We stayed for what felt like hours but was probably only two. Tristan paced the small room like a caged wolf, his alpha energy crackling\u00a0<\/p>\n
with barely contained rage.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I sat in the uncomfortable visitor\u2019s chair, trying not to stare at Seraphine\u2019s battered face, trying not to let the memories it triggered drag\u00a0<\/p>\n
me back into my own dark places.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When she finally woke up, her voice was barely a whisper, hoarse from the damage to her throat.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cTristan?\u201d she managed, her eyes unfocused from the medication.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m here,\u201d he said, immediately moving to her bedside. His voice was gentle, the way it got when he was trying to comfort someone who\u00a0<\/p>\n
was hurting. \u201cYou\u2019re safe now. He can\u2019t hurt you anymore.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She tried to sit up but winced and fell back against the pillows. \u201cHe said\u2026 he said I embarrassed him at the pack meeting. That I talked\u00a0<\/p>\n
too much, made him look weak.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tristan\u2019s hands clenched into fists at his sides. \u201cSera, how long has this been going on?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cA while,\u201d she admitted, tears starting to slip down her cheeks. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t always this bad. At first it was just\u2026 grabbing too hard when he was angry. Pushing me when I said something he didn\u2019t like. But lately\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She trailed off, her hand moving unconsciously to her stomach. \u201cI lost my baby,\u201d she whispered, and the pain in her voice was so raw it made my chest ache. \u201cLast month. He said it was my fault, that I was too weak to carry his pup properly.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
That\u2019s when the memories I\u2019d managed to bury came flooding back.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The room started spinning, and I must have made some kind of sound because suddenly Tristan was at my side, his hands on my\u00a0<\/p>\n
shoulders, steadying me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you okay?\u201d he asked, his voice full of concern.\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m fine, I managed, even though I was anything but fine. The similarities between Seraphine\u2019s story and my own were too much, too\u00a0<\/p>\n
close to the surface.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tristan studied my face for a long moment, and I could see the exact moment he put the pieces together. His expression darkened with\u00a0<\/p>\n
understanding and rage.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe should go,\u201d he said quietly. \u201cLet Seraphine rest.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The next day at work, everything felt different. Tristan was distracted, constantly checking his phone, and I could tell his mind was\u00a0<\/p>\n
elsewhere.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
18:37 Fri, Jan 2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 41\u00a0<\/p>\n
:\u00a0<\/p>\n
Around noon, he got a call that made him immediately start gathering his things.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s asking for me,\u201d he said, not really looking at me. \u201cThe doctor thinks it would be good for her recovery if she has familiar faces\u00a0<\/p>\n
around.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My heart sank, even though I had no right to feel possessive of his time and attention. Seraphine needed him more than I did. She was\u00a0<\/p>\n
fighting for her life and recovery from trauma that I understood all too well. Even though I still don\u2019t know their relationship together.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou should go,\u201d I said, forcing my voice to sound normal. \u201cShe needs you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He hesitated, clearly torn. \u201cCome with me. I don\u2019t like leaving you alone, especially after\u2026..\u201d He didn\u2019t complete it but I already know\u00a0<\/p>\n
what he was saying.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI can take care of myself,\u201d I insisted, even though part of me wanted nothing more than to stay close to his protective presence. \u201cLeah\u00a0<\/p>\n
will drive me home. We\u2019ve been doing fine without you hovering over me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He tried to argue, but I could see the urgency in his eyes. Seraphine was calling for him, and he needed to answer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll be back as soon as I can,\u201d he promised, grabbing his keys. \u201cCall me if anything happens. Anything at all.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Memories Drifted Into Soft Silence by Kyx Frost 41 We stayed for what felt like hours but was probably only […]<\/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":[77],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26198","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-second-gear-of-love-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26198","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=26198"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26198\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}