Chapter 159\u00a0<\/p>\n
He smiled, something kind but knowing behind it. \u201cThe goddess does not wait for readiness, child. She waits for courage.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I exhaled slowly, then reached out.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The moment my fingers brushed the crystal, the world tilted.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Light bloomed from within it, flooding the room in silver. I gasped stumbling back, but the light followed me-swallowing everything.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was the same light that has touched Nolan during his test of faith, but stronger, more insistent.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then I was standing somewhere else.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The air was heavy with mist. A forest, silent and endless, stretched around me. The moon hung low and full, and beneath it stood a woman in a gown the color of frost.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her hair was long and dark but streaked with white, her eyes shimmering with that same light. When she smiled, it was like the world exhaled.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMother?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The word came out as a whisper.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She nodded once, her voice soft but echoing everywhere at once. \u201cMy daughter.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tears burned behind my eyes. \u201cI don\u2019t understand. You\u2019re-how?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere isn\u2019t much time,\u201d she said, her expression turning solemn \u201cThe bond between our world and theirs weakens. The goddess reaches for you because you are the bridge.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe bridge?\u201d I repeated, heart pounding.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have the blood of generations of women touched by the goddess. You\u2019re destined for this, Elaine. I\u2019m sorry that I wasn\u2019t there to teach you. I\u2019m sorry that you have to learn like this. You have to restore balance, my girl. You have to face this danger before it can destory everything.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I tried to make sense of her words, but everything felt too vast, too bright. \u201cWhat am I supposed to do?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cListen,\u201d she said simply. \u201cListen, and remember who you are.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I almost laughed. It felt like a slap in the face. Remember. Like it was so simple. So much of my life was lost in the dark. The accident that took me away from my family as a child, the accident that cost me my memory when I first got pregnant. Things came back in fits and starts but there was still so much that I couldn\u2019t remember.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She stepped closer, touching her fingers to my temple. The contact burned and soothed all at once, a rush of warmth spreading through me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Images flooded my mind-flashes of wolves running beneath the moon, of two packs standing side by side, of a dark figure watching from the edge of the forest. And beneath it all, a single whisper from the goddess herself:\u00a0<\/p>\n
Balance must be restored.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The vision shattered.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I gasped, collapsing to my knees as the light faded. The cool air of the sanctuary rushed back in, and Alaric was suddenly there, steadying me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEasy,\u201d he murmured. \u201cBreathe.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My heart hammered. \u201cShe-she was here. My mother. I saw her.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He nodded. \u201cI know.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 159\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
I gripped his arm tightly, feeling the strength in his grip holding me up. \u201cShe said she said something about balance. About danger.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Alaric\u2019s expression darkened just slightly. \u201cThen the goddess has chosen well. I know that this is frightening, but you aren\u2019t alone. It will make sense soon, I\u2019m sure. You have us to help you through this.\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I looked up at him, trembling. \u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He helped me to my feet, his grip firm but gentle. \u201cIt means,\u201d he said quietly, \u201cthat your mother\u2019s gift didn\u2019t die with her. And that the goddess\u2019s voice has returned to Moonstone through you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He paused, searching my face. \u201cBut it also means whatever threatens her peace is coming closer. And we will need to be ready. I will do everything possible to support you through this. I need you to promise me something.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The candles flickered, their flames bending toward the crystal as if drawn by its pulse.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you need me to promise?\u201d I asked, my voice sounding soft and uncertain in the heavy chill of the room.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cPromise that you won\u2019t hide from me. That you\u2019ll come to me when you need guidance and support.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I turned to look at the moonstone again, its light dimming slowly, the silver veins still faintly glowing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Somewhere deep inside me, I could still feel the echo of her voice, the warmth of her hand.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For the first time since the accident, since the amnesia, since everything I felt whole.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But I also knew something else, something unshakable.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI promise,\u201d I said softly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The truth echoed in my mind and I couldn\u2019t tell whose voice it came from.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Peace never lasted.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And whatever was coming next had already begun to move.\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
A Cold Marriage That Turned Warm 159 Chapter 159\u00a0 He smiled, something kind but knowing behind it. \u201cThe goddess does […]<\/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-23728","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\/23728","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=23728"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23728\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}