Chapter 92
Chapter 92
Avery’s POV
“What do you mean, attacked p>
“They were training in the grounds and started arguing. The pack doctor said something to the Alpha and he turned on him. They fought!” the young man next to me was out of breath and panting as he relayed what he
saw.
“Who’s in the ambulance?” I asked, suddenly terrified. Was Gideon injured? It felt like my heart was suddenly being squeezed in a vise.
“Who do you think?” came Gideon’s voice from behind me as he strode past me towards the house. At his sudden appearance, the small crowd dispersed. I darted after him.
“Wait, Gideon, slow down! What happened?” I asked, trying to match his long strides. Gideon didn’t slow down, taking the stairs up to the third floor two-at-a-time.
“He disobeyed me.” Gideon paused at the top of the stairs and turned to look down at me on the step below. “He paid for it p>
Then he strode down the hall to his room and closed the door.
Well, that wasn’t particularly enlightening.
I sat down on the step and watched as Gideon’s parents appeared in the Great Room below, quickly joined by his sister. They appeared to be arguing, but from here I could only hear snippets of their conversation.
“…hospital. Can he p>
“Not the first time… out of control p>
“… can’t challenge the Alpha p>
I shouldn’t have been eavesdropping, but something about their body language kept me from revealing myself. They kept gesturing in the direction Gideon had gone, but none of them climbed the stairs to talk to him.
Eventually they drifted out the front door and out of sight.
Without having insight into Gideon’s actions, I could only guess as to what had happened. Had Hudson tried to challenge his brother for pack leadership?
I rolled the idea over in my mind. It might explain why he had suddenly been so friendly towards me. If Hudson was trying to make a move on the Alpha position, then it might make sense that he would befriend me as Luna. He would be subject to the same traditions his brother faced, and would require a Silvermoon bride.
I already knew that Gideon would do basically anything to keep his title as Alpha, but I was shocked that his ambition included bloodying his own brother. It reminded me of the bullying I had received at the hands of Zara and her friends. They saw any success I had as a threat to their own power, and tried many times to beat it out of
Bile rose in my throat. What sort of monster was I really marrying? If Gideon would put his own family in the
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hospital, why did I think he would treat me with any sort of civility in the future?
Feeling nauseous, I retreated to my own room and locked the door. In the morning I would try and sort out what had really happened.
Even if it meant defying Gideon, I needed to talk to his brother.
The next day I hung out in the coffee shop in the village all morning. The coffee was decent, the view of the main street past Hudson’s doctor office was even better. Finally, around noon, I saw a car pull up and Hudson got out.
He looked okay from here, maybe moving a bit slowly. He went into his office.
I finished my coffee and walked across the street and paused outside of the doctor’s office.
I wanted so badly to find out what was going on, but Gideon had asked me to promise to stay away from his brother.
I had spent the hours drinking coffee torn between wanting to stick to my promise, and wanting to make sure that Gideon wasn’t the sort of person who would abuse his own family. 1
The conversation we’d had about building trust kept running through my mind. It stayed my hand when I was going to knock.
After a moment, I turned and walked up towards the pack house instead, leaving the village behind. I hated that I felt like a coward, but something about this didn’t feel right.
Instead I knocked on Gideon’s door.
“Gideon?” I called, but there was no answer. I knocked again, but there was only silence inside.
Was he out and about, or was he ignoring me?
I frowned at his door, then went into my own room and shut the door.
I hadn’t been there long before I heard a knock. Thinking it must be Gideon returning, I leapt up and darted to the door and opened it.
But it wasn’t Gideon. His brother, Hudson, stood there instead. His face looked like he had lost a fight in the parking lot, and the asphalt had won.
“Oh!” I gasped, then in a panic I tried to shut the door, but Hudson caught it.
“Actually, I was hoping we could talk.” He said, pushing in.
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea.” I stammered, backing up.
“Because my brother said not to talk to me? Yeah, he told me not to talk to you either, so… don’t you think that’s a good reason for us to talk?” His frown was similar to Gideon’s, but he didn’t have the same presence his brother had. When Gideon frowned, the whole room darkened.
“N-nooo?” I sputtered, “Don’t you want to save what’s left of your face p>
Hudson gave a bitter laugh, “Oh, this is nothing compared to other fights we’ve had p>
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He paused, then revealed, “I saw you stop outside my office p>
I reddened. I didn’t realize he had known I had come by. Now more than ever I regretted that I’d almost stopped there.
“I made a mistake.” I said, flipping my hair over one shoulder and crossing my arms.
“Nonsense, you’re perfect.” Hudson’s eyes gleamed, “I can see why my brother likes you.
If only he knew that his brother’s interest in me was purely for the good of the pack. I shook my head.
“I think you should go.” I stood by the open door, “I don’t know what’s going on between you and Gideon, but it doesn’t matter p>
“You’re not even a little bit curious?” Hudson came closer, running his hands through his own shaggy hair. ” Because you were at the heart of it p>
My curiosity was burning, but my senses were screaming at me that something was wrong. I needed to get Hudson out of my room, and then go to Gideon and explain what happened.
Suddenly, Hudson was too close in my space, pressing me against the wall. I shrieked in surprise and he placed one hand over my mouth.
“Shhh, no need to be startled. I can tell that you are interested p>
I stared at him in confusion.
“That’s why you stopped by, wasn’t it? You wanted to give us a reason to meet. Now, here I am.” His voice was low and throaty, and his eyes were gleaming wolf-yellow.
“Are you… in heat?” I shook his hand off my mouth and glared at him. “I think you’ve gotten the wrong impression here. I’m not interested in you like that. I was concerned that you and Gideon had fought, and wanted to make sure both of you were okay p>
“Never been better.” Hudson purred, stroking one hand down my side and pressing his lips to mine.
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