Chapter 25
Chapter 25
I stepped outside her cabin and nearly bumped my nose into Gideon’s chest. He frowned down at me, looking furious.
“Here you are.” he grumbled.
Gideon’s POV
“I’m doing everything in my power to marry Gideon as soon as possible p>
I had just finished tracking my fiancé to this cabin in the middle of nowhere after she scurried away, when I heard Avery’s words carry easily outside the door.
Wary anger flushed over me. I hadn’t gotten the impression Avery had genuinely wanted to marry me, and now this felt like confirmation that it was all a plan to manipulate me.
Earlier I had been talking to Tegan when I’d felt a strange rush that I’d only felt once before. The feeling of my mystery mate drawing on my power in a time of need.
It had shocked and thrilled me. It meant she was close! I had rushed down the path as the power surged, and saw a woman standing there, using the power to quell a group that was confronting her.
Adrenaline and joy had overcome me. I found her!
But when I got closer, the power had stopped, and it was just Avery standing there. There was no mark, and I no longer felt the pull of my mate. I had looked doubly close at her neck, but… nothing.
Disappointment had slammed into me, and the fact that Avery had snuck away immediately afterward had been even more
irritation.
Now I had overheard her agenda. Just like every other person in my life, it seemed she had a plan for her personal advancement
using me.
And to think I’d hoped for a second that she was the one I’d been searching for!
Now she walked beside me, looking innocent as usual. It was terrifying how she could switch her masks so easily.
Who is this person who I’ve agreed to marry?
I had always been able to trust my intuition in the past when it came to relationships and people. I didn’t trust easily.
My judgment when it came to Avery had been that she was sweet, cute, willful, and naive. She learned quickly and she acted with
her heart.
That didn’t match with this Avery who was angling to become my wife for unknown reasons.
I hated that somehow she’d influenced me to be on her side. It made me doubt my own judgment and senses.
There’s just too much about her that I don’t know or understand.
We entered the ceremony hall filled with high-society members from several packs in the area. Events like this were often where wolves fine-tuned their status in their individual hierarchies. There were always those who would use any method possible to climb the social ladder.
I moved through the crowd as I usually did, which is to say, in the direction of the bar. The fawning of sycophants wore me out, and I wasn’t in the mood for a dalliance. There were several on offer, if the gossip by the wealthy wives was anything to go by.
Snide questions about when Avery and I would be married were aimed my way repeatedly as I made my way across the floor. I grew irritated by the repetition and started just answering with, “It happens when it happens p>
I guess that was the wrong response. I thought with disgust, as the wolves’ faces lit up with delight and I saw them eyeing Avery
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with disdain. Bold of them to assume that it had anything to do with them. Now they thought I didn’t want the match.
Well, I don’t, do I? I frowned, Why is everything relating to Avery so confusing?
“Oh, arranged marriages are always so difficult,” one woman crooned with mock sympathy, laying her hand on my arm while pointedly looking at Avery.
My temper flared and I opened my mouth to tell her she should keep her inferences, and her hands, to herself, but Avery spoke before I did.
“Really?” She said calmly, and with convincing sincerity. “I find a relationship based on respect for each other’s strengths and role is refreshingly simple p>
The woman blinked in surprise that Avery hadn’t responded to her insinuations the way she expected.
“Oh, but surely some amount of attraction is required!” another woman tittered.
“Why? Will I do my job as Luna better if I have men falling over me? My feelings don’t factor into it.” Avery laughed disdainfully,
She finished with a significant glance at the other gossipers, “If Gideon likes me or not, that is his business. I know how to mind mine p>
Olivia Harris
Olivia Harris is an emerging author celebrated for her captivating romantic and steamy novels. With a talent for crafting deep emotional connections and fiery chemistry between her characters, Olivia’s stories offer readers an escape into worlds filled with passion, intrigue, and heart-stopping drama.