Chapter 287

Hannah

It was late as I sat in my office, the glow from the lamp on my desk casting long shadows across the walls. My phone buzzed endlessly as I scrolled through the flood of reactions to Emily’s documentary finale. The footage of Marcus’s confession had seemingly gone viral overnight, sweeping through the internet like a wildfire.

“‘Marcus got what he deserved,’” I read one comment out loud. “‘Hannah and Noah’s love story is like a fairytale—proving that true mates always find their way back to each other, no matter what evil villains do to keep them apart.’”

Noah chuckled as he listened. “A fairytale with attempted murder, poisoning, and conspiracy?” he mused. “Sounds like a perfect bedtime story. Maybe we should tell it to Melody to help her sleep at night.”

I smirked. “Maybe we’ll save that one for when she gets older.”

Noah’s expression softened slightly, and he nodded, returning to the pile of paperwork he was sorting through on his desk. I sighed, glancing at the disaster on my own desk. I was procrastinating by scrolling through internet comments.

We still had our own private offices, of course—the house was certainly big enough—but as of late, we’d been sharing one main office. It was just easier that way, what with the merger underway and all.

But the place was a downright mess, to say the least.

My gaze drifted out the window, catching a glimpse of the dark grounds where the festival was being set up for tomorrow. The Spring Equinox festival—a test of our leadership. The celebration would start first thing in the morning, and the staff was rushing around to set up the decorations and booths in time. None of us would be getting much sleep tonight.

“I hope the festival goes well,” I murmured, half to Noah and half to myself.

Noah’s lips quirked up into a small smile. “Hoping it goes well is putting it lightly, my love.”

I couldn’t argue with that. The Spring Equinox festival would determine the official merger of our packs—Silvermoon and Nightcrest becoming Silvercrest, one of the largest and most influential packs in history.

In the morning, the Alpha Council would come to evaluate us. It felt silly, knowing that one festival was the thing that would decide whether we’d be able to marry each other as two Alphas.

I inhaled sharply. “If we don’t get what we want—”

“Then we’ll fight for it,” Noah finished for me, glancing up at me from his work. “Just like we fight for everything else.”

His words bolstered me, but only a little. It was hard not to assume that the world was against us, that we’d always have to fight for everything we wanted in life. Hard not to assume that we were doomed from the start.

Noah, sensing my frustration, rose from his desk and crossed the room. He held his hand toward me and cocked his head in the direction of the door.

“Come on. Let’s go for a walk.”

Sighing softly, I took his hand and let him lead me out of the house. We made our way outside into the cool night air, where the sound of power tools and voices floated toward us. Bright spotlights lit up the large back lawn as pack members worked diligently.

At the far end, a stage was being erected; there would be live music from two big bands, one from Nightcrest and one from Silvermoon, playing tomorrow night. In the afternoon, however, there would be a play performed by two theater troupes from each pack who would put on a show together.

“This makes the Lunar Festival feel tiny in comparison,” I chuckled as we wandered between the half-built structures.

Noah nodded in agreement. “It feels like forever ago, too.”

I glanced up at him. “You know, in my past life—before the rebirth, I mean—we never held the

Lunar Festival.”

“What?” Noah quirked an eyebrow, surprised. “It was always so important to us.”

I merely shrugged one shoulder. “We both had… other things on our minds.” I shuddered a little at the thought of those days—of the constant scandals, the arguments, the nitpicking from both sides. We’d gotten so caught up in all of it that we’d lost sight of what was important for the pack. Nightcrest hadn’t been picked to hold the festival.

“Well… it was a success in this life, wasn’t it?” Noah asked, squeezing my hand a little tighter.

Nodding, I said, “It was. If you ignore the fact that Zoe and Scott swapped out our offerings to make us fight with each other.”

At that, Noah stiffened. He stopped short, turning to face me fully. “I’m never letting anyone get in the way of us like that again,” he said, his voice serious. “Ever.”

My breath caught a little at the intensity in his voice. He must have said those words a million times by now, but they took me aback each and every time. Maybe it was because I spent so long wishing he would say them. Maybe it was because I spent so long wishing I would listen to them.

Wordlessly, I closed the distance between us and looped my arms around his neck. I lifted up ever so slightly on my tiptoes and kissed him. He tasted like late-night coffee and cologne, and a touch of my own perfume from a kiss we’d shared earlier in the midst of work.

When we parted for air, we leaned our foreheads against one another, just breathing each other in for a few moments.

Then, suddenly, I blurted out, “I want to have another baby.”

Noah practically stumbled back, his eyes wide. “You—what?”

I pressed my lips together, feeling my cheeks heat for a moment, before I nodded. “I’ve been thinking about it lately. I want another.”

“When?” Noah repeated, gripping my hands. “Hannah, we have so much—”

“I don’t care when,” I suddenly cut him off with a shake of my head. I gestured up to the house, the space that was still filling with new memories, slowly but surely. To the empty land all around. “This place is so… big. I want to fill it.”

“With children?”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Maybe not quite that many. But with memories. Happiness. I don’t know… I can’t explain it. I just want another baby at some point. Maybe when we get the merger situated… Maybe five years from now. Hopefully sooner than that, but I do want another.”

For several long moments, Noah was silent—the only sounds between us that of the workers shouting and running their power tools. I supposed that this wasn’t exactly the ideal place to bring something like this up, surrounded by all these people. But I couldn’t hold it in any longer.

“If you don’t want to—” I began, fearing I was throwing it on him too suddenly.

But he cut me off with another kiss before I could finish, his hands cupping either side of my face.

“Okay,” he breathed against my lips. “Okay. We’ll have another. And another and another and another, if that’s what you want.”

I laughed, trying to pull back, but it was no use—he was clutching me too hard against his mouth, kissing me with too much fervor for a man who was surrounded by workers.

“Maybe—Maybe not that many,” I stammered into his mouth, finally grabbing his wrists and tilting my head back a little for air.

When I met his gaze, his green eyes were sparkling in the spotlights. “I spent so long missing you, just wishing that I could be surrounded by your love,” Noah whispered, tracing his thumbs across my cheekbones. “So if you want to fill the world with more of yourself, more of us, then I’d be the happiest man on Earth for it.”

I swallowed the sudden lump in my throat. “You would really like to have another?”

Noah nodded vehemently, a grin touching his lips, which were now slightly red and swollen from kissing me.

“Yes. Nothing would make me happier. In fact…”

My mate grinned as he suddenly picked me up, right in front of all the workers, and threw me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. I shrieked as he carried me back to the house.

“Let’s make one right now.”