Alpha's Regret After Her Rebirth (Hannah and Noah) novel Chapter 116

Chapter 0116
Hannah
My heart sank as one of the attendants approached us, a length of rope held in his hands. I eyed it warily, already envisioning the tangled disaster Noah and I were sure to become. We hadn’t trained for this since that one day last week when we had fought so hard that we had fallen.
“For the final challenge, you’ll be tying your legs together,” the man explained, gesturing for us to sit.” Once the buzzer goes off, you will race from this starting line to that flag over there and back.”
I followed the man’s finger toward the yellow flag that had just been erected a ways down the field. Goddess, it looked so far from here. We would never make it, not with our horrible chemistry and vast height difference.
But there was nothing I could do about it now. With a resigned sigh, I watched as the attendant tied my left leg and Noah’s right leg together. I glanced up at Noah, but his expression betrayed nothing-just the way it had been all morning.
I couldn’t help but wonder what was going through Noah’s head at that moment. Was he excited? Nervous? Annoyed? All of the above?
It was almost infuriating that his face was so stony. Maybe, just maybe, if he would show the tiniest shred of a personality behind that mask, I might have felt as though I was competing with a real person and not a stone-faced shell of a man.
Once the attendant was finished tying us together, I tentatively tested the tension of the rope, my calf brushing against Noah’s in the process. A shiver worked its way up my spine at the contact, and I felt heat creeping up the back of my neck just at the close proximity.
Get a grip, I chastised myself harshly. This was just a stupid challenge, nothing more. I was being ridiculous.
When I chanced another glance at Noah, however, his face was still that irritatingly inscrutable mask. His lips were set in a grim line, his eyes narrowed as he took in the other two couples. Of course he wasn’t looking at me.
The other couples seemed to be taking the whole thing in stride-laughing and shoving each other playfully as they were tied together. Even Drake had his arm looped casually around Zoe’s shoulders, and she was smirking at something he said despite her obvious efforts not to.
But not Noah. He was coiled like a spring, every muscle in his body tensed. Goddess forbid he actually had a little fun for once, Maybe this wouldn’t have been so bad if we could only laugh about it.
Before I could say anything else, however, a hush fell over the crowd and drew my attention to the platform. The Luna Queen raised the microphone to her lips again.
“The final challenge is a test of teamwork and synchronicity,” she called out. “Once the buzzer goes off, you and your partner will race to the flag, then back. The competition ends here, with the winners being granted the honor of hosting this year’s Lunar Festival Understood?”
A chorus of murmurs worked its way through the crowd. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Noah giving a sharp nod, his attention laser-focused.
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Chapter 0116
This was it, then.
At the sound of the buzzer, my heart leapt into my throat. On instinct, I surged forward-and immediately felt the rope snapping taut, halting my momentum as Noah failed to move in sync. The other couples moved forward, hopping and laughing together. But not us.
“Noah!” I hissed, the word choked out as I fought to regain my balance. “You need to go when I go!”
“Then don’t take off without warning me,” he bit out through gritted teeth.
We set off again, this time in better harmony, bunny-hopping along in a comically uncoordinated gait. All around us, other couples were bounding ahead, some dissolving into helpless laughter even as they tripped over themselves and each other.
1, however, had no breath to spare for laughter. My thighs were already burning from the strain of dragging Noah’s bulk along with me. Not only that, but I felt a surge of morning sickness hit me, causing my stomach to twist.
Oh, Goddess. At this rate, I was certain we would be dead last, lagging hopelessly behind the others.
But then, as if reading my mind, Noah angled his body inwards and wrapped one arm snugly around my waist. The shift in position allowed me to use his momentum, our strides evening out into a smooth, coordinated rhythm.
We picked up speed, quickly closing the gap between us and the couple that was in third place. With my heart pounding wildly, I chanced a sideways glance at Noah. His brow was furrowed in concentration, his muscles rippling beneath his damp shirt with every move.
Just a few more paces and we were passing the next couple. And then, not long after that, we were neck- and-neck with Drake and Zoe, their expressions equally determined.
The turnaround at the flag was a blur, all of us jostling and moving desperately in order to minimize wasted motion. Drake practically shoved Noah with his elbow, nearly sending us sprawling. I cried out, hooking my arm around Noah’s narrow waist and managing to right myself just before I fell.
From there, we were racing back toward the starting line, the freshly-mowed grass whipping at our ankles. My lungs burned with the exertion, my vision turning into a tunnel until all I could process was Noah’s face -clenched jaw, sweat-damp hairline, flaring nostrils.
We were giving it our all. That was undeniable. And though I refused to tear my gaze away from the finish line, I could sense a space growing between us and Drake and Zoe, putting us in first place.
It was only Noah and I then, racing toward the finish line. We picked up our pace, Noah’s fingers digging into my waist as he pulled me along. I looped my fingers into his shirt, gritting my teeth as I moved in tandem with him.
The roar of the crowd hardly seemed to register in my ears, easily tuned out by my own focus. We were so close, the finish mere paces away. With immense effort, I shoved away my nausea and pushed harder, lengthening my strides to match Noah’s.
Then, there it was-the finish line, where two attendants were holding a colorful streamer across its length. Noah and I surged forward, and burst through.
For a fraction of a moment, all I could hear was the roar of the audience and the cheers of the other
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Chapter 2116
competitors. Then, Noah was crashing into me, the sheer force of his large body slamming into mine sweeping my feet out from underneath me.
I had just enough time to glimpse his face-eyes wide, mouth parted in surprise-before we went tumbling to the ground in a tangle of limbs.
Dimly, I registered the screams and cheers of the crowd and the sound of the buzzer. I knew we had won, then; and although the air had been knocked out of my lungs, I couldn’t help but grin.
The next thing I knew, I was being hauled to my feet, the world tilting in a dizzying kaleidoscope of shapes and colors. I saw Noah’s face-smiling, finally-and I felt his hands under my arms.
He picked me up and spun me around, the sounds of the crowd fading away into the distance.
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