+25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 204\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ellie POV\u00a0<\/p>\n
It had been a good morning.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The boys were napping after Nolan\u2019s visit, the soft rhythm of their breathing filling the apartment with peace. For the first time in weeks, I felt light. Nolan\u2019s presence had left a strange warmth in its wake \u2013 not the confusion I\u2019d expected, but a quiet steadiness.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He\u2019d been patient, gentle. Not once had he tried to overstep or turn the visit into something about us. It had been about the boys \u2013 their laughter, their new words, the way they\u2019d reached for him as if they\u2019d known him all their lives.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I hadn\u2019t realized how much I\u2019d needed that.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I was sitting on the couch, sorting through the boys\u2019 tiny clothes, when a knock came at the door.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My heart skipped. Nolan wasn\u2019t due again until tomorrow.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I opened the door and froze.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kieran stood there, smiling faintly, a bouquet of pale yellow roses in hand. His shirt sleeves were rolled up, his posture easy, but there was something sharp behind his eyes \u2013 something I couldn\u2019t quite place.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEllie,\u201d he said, his voice smooth. \u201cYou look beautiful.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I blinked, caught off guard. \u201cKieran. What are you doing here?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI was in the area,\u201d he said lightly, stepping past me before I could protest. \u201cI thought I\u2019d stop by. I brought these for you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He held out the flowers. I hesitated, then accepted them with a small, polite smile. \u201cThey\u2019re lovely. Thank you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The air felt strange. Too quiet.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kieran glanced around, his expression softening as he saw the boys\u2019 toys scattered across the floor. \u201cThey\u2019re asleep?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYes. They just went down.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He nodded, wandering toward the window. \u201cYou\u2019re in a good mood. I thought that after our discussion the other day, you might be upset.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I considered his words carefully before responding. \u201cI\u2019m not.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI can see that.\u201d He turned back toward me, eyes thoughtful. \u201cI hear Silver Fang\u2019s Alpha has been spending more time in Moonstone lately.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My stomach tightened, \u201cIs there a reason you won\u2019t say his name, now?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2013\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kieran\u2019s smile didn\u2019t falter, but something in it shifted flicker of tension beneath the charm. \u201cHas he been here?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I saw the slight flaring of his nostrils as he moved across the living room and I knew that he could smell Nolan. There was no point in denying it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYes. He\u2019s their father.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course.\u201d He walked toward me slowly. \u201cAnd how did that go?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Copts 304\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
Before I could answer, a quiet knock came at the door.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My pulse jumped.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kieran arched a brow. \u201cExpecting someone?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I shook my head and crossed the room, opening the door to find Nolan standing there.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For a heartbeat, the world seemed to tilt.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He froze when he saw Kieran inside, his expression unreadable. His gaze flicked to me, then to the flowers on the counter, and the temperature in the room seemed to drop a few degrees.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t mean to interrupt,\u201d Nolan said evenly. \u201cI wanted to drop off a few things for the boys. I forgot to bring them up earlier.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He lifted the small bag in his hand \u2013 toys, I realized. Simple, thoughtful things.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I swallowed hard. \u201cIt\u2019s fine. Come in.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nolan stepped inside, but the moment he did, the atmosphere changed completely.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t move closer to Kieran, but he positioned himself without seeming to think about it \u2013 between the other Alpha and the hallway that led to the twins\u2019 room.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kieran noticed. His jaw tensed, though his tone remained casual. \u201cYou\u2019re back already, Silver Fang.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nolan\u2019s eyes met his. \u201cMoonstone hospitality extends to allies, doesn\u2019t it?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
12\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt does.\u201d Kieran\u2019s voice was still smooth, but quieter now. \u201cThough it\u2019s unusual for allies to drop in unannounced.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI wasn\u2019t aware I needed your permission to see my children.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The words were soft, but they landed like a challenge.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stepped quickly between them. \u201cEnough. The boys are sleeping. Please don\u2019t wake them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Both men looked at me then \u2013 Nolan\u2019s expression softening instantly, Kieran\u2019s gaze unreadable.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I forced a breath and gestured toward the table. \u201cLet\u2019s sit down. There\u2019s no reason for this to turn into anything.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For a few tense seconds, neither of them moved. Then Nolan exhaled slowly and set the bag on the table. \u201cThey\u2019ve started teething,\u201d he said, still looking at me. \u201cThese might help.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I nodded, opening the bag. Inside were a pair of small teething rings carved from smooth, pale wood \u2013 simple, functional, beautiful. My chest ached.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The teethers that Cassian had gifted them were great, but August was chewing through them with surprising speed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re perfect,\u201d I said softly. \u201cThank you.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kieran leaned back against the counter, arms folded. \u201cYou\u2019ve been busy.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
A Cold Marriage That Turned Warm 204 +25 Bonus\u00a0 Chapter 204\u00a0 Ellie POV\u00a0 It had been a good morning.\u00a0 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-23773","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\/23773","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=23773"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23773\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}