Chapter 176\u00a0<\/p>\n
Third person POV\u00a0<\/p>\n
The sound of rain had always made it easier to think.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was coming down steadily outside, drumming against the wide windows of the Silver Fang packhouse. It felt like it had been raining steadily all fall. The gray light softened the room, making everything feel quieter.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lance stood in the doorway, soaked through and restless, his usual cocky charm dimmed beneath a flicker of uncertainty.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI need to talk to you,\u201d he said. No preamble. No attempt at his usual grin. He just walked in like he always did.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nolan set aside the file he\u2019d been pretending to read. \u201cYou came through the storm for that?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lance\u2019s lips twitched. \u201cDidn\u2019t feel like waiting for an invitation.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFair enough,\u201d Nolan said, leaning back in his chair. \u201cWhat\u2019s on your mind?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lance hesitated, which in itself was strange. His brother was rarely uncertain about anything\u2014except, apparently, this. \u201cIt\u2019s about them,\u201d he said finally. \u201cOur parents.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nolan stilled. \u201cWhat about them?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI want the truth,\u201d Lance said. His voice was low but steady. \u201cAll of it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
For a moment, neither spoke. The silence between them was filled with the sound of rain and the faint hum of the old ceiling fan overhead.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nolan rose from his chair and walked to the window. The forest outside blurred into gray and green, his reflection faint in the glass. \u201cThe truth,\u201d he repeated quietly. \u201cYou sure you want that, Lance?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not a kid anymore,\u201d Lance said. \u201cI think I can handle it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nolan\u2019s mouth curved, humorless. \u201cNo, you\u2019re certainly not a kid.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He turned, crossing the room to pour them both a drink. He handed one to Lance, who took it without a word. For a moment, they stood like that-two men connected by blood, divided by memory.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were ambitious,\u201d Nolan said finally. \u201cThat\u2019s the word everyone liked to use. Ambitious. But what they really were was afraid.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lance frowned. \u201cAfraid?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOf weakness,\u201d Nolan said. \u201cOf losing control. They believed the pack needed to be strong above all else. And that meant their sons had to be stronger.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He took a slow sip, the burn of whiskey grounding him. \u201cI was the firstborn. Their experiment. Every decision they made came down to one question: how do we make him the perfect alpha?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lance\u2019s knuckles tightened around his glass. \u201cI remember the training,\u201d he said. \u201cAt least, some of it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou remember the parts they wanted you to see,\u201d Nolan said. \u201cThe rest-they kept behind closed doors, so to speak.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He moved to the desk and set his glass down. \u201cWhen I was twelve, they decided pain built endurance. They called it \u2018conditioning.\u2019 I called it what it was-punishment. Every time I made a mistake, they made sure I remembered\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 176\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lance\u2019s voice was barely a whisper. \u201cYou never said anything.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat would I have said?\u201d Nolan asked quietly. \u201cThat our parents were breaking me in the name of pride? You were a child, Lance. They kept you out of it for a reason. You were their proof that they weren\u2019t monsters.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lance looked away, guilt flickering across his features.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nolan continued, his tone steady but distant. \u201cWhen they died, I knew that it was my fault. I was so selfish, running away like a coward because the weight of their expectations was too much to bear. I convinced myself that Felicity and I could run away together and start our own life. That if I just didn\u2019t have to be alpha, the pressure would disappear. All I managed to do was get them killed.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lance didn\u2019t speak. His throat worked, his eyes fixed on the floor.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI told you once that Felicity and I were bound by history,\u201d Nolan said after a moment. \u201cThat wasn\u2019t the full truth. She was everything to me when we were young. She was the only one who was,\u201d he swallowed thickly and shifted his weight, his embarrassment over his confession obvious. \u201cShe was the only person who was ever gentle with me. Then they died, and dad said what he said. I convinced myself that it had to be her, that maybe I could make their deaths mean something if I made things work with her. Maybe I could fix what I broke.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lance looked up slowly. \u201cSo you stayed with her out of guilt.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d Nolan\u2019s voice was quiet. \u201cFor years, I convinced myself I loved her. And maybe, in some small way, I did. But not enough. Not the right way.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why did you banish her?\u201d Lance asked. \u201cIf you felt that much obligation to be with her.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nolan\u2019s jaw tightened. \u201cBecause guilt has limits.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lance frowned. \u201cThat\u2019s not an answer.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A Cold Marriage That Turned Warm 176 Chapter 176\u00a0 Third person POV\u00a0 The sound of rain had always made it […]<\/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-23745","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\/23745","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=23745"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23745\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}