His Moonsilver Mate (Abby and Kade) novel Chapter 42

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1:58 pm

W

Chapter 42

9440

-ADUY

By dinner, I should have felt better.

I had slept properly for the first time in days. No nightmares. No waking every hour. No staring at the ceiling until morning.

Instead, I had spent most of the afternoon feeling like someone had filled my bones with sand.

Now I sat at the dining table trying not to yawn into my potatoes.

Across from me, Liam noticed. “You sick?”

“No.”

“You look tired.”

I gave him a look.

At the head of the table, Kade looked up. His gaze settled on me. A little too long. Heat climbed into my face

before I could stop it.

Chloe’s voice slipped through the mind-link.

He’s staring at you.

I kept my eyes on my plate.

No, he isn’t.

Abby.

Against my better judgment, I looked up. Kade was still watching me. The second our eyes met, something changed in his expression. Not embarrassment exactly. More like he had been caught doing something he had no

intention of apologizing for.

I looked away first.

Chloe made a suspicious choking sound beside me. I kicked her lightly under the table. She kicked me back.

Kade’s mouth curved.

Great.

Across from us, Cassandra’s gaze moved between the three of us. She said nothing.

Liam reached for the bread basket.

“So,” he said, “before Chloe and Abby start communicating entirely through violence, Ryan sent another report.”

1:58 pm

The warmth disappeared from the table.

Kade leaned back slightly. “Anything?”

“No confirmed sighting”

My attention shifted toward him.

Sloane.

We had barely talked about her since last night.

Kade’s expression hardened a little. “West?”

“Scouts followed the trail as far as they could. Nothing useful once it crosses the outer territory.”

“What about neighboring packs?”

“Two replied. Nothing yet.”

Cassandra set down her glass. “The Sinclairs came by this afternoon.”

Kade’s jaw tightened.

I glanced between them. “Sloane’s parents?”

Cassandra nodded.

I had met them before, although not often. Her mother was quiet and elegant, the kind of woman who always seemed perfectly dressed even when everyone else was in jeans.

Her father-

I remembered him less clearly. Mostly as a stern face at ceremonies.

Kade looked down at his plate. “Her mother wants us to keep looking.”

“And her father?” Liam asked, although from his tone he already knew.

Cassandra’s mouth thinned. “He apologized.”

Chloe frowned. “For what?”

“For Sloane.”

Something uncomfortable moved through me.

Liam shook his head. “She’s missing.”

“I told him that,” Cassandra said.

1:58 pm

“And?”

“He said if she was involved with the rogue, she had disgraced herself and the family. According to him, whatever consequences she faces are her own doing.”

Chloe stared at her. “That’s horrible.”

Cassandra gave a tired sigh. “Sloane and her father have never understood each other.”

Kade’s expression had gone unreadable. “He never Nked her training with us.”

Liam gave a humorless laugh. “He didn’t like her doing much of anything that wasn’t sitting at home and behaving properly.”

Cassandra glanced at him. “That’s not entirely fair.”

Kade looked toward me. “Sloane moved into the packhouse when she was old enough because things were easier

here.”

Ihadn’t known that.

I had always assumed she lived here because she was close to Kade and Liam. Because she helped Kade with the pack. Because everyone expected her to become Luna eventually. Maybe all of that was true too.

Still, something tightened in my chest.

I was angry with her. If she had really arranged my kidnapping, I didn’t know. if I could ever forgive that. But imagining her mother begging Kade to find her while her father apologized for her existence made me feel something I hadn’t expected.

Sorry for her.

I looked down.

A warm hand closed around mine beneath the table.

I froze.

Kade. His fingers curled gently around mine.

You okay?

His voice came quietly through the link.

I looked at him.

Yes.

He didn’t ask again. Just kept holding my hand.

Across the table, Cassandra noticed. Her eyes dropped briefly toward where our hands disappeared beneath the

1:58 pm

edge of the table before returning to my face.

pretended not to see.

Liam broke the silence. “I got a call from Tiernan too.”

That got my attention immediately. “Did he find something?”

Liam glanced at me. “He thinks so.”

I sat straighter. “What?”

“He didn’t want to go through it over the phone. He’s bringing copies of whatever he found.”

“When?”

“Soon. Maybe tomorrow, depending on how long it takes him to get away.”

Cassandra looked toward the windows. Outside, the last of the daylight had faded from the garden.

“If Tiernan stays more than a day, that puts him here for the equinox.”

I had almost forgotten.

The autumn equinox celebration had always been one of Moonhaven’s larger traditions. The pack gathered after sunset with fires, food, music, and the last of the season’s harvest. As a child, I had mostly cared about sweets and staying awake too late.

Kade glanced at his mother. “You still want to hold it?”

Cassandra raised her brows. “Do you?”

He was quiet for a moment.

Liam leaned back in his chair. “With everything happening, cancelling wouldn’t exactly surprise anyone.”

