Chapter 339

Noah

“Tell me everything you know about White Rabbit.”

Noah leaned back in his chair, regarding his Beta carefully. The morning sun shone through the office windows, but Noah hadn't yet slept. He couldn’t sleep last night; there was too much to do. Too many moving parts to manage, too much damage to control. A mysterious forum post and now… this.

Scott shifted uncomfortably. “There’s not much to tell, Alpha. Luna Hannah asked me to look into the username, so I did.”

Noah resisted the urge to growl a warning. Scott, sensing his Alpha’s dwindling patience, almost shrank in his chair.

“The vendor disappeared a few months ago,” Scott elaborated quickly. “After selling Hannah those diet pills. Luna Hannah never told me more than that, and I never found anything other than an IP address traced to a random address overseas.”

Noah’s eyes narrowed. “Where was it traced to?”

Scott pulled out a notepad. “It was… ah, here it is. A small town overseas. I’ve got the exact coordinates. But when I looked into it, there were no residents at the address. The local government said the house has been condemned for years.”

As Scott rattled off the location, Noah’s mind raced. The place sounded familiar, uncomfortably so. It was close to where his doctor had gone on that strange, unprecedented vacation. And the date…

“When did you say the vendor disappeared?” Noah asked.

Scott checked his notes. “About five months ago, sir. Right around the time…”

“Right around the time Dr. Patel left for his vacation,” Noah finished, his suspicion growing. And also around the time Hannah got pregnant.

Scott’s eyebrows shot up. “You think there’s a connection?”

Noah waved his hand dismissively. “That’ll be all for now.”

With a nod, Scott rose and headed for the door. But Noah stopped him with a gruff command.

“You are supposed to be my Beta, Scott. I expect you to tell me when my wife asks you to look into shady online dealers.”

Scott stiffened, his hand curling around the doorknob. Noah said nothing more, dismissing him.

As Scott left, Noah’s thoughts turned to Hannah. She must have made the same connection yesterday, linking White Rabbit's elusive online presence to the forum poster. He couldn’t blame her. And perhaps she was onto something. He found himself somewhat impressed by her instincts. She had proven herself correct before.

He should have been angry with her for not telling him sooner, but he wasn’t. If anything, he respected her more for making the connection, for taking initiative. And for everything else she’d been doing lately—her work with the Luna Council, her efforts to better herself.

A low growl rumbled in his chest as his wolf stirred. “You’re falling for her,” he accused himself.

Noah didn’t realize it, but a small smile had touched his lips. He quickly schooled his expression and gritted his teeth.

The truth was, he had been falling for Hannah for months. Ever since she was kidnapped, and he had nearly lost her. The fear he’d felt then, the desperation to get her back… it had awakened something in him. It tormented him at night. That was why he wanted to share a bed with her: fear. He wanted to protect her, and… Sleeping beside her had alleviated some of his nightmares. He knew it had done the same for her. She had been dreaming about that night on the cliff, just as he had. When they had begun sharing a bed again, both of them had been better rested. They wouldn’t admit it to each other, but it was apparent on their faces. It wasn’t just the sex making them glow, although that helped, too.