Chapter 15

"Did you just bite me? Are you insane?" Noah exclaimed.

“It would be strange if I weren’t going crazy,” I muttered to myself. I licked my lips, savoring the taste of Noah’s blood. “In fact, going crazy is quite enjoyable.”

It would be even more enjoyable if it kept Noah away from me, I added mentally.

"Does it hurt?" I trailed my fingers over Noah's forearm, and for reasons I couldn't fathom, he shivered. I half-expected him to jerk away, but he didn't.

"But it's nothing compared to the pain I've been through. Ha, consider that a joke, Alpha."

I don't know why, but I have all the thrill of revenge in my heart.

Before I turned to leave, I caught Noah staring at his injured arm. There was even a hint of a... smile?

"It seems you've finally learned how to fight back," he murmured, almost to himself than to me.

I paused, a mix of anger and a peculiar sense of pride swirling within me. "I had a good teacher," I retorted, the shadow of our past encounters hanging between us.

Noah's gaze met mine, a complex tapestry of emotions unfolding in his eyes. "Indeed, you did. Maybe too good."

"You think this changes anything?" I asked, my voice laced with defiance.

He considered this, the corners of his lips twitching with an unreadable expression. "Maybe not... But it does make things more interesting."

Noah rolled up his sleeve to prevent blood from getting on his shirt and clasped his injured forearm. He stared at me curiously for a moment, as though he had not expected that reaction from me and did not know how to handle it. His gaze sent chills down my spine, and I wasn’t quite sure why.

I couldn't help but respond to his challenge, the tension between us morphing into something dangerously akin to excitement. "Be careful, Noah. I'm not the same person you knew."

"And I'm not the same Alpha you think you know," he countered, his voice low and husky, sending an unexpected thrill through me.

“Here,” he said, tossing me one of the wet washcloths. “Clean your face and hand.”

My eyes narrowed at him. I strutted to the mirror on the far wall, making sure to show off how my figure looked in my dress, and started to clean off my lips and the back of my hand. By the time I was done, the pristine white washcloth was stained light red with dried blood.

I reapplied my lipstick before I turned around to see Noah wrapping a bandage around his forearm. A half-smirk pulled at the edge of my lips. At least I left a mark on him.

I dropped the washcloth onto the first aid kit and headed towards the door.

“Where are you going?” Noah snapped.

“Back to the ball,” I said nonchalantly as I placed my hand on the doorknob.

“We aren’t done here.”

“I think we are.”

Before Noah could protest any further, I walked out of the room and closed the door behind me.

I tossed my hair back and went towards the dining hall. I held my head high and my shoulders back, swaying my hips to draw as much attention to the short length of my dress as possible. Drinking in the looks coming from all around me, I felt a proud—if somewhat arrogant—smile spread across my lips.

Then I saw Luna Emma running right for me, waving her hand in the air. My smile wavered, but I did not allow it to disappear. Appearances were everything, after all.

“Luna Hannah!” Emma cried out as she rushed up to me. “Luna Hannah, how good it is to see you!”

I forcefully cemented my smile in place, even as my heart tightened. Emma had never been a friendly woman, especially not to me, so I could only imagine what she would want.

Emma grabbed my hands and kissed both my cheeks. I returned the gesture, even though it made my stomach churn.

“How are you, darling?” Emma asked. “How are you and Noah?”

“Oh, we’re perfectly fine,” I lied. I still had another month of these lies to tell. “We just had some alone time in the private room, you know.”

I winked at her, hoping that that tidbit of juicy half-gossip would be enough to satiate Emma’s appetite.

“Oh, really?” Emma said, sounding surprised. “I had heard that Noah had been spending the entire night with Zoe. It’s good to see that he has made time for his Luna as well.”

A muscle in my cheek twitched, but I did not let her get the best of me.

“We have both spent some of tonight with our latest pack member, yes,” I said—another half-truth. “We’re just trying to ensure that she is adjusting well to being back in the Nightcrest Pack.”

“I’d say that with how close she and Alpha Noah seem that she won’t be having any problems fitting back into your pack.”

Emma smirked, waiting for me to respond. When I did not, she pushed forward.

“You have to admit, it is awfully cute how well they match tonight.”

I hid my fist behind my back.

“That was completely by accident,” I said.

“Well, that was some accident, then.”

Emma pushed her hair behind her ears.

“You know, I really do admire your good temper, Hannah,” she continued. “It’s so unlike my own. No one would dare approach my Alpha like Zoe approaches yours.”

Inwardly, I rolled my eyes. Emma’s husband was infamously overweight and bald. It was no wonder that no one would approach him.

With a smile plastered on my face, I said, “Well, I really admire you for that. Could you perhaps tell me about your methods for controlling your husband?”

I leaned forward and stage-whispered, “Obviously, I could use all the help that I could get.”

Emma pulled herself to her full height, like a teacher looking down upon her pupil. She puffed her chest out, and a smirk spread across her face.

“Well, of course! I would love to share my words of wisdom with a fellow Luna,” she said, her pride in herself evident. “First of all, you must never leave your Alpha alone at a public event. If you must leave his side, ensure that he his with someone whom you trust absolutely…”

I nodded and smiled, pretending to pay attention, but in truth, my attention waned. I thought back to all of the previous interactions I had suffered through with Emma at these kinds of events. She had always been passive-aggressive towards me, jealous of how much I shined in comparison to her while I was with Noah.

It had once made me proud to be in the presence of such a well-rounded husband as Noah, never realizing that I wasn’t the one who was shining but, in fact, it was just some after-glow from Noah. Emma probably felt that taunting me about Zoe’s presence that night would make my position less secure and wound my pride, but there was something that she did not know about me: I no longer cared.

“And you should never wear dresses like…that,” Emma said, gesturing towards my outfit.

I arched a brow at her, one hand on my hip.

“What’s wrong with my dress?” I asked.

“It’s far too short,” she replied. “It’ll make your Alpha feel insecure and give other people the wrong message.”

“And what message is that?”

“Well, that you’re…skanky,” Emma said bluntly. “You don’t want people to think that Noah turned to Zoe because you’re loose, do you?”

“I—”

“That’s quite enough, Luna Emma,” Noah suddenly said, approaching my side. “No matter what rumors you have heard, you will at least show some respect to my Luna.”

Emma and I stared at Noah, equally dumbfounded by his declaration.