Chapter 10\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nolan\u2019s POV\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat the \u201d Ellie\u2019s voice followed up my own in disbelief. \u201cWe\u2019re\u2026 not getting a divorce?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Felicity blinked at me before her hand slowly fell from her hip. \u201cHello? You\u2019re not divorcing her? Nolan, didn\u2019t you just say-?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I couldn\u2019t look at either of them. My eyes shut, hoping for a moment of clarity.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My gaze eventually fell instead on the omega maid still frozen beside Ellie, her eyes wide as saucers. She looked between the three of us like she had just stumbled into a room she had no business being in, and knew she had heard too much. Said too much.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou,\u201d I said, my tone low, controlled. \u201cYou were gossiping. About your Alpha. Your Luna. Out loud.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The color drained from her face.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2013Alpha, I didn\u2019t mean\u2013It wasn\u2019t\u2013I was just-\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo excuse,\u201d I snapped, voice sharper now. \u201cDo you understand what it means to speak so freely about pack leadership? About private matters that don\u2019t concern you?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She bowed low, trembling. \u201cI\u2019m sorry, Alpha. Please forgive me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Felicity stepped back, clearly rattled. And guilty. The maid wasn\u2019t the only one not holding her tongue.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My mind skimmed back over her words, how I\u2019ve treated Ellie. I could hear the echoes of the rumors all over again, fragments over the past few months\u2013half\u2013laughs, sideways glances, whispered speculation about Ellie and me. I just hadn\u2019t cared enough to pay attention.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Until now.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And suddenly, it clicked. The whispers hadn\u2019t started on their own. They had a source.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I turned slightly toward Felicity.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her mouth opened, but she didn\u2019t speak, because she knew I knew about her gossiping ways.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I ran a hand down my face, steadying my voice. \u201cEnough. Leave us.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The maid scurried out, still whispering apologies. The room fell quiet again.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI was only trying to defend you,\u201d Felicity said, softer now, eyes glossy. \u201cI never meant-\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou spread rumors,\u201d I cut in. \u201cAbout Ellie. About me. To make yourself look better.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her eyes filled with tears. \u201cI did it because I love you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t answer that when the scent of pine needles and sweat poured over my memory.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Back when I was shorter, leaner, and had fewer years to my life, I remembered the clearing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The same one I was dragged to before dawn most mornings, long before the rest of the world was even awake\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 10\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
for morning coffee. The ground was always cold. The frost clung to the edges of my sleeves as I braced for another round. My ribs still ached when I thought about it. How many times had I hit the dirt with the wind knocked from my lungs?\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAgain,\u201d my father would bark. Not a trace of softness in his voice.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He wasn\u2019t a cruel man. Not outwardly. To the pack, he was strong, stoic, revered. A noble Alpha of the old ways. But to me, he was a blueprint.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A checklist.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A standard I never quite met.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAgain.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I was barely eight.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My mother stood nearby, arms crossed over her long ceremonial robe, her silver pendant of the Moon Goddess glinting in the morning sun. She never stepped in. Her silence was louder than any of my father\u2019s commands. It was an agreement. Expectation. Worship, even.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They believed strength would bring the Moon Goddess\u2019s blessing. That power wasn\u2019t given; it was earned through sacrifice. Through blood. Through bones that cracked and mended stronger. My blood. My bones.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I remember one morning more vividly than the rest.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My chest was heaving, every breath was like trying to inhale knives. My fists were scraped raw from hours of punching the training posts. The skin split open, blood trickling down my wrists, staining the cuffs of my training uniform.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t,\u201d I muttered, my voice shaking.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My father\u2019s eyes narrowed. \u201cYou will.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI-\u201cI swayed. My vision swam. My knees gave out.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And then\u2013darkness.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The next thing I remembered was waking up on the cold stone floor of our house, a wet cloth pressed to my forehead. My mother\u2019s face hovered above me, unreadable.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou embarrassed your father,\u201d she said softly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Not \u201care you okay?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Not \u201cyou worked hard.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Just disappointment wrapped in prayer beads and ancient stories of greatness they couldn\u2019t reach, yet expected\u00a0<\/p>\n
me to.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They never achieved the Moon Goddess\u2019s favor. They never got to lead the strongest pack. That burden had shifted to me before I was even old enough to shift.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A Cold Marriage That Turned Warm 10 Chapter 10\u00a0 Nolan\u2019s POV\u00a0 \u201cWhat the \u201d Ellie\u2019s voice followed up my own […]<\/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-23579","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\/23579","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=23579"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23579\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}