Chapter 150\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ellie POV\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
The next few days blurred together. Work at the hospital filled the daylight hours, and the twins filled everything else. Between the late-night feedings and the goddess\u2019s restless whispers, sleep came only in scattered pieces.\u00a0<\/p>\n
By Thursday morning, I\u2019d convinced myself the dreams were starting to fade. That was before the knock at my door.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was firm but familiar, and my pulse jumped before my brain caught up. Only one person knocked like that, polite enough not to startle, confident enough not to wait long.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When I opened the door, Kieran stood there, smiling the way people do when they\u2019ve rehearsed it in the mirror first.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEllie,\u201d he said softly. \u201cYou look well.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was a lie and we both knew it. I hadn\u2019t looked well in months. But Kieran had a gift for saying things that sounded like truths, even when they weren\u2019t.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He was dressed sharply as always, dark slacks, a white shirt with the sleeves rolled to his elbows, no jacket despite the crisp air. A bouquet of small white lilies rested in one hand, and a wrapped package in the other.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He looked good, there was no denying that. I suddenly felt hyper aware of my frizzy hair and messy bun.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFor you,\u201d he said, offering the flowers before I could speak. \u201cAnd for the boys.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I hesitated before stepping aside to let him in. \u201cYou didn\u2019t have to do that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe not,\u201d he said lightly, setting the gifts on the counter, \u201cbut I wanted to. Word travels fast between packs, you know. I thought you might appreciate a familiar face.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The apartment suddenly felt smaller with him inside it. He filled the space too easily, moving as though he belonged there. The twins were napping in their cribs, and I found myself glancing toward their room more than once, as if I needed to make sure they were still safe.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kieran followed my gaze, then smiled faintly. \u201cRelax. I\u2019m not here to cause trouble. I just wanted to see how you\u2019re doing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I folded my arms. \u201cYou heard I left.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone heard,\u201d he admitted. \u201cSilver Fang doesn\u2019t lose its Luna quietly. People are hyper aware of your absence, especially when you haven\u2019t been back for long.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The title made me flinch. \u201cI was never truly Luna,\u201d I murmured.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He tilted his head. \u201cYou were Nolan\u2019s mate. That counts for something.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI was his prisoner, Kieran. Don\u2019t dress it up.\u201d The words felt wrong as I spoke them, as if I was trying to hard to make a point.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Maybe it was a reaction to the guilt that spiked through me when he mentioned the pack\u2019s reaction to me\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 130\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
leaving again. Nolan must be dealing with a PR nightmare. I hadn\u2019t even considered it when I stormed off.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Something flickered across his face-sympathy, maybe, or guilt. But it vanished before I could be sure. He reached for the lilies, fussing with them just to keep his hands busy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re beautiful,\u201d I said, if only to fill the silence.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He glanced up with that easy half-smile. \u201cI remember you liked lilies. You told me once that they were the only flowers that didn\u2019t make you think of the packhouse garden.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I smiled faintly. I was angry when I told him that. There are no lilies at the packhouse in Silver Fang. Nolan hates them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kieran had been charming during those first few interactions between us. He\u2019d swooped in to save me from the awkwardness that clung to me in those formal settings. I\u2019d appreciated it at the time, even though I\u2019d been\u00a0<\/p>\n
warned about him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now his charm felt heavier, sharper around the edges.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe boys are sleeping?\u201d he asked quietly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMay I see them when they wake?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I hesitated. \u201cThey can be fussy when they first wake up.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He nodded as if he expected that answer. \u201cThen I\u2019ll wait. I have time.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t know what to do with that. My instincts screamed to keep him at arm\u2019s length, but part of me-tired, lonely, guilt-ridden-was glad for the company.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I busied myself making tea, pretending not to notice the way he watched me. His gaze wasn\u2019t predatory, but it wasn\u2019t neutral either. It carried a kind of quiet study, as though he was memorizing me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to tell you,\u201d he said after a while, \u201cthat I\u2019m not angry.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The words startled me more than I wanted to admit. \u201cAngry?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFor leaving. For running.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
My hands stilled around the teacups.\u00a0<\/p>\n
>>\u00a0<\/p>\n
I had left the park with the boys in such a rush. I had left Kieran standing there with Nolan in the aftermath of everything. For all I knew, Nolan had attacked him in a fit of rage.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A Cold Marriage That Turned Warm 150 Chapter 150\u00a0 Ellie POV\u00a0 +25 Bonus\u00a0 The next few days blurred together. Work […]<\/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-23719","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\/23719","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=23719"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23719\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23719"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23719"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23719"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}