“I’m fine,” I reassure, moving to the kettle to make us some tea.
“Where’s little J man?” Poppy asks.
“He’s with Ryder’s…” I trail off, unsure what to call Parker. I can’t exactly say beta.
“Cousin,” Rye finishes for me. “He was asleep, and it’s been a big day. We didn’t want to wake him.”
Poppy nods in understanding, then her eyes lock on Ryder as he moves to lean on the counter next to me. “Ryder Madden,” she shakes her head, “You better have a damn good explanation for where you’ve been all these years.”
** Ryder’s POV **
I knew this moment was coming, but I didn’t expect the full force of it to hit me like this. Poppy stares me down like she’s the parent here, like she’s preparing to rip every secret from my chest with her bare hands.
I shift my weight, leaning against the counter and trying to look casual, but there’s no hiding from her stare. I have to remind myself she is a young human girl, and I am a powerful alpha of an entire pack of werewolves
Paige stands nearby, watching me nervously, and Callen looks like he’s one poorly timed comment away from bursting into laughter.
“Ryder Madden,” Poppy says again, chastising me like a child. “You better have a damn good explanation for where you’ve been the last seven years. You disappeared. No calls. No texts. Just gone without a trace. You just left her, left them without a word. Who does that?”
I inhale deeply and nod, holding up my hands. “I know. I deserve your anger. I do.”
“Damn right you do,” she says, crossing her arms over her chest.
“It’s a long story,” I begin, keeping my voice as steady as possible. “But the short version… I didn’t know what I was. What we were. I was adopted, raised with no clue about my biological family or what I was capable of. I’d started having some health issues, blackouts and mood swings. I thought I was going crazy.”
Poppy narrows her eyes at me, but doesn’t interrupt, so I continue, trying to stick close to the truth without telling her the full story.
Ithought it was something serious, like neurologically serious. So I left. I panicked. I went looking for answers, and I found them. They just weren’t the kind I was expecting.”
“That’s your excuse?” She snaps. “You just left her because you were having a bad time? She was pregnant!”
“I didn’t know,” I say quickly. “I swear to you Poppy, I didn’t know she was pregnant. If I had..” My voice cracks, and I have to force myself to meet her eyes. “If I had, I never would have left. Nothing would have made me walk away from her if I’d known about Jaxon”
Poppy’s eyes soften the tiniest amount, just enough to give me hope and encourage me to keep going.
“I didn’t come back because I was still trying to understand what was happening to me. I was in a dark place, and I thought Paige was better off without me. I didn’t think I could be the man she deserved.”
“You’re still not,” Poppy huffs.
“Probably not,” I admit. “No one will ever be good enough for Paige, but I’m trying it’s only been a few hours, and I know I don’t deserve forgiveness… which is why I won’t ask for it.”
“Then what do you want?”
I glance towards Paige, and everything inside me pulls toward her like gravity. undo
“I want to do right by her, and by my son. I know I can’t the past, but I’m here now, and I’m staying. No more running.”
The kitchen falls into a heavy silence, broken only by the soft clink as Paige sets down the mugs on the counter. Poppy watches me like she’s trying to detect even the slightest lie, but I keep my expression calm and open.
After what feels like forever, she finally exhales, shaking her head. “You’re lucky I’m too tired to punch you in the throat.”
Callen snorts, and then quickly coughs to cover it. “I’d pay money to see that,” he says into the mind link.
“But I swear to god,” Poppy continues, pointing a finger at me. “If you break her heart again, if you hurt my precious nephew, I will make you regret it. I don’t care how buff you are or how many martial arts you know or whatever it is you do to look like that. I’ll find a way.”
“Fair enough, I’d expect nothing less,” I say with a smile that I hope doesn’t come off as cocky.
Poppy turns her gaze to Callen now, her eyes narrowing. “And you? Do you have some tragic, mysterious lost twin story too?”
He raises both hands and flashes her his most charming smile. “Yen al for another time. No offence, little firecracker, but you look exhausted.” that and more, but that’s a story
I brace for her temper to flare, but to my absolute amazement, Poppy lets out a short laugh. I have no ideal how my brother does that..
“You two are exhausting,” she snorts, shaking her head.
Paige smiles for the first time since we got here, and something in me warms. She looks like herself again.
A little less guarded and more like the Paige I knew all those years ago.
“Fine. I’m going to get off. I have classes in the morning, and it’s late,” Poppy says, barely suppressing a yawn.
“How are you getting back?” Paige asks, sounding every bit the concerned parent.
“Annie’s new boyfriend drove us here,” Poppy explains, pulling out her phone and typing something on the screen. “They went to find a shop whilst I stayed here to speak to you. I’ve just text her to pick me up.”
“You could have stayed here and gone back in the morning.” Paige says.
“I’d rather not have to wake up earlier to commute. Here, keep this on you at all times. Next time you go MIA on me… I will be calling the police,” she says, handing a phone to Palge before casting a warning glance at me and Cal.
“It was good to see you again, Poppy” I call after her as Palge walks her to the door.
“Yeah, I just wish it had been seven years sooner,” she huffs, and I wince.
“Well, that wasn’t too bad, was it? You did good, brother,” Callen says to me through the mind link as the girls say their goodbyes at the door.
“As well as it could have, I guess.
I turn to the cupboard I’d seen Paige take tea from earlier and grab a handful of tea bags, shoving them in My for her to have at our house. I’m desperate to explore her house, to see Jaxon’s bedroom, and hers. I want to know everything about them, but I know not to push my luck, not yet.
We wait in the kitchen while Paige runs upstairs to grab Jax’s teddy and a change of clothes for them both before we head back to our cabin in the woods.
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