Chapter 167\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEllie,\u201d Rae said gently. \u201cYou\u2019re somewhere else again.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I blinked. \u201cSorry. I was just thinking.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout what?\u201d Claire asked softly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I hesitated, looking down at my hands. \u201cAbout something I haven\u2019t told you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
That got their attention immediately. Rae sat forward. Claire set her glass aside.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I told you about the dreams before,\u201d I began, \u201cI left part of it out. Alaric took me somewhere last week\u2013a chamber in the old wing of the packhouse. He said it used to belong to my mother.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYour birth mother?\u201d Claire asked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I nodded. \u201cHe said she had a connection to the goddess. That the Moonstone bloodline carries something\u2026 different. He showed me a crystal made of moonstone, the one she used to communicate with the divine.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rae\u2019s eyes widened. \u201cAnd?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I swallowed, my heart thudding faster. \u201cWhen I touched it, I saw her. My mother. She spoke to me. She said balance had to be restored-and that danger is coming.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The room fell utterly silent. Even the soft patter of rain outside seemed to fade.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Claire was the first to speak, her voice steady but reverent. \u201cYou really saw her?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d My throat tightened. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t like a dream. It was real. I could feel her, hear her voice. I think\u2026 I think the goddess was there too.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rae exhaled slowly. \u201cAnd you think the dreams are connected?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI know they are,\u201d I said. \u201cEver since that night, everything feels sharper The air, the moon, even people\u2019s emotions. It\u2019s like I\u2019m walking with one foot in another world.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Neither of them laughed. Neither doubted.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I wish they did. I wished they would crack a joke and break this moment. It was too much for me, all of this. I was cut out for it, but it seemed like that didn\u2019t matter.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Claire reached across the table and took my hand. \u201cThen maybe you\u2019re not just hearing her. Maybe you\u2019re meant to carry her message.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I met her gaze. \u201cYou think the goddess is speaking through me?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Claire smiled faintly. \u201cWhy not? If anyone could bear her voice, Ellie, it\u2019s you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rae nodded, her expression soft but fierce. \u201cWhatever it means, you\u2019re not alone in it. We\u2019re here. Always.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The promise in her voice normally would have steadied me. But not now. Not with this.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I ran my fingers through my hair and sighed. \u201cWhy me? I\u2019m not religious. It\u2019s not like I\u2019ve been praying for a sign. I don\u2019t understand any of this.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, maybe you should ask for help,\u201d Rae offered.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I frowned. \u201cI did, I talked to Alaric.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 167\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sure that he helped as much as he could, but I meant from a religious leader. Maybe you should talk to a priestess?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The air around us hummed faintly-maybe from the storm still lingering outside, or maybe from something older, something unseen. For a long moment, we sat together in the half-light, three women bound by something stronger than friendship.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I thought of my mother\u2019s face in the vision, of her final words: Balance must be restored.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cA priestess,\u201d I said softly. Something in my chest seemed to hum at the thought. I hated the idea, but it was probably the best option. \u201cI\u2019m afraid of what they\u2019d tell me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAfraid?\u201d Claire said softly. \u201cWhat are you afraid that they\u2019ll say, Ellie?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think,\u201d I said softly, \u201cthat the goddess isn\u2019t warning me. She\u2019s preparing me. I\u2019m afraid that something awful is coming.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
The words hung heavy around us. It was a confession that I\u2019d been keeping locked inside for a long time. Saying it out loud didn\u2019t bring relief; it just made the fear feel more real. The silence didn\u2019t help. I looked at Rae, feeling almost desperate for reassurance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As usual, she offered me that warm smile that helped steady me. She reached out and I gratefully took her hand.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rae squeezed my hand. \u201cThen we\u2019ll be ready.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Claire smiled. \u201cTogether.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Outside, the rain had stopped. The moon broke through the clouds, silver light spilling across the apartment floor, touching the edges of the room like a blessing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And in that moment, surrounded by warmth and quiet laughter and people I loved, I felt it-the faint pulse of something greater than fear or fate.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The goddess was listening. Just like she always was.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But right now, with my boys sleeping safely nearby and my friends holding me up, I didn\u2019t mind as much.\u00a0<\/p>\n
COIN BUNDLE: get more free bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
P\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A Cold Marriage That Turned Warm 167 Chapter 167\u00a0 \u201cEllie,\u201d Rae said gently. \u201cYou\u2019re somewhere else again.\u201d\u00a0 I blinked. \u201cSorry. […]<\/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-23736","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\/23736","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=23736"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23736\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}