Chapter 153TM\u00a0<\/p>\n
He was already moving, grabbing clothes from the dresser where he\u2019d been keeping them. \u201cCome with me, he said, turning to look at me with desperate eyes. \u201cPlease, Athena. I don\u2019t want to leave you alone.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
But I couldn\u2019t. I shook my head, and I saw the hurt flash across his face.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018I can\u2019t, Tristan. I\u2019m sorry, but I can\u2019t. I\u2019ll wait till you get back.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The truth was, I didn\u2019t want to come face to face with her. There was something about Seraphine that made my skin crawl, something dark and manipulative that everyone else seemed blind to.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Every instinct I had screamed warnings whenever her name came up. I didn\u2019t trust her, and I had a terrible feeling that this \u201csuicide attempt\u201d was just another play in whatever game she was running.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But I couldn\u2019t tell him that because he had a duty to his people and I wouldn\u2019t stop him even though it\u2019s someone I don\u2019t like.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t want to leave me. I could see it in the way he hesitated, half\u2013dressed and torn between two loyalties. For a moment, I thought he might\u00a0<\/p>\n
choose to stay, might prioritize our relationship over his duties as Alpha.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But I knew better. Tristan was too good, too honorable to abandon a pack member who needed help, even if that someone made my skin crawl. His\u00a0<\/p>\n
responsibility to his pack ran deeper than blood \u2013 it was woven into his very soul.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGo, I insisted, even though every fiber of my being wanted to beg him to stay. \u201cShe needs you right now.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He kissed me hard before he left, pouring all his conflicted emotions into that single desperate contact.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018I love you,\u201d he whispered against my lips. \u201cI\u2019ll make sure to come as soon as possible.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018I love you too. I\u2019ll wait for you.\u201d I whispered back, though part of me wondered if that was really true.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After he left, the apartment felt enormous and empty. I tried to distract myself with a book, then television, then cleaning, but nothing worked. The silence was deafening after days of constant companionship.\u00a0<\/p>\n
About thirty minutes after Tristan left, my phone rang. Derek\u2019s name flashed on the screen.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018Hey,\u201d I answered, grateful for any distraction.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018Are you home?\u201d he asked immediately.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018Yeah, why?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you alone?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I hesitated. \u201cTristan went out to handle something. Why? What\u2019s going on?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018I\u2019m on my way over,\u2018 Derek said, and there was something in his tone that made my stomach clench with anxiety.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018Derek, what..\u201d But he\u2019d already hung up.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/21\u00a0<\/p>\n
15:21 Sat, Jan 10 G MR\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 153\u00a0<\/p>\n
I set my phone down with shaking hands. First Seraphine\u2019s supposed suicide attempt, now Derek calling with that strange urgency in his voice. What was happening tonight?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Derek and I are now friends, turns out Tristan had spoken to him man to man.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Alpha to Alpha, yep.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I was shocked when I heard too, Tristan was aware all along.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Of course he knew, they were friends and partners.\u00a0<\/p>\n
71\u00a0<\/p>\n
Derek wasn\u2019t from from around here, he\u2019d left his place to come start something here.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t ask for more information because I didn\u2019t think I needed to know. But right now, I couldn\u2019t help but think he was in danger.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I tried calling him back, but it went straight to voicemail. So I waited, pacing around my living room in nothing but Tristan\u2019s oversized t\u2013shirt and a pair\u00a0<\/p>\n
of shorts. Every minute felt like an hour.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When I finally heard the knock at my door, relief flooded through me. Derek was here, and whatever was wrong, he\u2019d explain it and everything would\u00a0<\/p>\n
make sense again.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t bother asking who it was \u2013 Derek had said he was coming over, after all. I unlocked the bolt and pulled the door open, already starting to speak.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThank God you\u2019re here, I was starting to\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The words died in my throat. My steps faltered, and I felt my eyes widen until they felt like they might pop out of my skull. The blood drained from my\u00a0<\/p>\n
face so fast I thought I might faint.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Standing in my doorway, wearing a cold smile that didn\u2019t reach their eyes, was the absolute last person I ever expected to see.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2026\u201d I stammered, my voice barely above a whisper. \u201cWhat are you\u2026 doing here?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Memories Drifted Into Soft Silence by Kyx Frost 153 Chapter 153TM\u00a0 He was already moving, grabbing clothes from the dresser […]<\/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-26310","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\/26310","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=26310"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26310\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}