Chapter 102\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
Not intentionally, not directly, but I had let him believe that our babies were gone, and it had shattered him far worse than I could have guessed. Was this what Lance and Rae had been trying to explain to me while I was gone?\u00a0<\/p>\n
He was pacing the office like a caged animal, his hands shaking at his sides as he spoke. His voice was low and intense, leaving no doubt about the sincerity of his words.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNolan,\u201d I said softly, stepping closer. \u201cI know you\u2019re angry. You have every right to be. I\u2014\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t,\u201d he snapped, the edge in his voice cutting sharper than he intended. His eyes were storm clouds, stormier than I remembered. \u201cDon\u2019t apologize. Don\u2019t you dare try to take responsibility for this.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
But it was my responsibility. All of it. And I couldn\u2019t stop the guilt twisting in my chest. I hadn\u2019t just disappeared from him. I\u2019d hidden the babies. The ones he didn\u2019t even know were alive.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I swallowed the lump in my throat and reached out, placing my hand lightly on his arm. The contact made him stiffen, but I didn\u2019t pull away. I had to reach him, had to try and soothe some of this unbearable anger.\u00a0<\/p>\n
If using the mate bond to force him to calm down was my only option, then I\u2019d take it. The tingling sensation passed between us once again. It was warm, pleasant on my fingertips. It calmed me as much as it seemed to calm\u00a0<\/p>\n
him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He stood still, looking down at my hands with an unreadable expression.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m okay, Nolan,\u201d I whispered, my heart breaking under the weight of my words I couldn\u2019t yet say aloud. \u201cI\u2019m here.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He stared at me, chest heaving, eyes narrowing in confusion. \u201cYou are not okay.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I forced myself to nod, even as my mind screamed. If he knew\u2026 if he knew\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t know,\u201d I said quietly, the words trembling. \u201cYou don\u2019t know what it\u2019s been like. I\u2026 I didn\u2019t want to run away. I didn\u2019t know who I could trust. I\u2014\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s my fault,\u201d he insisted, putting his hand over mine. \u201cI drove you away.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I shook my head, biting my lip. I wanted so badly to calm his guilt, to tell him that his sons were okay. Not yet. Not yet. I couldn\u2019t tell him\u2014not now. The moment wasn\u2019t safe. But I could hold him. Could let him feel that I was still\u00a0<\/p>\n
here. Still alive.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He drew in a sharp breath, gripping the edge of the desk like it would anchor him. \u201cEllie\u2026 if anything happens to\u00a0<\/p>\n
you-\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo one\u2019s going to hurt me,\u201d I said firmly, though my own voice trembled. \u201cI promise you, Nolan.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He closed his eyes for a moment, and I could see the war waging inside him. Rage, fear, relief\u2026 and something softer. Something I wasn\u2019t supposed to see.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And yet there it was: his wolf, tense but restrained, his aura vibrating with protectiveness that had grown in the months I\u2019d been gone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2026\u201d he started, voice thick. Then stopped. His jaw tightened. I knew he was trying to pull himself together, trying to focus on the facts instead of the emotions threatening to drag him under.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t let go of his arm. I couldn\u2019t. Not yet. My heart was breaking for him, for what he didn\u2019t know, for what I\u2019d hidden. I swallowed hard, wishing I could tell him everything, but the fear of what would happen if he knew the\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 102\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
truth paralyzed me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He finally let out a long, shaky breath and looked at me with stormy eyes that softened just a fraction. \u201cI won\u2019t stop,\u201d he said quietly, almost to himself. \u201cNot until I know the truth. Not until I make him pay. Not until this\u2026 this nightmare ends.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I nodded, brushing my thumb over the back of his hand. \u201cI know,\u201d I whispered. \u201cAnd I\u2019m here now. That counts for something, doesn\u2019t it?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He stared at me a long moment, searching, questioning. I didn\u2019t dare look away. Not yet.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYes,\u201d he said finally, voice low, steadying. \u201cIt counts.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
And in that fragile truce, in that brief moment of quiet between heartbeats, I realized something terrifying: no matter how much I\u2019d tried to keep him at a distance, no matter how much I\u2019d hidden, no matter how much guilt weighed me down\u2026 he was still mine. My mate.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And I still needed him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Even if neither of us wanted this.\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
A Cold Marriage That Turned Warm 102 Chapter 102\u00a0 +25 Bonus\u00a0 Not intentionally, not directly, but I had let him […]<\/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-23671","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\/23671","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=23671"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23671\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}