Alpha's Regret After Her Rebirth by Aurora Starling

Chapter 0360

Hannah

By the tNoah pulled away from that kiss, | was left breathless and blushing. My face felt hot, surely beet red

from the unexpected display of affection.

This wasn’t just for show or for the cameras. This was real.

“You look beautiful,” he breathed, his fingers first brushing across the gauzy pink fabric of my dress and then

coming up to touch the flowers circling my head. | like this.”

My face heated a little more. “It’s not too much?” | was the only one who was dressed so extravagantly;

everyone else was more muted in various cocktail dresses and suits.

Noah shook his head quickly. “Never too much. You look like a princess.”

With that, he slid his arm around my waist and guidedinto the party. While guests, including Zoe and Drake,

had been spilling out into the foyer, the main party was in the dining room.

| clapped my fingers over my lips as we stepped through the double doors. The dining room looked even more

lovely than that morning, colorful streamers and balloons and banners covering every surface.

The long dining table was laden with all kinds of delicious-looking food and drinks, and the air practically smelled

like sugar. Music played from the speakers, soft classical strains.

And at the center of the table was the cake | had requested-a deep, rich chocolate interior with a chocolate

buttercream frosting, topped with a little statuette of a pregnant woman that looked an awful

lot like me.

“Well?” Noah asked, turning to me. “What do you think?”

“You've outdone yourself,” | breathed. “Truly. I love it.”

Noah smiled and reached for two flutes of champagne from a passing waiter. Sof the flutes were marked

with little rings around the stems, indicating a non-alcoholic alternative-for me, of course. He handed it to me

and clinked his glass against mine.

The bubbles tickled my nose as | brought it to my lips. He raised his glass and cleared his throat, causing the

guests to quiet their murmuring and turn to us.

“A toast,” he announced, “to my beautiful Luna and the heir of Nightcrest.” (1

The room echoed with the sound of clinking glasses and murmured congratulations. | sipped my cider, feeling a

bit overwhelmed by the attention-especially with Zoe standing against the far wall, her face still pale as she

looked at me.

But Noah's hand against my lower back was a welccomfort, and | leaned into him.

“Hannah!”

| turned at the sound of the familiar voice, a smile breaking across my face as | saw Drake approaching. It had

been a while since we had last seen each other, and | moved to embrace him openly.

“Drake, I'm so glad you could make it,” | said, hugging him tightly.

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Chapter 0360

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To my surprise, | felt Noah tense slightly beside me, his arm tightening around my waist. But when I pulled back,

| saw him extend his other hand to Drake, clasping his arm firmly.

“Thank you for coming, Drake,” Noah said. His voice was a bit tense, but | could sense a genuine attempt at

warmth. Tentative, perhaps, but it was there. They shook hands and parted.

Drake grinned, stuffing his hands into his pockets. “Wouldn't miss it for the world. I'm happy to be here for my

friends.”

There was the word | had been hoping for: friends.

Even Noah seemed to relax a bit at the sound. Perhaps he and Drake had their hang-ups and shared history, but

that was what we were all becoming now. Friends.

At the thought, | glanced over at where Zoe stood, swirling her champagne around in her glass. She was turned

to the side, pretending to be looking at something else, but | could see her eyes darting over to us every so

often.

Despite myself, | felt a wave of empathy wash over me.

Zoe and |, just like Noah and Drake, had our own shared pasts, our own hang-ups. But | was trying to be Jess

vindictive lately, genuinely wanting to stay true to the promise | had made to Noah to continue

working on myself as well.

So, despite the lump in my throat, | gestured to her.

“Zoe,” | called out, waving her over. “Cjoin us.”

She hesitated for a moment, surprise flashing across her face before she approached, her smile not quite

reaching her eyes. “That sounds fun,” she said, her voice overly sweet.

| handed her two slips of paper and a pen from a nearby table. “Write down one boy nand one girl name

you'd like to suggest,” | explained, holding out a jar for her to drop them into. “We'll draw them out later and see

what everyone suggested.”

Zoe nodded, scribbling down her choices and folding the scraps of paper before dropping them in the jar. “I hope

it’s a girl,” she said with a sweet smile.

| paused, taken aback by her words. Most people would say that to an Alpha and Luna when they wanted to

imply that they hoped the baby wouldn't be an heir-one of those small political slights that sounded sweet but

were meant to cut deep.

But | wasn’t about to let that slide.

“Fun fact,” | said, loud enough for others to hear, my voice firm but not unkind, “both Noah and | possess the

Alpha gene. Our baby will have it regardless of gender.”

Zoe's smile didn’t falter, though | saw a flicker of something-perhaps disappointment?-in her eyes. “Oh, | almost

forgot,” she replied smoothly without missing a beat. “That's wonderful.”

| merely offered her a pleasant smile of my own.

As the evening progressed, Noah never strayed far from my side. During dinner, his hand rested on my leg under

the table. The warmth of his palm seeped through the fabric of my dress, sending little sparks of electricity

through me.

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Chapter 0360

I marveled at how easily he smiled and laughed tonight, engaging in conversations with our guests. It was like

watching him open up more and more with each passing moment, the Ice that had surrounded him for so long

melting away.

After dinner, a group of us moved to the living room for games. Someone suggested Hedbanz, and soon we were

all wearing ridiculous headbands with words we couldn’t see written on them.

When it was my turn, Noah leaned in close, his lips brushing my ear. The feeling sent shivers down my spine.

“Want a hint?” he murmured.

| shivered at his proximity in front of all these people, the warmth of his breath tickling my skin. “That's

cheating,” | whispered back, but I couldn't keep the smile from my face.

Noah leaned in, pressing his lips gently to mine. Suddenly, | heard his voice echo in my mind, clear as day, “Your

word is ‘Moonflower.”

| gasped, both at the use of our Mindlink-something we had never used before, not even once-and at his blatant

cheating.

Noah just grinned as he pulled back, looking satisfied with himself. Everyone looked atexpectantly.

“It's... It’s moonflower,” | said, my face flushing.

“You cheaters!” Amber threw down her headband and pointed an accusatory finger at me.

“You two are impossible,” Drake chuckled, shaking his head.

Viona threw her head back and laughed. “I should have known.”

| flushed in the wake of our mischief, but Noah just laughed along with the others, wrapping his arm around my

shoulders and tuggingclose. We prepared a new round, Noah promising not to cheat again. as our friends

continued to chide him.

My eyes slid over to Zoe then, who was sitting in the armchair by the window, legs crossed, a fresh glass of

champagne in one delicate hand.

She was smiling, too.

Smiling a bit too sweetly for comfort.

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