Chapter 190\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ellie POV\u00a0<\/p>\n
I returned to the apartment, still turning over the memories in my mind. Cassian was inside, watching over the twins.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He was sitting on the floor in the living room with Ian on his lap while August scooted on his belly nearby, giggling at the little carved wolf teether he loved.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The sight sent a wave of warmth through me that eased the anxiety I\u2019d been carrying since lunch. Cassian turned his head when he heard me come in.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLook at that, Ian, who\u2019s here?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ian cooed in response, and August fell forward and squealed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I laughed and joined them on the rug.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHow were they today?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re always great,\u201d Cassian replied easily. \u201cYou look stressed.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He said it like he was stating a fact. I sighed and rolled my eyes at him. \u201cWhy do you always do that? Like I\u2019m completely transparent.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re deflecting. Was it another vision?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re so annoying.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s my job, I\u2019m your big brother.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stroked August\u2019s hair and considered my next words carefully. There wasn\u2019t any good way to bring this up.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did you remember?\u201d Cassian asked, his voice softer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI remembered the day I got lost,\u201d I answered without looking at him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t respond right away, but I heard the slow, deliberate intake of breath.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou remembered all of it?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cPieces of it. We were playing near the road, and then\u2026 there were rogues. They tried to take something from me. My necklace.\u201d I swallowed. \u201cYou tried to stop them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cassian took a slow breath, his gaze dropping to the floor before lifting to meet mine again. \u201cI didn\u2019t remember the necklace,\u201d he admitted. \u201cJust the sound of you screaming. I tried to fight them, but they were too big. One of them threw me against a tree. When I woke up, you were gone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I looked up to see him running a finger along the scars on his forearms. His expression was distant, like he wasn\u2019t even aware of the motion.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I remembered the flash of red from the vision, Cassian holding his arms up to shield us. Were his scars from that day?\u00a0<\/p>\n
My throat tightened. \u201cYou thought I was dead? Is that why you didn\u2019t\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My words trailed off uncertainly. I wasn\u2019t sure what I wanted to ask. I knew that they had searched for me. Alaric\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter in\u00a0<\/p>\n
and Cassian had told me more than once. Alaric had even shown me the scrying orb they used to search\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t know what to think,\u201d he said hoarsely. \u201cThere was blood on the ground Your blood Alaric\u2026 he was devastated. We had just lost mom, and-\u201d his voice caught for a moment, and when he continued, I could hear the strain. \u201cAnd you were gone too.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I felt a lump in my throat. My memories were still mixed up. I hadn\u2019t realized the timeline. I could only imagine the pain they had endured losing me while they were still grieving\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cassian\u2019s eyes glistened. \u201cWe came to Silver Fang because we\u2019d heard rumors. About a rogue woman married to the alpha. Said she didn\u2019t have a wolf, that she\u2019d come from nowhere. I remember thinking it couldn\u2019t be true- and then I saw you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I pressed a hand over my mouth.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Imad\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t want to believe it at first,\u201d he continued, his voice rough \u201cIt felt like a cruel joke to think that you been so close to home the entire time. You looked exactly the way I pictured. There was something about you \u2014 the way you spoke, the way you carried yourself. It reminded me of her. Of mom. You have the same eyes. I kter that it had to be you. That\u2019s why I approached you that day on the street\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I had nearly forgotten. It wasn\u2019t long after Cassian had arrived in Silver Fang and he had approached Bee and me on the street. He\u2019d had such an intense look on his face as he grabbed my arm.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were trying to see if I was your sister,\u201d I said. \u201cYou scared the hell out of me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t imagine how weird it seemed from your point of view, but my emotions overwhelmed me for a moment and I couldn\u2019t help it,\u201d he explained.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s okay, I get it now.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t,\u201d he insisted. \u201cEllie, I thought I failed you,\u201d he whispered. \u201cAll this time, I thought if I\u2019d been stronger, faster-\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were a child,\u201d I said softly. \u201cWe both were. None of it was your fault.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He shook his head, his voice breaking. \u201cBut I promised I\u2019d protect you. And then you were gone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A Cold Marriage That Turned Warm 190 Chapter 190\u00a0 Ellie POV\u00a0 I returned to the apartment, still turning over the […]<\/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-23759","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\/23759","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=23759"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23759\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23759"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23759"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}