Chapter 230

Hannah

I read the words on that card over and over again as if they were gospel.

“You are cordially invited to the wedding of Alpha Noah and Zoe of Nightcrest Pack…”

“‘A joyous occasion,” I read in a wry tone, tossing the invitation aside. My hand shook, but I quickly hid it beneath the desk. As if Viona couldn’t already tell how furious I was.

“The gall,” she growled, reaching out to take the invitation. “We should tear it up and throw it in the fireplace where it belongs.” Her lips then twisted into an evil little smirk. “Maybe we can send them back the ashes for good measure. Really drive the point home.”

Viona picked up the invitation, the golden lettering glinting in the sunlight spilling in through the large window, but I stopped her.

“No,” I said firmly, surprising even myself with the steadiness in my voice. “I’ll go to the wedding.”

Viona’s eyebrow shot up in shock, her mouth hanging open for a moment before she found her words. “What? Hannah, you can’t be serious. Why would you put yourself through that torture? Haven’t you been through enough?”

I rose with some effort, clutching my lower back as I made my way over to the window. Outside, late summer was reaching its end. Autumn would be coming soon, and the gardener was already beginning to pull up some of the summer flowers in preparation for the winter.

“I’ll be fine,” I said, rubbing my belly as I looked out the window. “When is the wedding?” I’d been so shocked by it all that I forgot to look.

“It’s on the winter solstice,” Viona replied. “But Hannah, are you sure—”

“I have to create a good image,” I said, cutting her off matter-of-factly. “With so many people transferring to Silvermoon lately, I need to keep up good relations with Nightcrest. Otherwise, Noah might try to do something… rash.”

Viona was silent for some time. I watched the gardener work, her large straw hat blocking my view of her head and shoulders. Somewhere in the room, a clock ticked. But I could hardly hear it over the sound of my own blood rushing through my ears.

Finally, Viona murmured, “Hannah, don’t you think that this is a recipe for disaster?” She came to stand beside me at the window, and I looked over to see her eyebrows furrowed with concern. “Seeing Noah and Zoe getting married could break your heart all over again. You don’t have to do this. We can find another way to maintain relations.”

I bit my lip, thinking for a moment. Viona was right; there was more that could be done to maintain relations.

The due date was coming up soon and the baby would be born by the wedding, so I could easily claim that I couldn’t make it due to motherhood duties and send a gift and a card. And even if Noah and Zoe still tried to start something, I wasn’t really too concerned about it because of the support of my friends and the Luna Council.

But part of me… wanted to go. Wanted to do what Noah hadn’t done for me.

“He didn’t come to my coronation,” I whispered.

“Exactly,” Viona huffed. “Which is why you shouldn’t go to his wedding.”

“No. It’s precisely why I should go to his wedding.” Viona shot me a confused look, and I added, “People will notice. They’ll see the lengths I’ve gone to in order to be kind and they’ll see what he hasn’t done and they’ll hate him even more for it.”

Viona sighed. “So that’s what this is about? Turning the public against him even more?” She touched my arm. “I don’t believe for a second that you actually think that’s necessary, Hannah. I think you want to go because you want to see him.”

I flinched at those words. My eyes flashed as I glanced at Viona, but when I opened my mouth to bite out a retort, I found that I couldn’t.

Maybe she was right. Maybe I did want to see him. If only to show him how far I had come in spite of his cruelty.

“Perhaps I need that satisfaction,” I admitted. “But it’s not to try and win him back, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“I’d certainly hope not.”

I nodded. “By the time the wedding comes around, it’ll be ancient history. I’m a different person now, stronger. So I’ll go. It’ll be fine.”

After a moment of tense silence, Viona sighed, her shoulders slumping in defeat. “Alright. If you believe it’s the right thing to do, then I trust you. But I won’t be happy about it.”

I tossed a smirk in her direction. “I wouldn’t expect any less from you.”

As night fell, I found myself lying in bed, the soft glow of my phone screen illuminating my face in the darkness. The last message from WhiteRabbit stared back at me, taunting me with its cryptic promise.

“I’ll be here when you change your mind.”

My fingers itched to reply, to finally ask what that price was.

This had been my nightly routine over the past months—reading that message over and over until my eyes grew bleary.

I often found myself wondering if Noah himself had put the contraceptives in my diet pills. Had he made up the nonsense about sex only during ovulation to avoid having an heir with me while he waited for Zoe to come back to him?

I wanted to know for certain. If it was him, then I needed to know.

But each night, including this one, I stopped myself from replying. I was Alpha now. I couldn’t engage in shady dealings with an online drug peddler, no matter how tempting the information might be. The risks were too great, not just for me, but for my pack and my unborn child.

So I set my phone aside, the screen going dark, and placed both hands on my belly as I turned to my side.

“We’re safe now,” I murmured to my unborn child, my voice hardly more than a whisper in the quiet room. “No one will hurt us. I promise.”

The baby kicked in response, a reassuring flutter beneath my palms. I smiled, feeling a wave of love and protectiveness wash over me. Whatever happened at the wedding, whatever Noah may have done or whatever secrets WhiteRabbit might know, none of it mattered as much as this little life growing inside me.

As I drifted off to sleep, my mind wandered to the upcoming wedding. I imagined myself walking into the ceremony, head held high, showing Noah and everyone else that I was stronger than ever.

In my dreams, I was unshakeable, the perfect picture of grace and dignity. I dreamt about the surprised looks on the guests’ faces, the flicker of regret in Noah’s eyes, the way I would lift my chin and meet his gaze steadily as though he couldn’t shake me in the slightest.

But dreams, as they often do, gave way to a much different reality.

I jolted awake in the middle of the night as I felt a sharp pain radiate through my abdomen.

For a moment, I was disoriented, unsure of what had woken me. The room was pitch black, the silence broken only by my rapid breathing. Then another wave of pain hit, more intense than the first, and I gasped, sitting up in bed.

As I moved, I became aware of a dampness beneath me. My heart began to race. Fumbling for the bedside lamp, I switched it on, blinking in the sudden light that flooded the room.

With trembling hands, I pulled back the covers to reveal a large wet spot on the mattress. The realization hit me like a thunderbolt, sending a jolt of adrenaline through my body.

My water had broken in my sleep.

“Oh no,” I whispered as another contraction gripped me, this one stronger than the last. The pain radiated from my lower back, wrapping around to my abdomen like a vice. As the contraction subsided, leaving me breathless, the truth settled in.

“The baby is coming!”