The morning air greeted me with a sharp, invigorating chill as I stepped outside, the kind that fills your lungs with fresh vitality and reminds you that you’re very much alive. Jaxon’s voice came softly from the porch, a little rough around the edges from his lingering illness.
There he was, wrapped in a blanket far too large for his small frame, sitting beside Parker. Parker was doing his best to persuade Jaxon that a bowl of warm porridge would help him feel better, but Jaxon’s unimpressed scowl said it all. I couldn’t help but grin at the stubbornness in that expression.
Paige had been right-Jaxon’s fever broke sometime before dawn. Ryder had stayed by his side for most of the night, letting the boy rest curled up against his chest. Remy and I took turns after that, and I found myself dozing on the floor next to the bed, half-conscious but alert enough to catch the steady rhythm of Jaxon’s breathing.
Through the kitchen window, Paige caught my gaze. She stood near the sink, her hair pulled back casually, her cheeks still flushed with the remnants of sleep. Just seeing her like that sent a quiet ache through me. She didn’t need to do anything extraordinary to make me fall for her all over again-her mere presence was enough.
I lifted my cup in a silent greeting, and she returned a faint smile, nodding toward the trees beyond the cabin.
She always knows. Always.
I spotted Remy leaning against one of the older birch trees at the edge of the clearing. His hair was tousled, his hoodie wrinkled, and his eyes carried a weariness that had become all too familiar lately. He seemed only half-present, as if part of him was somewhere unreachable.
“Walk with me?” I asked softly.
He looked up and hesitated. For a moment, I thought he might say no. Then his gaze shifted behind me, and I heard Paige step onto the porch. I glanced back just in time to see her give Remy a small, encouraging nod.
That was all it took. He nodded back and pushed off the tree, falling into step beside me.
We walked in silence for a while, following a narrow trail that wound toward our old meeting spot. The forest was still damp from last night’s rain, the scent of pine and rich earth thick in the air. I waited until we were far enough from the village’s sounds before breaking the quiet.
“I feel like I don’t know where we stand anymore,” I admitted, my voice low.
Remy’s eyes flicked toward me, cautious. “What do you mean?”
“You’ve been distant. At first, I thought it was stress or exhaustion, but it feels like something deeper than that.”
He exhaled slowly, rubbing the back of his neck. “It’s not you, Cal.”
“Then what is it?”
He stopped walking and turned to face me. “It’s me.”
I frowned, waiting for him to explain. “You’re going to have to be a little more specific.”
His lips twitched in an attempt at a smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “I’ve been trying to make sense of everything-Paige, you, Parker… even Ryder. It’s a lot to process. And for the first time in my life, I’m genuinely happy. Really happy. And that scares me more than I expected.”
There was a raw vulnerability in his voice that tugged at my heart. I wanted to reach out, to comfort him, but I held back.
“I thought I’d lost you,” I said quietly. “That night in the woods, when the hunters shot at you… I thought…” My voice faltered, and I swallowed hard. “I realized how much I need you. How much we make sense together.”
Remy looked down, his thumb tracing the seam of his hoodie pocket. “It did make sense. It always did. But now… it’s different.”
“Different how?”
He lifted his head, meeting my gaze steadily. “I’m still attracted to you, Callen. I always will be. You were my first… everything. My best friend, my safe place, the one who made me feel again. But what I feel for Paige… it’s not the same. It’s like she’s rewired me somehow. I never thought I’d be the kind of guy to want forever with someone, to picture a family or a home. But with her…” He chuckled softly, almost in disbelief. “She makes me want to be better. For her. For all of us.”
I nodded slowly, letting his words settle. It didn’t hurt the way I thought it might. Instead, it felt bittersweet-like finally hearing a truth I’d known deep down all along.
“She’s changed me too,” I admitted. “When I’m with her, everything else quiets-the noise, the fear, the constant need to prove myself-it all just… stops. But that doesn’t mean what we had wasn’t real, Rem.”
He stepped closer, his expression softening. “I know it was real, and it still is-just in a different way now. I don’t want to lose what we have. I just need to redefine it, I guess.”
I took a slow breath and nodded. “So where does that leave us?”
This time, his smile was genuine. “Exactly where we’re meant to be. You’re my friend, my pack, my family. And when we’re with her… I want that connection to exist between all of us. I’m okay with being yours, Callen-in every way-but not instead of her. She’s the center. She’s the reason we’re whole again.”
For a long moment, I was speechless. I just looked at him, the honesty in his voice unmistakable. There was no rejection, no shame-only truth.
Finally, I said, “I get it. She’s my center too, but I don’t want to pretend what’s between us doesn’t matter. Maybe it’s not the same kind of love, but it’s still love.”
He nodded, his eyes softening. “Yeah. It is.”
I laughed softly, shaking my head. “You always did make things complicated.”
He grinned. “And you always loved me for it.”
“Still do,” I admitted.
We started walking again, the silence between us lighter now. The tension that had built up in my chest over the past days began to ease, replaced by warmth-acceptance and understanding. Remy and I were never meant to be a couple; we were two broken souls holding each other’s shattered pieces until our mate came along to make us whole. Nothing could take that away. But he was right-everything was different now, and I was okay with that.
The path curved back toward the cabin, and through the trees, I spotted the porch. Paige was still there, sitting with Jaxon curled in her lap. He was dozing, his tiny fist clutching her shirt. He looked so small like that. Nearby, Ryder chatted quietly with Parker. The scene sent a quiet ache through me.
“She’s our anchor,” I murmured, mostly to myself.
Remy followed my gaze and nodded. “Yeah, we’d all be lost without her.”
We stood there for a moment, simply watching them.
As we neared the porch again, Jaxon stirred at the sound of our footsteps. His eyelids fluttered open, and a sleepy grin spread across his face. “Uncle Cal! Uncle Rem!”
Remy chuckled at being called “uncle” and crouched down, running his fingers through Jaxon’s tousled curls. “Hey, little man. Feeling better?”
“Yeah. Auntie Poppy said she’s bringing me soup later, with noodles.”
“Big day,” I teased, and Jaxon giggled.
Paige glanced up at me, and in that single look, I felt everything-the love, the trust, the unspoken gratitude for healing whatever rift had started to grow between Remy and me.
I gave her a small nod, silently saying: We’re okay.
Ryder reached for her hand, his thumb brushing over her knuckles, and something inside me settled at the sight.
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