I fixed Gideon with a quelling stare that had no effect, “He’s already gone through enough. Please don’t punish him.”
He raised an eyebrow at me, and I could see the hint of jealousy he was pushing to the side.
“He needs to stop monopolizing your time regardless. I intend to tell him so.”
“I was the one who ran out to him, thinking he was you!” I protested. “I thought something terrible had happened!”
“Why would you think that?” Gideon asked, curiously.
“Well, everyone up and left on some secret mission, and no one tells me anything! I don’t know if you’re off on a business meeting or fighting for your life in the forest!” I said indignantly. “And I just assumed whatever it was, was more important than having dinner with me.”
“Having sampled the dinner, I can assure you that very little could parallel this.” Gideon pushed back from the table with a satisfied sigh. “Still, it won’t do to leave you alone where ne’er-do-well’s like lan can be nuisances whenever they want.”
I opened my mouth to protest, but Gideon raised one hand.
“Don’t worry, I won’t punish him this time, but I am going to keep you where I can keep a better eye on yo From here on out, you will act as my assistant. I want you by my side whenever I’m on pack business. You’l know more about what’s going on, and I will be better able to protect you.”
“I’m not a secretary!” I protested.
“No, you’re the future Luna.” Gideon said firmly, “There are important tasks I will need to be able to assign to you in the future, and this is an excellent opportunity to learn. It will also be good for the pack to see you by my side in a leadership role.”
I shut my mouth on my objections. It was obvious that Gideon’s mind was made up.
But could I really do it? Planning the Gala had been a hard assignment, made even harder by sabotage. The more I understood about what it took to run a pack like Nightwolf, the more I found myself nervous about the future.
I would perpetually have a target on my back as Luna.
But I had also seen what sort of world other wolves would create if they had the opportunity. I had grown up in a pack that suffered from poor leadership. What would happen to the young wolves growing up in Nightwolf now, if someone like Jessica took over as Luna?
No matter what happened to me, I wanted to make this world better than the one I had grown up in.
Very well, I would glue myself to Gideon’s side.
And try to ignore this increasing desire to jump his bones.
We’d just have to keep it professional.
How hard could that be?
Ryan’s POV
The back porch was in a state of disrepair. Broken boards and railings marred what had once been a graceful wrap-around. It had seen some hard times.
So had I.
My chin was covered in stubble, and I think I’d been wearing the same flannel shirt for a few days now.
It didn’t matter.
I really needed to handle some things. There was a stack of reports I couldn’t be bothered to look at. There were pack dramas to adjudicate. My Beta was starting to get downright hostile about my procrastination.
But all I could think about was her.
I hadn’t realized how much more full she had made my life feel. She had listened to my problems and pointed out how I had the tools to make them better. She had always been in my corner.
And then I had fucked it up.
It wasn’t that I hadn’t found her attractive. Avery’s beauty had always been striking, but her status in the pack had been low and I was ashamed to admit that it had effected me. My ego wanted to be the best Alpha Silvermoon had ever seen.
Despite her support as my girlfriend, Avery had felt like someone I would move on from. I knew she had dreams of us becoming fated mates. She had talked about securing our bond by having sex, but she was still young and so we had waited.
And I had been angry about that.
I had seen her as withholding herself from me, and as the future Alpha, it infuriated me that she was holding herself back from me.
So when Zara, her half-sister, had been there on the Mating Moon, I admit I had thought more with my dick than with my heart.
I hadn’t expected Avery to barge in on us while we fucked. The betrayal on her face was seared into my mind. I knew that Zara and Avery had a history of hatred between them.
I admit I hadn’t even thought about that when I was between Zara’s legs. Now, that was the only place my would shut up about it. I was sleeping with Avery’s enemy, and she had trusted me.
And I felt betrayed as well. She had immediately moved on to another Alpha. And Gideon was such an insufferable Alpha.
He was always going on about the importance of patrols, and of making sure our warriors were well trained. He was much bigger on structure and logistics than vibes. It was so much work.
I admit I’d never been much of a warrior alpha in the art-of-war way. I loved a brawl or a scrap, and sinking my teeth into an opponent’s throat was the best feeling in the world. My wolf was savage in that way, but not so very calculating.
Being in a room with Gideon was like knowing that the bigger predator was across the table, and I hated feeling inferior to him. His pack was slightly smaller due to losses they’d suffered, but still managed to field the best army of warriors in the kingdom.
I wanted so badly to see him fail.
And I wanted Avery back.
She had rejected me at the Alpha Ceremony, and it made me burn with fury. If Gideon hadn’t interfered, I knew I could have convinced her to marry me instead of Zara. I had realized how much I needed her.
And she had rejected me.
I took a pull of my beer and belched into the night air.
Somewhere in the house behind me, Zara was waiting. She was always complaining that I didn’t spend enough time with her. The sex was fine, but I wanted something else.
I wanted Avery.
Something was stirring in the woods. My wolf senses sharpened in alert.
I stood up and stomped down the cinder blocks that functioned as makeshift stairs into the forest behind the house.
I stood on the forest path, looking around in the darkness. The alcohol was a constant buzz in my system. It dulled my senses and I shook my head to clear it.
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