Chapter 247\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were not selfish, Ellie. I promise you, Nolan doesn\u2019t blame you for hiding the boys.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHow could you possibly know that?\u201d I asked, feeling my throat grow tight with emotion.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause he\u2019s told me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d I asked in disbelief.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou two really need to work on your communication skills\u201d Cassian sighed. \u201cNolan and I have talked about what happened last year. He told me that the whole situation is painful for him, but given the situation and how he was behaving, he thinks you did the right thing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe really said that?\u201d I asked softly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe did. But you should ask him about it. I\u2019m sure that hearing the words from his own mouth would do you both good.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll think about it,\u201d I said softly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The conversation continued for a short time after that. I asked about Alaric and Rae, and Cassian asked about the boys. After that, the routine of the day resumed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
By noon, the boys were settled down for their nap, and I had a moment of quiet to reflect.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stood by the nursery window, watching the late afternoon sun paint the grounds in gold. The boys slept soundly behind me, worn out from attention and new faces and too many hands trying to hold them at once.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nolan had been called away briefly-elder business, he\u2019d said, though his jaw had tightened when he mentioned\u00a0<\/p>\n
I rested a hand over my stomach, an old habit she hadn\u2019t quite broken yet.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Something felt\u2026 off.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Not wrong, exactly. Just unsettled. Like the air before a storm when the sky still looks clear.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My phone chimed softly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rae.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I answered immediately. \u201cHey.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEllie,\u201d Rae said, voice tight. \u201cI need to ask you something\u00a0<\/p>\n
I straightened. The strain in her voice immediately put me on edge. \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHave you ever gotten a weird feeling from Claire? Or noticed anything off about her?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I frowned. \u201cNo. Why?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
There was a pause. \u201cShe kind of freaked me out today. Maybe it\u2019s nothing, but\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My unease sharpened. \u201cRae, what happened?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShe made it sound like Nolan made a mistake by protecting Cassian,\u201d she said softly. \u201cSaid he was selfish to put himself in danger. That as alpha, he has a greater responsibility to you and his pack.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My pulse quickened. \u201cIf Nolan hadn\u2019t stepped in, Cassian-\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI know,\u201d Rae said quietly. \u201cAnd when I pressed her, she backtracked.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chache247\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
I moved further from the crib, lowering my voice instinctively. \u201cWhy would she say something like that?\u201d \u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d Rae admitted. \u201cBut something\u2019s wrong. I can feel it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt might be nothing,\u201d I said softly. \u201cJust her opinion on something she doesn\u2019t really understand.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat wasn\u2019t the only thing,\u201d Rae said tensely. \u201cShe made comment about Kieran.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My heart skipped at her words. My grip on the phone tightened. \u201cKieran?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah,\u201d Rae continued. \u201cShe made it sound like you made a mistake by going back to Nolan. Like you should have chosen Kieran instead.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I closed my eyes briefly. I wanted to rationalize that away. I had told Claire so many things about Nolan and the problems we had. Of course she had a poor opinion of him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And Kieran had always been charming and kind when he was around, especially when my friends were there.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There was no reason for Claire to feel anything negative about Kieran. I could see how my choice did seem foolish from an outsider\u2019s perspective. This was probably nothing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Claire. The woman Cassian had trusted enough to leave me with while I was vulnerable. The woman I had laughed with, confided in, and allowed near my children.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I was being paranoid. This was an innocent conversation, and Rae and I were just on high alert because of everything else going on.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s probably nothing. Still, better to be cautious. But Rae, I said softly. \u201cDon\u2019t confront her.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI wasn\u2019t planning to,\u201d Rae replied. \u201cI just wanted you to know.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m glad you told me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
>>\u00a0<\/p>\n
We ended the call, but the tension remained.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I turned back to the window just as Nolan returned, his expression stormy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe elders are restless,\u201d he said. \u201cRowan especially.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I nodded, distracted. \u201cNolan\u2026 I think someone\u2019s still watching us.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
His gaze sharpened instantly. \u201cWho?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not sure. Maybe it\u2019s nothing, but I have this feeling\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n
>>\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nolan exhaled slowly. \u201cThen we assume the worst and prepare for it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He crossed the room, resting his forehead briefly against mine. \u201cI won\u2019t let anyone hurt you. Or the boys.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I believed him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That didn\u2019t stop the fear from curling in my chest.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Because somewhere, far beyond Silver Fang\u2019s walls, someone was paying very close attention.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And the game wasn\u2019t over yet.\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
A Cold Marriage That Turned Warm 247 Chapter 247\u00a0 \u201cYou were not selfish, Ellie. I promise you, Nolan doesn\u2019t blame […]<\/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-23816","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\/23816","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=23816"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23816\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}