Chapter 77\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nolan POV\u00a0<\/p>\n
I was reluctant to get involved in the race for Alpha King. The timing didn\u2019t seem right for me, considering everything Felicity and I had planned-the divorce, the remarriage. It was going to cause a stir, an unpopular decision at least in the immediate sense.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But when Felicity and I spoke over the phone about the upcoming election, she was full of reassurances.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I wanted Silver Fang to be powerful. I wanted to fulfill all of my parents\u2019 dreams about making this pack something greater than what it had been in their lifetime. And what better way to do that than to make myself the most powerful Alpha in the Kingdom?\u00a0<\/p>\n
The logic was difficult to argue against, and although I still had my reservations, my decision was made: I would run for the throne.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In order to do that, I needed to make sure my alliances were solid and that the pack was strong. The time to make the announcement had to be chosen carefully.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The first step was solidifying this arrangement with Moonstone. The contract was signed, and the celebration had to go off without a hitch. It would be the perfect moment to make the announcement-the press would be there, representatives from most of the packs in the Kingdom would be there. It only made sense.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And yet\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re overthinking it.\u201d Felicity\u2019s voice came through the speakerphone. \u201cI\u2019m telling you, no one\u2019s going to blame you for divorcing a rogue who can\u2019t even bear your pups.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s my fated mate,\u201d I replied. \u201cRegardless of whether we\u2019ve produced an heir yet or not, it\u2019s not a good look to divorce her. Especially during a campaign.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone in the pack knows that you and I are meant to be together. We\u2019re childhood sweethearts. It\u2019s like a fairy tale story. I\u2019m telling you, that will override any drama caused by the divorce. And anyway, it\u2019s not as though there\u2019s much positive public sentiment toward Ellie.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
That might have been true a few months ago, but now\u2026 the way she\u2019d befriended Lance, and how affectionate the Moonstone representatives were toward her-it would be a problem.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe may need to postpone the divorce until after the election,\u201d I said, keeping my tone carefully neutral in an attempt to avoid angering Felicity.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There was a long silence on the other end of the phone. Long enough that I wondered if the call had dropped, or if she\u2019d hung up on me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI understand your point,\u201d she said finally. \u201cBut Nolan, I\u2019ve already waited so long to be with you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I\u2019m asking you to wait just a little while longer. When you become Luna of this pack, I want it to be the greatest pack in the Kingdom. I want you to be my queen.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I heard the sharp intake of Felicity\u2019s breath at the word.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want to wait any longer\u2026 but I trust your judgment,\u201d she replied. \u201cIf you really think it\u2019ll help your chances\u2026 are you sure it will make a difference, just being married to your fated mate?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will win support with the more religious factions,\u201d I explained. \u201cHaving a goddess fated mate will make me look better to them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 77\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re probably right. I suppose I\u2019ll just have to trust you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s all I ask. Trust me just a little while longer, and I promise you will have everything you\u2019ve ever dreamed of, and more.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ellie POV\u00a0<\/p>\n
The blood drained from my face as my heart began to race and my breathing stuttered. I hadn\u2019t meant to eavesdrop, but I heard Felicity\u2019s voice come through the speakerphone and froze in the hallway.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I couldn\u2019t believe what I was hearing. I was supposed to be free after the celebration tomorrow, and now Nolan was backing out of our deal.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He was going to force me to stay in this marriage until after the election. By then, I\u2019d have the babies. There would be no way to hide them from him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Even now my belly was starting to grow. I\u2019d been wearing loose, flowing clothes and oversized hoodies to conceal the bump, but in just a matter of weeks it would be impossible. I had to go. I had to get out.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But if he was backing out of the contract\u2026 no, no. He was the Alpha. It didn\u2019t matter that he\u2019d be violating it-no lawyer would dare go against him. I was trapped.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I quickly stepped away from his office door, rushing upstairs to my bedroom so no one would see me as I descended into panic. The tears were already stinging my eyes by the time I closed the door behind me, my heart pounding.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Who could I call? Who could help me out of this? I would have to leave in secret. I would have to run away. It was the only option left-but I couldn\u2019t do it alone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Could I call Kieran? Rae? Lance?\u00a0<\/p>\n
I had so many people who\u2019d offered to help, but asking them to hide me from Nolan would be putting them in danger. Could I really make that choice-risk them-for myself?\u00a0<\/p>\n
But it wasn\u2019t just for myself. It was for my babies.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I placed my hands over my stomach, feeling the hard little bump that was beginning to grow. I had to remind myself: this wasn\u2019t just about me. It was about keeping them safe, making sure they grew up happy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I sank heavily onto the bed and pulled out my phone, dialing Lance. The sound of the ringing seemed impossibly loud. When he finally picked up, I could already hear the worry in his voice.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHey, Ellie-everything all right?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d My voice shook. \u201cEverything\u2019s not all right. I just overheard Nolan talking to Felicity. He wants to back ot of our deal. He wants to force me to stay in this marriage until after the election.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat son of a bitch,\u201d Lance growled. \u201cI\u2019m not going to let that happen.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know what to do. I can\u2019t stay here. I can\u2019t hide the pregnancy for much longer. I have to run away, Lance. I\u00a0<\/p>\n
have to.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI know. I understand.\u201d His voice softened. \u201cI\u2019m on my way over. Stay in your room-we\u2019re going to figure this out. I promise.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThank you\u2026 thank you,\u201d I whispered through my tears.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll be there in a few minutes,\u201d he said before the line went dead.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter Th\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stared at the phone screen for a moment, then quickly sent a text to Ray.\u00a0<\/p>\n
SOS\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her reply was almost instant: Do you need me there in person?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Yes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That was all it took. I knew she was coming. I didn\u2019t even need to explain further.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The temptation to call Kieran was real, but I stopped myself. I shouldn\u2019t take such a drastic step until I\u2019d spoken with Lance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kieran had seemed genuine when he offered to help me, but his rivalry with Nolan was always there in the background. He wouldn\u2019t do it out of kindness alone, and I was afraid of what he might want in return.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For now, the best option was to wait for Ray and Lance to help me think this through.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I was too scared, too emotional to make a decision on my own. And I silently thanked the Goddess, or whatever being was watching over me, that I had people I could turn to, people I could trust to have my best interests at heart.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A Cold Marriage That Turned Warm 77 Chapter 77\u00a0 Nolan POV\u00a0 I was reluctant to get involved in the race […]<\/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-23646","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\/23646","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=23646"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23646\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}