Chapter 151

Chapter 151
I really had been selfish, hadn’t I?
“You always think you owe everyone an apology,” he contined sily. “But you don’t. Nolan he’s not someone you can reason with when he feels comered. You did what you had to.”
I turned toward him, unsettled by how easily he spoke Nolan’s name, “You don’t know what really happened.”
He met my eyes. “I know more than you think.”
Something in his tone sent a chill through me. “What’s that supposed to mean?
“I knew that Nolan was in the dark about the boys. There’s no way someone as arrogant as him wouldn’t be bragging about twin sons, especially after it took years for you guys to conceive.”
My face flushed with embarrassment at the comment. Having the public scrutinize and gossip about such an intimate part of our lives was one of the things I hated the most about being married ton alpha.
“Did Nolan… did he take it out on you?” I asked softly.
“No,” Kieran replied coolly, “Not really. Though it honestly surprised me that he didn’t. You know how violent he can be ”
I frowned at that and turned to face him fully. “He’s never been vident with me.”
“That’s surprising,” he said, his eyes going a little wide. “Never?”
“No. What makes you think he would be?”
He looked away, sighing as if debating with himself, “When we were young, I spent a lot of time around Silver Fang’s packhouse. Training, negotiations, that sort of thing. Nolan and didn’t get along even then. He was… volatile. His father pushed him too hard, and he learned to hide it behind discipline, but sometimes it slipped through. You could see it in the way he’d snap at the smallest mistake,”
I didn’t respond. I didn’t want to believe him-but part of me alrely did.
“I’ve seen him lose control,” Kieran said quietly, “Once, during a training session. He nearly broke a boy’s arm for speaking out of turn.”
I clenched my hands together. “That was a long time ago.”
He nodded. “It was. But that kind of anger doesn’t just disappear, only learns to hide better.”
I swallowed, suddenly too aware of the silence in the room.
He stepped closer, careful, his voice dropping to something gentle “I’m not saying this to frighten you. I just don’t want you to question yourself for protecting your sons. You did what any mother would do.”
The words sank in slowly, curling around the guilt in my chest like smoke. For a moment, I almost let myself believe him.
“I wasn’t trying to hurt him,” I said quietly. “I just-
“Wanted peace.”
I nodded.
“You deserve it,” he murmured. “And if anyone tries to take it from you again, I’ll make sure they regret it.”
I froze. There was no menace in his tone, but something about the way he said it–so
sure, so steady-felt like a promise I didn’t want.
Before I could answer, a soft cry came from the bedroom. August.
I moved to check on him, but Kieran’s hand brushed my arm. “Let nie.”
He was already halfway to the door before I found my voice. “It’s fe, I’ve got it.”
He stopped, hand hovering near the doorframe, then stepped back with small, apologetic smile. Old habits d forget not everyone needs rescuing.”
I gave him a look that probably said more than I meant it to. “Thats one thing we agree on.”
By the time I soothed August back to sleep, the tension in my chest had sharpened into something unsteady. When I returned to the living room, Kieran was standing near the window, looking out at the distant line of the forest.
“You’ve made a nice home here,” he said quietly. “Moonstone suits you.”
“I’m trying,” I murmured.
He turned, his gaze soft but searching. “Don’t let anyone make you feel like you
have to explain your choices, Ellie. Least of all him.”
He didn’t say Nolan’s name this time, but he didn’t have to.
After he left, the apartment felt heavier. The lilies sat on the counter, their white petals open wide, filling the air with a sweet, heady scent. Ì stared at them for a long time before finally moving them to the
window ysill, where the breeze could reach.

That night, when the goddess came to me again, her voice was clearer than before.
You cannot hide peace in the shadow of fear, my child.
I woke with tears on my face and the echo of thunder fading in the distance.