Chapter 88
Chapter HannahAll content © N/.ôvel/Dr/ama.Org.
0088
I found myself in a dark room-my room. No, my bathroom. I couldn't see it, but I could recognize the smell, the feeling of the cool marble tiles under my hips, the hot steam rising into the air. Somewhere, the shower was running. But it didn't matter. I was dying. 1 gave you another chance."
I whipped around at the sound of the woman's voice, but there was no one there; or at least, I didn't think there was anyone there, but it was so dark I couldn't see. "Who are you?" I asked.
The woman paused before speaking again. "I gave you another chance, and you're going to ruin it. If you don't... Be careful..."
Her voice trailed off, the last of her words echoing off of walls that didn't exist. I reached forward blindly. calling out to the woman whose voice I now recognized. "Moon Goddess... Moon Goddess..." "Hannah."
I woke up with a jolt, the feeling of a firm hand on my shoulder ripping me out of my strange dream. Blinking rapidly, I quickly wiped away the thin trail of drool that had escaped the corner of my mouth while I was asleep at my desk. Goddess, how embarrassing. "Hannah." The deep rumble of Noah's voice made me stiffen. I straightened up, pushing my hair back from my face as I turned to see him towering over my desk with his phone clutched in one hand and the other pressed into his hip.
"Noah? I thought you were working." I said, trying to keep my tone neutral despite the way my heart had begun to race at his unannounced intrusion-especially upon him seeing me in my most vulnerable state, passed out on my desk after a night of work. Rather than answering right away, his gaze dropped to the chaotic mess of papers and documents sc**ed across my desk. I followed his eyes, feeling a p***le of self-consciousness as I realized how disorganized and unkempt the whole setup must look My whole office was in a state of chaos, really; it was the one room in the mansion that was entirely mine, and I never permitted anyone to enter. Not my friends, hot the servants, not even Noah.
Noah didn't know this about me-or maybe he did-but secretly loved collecting antiques. It was one of my hobbies before we got together, and although my collecting had dwindled, I still liked to go on the hunt for rare finds every so often.
My office was where I kept all of those things: old clocks, quirky little statuettes, yellowed books, interesting art.
It was the one place where I could be myself. And now Noah had marched in here without my permission.
Before I could say anything. Noah's hand reached out, plucking up one of the pages covered in my chaotic handwriting. "What's all this?" he asked gruffly
I swallowed hard, my shoulders straightening a little. "Just... some plans I've been working on. For the Lunar Festival celebrations coming up." I wet my lips nervously. "I was thinking we could do a sort of.. community picnic, soon. To help drum up more support and involvement from the Alpha Council before they make their decision" Noah's eyes scanned over the page, his expression unreadable. "Hm. A picnic," he repeated flatly, glancing up at me. In the middle of winter?"
"Yes," I replied. "A big one, held out on the grounds near the gardens. With live music, dancing, locally-sourced food and entertainment vendors to really showcase our pack's talents and abilities. We'll have fire pits set up so it won't be too cold." I sat up a little taller. "It could be a great way to make the Alpha Council see what we could do if we were chosen to host the festival," I finishe
There was a heavy silence then, the weight of Noah's cold stare making me shift uncomfortably in my seat. I searched his face, feeling my stomach twist with dread. He was going to call the whole idea s**id, I just knew it.