Chapter 51\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s exactly why I didn\u2019t tell you,\u201d Tristan said softly. \u201cBecause you were already going through so\u00a0<\/p>\n
much. I didn\u2019t want to add my grief to your burden.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t try to kill myself last night,\u201d I said firmly, watching the way both of them tensed up at my\u00a0<\/p>\n
words. \u201cI need you both to understand that. I wasn\u2019t trying to die.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Orion pulled a chair directly in front of me and sat down, close enough that our knees were almost\u00a0<\/p>\n
touching. He looked like he was about to conduct an interrogation, and I knew there was no way I was\u00a0<\/p>\n
getting out of this conversation without telling them everything.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened then?\u201d he asked gently, taking both my hands in his larger ones. \u201cWhy did you take the pills? Tristan said you were getting better, that you\u2019d even started taking self\u2013defense classes.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2026 I\u2026\u201d I started, then stopped, the words catching in my throat.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Orion squeezed my hands reassuringly. \u201cTake your time.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I should leave you two to talk in private,\u201d Tristan said, starting to stand up.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Orion\u2019s head snapped up, and he gave Tristan a look that could have melted steel. The look clearly said \u2018sit your ass back down right now or I\u2019ll make you regret it.\u2018\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tristan understood the message perfectly. \u201cI think I\u2019ll stay,\u201d he said, settling back into his seat. It made\u00a0<\/p>\n
me laugh despite everything.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When Orion goes into big brother mode, even Tristan has no choice but to obey. Some things never\u00a0<\/p>\n
change.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tristan gently took my other hand from Orion\u2019s and held it, completing our little circle. \u201cYou can tell us anything,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re here, and nothing and no one will ever hurt you again. I promise.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Orion nodded. \u201cWe\u2019re family. We protect each other, no matter what.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I believed him. Orion doesn\u2019t make promises he can\u2019t keep. It\u2019s one of the things that makes him such\u00a0<\/p>\n
a good leader.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I was at the market with Leah, I saw someone who looked like him,\u201d I said, refusing to speak Daxon\u2019s name out loud. I wouldn\u2019t give him that power over me anymore.\u00a0<\/p>\n
20:35 Sat, Jan 3\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 51\u00a0<\/p>\n
2.11%8\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe stranger was wearing the exact same clothes lie wore the day I rejected him. At first, I was certain\u00a0<\/p>\n
it was him,\u201d I took a deep breath.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1 panicked and followed him, but when he turned around, it wasn\u2019t him. It was just some innocent guy\u00a0<\/p>\n
who probably thought I was crazy.\u201d I took a shaky breath.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Both of them wanted to say something about me chasing after a potential threat \u2013 I could see it in their raised eyebrows and clenched jaws \u2013 but they kept quiet and let me continue.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBut by then, I was already falling apart. I came home and couldn\u2019t calm down, couldn\u2019t stop shaking. I took the medication just so I could sleep, so I could make the fear stop.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry I wasn\u2019t there,\u201d Tristan said, his voice thick with guilt. \u201cIf I hadn\u2019t left to check on Seraphine,\u00a0<\/p>\n
this wouldn\u2019t have happened.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIs there something else you\u2019re not telling us?\u201d Orion asked, his alpha or brother instincts clearly picking up on something I was holding back.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I felt my stomach drop. How could he always tell when I was hiding something?\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all need to trust each other,\u201d Orion continued, because at the end of the day, we only have the three of us. So if there\u2019s anything either of you aren\u2019t saying, say it now.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He looked between me and Tristan. Tristan raised an eyebrow. \u201cBrother, this conversation isn\u2019t about me. Besides, you already know about what I lost.\u201d His voice broke slightly on the last word.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Orion nodded and turned his full attention back to me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I swallowed hard, feeling tears threatening to spill over. My heart was pounding so hard I was sure they could both hear it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI lost a pup,\u201d I said, the words coming out like they were being ripped from my chest.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Memories Drifted Into Soft Silence by Kyx Frost 51 Chapter 51\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s exactly why I didn\u2019t tell you,\u201d Tristan said […]<\/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-26208","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\/26208","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=26208"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26208\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26208"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}