Alpha's Regret After Her Rebirth by Aurora Starling

Chapter 0031

Hannah

25 BONUS

That night, after the awkward tension at dinner, I found myself unable to finish my plate. The rest of the family banquet went by without incident, Noah keeping his distance after I had seen him watching me from the hallway. I pretended to eat, falling back into my old habits: pushing my food around on the plate, cutting it up into small pieces, always keeping myself and those around me talking so no one would notice. 1

But around midnight, the hunger pangs started kicking in.

That, and the nausea.

I was

Still extremely early in the pregnancy, maybe even too early for morning sickness. But, with so little food in my belly, it felt like a storm was roiling in my gut.

I knew I needed to eat, if even only a few bites.

Once Noah was out of the house and I was certain everyone was asleep, I quietly made my way down to the kitchen in my nightgown, my bare feet making no sounds on the marble floors. Cautiously, like scared animal searching for scraps, I gathered a small plate of food.

A few minutes later, I was back in my bedroom with a plate of cheese, bread, and fruit. It wasn’t much, but it was a start.

And I wanted to start getting better. I wanted to nourish myself and the life growing inside me. So I thought that maybe trying to eat alone, in the privacy of my chambers, could be good practice.

I settled onto the edge of my bed, the plate balanced carefully on my lap. One slice of fresh bread, a few pieces of sharp cheese, and two strawberries–simple foods, but my stomach still clenched anxiously at the sight of them.

Steeling myself, I picked up a piece of the bread.

turning it over in my hands as I tried to psyche myself up to take a bite. Finally, I closed my eyes and brought it

exploded across my tongue–the yeasty warmth of the bread, the slight tang from whatever Zoe had brushed on top before baking. Despite my initial trepidation, it

of food had sent my body into

in my belly, like the little life inside of me–the clump of cells that had barely even begun to form into a

but was still my baby–was singing

tasted something so divine. Not even the sweet, juicy peach slice had

my last bite when a quiet creak made my eyes shoot open. There, standing frozen

Chapter 0031

clattered to the floor.

+25 BONUS

He wasn’t supposed to be here; he had left earlier, and

shoveling food in like an uncouth pig, crumbs no doubt scattered across my face and nightgown. I opened my mouth, an

you doing

answer my

and bent down to retrieve the fallen plate. He picked up the few scraps that had touched

he asked. Much

hard, the remaining bite of bread feeling like a lump in my throat. Rather than answering, I deflected once again. “Why are you here so late? Don’t you usually leave the

his mouth twitched slightly at my question, but once again, he didn’t respond. We regarded each

without another word, he spoke again. “I had to come back for

for the briefest of moments, seeing him standing

hadn’t. We

another word. I sat watching him, the taste of the

to be ashamed,