Chapter 226\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ellie POV\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Moonstone packhouse had always felt grand to me \u2013 towering windows, stone walls that caught the light, the soft scent of pine from the forest pressing close around it. But today, standing at the threshold with two sleepy boys balanced on my hips, it didn\u2019t feel intimidating.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It felt like coming home.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I hadn\u2019t planned to move in. The apartment had been comfortable, my little sanctuary, but after Alaric\u2019s announcement and the whispers that followed, privacy had become a fragile thing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
People stared longer when I walked through the market now. They called me Alpha\u2019s daughter in hushed tones, half awe, half curiosity.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I was still getting used to it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Inside, the packhouse was alive with the sounds of morning Someone was baking \u2013 the scent of cinnamon and honey drifted from the kitchen and Cassian\u2019s voice carried faintly down the hall as he barked out directions to a few warriors.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2014\u00a0<\/p>\n
Alaric met me at the door, smiling when he saw the boys. \u201cou actually agreed. I expected you to back out.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I laughed softly, shifting the boys in my arms. \u201cYou wore me down. Besides, it\u2019ll be easier for everyone if we\u2019re closer. You worry too much when we\u2019re not here.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI call it paternal concern,\u201d Alaric said, taking Ian from me \u201cCassian calls it meddling.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s not wrong,\u201d I teased.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He chuckled, leading me through the hall toward the east wing. \u201cThe room is ready. We aired it out yesterday. It used to be yours, you\u00a0<\/p>\n
know.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
That made me pause. \u201cReally?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He nodded. \u201cWhen you and Cassian were small. You\u2019d always sneak into his room at night because you hated sleeping alone. Your mother used to pretend to be angry about it, but she\u2019d always end up laughing when she found you both tangled in one blanket.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2013\u00a0<\/p>\n
The memory hit me like sunlight through fog \u2014 brief, but vivid. Cassian\u2019s laughter, soft sheets that smelled like cedar, the faint hum of our mother\u2019s lullaby. It was there and gone again before I could hold onto it, but it left me smiling faintly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGuess some things don\u2019t change,\u201d I murmured, glancing down at the twins. \u201cThese two refuse to sleep apart, too.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re like you and your brother,\u201d Alaric said warmly. \u201cStubborn.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He pushed open the door to a spacious room overlooking the gardens. Morning light spilled across the floorboards. Someone \u2013 probably Cassian\u00a0<\/p>\n
probably Cassian \u2013 had already carried in the cribs. The twin mobiles hung neatly above\u00a0<\/p>\n
them, tiny glass moons and stars catching the light.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I set August down and watched as he gurgled in delight, reaching for the spinning charms. Ian placed Ian in his own crib, and he immediately moved to the railing closest August.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Something deep in my chest loosened. I already felt safer having the boys here in the packhouse, surrounded by family and guards.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is\u2026\u201d I exhaled. \u201cIt\u2019s perfect. Thank you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u89c0\u8005\u00a0<\/p>\n
Choster 226\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
Alaric gave a small nod. \u201cYou don\u2019t need to thank me. You\u2019 home.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Home. The word settled in my bones differently now.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2013\u00a0<\/p>\n
For years, \u201chome\u201d had been wherever I was needed the orphanage, the hospital dormitories, the apartment I\u2019d rented in the city. Even in Silver Fang, with Nolan, I\u2019d never truly felt it. But here, in Moonstone, the air itself seemed to recognize me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Still, peace came with its own kind of weight.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I looked around the room, a wave of nostalgia flooding through me. The laughter of Cassian and me as children seemed to echo in the walls for a moment. Warmth, safety, and love seemed to seep from the very walls.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was everything I wanted for the boys, and for a moment, it overwhelmed me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe memories are coming more frequently, aren\u2019t they?\u201d Alaric asked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMore every day. Sometimes in bits and pieces and sometimes in sudden bursts. It\u2019s a lot to take in,\u201d I said, running my fingertips lightly along the windowsill.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat sort of memories?\u201d he asked curiously.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot about Cassian,\u201d I answered thoughtfully. \u201cI think because he\u2019s been around so much. Some about you. I remember you cooking breakfast for us, pancakes. And I remember how we used to have tea parties out by the training grounds in the afternoons.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
A fond smile stole over his features. \u201cIt used to cause quite a stir among the warriors when we would break for lunch, and you would totter out with that picnic basket stuffed full of sandwiches for them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I smiled and shook my head. \u201cI remember\u2026 I would always insist that we had to feed them all because they were working so hard, and they always thanked me for those squished sandwiches.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou had the makings of a great luna, even then.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A Cold Marriage That Turned Warm 226 Chapter 226\u00a0 Ellie POV\u00a0 The Moonstone packhouse had always felt grand to me […]<\/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-23795","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\/23795","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=23795"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23795\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23795"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23795"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23795"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}