fault, Alpha. That’s hers. And it’s your fault, too, for not making her understand.”

“How am I supposed to make her understand?” I dragged my hand down my face. “She ended our friendship over it. There’s no convincing her to choose me over him now.” I sighed. “I think this has gone too far. I wanted her to love me, not be forced to be in pain all the time. I’m not giving it back to her.”

The room went still. Even the air outside seemed to go stagnant, like the witch’s anger had sucked all the oxygen away. I felt my stomach drop.

“You’re not giving it back?” She leaned in, the smell of soil and worms filling my nostrils. “You don’t have a choice, little wolf. You came to my forest. You begged for my help. I gave it to you. The bargain is struck. There’s no going back now. I will have my payment.”

“And what do you want?” I asked. “Money? Jewels? I’ll give it to you, if you end this. I’ll pay you.”

The witch shook her head, eyes rolling, and reached into the folds of her robe. She pulled something out and set it on my lap, gingerly, with two fingers. Then stood there with her hands neatly folded in front of her and waited.

I was too frozen to move or speak, just staring down at the item sitting there.

A tiny, severed pinky toe, the nail painted purple. Sparkly, like the galaxy.

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