Chapter 50\u00a0<\/p>\n
The conversation stopped abruptly, and I could picture them both freezing, suddenly aware that I might be awake and listening.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Of course they\u2019d heard me. They both have incredible hearing all werewolves do. There was no way my gasp had gone unnoticed,\u00a0<\/p>\n
My mind was spinning. Tristan had been mated. He\u2019d had someone he loved enough to create a life with, and he\u2019d lost both of them, When had this happened? How had I never known about something so huge, so life\u2013changing?\u00a0<\/p>\n
And more importantly, how was he still functioning? How was he taking care of me and running the family business and being there\u00a0<\/p>\n
for everyone else when he was carrying around that kind of devastating loss?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Suddenly, so many things clicked into place like puzzle pieces I\u2019d been too blind to see before.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The way he\u2019d thrown himself into taking care of me after I came back, like he desperately needed someone to protect.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The photos around his apartment \u2013 the ones with the dark\u2013haired woman I\u2019d never been brave enough to ask about. The reason he used to disappear every night at ten o\u2019clock sharp, like he had some sacred ritual he couldn\u2019t break. He\u2019d probably been visiting her grave.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The guilt hit me like a physical blow to the chest. Here I\u2019d been wallowing in my own trauma, feeling jealous every time he paid attention to someone else, never once considering that he might be dealing with his own unbearable pain.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019d been so wrapped up in my own misery that I\u2019d completely missed the signs that one of the most important people in my life was\u00a0<\/p>\n
quietly falling apart.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAthena?\u201d Orion\u2019s voice was gentle now, concerned. \u201cAre you awake, sweetheart?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I took a shaky breath and opened the door, stepping into the hallway where they could see me. Both of them looked absolutely\u00a0<\/p>\n
terrible.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Orion had dark circles under his eyes and stubble covering his usually clean\u2013shaven jaw. He looked older somehow, worn down in a\u00a0<\/p>\n
way that made my heart ache.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I hadn\u2019t seen him in five years, and this was how we were meeting again with him looking like he\u2019d aged a decade in the time I\u2019d\u00a0<\/p>\n
been gone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tristan looked like he hadn\u2019t slept in days. His hair was disheveled, his clothes wrinkled, and there was a haunted quality to his eyes\u00a0<\/p>\n
that I\u2019d never noticed before.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHow long have you been listening?\u201d Tristan asked, and I could see the fear written all over his face. He was terrified of what I might have heard, of what questions I might ask about his past.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLong enough,\u201d I said quietly, my voice still rough from the medication and hours of sleep. \u201cLong enough to know that I\u2019m sorry. To\u00a0<\/p>\n
both of you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
I swayed on my feet, the room spinning slightly, and before I knew what was happening, both men were on either side of me,\u00a0<\/p>\n
hands gentle but firm as they steadied me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
their\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou shouldn\u2019t be up yet,\u201d Orion scolded, his big brother voice coming through even in his worry. \u201cThe doctor said you needed at least\u00a0<\/p>\n
twenty hours of rest after what happened.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018I heard what the doctor said,\u201d I interrupted as they carefully guided me to the couch. I sank down onto it gratefully, my legs feeling\u00a0<\/p>\n
like they might give out at any moment. \u201cI heard all of it. About the pills, about you thinking I tried to\u2026 that I wanted to\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I couldn\u2019t say the words. Couldn\u2019t voice what they thought I\u2019d attempted to do.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tristan and Orion\u2019s eyes never left mine, watching me like hawks, like they were afraid I might disappear if they looked away for even\u00a0<\/p>\n
a second. I could see pain in both their faces, the kind of deep hurt that comes from thinking you\u2019ve failed someone you love.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry,\u201d I said, looking directly at Tristan. \u201cI didn\u2019t know you\u2019d lost your mate. I shouldn\u2019t have been bothering you with my\u00a0<\/p>\n
problems when you\u2019re dealing with something so much worse.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland\u2019s breathtaking cold.<\/p>\n
Memories Drifted Into Soft Silence by Kyx Frost 50 Chapter 50\u00a0 The conversation stopped abruptly, and I could picture them […]<\/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-26207","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\/26207","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=26207"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26207\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}