Outside, Ryder gestures to a wooden bench under the shop window, and I take a seat.
“You didn’t have to buy him anything.” I say softly as he sits beside me.
He shrugs. “I wanted to. I’ve missed so much. If I can be here now, even in small ways… I will.” w rover.
I look at him, really look at him. There’s so much weight in his eyes, so much want. Not just for me, but for this life we’re building for Jaxon.
I reach for his hand and squeeze it gently.
“Thank you,” I whisper.
He looks over at me and smiles, and the chaos in my mind stills. Even if just for now.
We spend the next hour catching up. I tell him about my work, and he tells me about his pack members and how much he can’t wait for me and Jax to meet them. It feels so natural with him, almost like we were never apart. Like this, he makes me feel like a giddy teenager all over again.
** Callen’s POV **
I let out a sharp whistle, and the kids freeze mid-sprint like someone hit pause. A couple of them groan, and a few flop dramatically into the grass, and one tiny omega throws his arms up and yells, “We demand extra time!”
I grin, shaking my head. “You demand nothing, Greyson. You barely ran the last round”
Greyson pouts and then gives me a cheeky salute before dropping into the grass beside his friends. I make a mental note to tell his parents he’s got potential beta energy. A smart mouth and a big heart.
“Alright, pack it up.” I call. “Grab your water bottles and cool down. Then whoever’s still got energy left can help me carry the cones back.”
A chorus of groans follows, but they obey, scattering to grab their drinks. Little Jax comes to stand beside
I put my hand on his head me, watching the others, studying them. He’s already so full of alpha energy and ruffle his hair.
“Did you enjoy that?” I ask.
“Yes! Can we play some more later?”
I hesitate. With how Paige was acting today, I’m not sure if I’ll even see him later.
“We will have to see if your mum has any plans first,” I say.
“Okay, I’ll ask her after school,” he says before moving to the first cone. “I will help carry the cones back.”
“Good lad, are you sure you’re strong enough, though?” I tease.
“Yes. My mummy says I’m super strong for my age,” he says, dropping the cone to give me a full demonstration of flexing his tiny muscles.
“You are” I nod, and then watch him as he collects the cones
I let my smile fade as I turn toward the storage locker at the edge of the field. The sun is still beating down on us, the late summer heat baking my skin through my shirt I usually love these afternoons, love the way the pack kids look up to me, and the way the air smells like warm pine, but today is different.
My stomach is in knots over Remy and Paige
I’ve been turning over what i want to say to Paige for hours now. She deserves answers. She deserves the truth, but what I have to say isn’t just about me
There’s a conversation coming one that could break us apart before we’ve ever had a chance to build anything, and somehow, I’ve got to sta
Remy and I have been talking in circles all morning, trying to figure out how to tell her about us. She knows there’s something between us, but she doesn’t know that I want to keep it going. That I want her and
Remy.
The kids finish helping me pack up, and I wave them off to their teacher before slinging the equipment bag over my shoulder and heading toward the tree line. It’s a longer walk that I’ve taken a hundred times, through the woods, across the lower creek, up the path toward the cabins. I use it whenever I’m trying to pass time or just need some time alone to think. I know this route like the back of my hand.
Today is different, though. I barely notice the birds singing or the coolness of the shaded forest floor. I’m too haunted by the image of Paige’s face, the way her shoulders had tensed, how her eyes became guarded, the way her voice wobbled when she said, “Not here. Not now.”
God, I miss her already. It’s only been a few hours since I woke up with her soft, warm body in my arms, but it feels like weeks ago since I held her.
She is one hell of a woman. The fire in her, the fight. The way she responds to us. The way she looks at Jaxon, like he’s her entire world. She’s already an amazing mother, and she is going to be the perfect mate and Luna.
She’s so much stronger than she thinks. She’s been handling this whole situation so well, considering what we’ve dropped on her. But strength has limits, and what I’m about to confess to her could push her over hers. I’d considered waiting to tell her. To give her more time to settle before I throw another emotional grenade at her. But that’s not fair to Remy and I don’t want any secrets between us.
My shoes crunch over dried pine needles as I duck beneath a low-hanging branch, mind still turning over the words I’ll say, when a sharp, sudden sting hits me just below my ribs.
“Sh*t!” I curse, looking down and expecting to see a bee.
Before I can even register what it is that I’m seeing, the burn hits me. It spreads hot and fast from the green feathered dart protruding from my side. My knees buckle and I drop the equipment bag as I stagger back against a tree. My vision is already blurring at the edges.
Wolfsbane. The kind used by hunters.
I barely have time to register the second dart before it thuds into my thigh, and the world tilts. My shoulder slams into the tree trunk, bark tearing into my skin as I drag in a panicked breath.
“Hunters. On pack land.” I force into the mind link, but I’m too weak. I know they didn’t get the message.
I I I close my eyes and push through the haze, throwing everything I have into the mind link.
“Danger. North woods Hunters. Wolfsbane. Ambush.”
It’s like yelling underwater, but this time I feel the pack stir, voices overlapping, questions surging into a jumble of sound I can’t comprehend.
“Callen?!” Ryder’s voice cuts through like a blade. “Where are you? What happened?”
“Shot. Not alone. They’re here.”
My knees hit the ground and I barely manage to stay conscious, digging my fingers into the dirt like it might anchor me.
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