Chapter 239\u00a0<\/p>\n
Healing. Slowly, but healing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The door opened.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought you\u2019d be asleep,\u201d Ellie said, her voice soft enough to blend with the sunlight.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I turned toward her, and the ache in my chest \u2013 the one no wound had caused -eased instantly. She held one of the twins against her hip, the other curled sleepily on her shoulder.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her hair was a little messy, her cheeks flushed, and she looked\u2026 like home.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve slept enough to last a lifetime,\u201d I said with a faint smile.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2013\u00a0<\/p>\n
That wasn\u2019t entirely true \u2013 just sitting upright felt like a full-body workout \u2013 but if staying awake meant seeing her, I\u2019d fight through it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She crossed the room, placing one of the boys gently into my arms before settling beside me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The baby\u2019s small hand curled instinctively around my finger, tiny but strong.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I froze.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019d never get used to this, to holding them, looking at them They were everything I had always thought I needed in my life and so much more.\u00a0<\/p>\n
More than just the fated mate born heirs to Silver Fang. They were beautiful, strong, amazing like their mother. \u201cHe\u2019s-\u201d My voice broke unexpectedly. I swallowed hard. \u201cHe\u2019s perfect.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ellie\u2019s expression softened. \u201cThat\u2019s Ian. August is the one attacking my hair.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI know,\u201d I said softly, looking back down at Ian. In my visits to the twins in her apartment, I had quickly learned to tell them apart. Ian had a hint of pine to his scent and a tiny freckle on his right cheek.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I watched as August gave her sweater a determined tug with chubby fists. I chuckled, careful not to jostle the baby in my arms.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFitting,\u201d I murmured. \u201cHow did you come up with their names? I\u2019ve been meaning to ask.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, August is a good name for a leader. And Ian\u2026 Ian was one of the people who raised me at the orphanage.\u201d I nodded, not able to think of anything to say to that.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For a while, we simply sat. The boys made soft, content sounds \u2013 tiny huffs and gurgles that melted straight into my chest. I couldn\u2019t stop staring at them. At Ellie. At the life I\u2019d missed the beginning of.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI missed this,\u201d I said quietly. \u201cTheir first months\u2026 all of \u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ellie\u2019s breath hitched, just barely. \u201cYou couldn\u2019t have known.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI should have,\u201d I whispered. \u201cI should\u2019ve felt it. The bond the moment they were born\u2026\u201d My jaw tightened. \u201cI let too much anger blind me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Silence stretched. Heavy but not suffocating.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When I finally looked at Ellie, she wasn\u2019t angry. Or disappointed. She was studying me caution, with something that made my chest feel too full.\u00a0<\/p>\n
with gentleness, with\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re here now,\u201d she said at last. \u201cThat\u2019s what matters.m not\u2026 I\u2019m not going to keep them from you again. It\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 23\u00a0<\/p>\n
*25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
was wrong of me. I convinced myself that I was protecting them and myself but, I know now that I was wrong.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I held her gaze, letting her words settle somewhere deep. The sunlight caught her hair, turning it honey gold, and for a moment the world felt impossibly still.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI meant what I said before,\u201d I murmured. \u201cI\u2019ll prove I can change. Not by saying it. By showing it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her eyes softened \u2013 warm but guarded. \u201cYou\u2019re off to a good start. I appreciate that you\u2019ve given us space, but I think that we\u2019ve had enough of that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ian stirred in my arms, yawning wide enough to show his tiny gums. I smiled, brushing his cheek with a careful thumb.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does that mean? You\u2019ve had enough space from me\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ellie laughed under her breath, the sound bright and light. It means that I want the twins to know what it\u2019s like to live with their cold, demanding father.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her words sank in slowly and I looked at her for a long moment with hope flooding through the bond. \u201cAre you saying that you\u2019ll come home?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYes,\u201d she said without hesitation. \u201cMoonstone will always be our home, too. The twins were born here, my family is here, but\u2026 they\u2019re the heirs to Silver Fang. It\u2019s time that we let the world know they\u2019re here.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
We fell into a quiet that wasn\u2019t awkward. Peaceful. The kind that settled into your bones.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For a few perfect seconds, the world beyond this room \u2013 the rogues, Felicity, the weight of leadership \u2013 disappeared.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Just sunlight.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Just the boys breathing softly in our arms.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Just her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And for the first time in years\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n
I felt like everything might actually be okay.\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
A Cold Marriage That Turned Warm 239 Chapter 239\u00a0 Healing. Slowly, but healing.\u00a0 The door opened.\u00a0 \u201cI thought you\u2019d be […]<\/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-23808","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\/23808","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=23808"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23808\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23808"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23808"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23808"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}