My stomach twisted with worry. “Is that safe?”
“Safer than what was happening before,” Ronnie said. “Don’t move him. In fact, everyone touch her.”
Without hesitation, I cupped her cheek with my hand. The air around us thickened, charged with energy. I could feel the faint hum beneath her skin returning, steadier now-not wild and erratic like before.
Callen knelt beside me, brushing a stray lock of hair from her face, his voice low and steady. “She’s stabilizing.”
Remy exhaled, the tension draining from his shoulders as he placed a hand on her stomach. “Thank the goddess.”
Parker crouched nearby, resting a hand on her shoulder. “Come on, Paige. Let us help you.”
Ronnie’s gaze remained fixed on Paige’s face, a mix of awe and dread etched across his features. “She’s stronger than I thought. But it’s not just her anymore.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, heart pounding.
He glanced between me and Jaxon. “Her energy is bonding outward-to him, to all of you. That’s what makes it powerful, but it also makes it volatile. It’s growing so fast that if any of you get hurt, it could spike through her again. Maybe worse.”
Parker muttered a curse. “So she’s… tied to all of us now.”
Ronnie nodded. “That’s what bonds do when they form fast and deep. They connect everything-strength, pain, emotion. That’s why she feels what you feel. And it’s only going to get stronger.”
For a long moment, no one spoke. The only sound was the slow, steady rhythm of her breathing-shallow, but steady.
Jaxon whispered softly, telling her a story. I leaned back slightly, keeping my hand on her cheek, simply watching her. The faint glow beneath her skin was back, delicate sparkles of silver and gold flickering like tiny stars. If you weren’t paying attention, you’d miss it-thin veins of light tracing her throat and the inside of her wrist, pulsing in and out as if they were breathing with her. It was breathtaking in its quiet, fragile beauty.
In the dim light, she looked almost unreal. Long lashes resting gently on her cheeks, the shimmer dancing just beneath her skin. There was a fragile strength in her stillness-not weakness, but like lightning trapped in a bottle: delicate, yet capable of burning everything it touched.
I caught myself smiling. Yesterday, Jax and I had watched an old movie about fairies and pirates while he was feeling sick. He’d fallen asleep halfway through, but I stayed up to see how it ended. There was a scene where the fairy lit up the darkness-fierce, stubborn, full of light. Looking at Paige now, I couldn’t help but think of that fairy. My own stubborn Tinker Bell, glowing when she probably shouldn’t.
Callen’s voice pulled me back. “What now?” he asked Ronnie.
Ronnie rubbed his face tiredly. “We hold the line. Whatever she saw at the creek, we treat it as real until proven otherwise.”
Remy nodded. “I’ll pull some enforcers from the southern patrol to set up near the creek. They’ll rig gentle snares and net traps.”
“Make sure they monitor it closely,” Ronnie warned. “I don’t want some kid wandering too close and ending up caught like a rabbit.”
Remy smirked. “We’ll set up trail cams, too. The traps should slow them down enough for us to catch whatever’s out there.”
“Good.”
Callen glanced at me. “Rye?”
I blinked, pulling myself back from where my thumb had been tracing small circles on Paige’s hand. “Yeah. I’m going to contact Jake and tell him to bring Poppy. I want her checked properly. Poppy might sense something we can’t.”
Callen nodded once. “Smart.”
I closed my eyes and opened the mind-link, the familiar hum settling around me. “Jake?”
His voice came immediately, sharp and alert. “Alpha? Everything okay?”
“Not exactly. Paige had a vision and passed out. Ronnie’s here. He says she’s stable, but I want her checked. Bring Poppy.”
There was a pause, then Jake’s tone turned serious. “On our way. Ten minutes tops.”
I ended the link and looked back at Ronnie. “Jake and Poppy are coming.”
He gave a brief nod of approval. “Good. She’ll need rest after they check her. Whatever energy she used drained her completely.”
Callen hummed softly, watching Paige. “She’s something else, isn’t she?”
I exhaled slowly. “Yeah. She really is.”
The faint hum beneath her skin shimmered again, sparks of light dancing through the veins at her wrist. The glow flowed like water-fluid, alive. For a moment, I thought I saw shifting shapes in the light, like runes, but they vanished before I could focus.
Ronnie’s eyes narrowed. “That light isn’t random. It’s responding to something.”
“What do you mean?”
He gestured vaguely, searching for words. “It reacts to proximity, to emotion. When you touched her, it flared. When Jaxon moved, it steadied. It’s like it recognizes all of you.”
“She’s never going to be able to hide this, is she?” Callen murmured.
“Probably not,” Ronnie admitted. “But she’ll learn to control when it shows. That’s what the training’s for.”
Jaxon yawned beside her, his head drooping as he crawled closer and curled against her side. His tiny hand rested where her heart beat beneath the fabric of her shirt. The soft sound of his breathing filled the quiet room. Something inside me eased. I brushed my thumb across her cheek, feeling my pulse slow.
Jake and Poppy arrived shortly after, followed closely by Leo, Poppy’s silent sentry. Poppy’s eyes widened when she saw Paige. “Oh, goodness…”
“She’s okay,” Ronnie reassured her before panic could take hold. “She had a vision that hit hard, drained her energy. She’s resting now.”
Jake crouched beside me, scanning Paige quickly. His fingers hovered just above her pulse points, eyes unfocused as he extended his energy senses. “Heartbeat steady. Core energy rebalancing, but faint. She’ll need a full recharge.”
“Recharge?” Callen echoed, skeptical. “We can’t just plug her in, Jake.”
“Food, water, sleep,” Jake said simply, ignoring Callen’s tone. “And you four staying by her side. Your presence stabilizes her better than anything else.”
Poppy knelt on Paige’s other side, gently brushing a hand through her hair. “She’s glowing again,” she murmured softly. “Just barely.”
I followed her gaze, mesmerized by the faint shimmer beneath Paige’s skin. It was like starlight caught beneath water-subtle, strange, and breathtaking all at once.
Jake sighed and straightened. “She’ll be fine. But I’m staying close tonight in case she crashes again.”
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