Chapter 162

Hannah

“Oh, how sweet…”

“Look at how he’s holding her…”

“They must really love each other…”

I woke up with a start to the sound of hushed whispers and giggles over my head. Blinking slowly, I became acutely aware of two nurses standing at the foot of the bed, their eyes wide as saucers and their hands clasped as they looked down at me.

“Oh!” one of them gasped, taking a surprised step back when she saw that I was waking up. “We’re so sorry, we didn’t mean to disturb you.” With that, they both scurried out of the room, and I watched them go with a furrowed brow.

I realized then that I was still curled up against Noah’s side with his arm wrapped protectively around me. My face instantly flushed as I realized why the nurses had been fawning over me, and I quickly moved to get up and go back to my own bed.

But as I sat up, no matter how I tried to be gentle, Noah began to stir. His eyes fluttered open, focusing on me for a moment before drifting down to my chest. I followed his gaze and felt my cheeks heat up even more as I realized that my hospital gown had fallen open in the front in my sleep, exposing my bare breasts.

“Oh,” I muttered, quickly pulling the gown closed with a nervous look on my face.

The tips of Noah’s ears turned red and he cleared his throat, looking away respectfully. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to…”

“It’s fine,” I said, my face still burning. I quickly stood and stretched, walking back over to my hospital bed. Noah sat up, his neck cracking as he also stretched.

“How did you sleep?” he asked. When I glanced over at him, I could see that he had a sheepish expression on his face—likely because he didn’t remember pulling me into bed with him.

Not wanting to embarrass him further, I said, “I slept fine. Sorry I fell asleep with you. I think I nodded off while we were watching TV.”

Noah simply nodded, rubbing his eyes.

It was then that a thought struck me. I figured he was asleep when I confessed to being pregnant last night, but I couldn’t help but worry.

“Noah, what’s the last thing you remember from last night?” I asked, abruptly turning to face him.

He furrowed his brow as he thought deeply for a moment. “Uh… I think we were watching some terrible show on TV, and I must have dozed off. Why?”

I felt a small sigh of relief escape my lips. Telling him about the pregnancy last night had been a snap decision in the wake of everything that had happened, but now that the sun was up and I had gotten a good night’s sleep to clear my head, I was glad that he hadn’t heard it.

Perhaps soon I would tell him, but not now. “No reason,” I said quickly. “Just curious.” Noah looked skeptical but didn’t push it.

An awkward silence fell between us, broken only by the sound of a nurse entering with our discharge papers.

A few hours later, we were released from the hospital. As we walked out into the bright sunlight, I squinted, feeling oddly vulnerable in the clothes Viona had brought for me—a simple t-shirt and jeans that felt too tight after the loose hospital gown.

Noah’s phone rang as we reached his car. He pulled it out of his pocket with one hand and answered it, his face growing serious as he listened.

“That was the police,” he said after hanging up. “They want us to go down to the station and give our statements about what happened yesterday.”

My stomach dropped. The thought of reliving yesterday’s events made me feel sick. “Do we have to?” I asked, hating how small my voice sounded just then.

To my surprise, Noah’s expression softened ever so slightly. “I know it’s hard, but it’s important to ensure that all of Jake’s accomplices face justice. And I’ll be right there with you, okay?”

His gentle words surprised me, and I felt my heart skip ever so slightly. “That would be nice,” I murmured.

The drive to the police station was tense and quiet. I drove, since Noah still had to wear his sling for one more day, my eyes fixed on the road. Noah stared out the window, not saying a word. I wondered what last night had been like for him before he found me, but I supposed that I would find out soon.

At the police station, we were led to a small interview room to give our statements. The walls were a dull beige, and the fluorescent lights buzzed overhead, adding to a headache that had started right before we left the hospital.

After a little while of waiting, the detective came in and introduced himself as Detective Johnson, a middle-aged man with kind eyes but also a no-nonsense demeanor.

“Luna Hannah,” he began, “can you tell me what happened yesterday?”

I took a deep breath, my fingers fidgeting with the hem of my shirt beneath the table. “I was at the vacation rental with my friends. We were having a girls’ trip to help Amber get over her breakup with Jake.”

“Jake, as in the man who abducted you?” the detective asked for clarification. I nodded.

“After dinner, everyone went to bed but I couldn’t sleep. So I went outside to use the hot tub by myself, and that was when I saw the man from the restaurant pull up.” I shuddered a bit at the thought, my hands fidgeting a little faster. “I immediately got up to go inside, but there was a man with a gun in the doorway. The man from the restaurant told me to come with him, but I fought them.”

“Them?” the detective asked. “How many were there?”

“I’m not sure,” I said, struggling to remember the whole ordeal. “There had to have been at least three or four men in the house, although the man from the restaurant was the only one I recognized at that point.”

As I continued recounting the events, I felt my leg begin to shake under the table. Without a word, Noah placed his hand on my knee, steadying me. His touch, although shocking at first, was comforting.

After that, I told the detective about the waterfall, about Jake’s plan to get a ransom and kill me, about Noah and Drake’s rescue. Noah also recounted his experience: seeing my text, driving to the rental, trying to find the trailhead that led to the waterfall… As well as having to kill multiple men just to get to me.

The thought of it made me shudder, and I found myself looking over at Noah as he spoke. His voice was so steady, his eyes so sharp, that it was clear that the fighting was nothing more than a necessity to him; a cold reality when it came to saving his wife’s life.

And for that, I was thankful.

“Thank you, Luna Hannah and Alpha Noah,” the detective said once Noah was finished. “I think that’s all the information we need for now. We’ll be in touch if we have any more questions.”

As we left the police station, I felt so exhausted that it was like my limbs were made of rope. The sun was already setting by now, casting long shadows across the parking lot, and I just wanted to get home.

But as we reached the car, Noah turned to me, his expression serious. “After what happened,” he said firmly, “I don’t want you to leave my side for a while. Understood?”

I stared at him, surprised by the intensity in his voice. “Noah, I—”

“That’s an order,” he said. “Not a request.”

The command in his voice caught me off guard. I felt my face heat up, turning beet red beneath his stern gaze.

“Okay,” I whispered, nodding. “I won’t leave your side.”

Noah almost seemed to let out the tiniest sigh of relief before he swung the car door open. “Let’s go home.”