Alpha's Regret After Her Rebirth (Hannah and Noah) novel Chapter 265

Chapter 0265
Chapter 0265
Hannah
After a long night of dancing, mingling, and constantly swapping champagne out for sparkling juice, the gala was finally drawing to a close-and so was my month-long eating disorder campaign. In just a few short minutes, the grandeur would come to an end, the decorations would be taken down, and it would be time to move onto the next thing.
But not yet. First, I needed to give a closing speech and announce the donation amount.
My heart raced as I stepped onto the stage. The spotlight felt warm on my skin, and I could feel hundreds of eyes on me. My wolf stirred restlessly, sensing my frayed nerves, but I quelled the sensation and cleared my throat with a pleasant smile on my face.
“Good evening, everyone,” I began, my voice echoing through the microphone. “I want to thank you all for coming tonight and supporting our cause.”
As I spoke about the importance of eating disorder awareness and treatment, I could feel Noah standing beside me, his green eyes fixed on me. The intensity of his gaze made my skin tingle. His proposition still. lingered at the edges of my mind, constantly prodding me.
Two more months with him….
It was advantageous, and reasonable. But it was also risky, not to mention… confusing.
“This campaign has been about more than just raising money,” I continued, pulling my attention back to the speech before my voice could falter. “It has been about changing lives, about giving hope to those who struggle every day with their relationship with food and their bodies.”
I paused, looking out over the sea of faces. I recognized many as high profile men and women from the various packs, but they weren’t all who were in attendance; the kids from the mental facility were there, too, dressed in rented gowns and tuxedos.
And the boy, Tom, the one in the wheelchair, stood at the front. Not sat. Stood. No wheelchair in sight, aside from a thin cane to lean his weak muscles on if needed. He had put on weight since I had last seen him, and the sight made me smile.
Inviting them had been at the top of my list, against Leonard’s wishes, of course. “They’ll sully the event, he had said. “They’re low class. They won’t know how to act.”
I didn’t care how they acted-because tonight was for them.
“And now, the moment we’ve all been waiting for,” I said, taking the envelope from the attendant. “The total donations for tonight’s gala…
I opened the envelope, my fingers shaking. As I read the number, my eyes widened. “We’ve raised… $ 75,000! That’s $25,000 over our goal!”
The room erupted into raucous applause without a moment’s hesitation. Without thinking, I turned and threw myself at Noah, whose eyes were just as wide as mine.
Our lips met.
A hush fell over the room as we kissed deeply. I felt Noah stiffen beneath my lips, and for a moment, I
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+25 BONUS
Chapter 0265
thought I had made a terrible mistake. My heart pounded, my palms grew itchy with embarrassment.
But then, to my surprise, he returned the kiss with fervor. His arms wrapped around me, dipping me low. The crowd erupted in cheers and wolf whistles.
When Noah set me back on my feet, I was breathless. Even if the kiss had just been for show and nothing else, there was no ignoring the way that my wolf was practically purring with contentment and the way that my knees felt weak in the most delicious way.
As I scanned the crowd, my eyes met Zoe’s. Her face was stony, her lips pressed into a thin line. But it was Leonard’s expression that truly caught my attention-his face was twisted with anger, his eyes narrowed at Noah and me.
Something about his glare sent a chill down my spine.
“You’ll come down with me,” Jake hissed in my ear, the scent of his rotting flesh cloying against my ear, my skin, my nostrils. Putrid water dripped onto my flesh as he grabbed my wrist, dragging me down, down
“Down, under the water… With me…”
The water, first a fine mist, turned thick and heavy in my lungs. Not water, but black sludge. And the silver wolf spread across the light of the moon had missed his mark, crashing onto the jagged rocks below.
I jolted upright, clutching at my throat as a scream died in my throat. The nightmare had felt so real- Jake’s rotting corpse, the scent of damp earth. Silver für dotted with red blood across the violent tips of jagged rocks.
My heart pounded in my chest, and I was drenched in a cold sweat. The moonlight filtering through the curtains cast an eerie glow across the room, and that was when I saw him: Jake. Real. Dripping water on my carpet.