Chapter 223\u00a0<\/p>\n
The rogue nodded and vanished into the night.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The plan was simple now. Take the pups, lure Ellie, get rid of her. Then, she and Nolan would be together. They would raise his children as they always should have. Together.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Felicity poured another glass of wine with shaking hands, forcing the tremor to still. Soon. She would have what was hers again. The goddess might favor Ellie now-but Felicity had learned long ago that gods could be defied.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nolan POV\u00a0<\/p>\n
The report from my scouts lay open on the desk, ink still drying. More rogue sightings. More missing traders. The pattern had been forming for weeks, like ripples converging toward something unseen.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I rubbed at the bridge of my nose, exhaustion throbbing behind my eyes. I should have been able to delegate this, to trust my captains to handle it, but instinct told me otherwise. Every time I thought of the rogues massing near the border, I remembered the old scars-the way chaos spread like wildfire when no one acted quickly enough.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I remembered Felicity\u2019s loyalists infiltrating the pack house and the troops. No, if I was right that this was her doing, I couldn\u2019t delegate it. I couldn\u2019t trust anyone else to foot out the truth.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I couldn\u2019t risk it. Not again.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNolan?\u201d Lance\u2019s voice came from the doorway. \u201cYou look like hell.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I glanced up. \u201cGood morning to you too.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lance leaned against the frame, folding his arms. \u201cYou\u2019ve been up all night again, haven\u2019t you?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cProbably.\u201d I pushed the papers aside. \u201cThere\u2019s movement in the rogue lands again. Too much to ignore.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what scouts are for.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI need to see it myself.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lance frowned. \u201cThat\u2019s reckless, even for you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s necessary.\u201d My tone left little room for argument. \u201cIf these rogues are being paid, I want to know by whom. We\u2019ve chased shadows long enough.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd what do you plan to do-walk in there alone?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I have to,\u201d I said, rising. \u201cDisguised, unarmed, quiet. I know the terrain. I\u2019ll be in and out before anyone realizes I\u2019m there.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lance stared at me, clearly unconvinced. I could see the concern in his eyes, but I didn\u2019t let it reach me. I couldn\u2019t. \u201cDoes Ellie know you\u2019re doing this?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShe doesn\u2019t need to.\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhich means she should,\u201d Lance muttered.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I gave a weary smile. \u201cShe has enough to worry about. I\u2019m not dragging her into this until I know what\u2019s out there.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lance sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. \u201cYou\u2019re going to do it no matter what I say, aren\u2019t you?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cProbably.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThen at least tell me where you\u2019ll be checking first.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
+256000\u00a0<\/p>\n
I pointed to a map pinned on the wall, a thin red line marking the route along the western border-through the scattered villages and down into the old rogue basin. \u201cHere\u2019s where the reports start to converge.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lance studied it, then nodded reluctantly, \u201cFine. I\u2019ll hold langs here. But you\u2019d better come back, Nolan. The election scrutiny is bad enough without your disappearance making headlines,\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I smirked faintly, \u201cYou worry too much,\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what brothers are for.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
When Lance left, the silence returned-thick and heavy, pressing against the walls. I gathered my gear carefully plain clothes, a knife hidden beneath my coat, a hooded cloak to dull my scent.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I paused only once, eyes drifting toward the small framed photograph on my desk. It was one of the few I had left -a candid shot taken by a press photographer at a summit years ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ellie stood slightly apart from me, her smile tentative, the sunlight catching in her hair.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I traced a thumb over her image.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll come back,\u201d I murmured. \u201cI have to.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
As I stepped out into the cool morning, I felt the faint tug of the mate bond-a pulse of warmth somewhere deep in my chest. Ellie was awake, somewhere in Moonstone, probably worrying over a dream she couldn\u2019t quite understand. The connection between us still hummed, fragile but alive.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I drew his cloak tighter and started toward the waiting car.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There were too many unanswered questions, too many shadows gathering at the edge of our fragile peace. If Felicity was behind the rogue movements-and my gut told me she was-then every moment I hesitated put Ellie and the boys at risk.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019d promised myself I would protect them, even if Ellie never forgave me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And this time, I intended to keep that promise. No matter what it might cost me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chinese\u00a0<\/p>\n
A Cold Marriage That Turned Warm 223 Chapter 223\u00a0 The rogue nodded and vanished into the night.\u00a0 The plan was […]<\/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-23792","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\/23792","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=23792"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23792\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}