Chapter 236\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nolan POV\u00a0<\/p>\n
The world drifted back to me in pieces.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sound came first \u2013 soft, rhythmic, almost like waves rolling in against a distant shore. A steady beeping followed, too familiar to be comforting. Machines. Hospital machines. Then came scent \u2013 sharp antiseptic layered over something warmer beneath it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Something soft. Something impossibly familiar.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Moonlight and wildflowers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ellie.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The realization cut through the fog of pain and sedatives like a blade. Even before I opened my eyes, I felt her. The faint hum of the mate bond tugged at me, gentle but persistent, like a silken thread looped through my ribs. No matter how much distance I\u2019d tried to put between us, it always reached for her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And right now, it thrummed with something fierce. Worried. Afraid. Close.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2013\u00a0<\/p>\n
I drew in a slow breath, but the motion dragged at something deep in my side. Pain shot through me \u2014 sharp enough to yank a low groan from my throat. My heart stumbled in its rhythm before settling again.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Somewhere next to me, a chair creaked. Fabric brushed lightly against my arm. Someone exhaled a tired, uneven sound that made something inside me clench.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I forced my eyes open.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Light stabbed at me, then softened as the world came into focus.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2013\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ellie sat slumped beside the bed, her hair loose around her shoulders in soft waves, her hospital badge still clipped crookedly to her shirt. She looked exhausted- dark circles beneath her eyes, her lips pressed tightly together like she\u2019d been holding herself in place by sheer will alone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And gods, she was beautiful.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For a long moment, I just stared at her, letting the reality settle into place.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She was here.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Alive. Safe. Close enough that I could feel her presence like warmth on my skin.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHey,\u201d I rasped, my voice more breath than sound.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her head snapped up so fast I almost winced for her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re awake.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Emotion cracked through those two words, thin but unmistakable.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBarely,\u201d I managed, trying for a smile but feeling it falter \u201cYou look like you haven\u2019t slept.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ellie let out a shaky breath that caught halfway between a laugh and a sob. \u201cYou\u2019re one to talk.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I tried to laugh with her, but it came out as a pained groan, he reached out instinctively, steadying my arm when\u00a0<\/p>\n
I shifted. Her fingers brushed against my wrist, warm and gentle and the bond surged at the contact, strong enough to steal my breath.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou shouldn\u2019t move,\u201d she said softly. \u201cThe knife went deep. You lost a lot of blood.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 236\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
That explained the dizziness. The heaviness. The way my limbs felt full of sand.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cCassian?\u201d I asked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s fine.\u201d Her voice softened, relief flashing across her features. \u201cYou saved his life.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I exhaled slowly, letting the tension drain from my chest. \u201cGood.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Silence settled between us \u2013 not uncomfortable, but fragile, like the thinnest thread stretched tight. She kept her hand near mine, not quite touching but close enough that the warmth radiating from her skin soothed something raw in me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou shouldn\u2019t have been there,\u201d she whispered. \u201cYou should have sent someone else. What\u2019s the point of being the alpha if you\u2019re always throwing yourself head first into danger. It\u2019s reckless!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I let out a faint huff that might\u2019ve been a laugh on a better day. \u201cAnd miss the chance to throw myself in front of a blade? That doesn\u2019t sound like me.\u2019 >>\u00a0<\/p>\n
She frowned, her lips twitching like she wanted to be annoyed but didn\u2019t have the energy for it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou could\u2019ve died, Nolan.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her expression cracked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Just barely \u2013 but I saw it. Her throat worked, her eyes glistening before she looked away. Her shoulders trembled like she was fighting to stay in control.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought-\u201d Her voice broke. She pressed a hand over her mouth, eyes squeezing shut. \u201cWhen they brought you in, when I saw all the blood\u2026 I thought you were gone.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Emotion punched me square in the chest. I had been so focused on the grief that Ellie would feel if something happened to Cassian that it hadn\u2019t even occurred to me that she would worry for me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After everything we\u2019d been through, after everything that I\u2019ve done to her, the thought of her mourning me seemed remote. But I could feel it in the bond, the steady, cold thrum of fear.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t mean to scare you,\u201d I said quietly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou didn\u2019t just scare me.\u201d Her gaze lifted to mine, and I felt it down to my bones. \u201cYou made me realize how much I still-\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She cut herself off, shaking her head as if physically pulling herself away from the edge of something dangerous.\u00a0<\/p>\n
P\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A Cold Marriage That Turned Warm 236 Chapter 236\u00a0 Nolan POV\u00a0 The world drifted back to me in pieces.\u00a0 Sound […]<\/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-23805","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\/23805","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=23805"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23805\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}