Chapter 0357
Before I could retort, his mouth had trailed up and captured my lips in a sweet kiss. I melted into him, my hands coming up to tangle in his hair. When we parted, both slightly out of breath, he crouched down, parting my robe to expose my swollen belly. He pressed a tender kiss to my skin, his hand caressing the curve. I sipped my coffee as I watched him.
“Good morning to you too, little one,” he whispered, his lips brushing against my belly. “Are you excited for your party today?”
I felt tears prick at the corners of my eyes. How had we gone from cold, distant strangers to this? It seemed almost miraculous. Too good to be true.
“Come on,” Noah said, standing up and taking my hand. “Since apparently you can’t keep your nose out of the party preparations.”
He led me outside, where the gardens were awash in warm morning sunlight. It was going to be a hot one today, judging by the way the morning dew was already curling off the grass in little tendrils of steam.
“You know,” I said as we meandered through the pebbled pathway, coffee in hand, “with everything that’s been going on, I haven’t really thought about baby names.”
Noah glanced at me. “Surely you must have a few ideas.”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. It feels like this week is the first week I’ve really had a chance to think about being a mom, and not just trying to figure out how to get through a divorce or what to do about my cousin taking over my pack.”
Noah stiffened a bit at that, his hand tightening around mine. Those divorce papers burning in the fireplace was still a fresh image in both of our minds. But he didn’t comment on it.
I turned to him then. “I’m still worried about Silvermoon, for what it’s worth,” I admitted. “It’s my home pack, and I’d hate to see it fall to ruin under Alvin’s command…”
Noah’s expression turned serious. He was quiet for a moment, considering.
“I’ve been thinking about that, too,” he finally said, leading me to a nearby stone bench. We sat down, the white and green tendrils of a wisteria tree swaying over our heads. “I think there might be a way for Nightcrest to absorb Silvermoon.”
I blinked, surprised. “Absorb it? But… they’re both such large territories. How would that even work?”
“It would be a massive undertaking, without a doubt,” he agreed. “Definitely not something I would have considered before on my own.”
He turned to me then. “But with your recent strides as Luna, I think we could handle it together. Maybe you could talk to your family, see if they’d be open to the idea, and we can come up with a transition plan together.”
I chewed the inside of my cheek, considering. The idea was intriguing. It would allow me to protect Silvermoon without having to leave Noah and Nightcrest. It sounded like a lot of work, but it was the type of work I’d grown to love lately.
“I’ll think about it,” I said, resting a hand on my swollen belly.
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Chapter 0357
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