Chapter 223

Hannah

Noah’s body tensed beneath me as he finished with one last resounding growl, his fingers digging deeply into the soft flesh of my hips.

I collapsed onto his chest, panting and heaving, my heart racing. The cool night air kissed my sweat-dampened skin, and I became acutely aware of the fact that the forest had gone silent around us—the nighttime creatures going quiet at the sound of two predators howling in the clearing.

As I caught my breath, I realized that my flower crown had slipped off during our passion. Noah’s chest rumbled with a soft chuckle as he sat up, cradling me in his lap. He reached over, plucking the crown from where it had fallen on the grass beside us.

With gentle hands, he placed it back on my head, adjusting it carefully. “A crown for my queen,” he murmured, his green eyes twinkling in the moonlight.

I couldn’t help but giggle, feeling giddy and lightheaded. “I thought I was your princess,” I teased, running my fingers through his tousled hair.

“After that performance? I think you deserve a promotion.”

My cheeks flushed with warmth, both from the compliment and the memory of what we had just done—hips rolling against hips, fangs nipping into flesh, my soft pink dress a stark contrast to the feral energy that had overcome me.

Reluctantly, I climbed off of his lap, my legs trembling slightly as I stood. I smoothed down my dress, hoping it wasn’t too wrinkled or stained.

Noah rose beside me, fastening his pants and retrieving his jacket from the ground. He draped it over my shoulders. It smelled like damp earth from being used as a makeshift blanket on the forest floor.

“Shall we head back to the party, my queen?”

I nodded, looping my arm through his as we made our way back along the moonlit path. The sounds of music and laughter grew louder as we approached the house, and I felt my heart rate pick up again. Had anyone noticed our absence, I wondered? Would they know what we had been up to?

As we stepped inside, the warmth and light of the party enveloped us. I glanced around, noting how some of the guests’ faces flushed as they caught sight of us walking in. A few averted their eyes, and I realized with a jolt of embarrassment that they had indeed likely heard my passionate howls echoing through the night.

Noah, however, seemed entirely unfazed. He confidently plucked a stray twig from my hair, flicking it into a nearby trash can with a smirk. Then, right there in front of everyone, he pulled me close and kissed me deeply and slipped his tongue into my mouth.

When he pulled away, his eyes were dark with desire. “Let them stare,” he whispered, his breath hot against my ear. “Let them all know that I just made you come with the force of a thousand suns.”

My legs trembled at his words, and I felt a renewed heat pooling low in my belly. How did he still have this effect on me, even after what we had just done in the clearing?

As we turned to rejoin the party, I noticed something—or rather, someone—was missing. “Where’s Zoe?” I mused, glancing around.

Drake approached us with a knowing smirk on his face. “Oh, she left about ten minutes ago,” he explained, looking altogether amused. “Said she needed to go home and put Adam to bed. Funny how it happened right after we all heard a certain... howl... split through the party.”

I felt my cheeks burn with embarrassment, but Noah just hauled me closer against his side. “Well, I hope the little guy sleeps well,” he said without a hint of shame in his voice.

…

The next morning, I woke with another beaming smile on my face.

My lower belly still radiated with warmth, a delicious reminder of the night’s activities. We had made love well into the night after the party had ended, over and over until we were both sore.

Now, with sunlight streamed through the curtains, my eyes found my pink dress from the party hanging on the back of the closet door. It was miraculously intact despite Noah’s feral passion last night. We’d hardly made it back to the room before he was growling in my ear and ripping my dress off of me.

I rolled over, reaching for him, but found his side of the bed empty and cool.

Frowning, I sat up, wrapping the sheet around me as I looked around the room. “Noah?” I called out, but there was no response.

Slipping on a robe, I made my way downstairs to the kitchen. The smell of fresh coffee filled the air, and I found Ana bustling about, cleaning up some remaining platters and bowls from the party.

“Good morning, Luna,” she greeted me with a warm smile. “Would you like some breakfast?”

“Morning, Ana,” I replied, stifling a yawn. “Just coffee for now, thanks. Have you seen Noah?”

Ana nodded as she poured me a steaming cup. “Alpha Noah left early this morning. He didn’t say where he was going, just that he had some important business to attend to.”

I took the coffee gratefully, my mind instantly going to one thing: Zoe. He’d said that he would talk to her today, and I had a feeling that was exactly what he was doing now.

My heart fluttered at the thought. To think that he had actually listened to me and was taking action... It made me love him even more.

The day passed slowly, and I didn’t see Noah all afternoon. I tried to keep myself busy preparing the speech I intended to give my parents when we’d inevitably discuss combining Nightcrest and Silvermoon, but my thoughts kept drifting to him and wondering how his conversation with Zoe was going.

By the time evening rolled around, I was a bundle of nerves.

It was late when I finally heard the front door open. I jumped up from the couch where I’d been pretending to read, my heart pounding.

“Noah!” I called out, hurrying to the foyer.

There he was, looking tired but handsome as ever in his suit. I moved to kiss him, a smile spreading across my face. “I missed you today. How did everything—”

But as soon as my hands reached him, Noah shoved me away roughly, as if I’d just burned him with my touch.

I gasped, stumbling backward so hard that my back hit the wall.

“What the hell?!” I snarled, wincing. “Why did you do that?”

As I looked up at him, I felt a chill run down my spine. His eyes were cold and icy, nothing like the warm, loving gaze I had grown accustomed to over the past weeks. There was no trace of the man who had made love to me in the moonlight just hours ago.

Instead, his face was a mask of anger and... was that hatred?

It was then that I noticed the bundle of papers in his hand. My stomach dropped, a sense of dread washing over me.

With a growl, he tossed the papers onto the nearby table. They scattered across the surface, and I caught glimpses of official-looking letterheads and blocks of text.

Notice of Divorce, the papers read.

“Noah?” I whispered, my voice trembling.

His eyes met mine, cold and hard as steel.

“Sign these,” he growled, “and get the hell out of my house.”