Chapter 40

Hannah

The next day, my phone buzzed with an incoming call as I was brushing my hair out in front of the mirror. Picking up the phone, a knot of dread instantly formed in the pit of my stomach as I stared at the name flashing across the screen.

Emma.

The last time we had spoken, things hadn’t exactly ended on the best of terms. I had, after all, revealed that her husband was cheating on her. Surely she didn’t think very highly of me.

With a heavy sigh, I swiped to accept the call. “Hello?”

“Hannah, it’s Emma,” her voice filtered through the speaker. “I hope I’m not catching you at a bad time.”

“No, no,” I assured her, rubbing my temple as I settled onto the edge of the bed. “What’s up?”

“Well, I was hoping we could get together for dinner tonight?” she asked, her tone taking on a slightly hesitant edge. “There are some things I’d like to discuss with you, if you’re free.”

I pressed my lips together, weighing my options. After the way I had callously revealed her husband’s infidelity at the charity gala, I wouldn’t have blamed Emma if she never wanted to speak to me again. But still, there was something in her voice that made me curious.

“Yeah, sure,” I finally said. “Dinner sounds good.”

…

Thanking the host, I settled into a cozy corner booth at the pub in town—I had thought it was an unlikely place for Emma to frequent, but figured that maybe she was trying to fly under the radar and had picked this little hole-in-the-wall to do just that.

I fidgeted with my glass of water, taking a sip as my eyes roamed the dimly lit room for Emma. Finally, I caught a glimpse of her striding in through the door, dressed down with her hair pulled back in a ponytail. It hit me, then, that I had only ever seen her dressed to the nines with a cake of makeup covering her face.

She looked beautiful like this.

“Hannah,” she greeted me with a surprisingly warm smile as she slid into the booth across from me. “It’s so good to see you.”

“You too,” I replied, offering up a small smile of my own despite the nervous fluttering in my stomach. “Listen, Emma, before you say anything else, I just want to apologize for how I acted the last time we spoke. It was cruel of me to reveal your husband’s affair like that, and I’m sorry. I was being vindictive, and…”

To my surprise, Emma simply waved a dismissive hand. “Don’t worry about it, Hannah, really. In all honesty, you did me a favor.”

I blinked, taken aback. “What do you mean?”

Emma leaned forward, dropping her voice. “I’m leaving him,” she confided in a low voice. “I’ve already started making arrangements to move out and file for divorce.”

My brows hiked upward. “Wow... Emma, I’m so sorry. I had no idea. I mean, I guess I could have guessed, but…”

She shook her head. “Don’t be sorry. This has been a long time coming, if I’m being honest with myself. He and I have been growing apart for years now, and his infidelity was just the final straw that made me realize I deserve better than to be stuck in a loveless marriage. I can do so much better.”

I nodded slowly, feeling a newfound surge of respect for this woman I had once viewed as little more than a vapid, preening trophy wife. “I’m glad you’re standing up for yourself,” I told her sincerely. “That takes a lot of courage.”

Emma offered me a small, grateful smile before her expression turned slightly hesitant once more. “Actually, Hannah, there’s another reason I wanted to speak with you tonight…”

She drew in a deep breath, seeming to steel herself before she spoke. “For a long time, I was incredibly envious of you,” she admitted, her cheeks flushing slightly. “Not just of your beauty, but of your confidence and the way you carried yourself with such poise and grace. I found myself constantly comparing my own looks, my body, my accomplishments to yours, and always coming up short in my own mind.”

Me? She was envious of me? I didn’t believe it.

I opened my mouth to protest, but Emma held up a hand, effectively silencing me.

“Please, let me finish,” she begged. “It wasn’t until recently that I realized how toxic and damaging that mindset was—not just for my self-esteem, but for my overall wellbeing. I was so focused on measuring myself against other women that I completely lost sight of my own worth and value as an individual.”

“And,” she added, “I was cruel to you in turn. Don’t think for a second that I didn’t know what I was doing all those years when I was giving you backhanded compliments and making snide remarks.”

She reached across the table then, giving my hand a gentle squeeze. “But you helped open my eyes to that, Hannah, whether you intended to or not—between your acceptance of Zoe, and the advice and hug you gave me at the charity ball. And for that, I’m truly grateful.”

I stared at her for a long moment, feeling an unexpected surge of emotion welling up in my chest. All these years, I had hated her guts—and she had hated mine. But now…

“Emma, I... I don’t know what to say,” I finally managed, my voice little more than a rasp. Part of me wondered if she was toying with me, trying to give me a false sense of security, but I saw nothing but sincerity in her eyes.

She was telling the truth.

Emma’s lips curved into a soft smile as she patted my hand. “You don’t have to say anything, Hannah. Just know that if you ever need someone to talk to, someone who will listen without judgment or pretense, I’m here for you. Just as you were here for me.”

I nodded mutely, blinking back the tears that had inexplicably sprung to my eyes. “Thank you,” I murmured. “That means more than you know.”

Her smile widened. “Friends?”

“Yeah… Friends,” I replied, my cheeks tinging pink.

We lapsed into a comfortable silence for a few moments before I drew in a deep, steadying breath. “In the spirit of things… If I’m being honest... things between Noah and me have’'t been great lately, either,” I confessed, keeping my voice low.

Emma’s brow furrowed with concern, but she didn’t press for details, simply giving my hand another reassuring squeeze. “I won’t press you for details,” she said softly. “But I have to ask… are you… you know…” She tapped my wedding ring with her finger.

I swallowed and leaned back in my seat. My wedding ring glinted in the light, and I gathered her implications. I nodded. “A divorce is on the horizon,” I whispered. “But… I don’t think that my approval ratings are even high enough for me to make it on my own.”

Emma furrowed her brow. “Hannah, you do know that Nightcrest is just as much yours as it is Noah’s, don’t you?”

“What do you—”

“I mean,” she elaborated, “the people of Nightcrest support you. Even just these past few weeks, you’ve outdone yourself. You have all of the qualities of being a leader, and…” She leaned in, lowering her voice. “I know that you have the bloodline of a female Alpha in you, and that you gave up the rights to your previous pack when you married Noah. But you are capable of having all that back.”

I held her gaze for a long moment, feeling something warm and unfamiliar blossoming in my chest at her words. Finally, I managed a small smile, averting my gaze to the now-melted ice in my cup.

“Wow, um… Thank you, Emma,” I said softly. “Really. I think I needed to hear that more than you know.”

As we made our way out of the pub a little while later after sharing an appetizer and just chatting, I couldn’t help but smile. Emma’s turn in demeanor had softened me, and it felt good to—hopefully—have a new friend. Especially someone who understood what I was going through.

My smile faltered, however, as I stepped out onto the sidewalk and caught sight of a familiar black SUV idling at the curb.

Noah’s gaze locked onto mine through the tinted windshield.