Chapter 251\u00a0<\/p>\n
The room felt heavier.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cassian looked away. \u201cI don\u2019t want to believe she\u2019d betray us.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t either,\u201d Rae said softly. \u201cBut something isn\u2019t right here.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cassian took a few steps forward and pulled Rae into his arms. She let herself lean against him, although the tension in her shoulders remained.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI trust you,\u201d Cassian said firmly. \u201cI\u2019ll keep an eye on her.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Across the kingdom, in Silver Fang, Lance was feeling a similar tension.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He noticed it when Isla declined to walk with him through the market. It wasn\u2019t that she\u2019d rejected his invitation. He wasn\u2019t so sensitive that a small thing like that would make him tense; it was the way she\u2019d done it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll meet you back at the packhouse,\u201d she said quickly. Her eyes were on the ground, avoiding him completely.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He frowned. \u201cDid I do something?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d she replied too fast. \u201cOf course not.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
But she still didn\u2019t meet his eyes. Her posture was stiff, like she was doing everything she could to not fidget.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It shook him. He\u2019d gone to run the errands he needed in the market. He picked up a few things Ellie had requested for the boys and dropped off some mail for Nolan. But the entire time, his mind was on Isla.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lance wasn\u2019t sure if he loved her, but he knew that he could grow to.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She was beautiful, strong, hard-headed, competent, and smart. She was everything he liked in a woman. Perfect for him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And that was starting to worry him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He was wondering if Isla was pushing herself to play a role. If there was something about herself that she was afraid of Lance finding out.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Later, when he found her in the courtyard, she was still tense, fingers twisting in her sleeves. It looked like she\u2019d been pacing around the entire time he was gone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lance\u2019s wolf made a soft sound in his mind, not quite distress but close enough. It made his chest ache.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve been avoiding me,\u201d he said quietly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She swallowed. \u201cI just\u2026 need space.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFor what?\u201d he asked gently. \u201cIsla, if I did something wrong, please tell me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She shook her head. Her eyes flicked to his for just a moment before darting away again. In that brief glance, Lance saw conflict. Something was eating at her, something that she wanted to keep from him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s complicated.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her voice was small, tense. Sad. Lance stepped closer, and la didn\u2019t move away. In fact, she leaned toward him, like she was being pulled into his orbit.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lance studied her, worry gnawing at his chest. \u201cYou know you can tell me anything.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Isla smiled faintly. \u201cI know.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
He held his arms out to her in a silent offer. Without hesitation, she stepped into his embrace. She let her head rest against his chest, just over his heart. She was warm in his grip. This felt right in a way that Lance had never experienced.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This wasn\u2019t the heat of attraction or the thrill of something purely physical.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This warmth was belonging. It was comfort and quiet acceptance. Isla seemed to melt into it the same way he did. They fit together in a way that he couldn\u2019t quite describe. So why was she being distant?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Why was she avoiding being with him in public?\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIs it the press?\u201d Lance asked softly. \u201cAre they harassing you about us?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cA little, but that\u2019s not it,\u201d Isla answered softly. She looped her arms around his waist loosely and sighed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know that you can tell me anything. I won\u2019t get mad.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
But she didn\u2019t explain.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lance pulled her a little closer. He didn\u2019t want to pry, didn\u2019t want to dig at something that she wasn\u2019t ready to give up.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So he did the only thing he could right now. He held her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In time, he hoped that she would come to trust him. That she would let him carry some of the burden. Whatever it was, he could tell that it was wearing on her. It wasn\u2019t just that she was being more cautious with him in public; it was in her eyes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The way she avoided eye contact with him spoke volumes. There was something she was feeling that she didn\u2019t want Lance to see.\u00a0<\/p>\n
All he could do was be steady for her and hope that she\u2019d realize he wasn\u2019t going to run away, no matter what it\u00a0<\/p>\n
was.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A Cold Marriage That Turned Warm 251 Chapter 251\u00a0 The room felt heavier.\u00a0 Cassian looked away. \u201cI don\u2019t want to […]<\/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-23820","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\/23820","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=23820"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23820\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23820"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23820"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23820"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}