Chapter 212\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nolan POV\u00a0<\/p>\n
The news of Ellie\u2019s identity had changed everything.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In Silver Fang, the rumor mill had roared to life the moment the announcement reached them a hundred theories, a dozen interpretations, but all with the same conclusion: the Alpha\u2019s missing Luna had been safe, sheltered by family, and divinely chosen all along.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For the first time in months, the whispers that had shadowed me wherever I went weren\u2019t cruel. They were reverent.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe goddess must\u2019ve had her reasons.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s Moonstone\u2019s heir, can you imagine?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSilver Fang and Moonstone that\u2019s power the royal council can\u2019t ignore.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
It should have felt like victory.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But every time someone spoke her name, I felt the same tightness in my chest \u2013 pride twisted up with longing and something close to grief.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Because she wasn\u2019t mine anymore. Not really.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stood near the back of the Moonstone courtyard now, watching the celebration unfold.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lanterns floated overhead like tiny moons, music drifted through the air, and laughter rolled across the clearing in bright waves.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I couldn\u2019t remember the last time he\u2019d seen so many people happy in one place.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lance was already thriving among them, of course\u00a0<\/p>\n
charming women, trading jokes with warriors, effortlessly\u00a0<\/p>\n
at home in the chaos. He\u2019d even convinced me to loosen his collar before wandering off with a grin and a glass of something sharp-smelling.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I, by contrast, felt like an overpolished statue in a sea of movement.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I adjusted my jacket, scanning the crowd until I found her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ellie.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She was dancing with Claire. She was laughing \u2013 really laughing \u2013 her head thrown back, her eyes bright in the firelight.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019d forgotten how easily she could light up a room.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Something inside me cracked a little at the sight.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The last time I\u2019d seen her laugh like that, we\u2019d been newly married, sitting on the steps of our packhouse after a long day of patrols. She\u2019d teased me for being so serious, flicked water from her drink at me, and I\u2019d startled myself by laughing too.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I hadn\u2019t realized how precious that memory would become\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cStop brooding,\u201d Lance\u2019s voice drawled beside him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t look away from Ellie. \u201cI\u2019m not brooding.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re standing at the edge of a party, frowning into your drink, watching your ex-wife like a man at a funeral.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 212\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
That\u2019s peak brooding, brother.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I sighed, equally annoyed and defeated. \u201cShe invited us.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI know,\u201d Lance said, sipping from his glass. \u201cThat\u2019s what\u2019s making you miserable, that\u2019s the part I don\u2019t get. You wanted her to let you in again, so what\u2019s the problem?\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShe didn\u2019t have to,\u201d I said quietly. \u201cIt means something. I just don\u2019t know what. I feel like I\u2019m overthinking it, but I can\u2019t stop.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lance\u2019s tone softened. \u201cIt does mean something. But maybe not what you want it to mean. Don\u2019t torture yourself.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t answer. I couldn\u2019t.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Because Lance was right \u2014 and wrong.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2013\u00a0<\/p>\n
I knew Ellie hadn\u2019t invited me for romance. She\u2019d done it to keep up appearances, to keep the public peace. But every time our eyes met, I saw something there something fragile and unspoken, the bond neither of us had been able to sever.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2014\u00a0<\/p>\n
The music shifted \u2013 slower now, softer. Couples began pairing off, laughter giving way to murmured conversation and the shuffle of feet against stone. I watched as people paired off, leaving Ellie standing alone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The light reflected off of her hair, casting the dark locks in a honeyed glow and making her grey eyes seem to\u00a0<\/p>\n
shine.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lance clapped me on the shoulder. \u201cYou\u2019re going to regret it if you don\u2019t ask her.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I blinked. \u201cAsk her what?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cTo dance.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stiffened. \u201cThat\u2019s not-\u2018\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201c-your thing,\u201d Lance finished with a smirk. \u201cI know. Which is why you should do it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I gave him a flat look.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGo on,\u201d Lance said. \u201cBefore someone else beats you to it.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t move at first. The very idea made my stomach twist. I\u2019d spent years avoiding exactly this kind of vulnerability \u2013 public, intimate, uncertain. But when Ellie glanced toward me across the courtyard, her eyes catching mine for just a moment, I felt the decision leave my hands.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I crossed the distance before I could change my mind.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She looked startled when I stopped in front of her, the music washing softly around us.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNolan,\u201d she said, smiling faintly. \u201cYou\u2019re still here.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLance is having fun,\u201d I said with a half-shrug. \u201cCouldn\u2019t drag him away. Besides, I wanted to thank you again for the invitation.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She tilted her head. \u201cYou don\u2019t need to thank me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
A Cold Marriage That Turned Warm 212 Chapter 212\u00a0 Nolan POV\u00a0 The news of Ellie\u2019s identity had changed everything.\u00a0 In […]<\/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-23781","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\/23781","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=23781"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23781\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}