Chapter 205
Chapter 205
Avery’s POV
The surge of voices, shouting, and questions that followed Gideon’s statement was so deafening that it took several moments for anything resembling order to return.
I stood there as the waves of sound crashed over us and considered the radical transformation of my husband. I had felt him straining with savage energy. My hindbrain had been firmly in his clutches, and I had feared for my life.
If it had all been an act, then Gideon was a far better actor than I had ever expected.
Like flipping a switch, all of that ferocious, feral energy had metamorphosed back into the Gideon I knew. Still savagely powerful, his Alpha aura was palpable as brutal intent rolled off him in waves. His handsome face was fierce and vicious, but no longer bestial.
Except for his eyes.
His eyes still showed the monster within. A cruel and murderous creature stalked deep in those amber lenses, hungering for blood.
For Reynaud’s blood.
The slender, beautiful Alpha seemed to have lost some of his lustre in the face of Gideon’s accusation. He had been caught off guard, assuming that Gideon was under the effects of the potion he had given to
“He lies!” Reynaud howled, staring pleadingly back at the Council, many of whom were now on their their own hungry expressions staring at the fracas below.
Only now, they were eying Reynaud with disdain.
“You all saw it! He was about to lose control p>
“Was I?” a cruel smile carved across Gideon’s face, “Or did you just assume so p>
“You were about to attack your Luna, we all witnessed it!” Reynaud backpedaled.
“Why would I do that?” Gideon feigned surprise, turning to look at me appraisingly, “My Luna is precious to me. I have no desire to harm her p>
I felt warmth surge through me at this public declaration of admiration from Gideon. Even if he was just saying it for effect, he had declared it loudly and proudly, and I saw some of the Lunas nearest us begin whispering to each other and staring at me appraisingly.
“Well… I.. I don’t know why!” Reynaud sputtered, realizing that to claim that Gideon had been about to go feral would indicate that he knew what could cause such a thing.
“I’ll tell you,” I stepped forward, emboldened by Gideon’s assertion of my worth, my chin held high, “You
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assumed Gideon had gone feral because you thought I had given him the potion you instructed me to give him p>
As Reynaud reeled back I saw Gideon watching me, his expression proud and approving. He seemed pleased that I had spoken up, and I realized that with the two of us presenting a united front, we were convincing the Alpha Council and the bystanders that Reynaud was the one who was out of line.
I flashed him a triumphant smile and he nodded back at me.
His approving expression flashed me back to the night previous, when he had been seated across from me at that perfect private dinner.
H
I had stared at the lovely, enigmatic, infuriating Alpha raising his glass in a toast and the wrongness of what I was planning to do slapped me in the face.
Could Reynaud offer me a better life? Possibly, but he had given me no real assurances that he intended to make good on his promises. There was just something about the whole situation that gave me the sensation that I was a butterfly who had collided with the spider’s web.
Reynaud had been too eager to secure my allegiance, and too vague on the ‘how’s and ‘why’s. With distance and time it was easier to see that he had used the motions of seduction to confuse and distract me so that I would agree to his deal. He had known that I was under physical and emotional stress, that I craved kindness and attention, and had twisted it to his advantage.
That degree of conscious manipulation did not bode well for a future alliance.
For all his flaws, all our disagreements, the Nightwolf Alpha sitting across from me hadn’t lied to me. He hadn’t tried to get me to love him with false promises or sweet nothings. He might be infuriati
stubborn, and hard-headed, but he was not a manipulator.
If Gideon told me something, he meant it.
I stared at him, hands trembling on my silverware, and wondered if I could trust him with the tru return? Did I dare? What if he was furious with me?
After all, I was on the threshold of committing treason. I knew Gideon held pack loyalty over all. If I revealed the truth, would he hold it against me?
My thoughts had made me quiet, and I looked up from wrestling with my choice to find Gideon observing me curiously.
“Forgive me,” I said softly, “but there’s something I need to tell you p>
Gideon’s head tilted to the side, his lips parted slightly. I had surprised him, I could tell.
Hurriedly, before I could lose my nerve, I laid out my encounter with Reynaud, and the offer he had made. The words spilled out of me like cutting open an ‘abscess. I felt relief at allowing them to spill out of me in a torrent of confession.
When I was done, Gideon sat still and stiff, processing what I had said.
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