Chapter 271

Hannah

I stared at the document in my hands, the Alpha Council’s approval stamp glaring back at me.

“You… When did you do this?”

Noah shrugged as he slipped his robe on. “Since the moment I asked you to be my girlfriend.”

My mind whirled as I thought back to that day six months ago—how Noah had said that he had to run back into the Council chambers for something before we left. He said he would meet me at my house, join my family for dinner.

“You talked to the Alpha Council that day,” I said quietly.

He nodded. “That was the first day I told them of my intent. They weren’t keen on it, of course. But I wore them down over the past six months.”

I swallowed hard as the implications hit me. All of the secrecy, all of the sly smiles and promises that everything would be just fine… The nights spent holding me, telling me not to worry about our future because it would work itself out.

It wasn’t working itself out. He was working it out.

“You’ve been doing this all on your own?” I couldn’t decide whether to be upset that he’d kept it from me or impressed that he had come this far without me finding out.

“Well, not entirely on my own.” He shrugged, his gaze shifting briefly toward the flickering candles surrounding the room before returning to me. “Drake’s been helping for a few months now. Being on the Council has its perks, it seems.”

“Drake?” I repeated, still in shock. “That sly little bastard…”

Noah smirked. “I approached him after that first day,” he admitted, running a hand through his damp hair. “I knew how much being an Alpha meant to you, and I couldn’t ask you to give that up. So… I started looking for a way to make this work. For us.”

He paused for a moment, his expression softening. “Drake, of course, was all for the idea. And he does hold a lot of swaying power on the Alpha Council, being the Luna Queen’s beloved nephew and all.”

I blinked, returning my gaze to the bundle of papers in my hand. “So the Council just… approved it? Just like that?” Drake may have held a lot of power, but he was just one of many Alphas on the Council—many of whom were nearly twice his age and more than twice as stubborn.

Noah chuckled softly, shaking his head. “Not quite ‘just like that. It’s a tentative approval. They’ve given us six months to prove it can work. If we can successfully merge the packs and pull off the upcoming Spring Equinox festival, then they’ll make it permanent.”

“Six months?” I echoed.

Six months wasn’t enough time to merge two entire packs, let alone pull off a festival that the Council would deem ‘successful.’ My stomach knotted just at the thought.

“That’s… not much time,” I said after a moment.

Noah nodded, his expression growing more serious. “I know. But I believe we can do it. Together. Assuming you want this, I mean.”

“I…” I paused for a moment, still staring down at the papers. It was unexpected, but it was… a solution to a problem that had been plaguing me for ages now.

“So, if this works…” I hesitated, glancing back up at him. “We would both be Alphas? Of one combined pack?”

“That’s right. We would share the responsibilities, the decision-making, everything. I swear on my life, Hannah, that you wouldn’t be relegated to Luna duties. We would share the duties of both an Alpha and a Luna and then some.”

I chewed on my lower lip, trying to wrap my head around the enormity of what he was suggesting. “But what about your Beta?” The question slipped out before I could stop it. “You haven’t had one since…”

My voice faltered, unwilling to say his name—Scott—out loud.

Noah’s jaw tightened at the mention of his traitorous half-brother.

“Since Scott,” he quietly finished for me. “I know. And I’ve had a hard time trusting anyone with that position ever since. It’s why I haven’t… made any efforts to find a new one. Even though every Alpha should have one.”

“But you’re not every Alpha,” I mused quietly. “Neither am I.”

Noah shook his head and laughed wryly. “No, we’re not. Which is exactly why I wanted to do this for you. For us.” He paused, his eyes searching the night sky for a moment before he turned his gaze to me once more.

“I trust you with my life, Hannah,” he said, taking a step closer. “You are my mate, my love, the mother of my child… But you are also my Luna and my Beta and my Alpha wrapped into one. My partner. I’d rather have you by my side than anyone else.”

“Noah…” I started, but he cut me off.

“I believe in us,” he said, his tone firmer now. “I believe we could create something incredible together. Something lasting. But only if you want it. I’m not going to push this on you, Hannah. It has to be your choice.”

For a moment, I was silent, my mind still racing to make sense of all of this. No wonder Noah had decided to take me on this impromptu trip; he did have something special planned after all. Something very special. And now it was on me to decide just how special it would be in the end.

“Is this…” My voice caught in my throat. “Is this a proposal, then?”

Noah’s lips curved into a slow, teasing smile. “Not yet. But that’s coming.” His smile widened as he glanced down at the document in my hands. “This is just me showing you that there is a way. If being married is what you want, then we can make it happen in a way that works for us.”

He gestured toward the document with a slight tilt of his head. “So? What do you say? Are you ready to make Silvermoon and Nightcrest one? We could call it Silvercrest. Or something else. Whatever you want.”

“Silvercrest…” I repeated the name softly, letting the sound of it settle in my mind. It felt right. “I… I like it,” I said, smiling at the simplicity of it. “Silvercrest.”

Noah’s face lit up. “Really? You like it?” He sounded almost relieved, as if my approval was the final piece of the puzzle.

“It has a ring to it.”

With that, he produced a pen from the pocket of his robe, his grin widening as he held it out to me. “Then all we need to do is sign. If you’re ready, that is.”

My heart skipped a beat as I stared at the pen in his hand. This was it—the moment everything would change. Was I ready for this? Could I really step into this role, into this future we were building together?

But then I looked into Noah’s eyes again, and the answer came to me as clear as day. Yes. I’d been ready for this my whole life.

Without a word, I took the pen from his hand. My fingers trembled slightly as I brought it to the document, but with a deep breath, I signed my name.

Noah followed, his signature flowing effortlessly beside mine. When he was finished, he set the pen down and took a step back as if he’d just completed surgery.

Neither of us said a word after that—the only sounds between us that of the hot tub bubbling, the crickets chirping, and our collectively held breath.

But then the enormity of what we had just done hit me like a tidal wave, and instead of fear, all I felt was pure, unbridled joy.

With a breathless laugh, I threw myself at Noah, my arms wrapping around his neck.

“Noah, I love—”

Before I could finish, the force of my impact sent him stumbling backwards. We tumbled back into the hot tub, a mess of tangled limbs and laughter.