I shake out my fur and turn back toward home. There’s still a long night ahead.
The forest is quiet again, but the quiet after a fight is never peace; it’s a strange stillness. The kind where everything listens, waits, ready to break into chaos again at any moment.
I cut back toward the house, taking a wide route in case any stragglers are still out here. My mind keeps skimming the bond, checking her over without even meaning to. She’s not moving now, breathing hard, but she’s inside. Safe.
Relief hits me in a way I’m not prepared for. I believed that letting the bond form would be a mistake. That she couldn’t handle it and that it would make me weaker. But the only thing I feel right now is strength, the kind that comes from knowing I’ve tethered her to me and nothing will break that without going through me first.
I shift back when I hit the edge of the yard, skin prickling in the cool night air. My feet are silent on the damp grass.
Through the window I see movement. Paige and Jaxon huddled together in a blanket. Parker at her back, his arms around them both.
It stops me cold. That’s my future. My family.
I should go inside. Let them know I’m here. But I just sta
Parker at her back, his arms around them both.
It stops me cold. That’s my future. My family.
I should go inside. Let them know I’m here. But I just stand there a second longer, letting the sight burn itself into my mind. The three of them are safe. Breathing. Because I got to her in time and gave her my bite.
**Paige’s POV **
I’m still shaking when Parker pulls me in closer, his arms wrapping around me and Jaxon. The blanket is warm, but it’s not doing much to stop the way I’m trembling. Jaxon’s little hands clutch my shirt, and he presses his damp cheek against my chest. I keep imagining him out there alone, so vulnerable, and it makes my stomach twist all over again.
The door creaks open behind us. I glance over Parker’s shoulder, expecting Ryder, but my breath catches instead.
It’s Remy.
He’s barefoot, shirtless, streaked with dirt and blood that isn’t all his. His chest rises and falls hard, like he’s been running for hours, and his eyes… they lock on me like I’m the only one in the room. There’s something strange there…. heat, intensity, a magnetic pull I don’t fully understand.
It’s a hum under my skin, like a second heartbeat. It’s not subtle; it slams into me, ripping the last fragile barrier between us. I can feel him. His exhaustion, his relief, his stubborn possessiveness.
The mate bond is even more intense now that he’s here, and the immediate danger has gone.
“Thank you,” I breathe.
I know what it took for him to make the choice he did. What he gave up for my safety.
Before he can answer, Ryder bursts through the front door. His forearm is wrapped in something bloody that’s not quite a bandage. Callen’s right behind him, his jaw tight, scanning the room like he’s ready to take on the whole world.
Ryder’s eyes find me instantly, and he crosses the room in three strides, pulling me and Jax into his arms. “Are you both okay?”
“We’re fine,” I manage, voice shaky. “You’re bleeding…”
“Doesn’t matter, it will heal,” he says, but I’m already pushing him to let me go.
“Oh no, Daddy. Did you fall? You should let my mum help. She is good at patching me up when I fall,” Jax says, finally seeming to snap out of the shock I think he was in.
“This isn’t good,” I say, peeling back the makeshift bandage. My fingers shake, partly from adrenaline, partly from trying not to imagine what could’ve happened if he hadn’t made it back. “Kitchen. Now.”
“Paige…”
“I mean it, Ryder.” I’m already reaching for the first-aid kit on the shelf. “You can yell at me for leaving later.”
That’s when I hear Jaxon’s small, wobbly voice. “I wasn’t going to go far.”
Every head turns toward him. He shrinks into the blanket but keeps talking, his big blue eyes darting between all of us. “I heard crying outside and thought it was a puppy that was hurt or lost its mummy and daddy. I wanted to help.”
My chest tightens, “Jax…”
“I was careful,” he says quickly. “I stayed on the path.” His lip trembles. “But then it stopped crying, and I couldn’t find it.”
Parker shifts to sit beside him, resting a steadying hand on his shoulder. “You can’t go outside alone, buddy. Not ever. If you hear something, you come get one of us. There are… things out there that can hurt you.”
“Like hunters?” Jaxon whispers, and I wonder if he’s encountered them or overheard a conversation.
“Yes,” Parker says gently.
Jaxon hesitates, then looks up at him. “But you’re not scared. Is that because you can be a wolf?”
The air in the room tightens. Parker glances at me, then at Ryder, then back at Jax. “Yeah, I can. But that doesn’t mean I can’t get hurt. Or that you can’t.”
Jaxon studies the four men in the room, one by one. His young brain clearly working overtime. “Can you turn into a wolf too, Daddy?”
Ryder’s eyes meet mine. There’s a silent question there… How much do we tell him?
I nod. We can’t keep hiding this from him forever.
“Yes,” Ryder nods. “Uncle Cal, and Remy can too. You don’t need to be scared though. We would never hurt you or your mum.”
“But…” Jaxon frowns. “If you can all be wolves, then why can’t I? And was it a bad-guy wolf that bit my mum?”
I suck in a breath as Callen, Ryder and Parker’s eyes all lock on me, or more specifically, the place on my neck I’d covered with my hair.
Remy steps forward, coming to stand beside me like he needs to protect me. All eyes shift to him, and I sense the silent conversation they have before Ryder blows out a breath and focuses back on Jaxon.
“You will,” Ryder continues, his voice calm. “When you’re older. It’s something that happens when your wolf is ready. But until then, you have to be extra careful, because right now, you’re still human most of the time.”
Jaxon’s eyes widen. “Really? When will my wolf be ready?”
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