Chapter 174\u00a0<\/p>\n
Third person POV\u00a0<\/p>\n
The sun was sinking low over Moonstone, painting the city streets in warm tones. The air carried that early evening hush when the world seemed to hold its breath.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cassian climbed the stone steps of Ellie\u2019s apartment building two at a time, a small box tucked under his arm- something he\u2019d promised to drop off for the twins. He\u2019d spent the morning on patrol and the rest of the afternoon in council meetings that had gone nowhere.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Seeing his sister always steadied him. Reminded him why all the tedious diplomacy mattered.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When he reached her apartment, he knocked once, waited, and frowned when there was no answer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEllie?\u201d he called softly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The door opened a few seconds later-not to Ellie, but to Rae.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She looked surprised, but pleasantly so. Her red hair was pulled into a messy braid, and she had one of the twins balanced on her hip, a small blanket draped over her shoulder.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOh. Cassian.\u201d Her smile was immediate, warm. \u201cShe\u2019s not home yet.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He relaxed slightly. \u201cWhere\u2019d she go?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe temple,\u201d Rae said. \u201cShe said she needed to clear her head. She should be back soon.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cassian nodded, stepping inside. The apartment was softly lit, filled with the faint scent of milk and lavender. The other twin lay asleep in a woven bassinet near the couch, his little chest rising and falling in peaceful rhythm.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rae shifted the baby in her arms, brushing a kiss against his forehead. \u201cThey just ate,\u201d she said. \u201cI think he\u2019s about to knock out, too.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cassian smiled despite himself. \u201cHello, Ian,\u201d he cooed, leaning forward to place a soft kiss on his chubby cheek.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rae smiled at the soft display and gently bounced Ian. Cassian watched as the baby drifted off.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve gotten good at that,\u201d he said softly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She grinned. \u201cNecessity. They like me better than bottles.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s because you have patience,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She laughed. \u201cOr because they can sense how terrified I am of dropping them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He chuckled, setting the small box on the coffee table. \u201cWhat\u2019s that?\u201d Rae asked, nodding toward it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSomething I found at the market,\u201d Cassian said. \u201cWooden teethers shaped like wolves. Thought they might like them when they start chewing on everything in sight.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rae couldn\u2019t contain the fond smile that wanted to break loose. It was rare to see these warm moments from Cassian, but she was noticing them more and more. Usually, it centered around the boys or Ellie. It was obvious to anyone paying attention how much he cared about his family.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rae found that a very attractive trait. Cassian was a broad-shouldered, deep-voiced alpha. Seeing him act soft and nurturing with his nephews made her heart skip, despite her best efforts to fight the affection that was growing for him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 174\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rae smiled, genuine and a little soft. \u201cThat\u2019s\u2026 actually really sweet,\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He shrugged, uncomfortable with the praise. \u201cThey\u2019re my nephews,\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI know,\u201d she said quietly, \u201cYou\u2019re a good brother,\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t answer that. Good wasn\u2019t a word he associated with himself much lately, Especially when it came to the way he was handling things with Ellie. It felt a little like betrayal every time he met with Nolan,\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rae must have sensed it, because her tone gentled. \u201cShe talks about you a lot, you know,\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He looked up, brow raised. \u201cEllie?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMm-hmm.\u201d Rae smiled faintly. \u201cSays you were always the one who stood up for her. That no matter how bad things got, she knew she could count on you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we were kids, or now?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBoth,\u201d Rae answered. \u201cShe told me that she\u2019s been having a lot of memories come back lately ever since this business with the goddess started. Says it\u2019s like it unlocked all of the memories that had been lost.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cassian leaned back against the wall, exhaling slowly, \u201cShe makes me sound better than I was.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think so,\u201d Rae said. \u201cYou love her. That\u2019s obvious,\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course I do,\u201d he said, almost too quickly. \u201cShe\u2019s my sister.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rae tilted her head. \u201cAnd yet, sometimes I think you forget she\u2019s not a little girl anymore.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
That gave him pause. \u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean she\u2019s been through hell, Cassian,\u201d Rae said softly. \u201cAnd she\u2019s still trying to find herself. You want to protect her and that\u2019s beautiful-but she doesn\u2019t need guarding anymore\/She needs space to figure out who she is now.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cassian went still, her words landing sharper than she probably intended.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t mean that as criticism,\u201d Rae added quickly. \u201cI just\u2026 I see how she looks at the world now. Like she\u2019s trying to balance being who she was before and who she\u2019s supposed to become. That\u2019s not something anyone can do for her.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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A Cold Marriage That Turned Warm 174 Chapter 174\u00a0 Third person POV\u00a0 The sun was sinking low over Moonstone, painting […]<\/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-23743","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\/23743","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=23743"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23743\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}