Chapter 192
Chapter 192
Avery’s POV
I gulped and turned my head away from Reynaud’s gentle touch on my face. His proximity flustered me and I found my head spinning as I scrubbed at my eyes to remove the tears that had emerged at his sympathetic interest.
“What do you need from me?” I asked.
He hadn’t known about my injury until he had barged into my changing room, which meant that he had already been intending to seek me out beforehand. So, what was it that had brought this Alpha here to find me?
I no longer believed that our meeting had been incidental. I may be naive but it wasn’t beyond the realm of imagination to believe that someone like Reynaud had people who could inform him of when the Luna of Nightwolf Pack might be out and about and thereby approachable.
Offhandedly I wondered how long he had been waiting to manufacture this run–in. I had been trapped behind Nightwolf’s walls for weeks during my punishment. Had he heard about that as well? Did he know what I had done to Dierdra that had led to my sentence?
Now I stared up at this strange Alpha and waited for him to explain.
“I want to help you, Avery. I have resources that even Gideon does not, and if you say the word I will use them to alleviate your… situation p>
“You can rescue my mother? ” I asked, incredulous. Even Gideon hadn’t been willing to commit the forces necessary to secure her rescue.
Reynaud grabbed one of my hands within his palms and pressed it warmly, “I will place all of my resources at your disposal if you can help me with this one small thing p>
I reeled at the admission. Gideon had balked at even the slightest commitment to helping me, and now this other Alpha was willing to do it all for a small favor? Did Reynaud just have so many more resources, or was he just more cavalier with the massive expense of resources and Wolven lives it would cost? 2
“What do I need to do?” I whispered. 1
“At the Alpha Council, you will give Gideon a potion,” Reynaud said slowly, watching my reaction carefully. When I started to pull away, he hurried on to reassure me, “I promise this potion will not harm Gideon physically. You do not need to worry that you are poisoning him or anything like that p>
I squinted at him suspiciously, “What will it do? ”
Reynaud smiled at me indulgently, “Gideon’s actions of late have been antagonistic and irregular. He takes extreme risks that put other packs‘ livelihoods in danger. The potion will make it harder for him to reign in his impulses, and if he loses control during the Council meeting, it will severely damage his reputation p>
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Chapter 192
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“ And that benefits you,” I asked, “You want to bring him down. ”
Reynaud nodded, a sinister gleam in his eye, “ My pack rivals Nightwolf. If Gideon’s reputation as a leader is damaged, it will allow my pack to secure better contracts and positions within the council p>
At the look on my face, he smiled indulgently, “I know you won’t like the idea of doing anything that can harm your people. This would only effect your Alpha’s reputation. You know how these social games are. A little loss of face will not have any appreciable impact on the villagers in your pack, only Gideon’s pride p>
I must not have appeared convinced because Reynaud reached out to place his hands on my bare shoulders, his fingertips brushing the sides of my throat.
“Can you really say that Gideon’s decisions lately haven’t already harmed others?” He demanded, searching my face with an intense expression, “Certainly his choices have harmed you! And you’re supposed to be his wife and Luna!” He growled at this, and gave me another emphatic shake, his passion spilling over, “It’s not right, Avery, and you know it. Help me with this, and no one will know that you assisted me, but you will finally set Gideon on the back foot and I know him, he will turn to you to recover and you will have the opportunity to ask him for whatever you want! Everyone wins p>
Everyone except Gideon, I supposed. Still, it was nice to imagine a situation in which Gideon was in my debt for once. To imagine him coming to me and saying, “Avery, I need you p>
If I did what Reynaud was suggesting, then no longer would I be the only one suffering as he ruthlessly dictated the terms of my life. I would be an equal, someone who had a voice.
If Reynaud could rescue my mother, would I even have reason to stay in Nightwolf pack at all? I could take my mother and leave, head south to these human settlements and create a new life for ourselves.
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