“No,” Kade said. He rested one forearm against the table. “We’re not cancelling.”

Something in Cassandra’s face softened.

Kade continued. “We make it smaller this year. Inner grounds only. No open invitations beyond allied guests. Ryan doubles the outer patrols and keeps additional men near the town square.”

Cassandra nodded slowly. “Good.”

Chloe smiled. “So we still get food.”

Liam looked at her. “That’s your concern?”

“My priorities are excellent.”

I laughed.

И

1:58 pm

Kade’s thumb moved once over the back of my hand beneath the table. The touch sent an embarrassing little -warmth through me.

Cassandra looked between us again. “All right,” she said. “If we’re doing this, I’ll need help.”

Chloe’s expression immediately became suspicious. “With what?”

“Everything.” Cassandra smiled. “You’ll survive.”

Someone had chosen a terrible romantic comedy.

Half the girls gathered in the family sitting room were watching the television. The other half were talking over it.

Cassandra had brought bowls of popcorn. Someone found blankets. One of the younger girls had taken over the armchair and was pretending not to be asleep.

Lsat beside Chloe on the sofa. Or tried to. The strange restlessness had gotten worse. My body no longer felt heavy. Quite the opposite.

My skin felt too tight.

My legs wanted to move.

Diana had been pacing inside me for the last twenty minutes.

Outside.

No.

Why?

Because there are guards everywhere and I’m not shifting where anyone can see you.

We don’t have to shift.

I glanced toward the balcony doors. Moonlight spilled across the floor. Something inside me pulled toward it. Softer. Natural. Like noticing fresh air after being inside too long.

Chloe nudged me. “You okay?”

“Yeah.”

“You’ve moved your leg about a thousand times.”

I stopped bouncing my knee. “Sorry.”

She narrowed her eyes. “You sure?”

1:58 pm

“I just need air.”

shipped out before she could question me again.

The balcony doors closed softly behind me. Cool night air touched my face. I breathed in.

The difference was immediate. The last traces of exhaustion seemed to loosen from my body. My head cleared. My shoulders relaxed. The cold felt good against my skin.

I crossed toward the railing. The moon had risen above the trees. Bright enough to silver the edges of the clouds.

Diana lifted her head inside me.

Better

I wrapped my arms around myself.

You feel it too?

Yes

A strange thrill moved through me.

I had spent most of the day wanting to sleep. Now I wanted to run. Not because I was anxious. Because my body felt ready for it. Strong. Alive.

I gripped the railing. If things were normal, I could have gone into the woods. Shifted. Let Diana stretch her legs. Maybe run until we were both exhausted.

Instead, guards stood along the edge of the grounds. And somewhere beyond Moonhaven, someone was looking

for wolves like mine.

Diana made an unhappy sound.

Soon.

I hoped so.

The balcony door opened behind me. I turned.

Cassandra stepped outside carrying two mugs. “I wondered where you disappeared to.”

“Sorry.”

She handed me one mug of tea. I wrapped my hands around the warmth.

For a while, neither of us spoke.

She looked toward the moon. “Beautiful tonight.”

“Yeah.” I took a sip.

1:58 pm

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She glanced at me. “You look better.”

I frowned. “Better?”

“You looked exhausted at dinner.”

“I was.”

“And now?”

I thought about it. “Not really.”

Her eyebrows lifted. “That was fast.”

“I know.”

I looked back at the moon.

Maybe I really had slept too much.

Maybe my body was still recovering.

Maybe-

“You know,” Cassandra said, “I’ve been trying very hard not to ask you something.”

That made me nervous. “Aunt Cassie.”

She turned slightly toward me. “I’ve watched you and Kade circle each other for days.”

My face warmed. “We’re not circling.”

Cassandra laughed. Then her expression softened. “You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to.”

I looked down into my tea. That somehow made it easier.

“Kade is my mate.”

I looked at her.

Cassandra stared at me. Then very slowly lowered her mug.

“Kade?”

I almost laughed. “Yes.”

“My Kade.”

“There’s only one.”

1:58 pm

She blinked. I had never seen Cassandra Blackwell look speechless before. Then her expression changed. Something clicked.

“The night you shifted.”

I nodded. “He rejected me.”

Everything warm disappeared from Cassandra’s expression.

“He what?”

I stared into my tea. “He thought I was too young. That I wasn’t ready to be Luna. And the pack was under threat, and he thought Sloane was what Moonhaven needed.”

Cassandra closed her eyes. “Oh, Kade.”

“He thought he was doing the right thing.”

“That doesn’t make it less stupid.”

She rubbed one hand over her forehead. “Nate would rise from the grave just to hit him.”

A laugh escaped me before I could stop it.

Cassandra looked at me. “What happened?”

“I accepted the rejection. The bond broke. And then he changed his mind.”

Her mouth flattened. “Convenient.”