\u00a0<\/p>\n
Third-Person\u2019s POV\u00a0<\/p>\n
What could possibly be wrong with her?\u00a0<\/p>\n
The messenger, a scrawny wolf with trembling hands and a nervous scent, stood in front of me, barely managing to meet Nolan\u2019s eyes. \u201cAlpha,\u201d he said, voice taut, \u201cthe Healer insists it\u2019s urgent. He said it concerns\u2026 your wife\u2019s medical results.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nolan let out a short, humorless breath.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My wife.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It felt strange, the word. Heavier now. But he shoved that thought aside.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was perfectly fine earlier,\u201d Nolan muttered. \u201cLively, throwing her little tantrum, storming around like she owned the place. If anything, she looked healthier than ever. Yet you think she\u2019s illed?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The worker didn\u2019t answer, of course. He simply nodded and backed away, disappearing the second he stopped acknowledging his existence.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nolan started pacing, his thoughts still spinning around Ellie\u2019s outburst like flies around fire.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She said she wanted a divorce.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And she meant it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He could still hear the way she said it, not the sobbing little girl he used to know, the one who wilted under pressure and curled up at his feet with hope in her eyes. No, this version of her was wild and loud and sure. Nothing like her past acts, this character felt far to\u2026 real.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And it got under his skin.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nolan clenched his jaw. His footsteps echoed under the high ceilings, but even that sound couldn\u2019t drown out his thoughts.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAlpha,\u201d the Beta said quietly, stepping up beside me, \u201csir, excuse my words, but\u2026why are you so angry?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t answer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He tilted his head. \u201cYou\u2019re not usually like this. Cold, yes. Focused. Controlled. But this? You\u2019re\u2026 upset.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nolan stopped walking.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The worst part was, he wasn\u2019t wrong.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He\u2019d always prided himself on being unmoved. Strategic. He handled war councils and border threats with less heat than he\u2019d felt knowing Ellie was packing her things like she\u2019d never cared for him at all.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nolan ran a hand through his hair, denied, \u201cNo, I am not. It\u2019s because she\u2019s acting out. \u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cTell the Healer he can leave the results in my office.\u201d He spoke coldly, impatiently, \u201cI\u2019ll look at them when I have time.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Beta hesitated, then nodded, clearly sensing this wasn\u2019t a battle worth pushing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As Nolan turned to leave, his jaw tightened.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Medical results.\u00a0<\/p>\n
How could there possibly be something wrong with her?\u00a0<\/p>\n
She was too loud. Too bold. Too alive.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ellie\u2019s POV\u00a0<\/p>\n
The next day, I was double-checking my bag, folding each piece of clothing over again, not because I was sentimental, but because it gave my hands something to do while the rest of me burned. I refused to leave in a flurry. No storming out. No slammed doors. If I was leaving, I\u2019d do it calm. Composed. On my own two feet.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cToo bad,\u201d one of the maids whispered nearby, her voice not nearly quiet enough. \u201cNolan\u2019s been Alpha for so long. He really needs an heir. Poor man. Maybe things will finally settle down once Felicity takes over. She can definitely give him children unlike Ellie.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I closed the lid of my suitcase and let the soft click of the latch answer for me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I can have children. That\u2019s not the problem.\u00a0<\/p>\n
What scares me is the thought of raising them in this place. This house isn\u2019t a home, it\u2019s a pedestal I was meant to stand on, silent and pretty, until I cracked under the weight. If someone wants to stay here and be worshipped and walked over, that\u2019s on them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A soft chime echoed through the packhouse\u2019s intercom system. It was a message from the Beta, formal and direct to my room alone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe rejection ceremony has been prepared. Please report to the Alpha\u2019s office, Ellie.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stood up, brushing invisible dust from my sleeves. My shoes clicked with purpose as I left the room behind. One step, then another, down the long hallway I\u2019d once memorized with the desperation of someone trying to belong.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I rounded the corner and nearly froze.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Voices. Familiar, but from a dream I hadn\u2019t let myself remember until now.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Two men stood at the end of the corridor.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The first was tall and broad-shouldered, his hair a tousled chestnut brown that curled slightly at the ends, like he\u2019d always been too impatient to brush it. He wore a dark military-style jacket over a fitted shirt, the sleeves rolled up to his forearms, revealing faint scars along sun-kissed skin. His stance was alert, a protective tension in his frame like he was ready to step in front of anything that moved too fast. His sharp eyes locked onto mine the second I rounded the corner.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The second man stood just behind him, older, leaner, with silver threaded through his cold-brew brown hair, slicked neatly back. He was dressed in a long ash-gray coat trimmed with gold, regal in posture but unreadable in expression. Still and sharp like a drawn blade, one that hadn\u2019t dulled in the slightest with time. His gaze was colder, quieter, but no less piercing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Those must have been the visitors from the Moonstone Pack Nolan had mentioned.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The air seemed to bend between us, the younger one turned, his eyes narrowing the second they landed on me. A look flashed across his face so fast I nearly missed it. He nodded to one of the guards, asking low, \u201cWho is she?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My brows furrowed, I ducked my head, and my legs carried me past them toward the office door.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I was almost in Nolan\u2019s office when I heard one of the guards answering his question.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s our Alpha\u2019s rogue wife.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rogue.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The word slapped me, not because it hurt anymore, but because I\u2019d heard it so many times it had nearly become my name. Not Ellie. Not mate. Not woman. Just\u2026 rogue. Something less-than.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The doors shut behind me, and I let myself focus on the trail ahead.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nolan stood behind his desk, arms crossed, looking at me like I was late, even though I wasn\u2019t.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re early,\u201d he muttered.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYour Beta said now,\u201d I said. \u201cSo I\u2019m here now.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He studied me, trying to read the cracks in my face like always, but I didn\u2019t give him any.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLast chance to change your mind,\u201d he said, smirking slightly, trying to make it sound like a joke. But his eyes weren\u2019t laughing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I tilted my head sarcastically. \u201cYou sure you want to give up your dramatic rogue wife? Apparently, she was always good for a bit of gossip.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
His mouth pressed into a hard line.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s get it over with,\u201d I said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Something in his expression shifted. Annoyance, maybe. Or disbelief. As if the script in his head was finally starting to unravel.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Suddenly, the doors slammed open.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Beta burst in, breathless and holding a folder in his hand.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAlpha! Wait\u2014Please, these are important!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
We both turned.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He rushed forward, gripping a folder like it were burning his fingers. His eyes flicked to me, wide and uncertain, then back to Nolan.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I frowned, watching as Nolan for the papers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat could it possibly be, Beta.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I saw it before the folder even touched Nolan\u2019s hand. My name was printed across the top of the document. The official stamp of the pack\u2019s medical division. I knew what was printed with in it:\u00a0<\/p>\n
Pregnancy confirmed. Estimated gestation: five weeks.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nolan frowned and as he took it, \u201cWhat is this\u2026?\u201d<\/p>\n
A Cold Marriage That Turned Warm 5 Chapter 5 \u00a0 Third-Person\u2019s POV\u00a0 What could possibly be wrong with her?\u00a0 The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-unremembered-mate-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23574","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23574"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23574\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23574"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}