**Paige’s POV **


    I sit in silence as the weight of this entire insane new world bears down on me. I can still feel their eyes on me, like they’re waiting for me to do something. For what I don’t know. For me to scream?… To cry?… To run?


    I don’t do any of those things. I can’t. Instead, I just breathe slow shaky breaths.


    In and out. In and out.


    Because the truth is echoing in my head now, and it’s louder than my fear, louder than my pride. Jaxon belongs here. Not in a city. Not in some clinical school with fluorescent lights, stic yground toys and fragile humans. He belongs here, in the woods, with his pack. With them. Which means I have to stay here


    too.


    “So what happens now?” I ask, my voice barely above a whisper.


    “We take it one day at a time. No pressure. No weird rituals or howling at the moon,” Callen says, a little


    humour in his tone.


    “You’re not helping,” Ryder snorts, and I look up just in time to catch a flicker of a smile as he looks at


    Callen.


    “I’m trying not to scare her off, brother,<i>” </i>Callen huffs.


    My eyes flick between the two of them. They’re so alike. How is it I spend all this time searching for one of you, only to find two?”


    I shake my head. Still struggling to wrap my mind around Ryder being a twin.


    “I told you, you get two for the price of one,” Callen winks, and I have to fight to keep a smile from my face.


    Callen is one of those people that bringsughter in a crisis. He finds humour in the darkest of days. He keeps everyone’s spirits lifted.


    “Paige,” Ryder says, drawing my attention as he leans forward, his eyes searching mine. “I know how this sounds. How insane it all feels. Believe me, I’ve lived it. I am it. But you are doing better than you think. You are so much stronger than you know.”


    “I don’t want to be strong,<i>” </i>I admit. “I want someone to tell me what to do. I want someone to fix this. To make it simple again.”


    “I can’t promise you simple, but I can promise we will help. We will be here,” he says.


    “You say that, but you weren’t before,” I whisper, pulling my eyes from his, so I don’t have to see the pain I know I’ve just caused him.


    Silence stretches between us, full of regret and memories.


    “I know, and if you let me<b>, </b>I’ll spend the rest of my life taking up for it,” he says, and there is something in his tone that softens me and makes my heart ache for lin.


    “I still don’t trust you, but I want to, and I think Jaxon needs me to. He needs his dad. So for now, I’m staying for him. But make no mistake<b>, </b>this doesn’t mean I’m yours. You have no im over me. We are not


    pretending to be some happy little supernatural family. I’m here for Jax, and that’s it. Are we clear?”


    “Understood,” Ryder nods.


    Callen lets out a long breath and rubs a hand over his face. “This is probably a terrible time to tell you, but in the interest of transparency. You won’t be able to resit the bond with us, just as we won’t with you.


    My eyes snap to him. “What the hell does that mean?”


    “It’s subtle at first, but the more you try to resist it, the harder it will get for all of us. It’s not something that can be ignored,” he exins.


    “No.” I shake my head, pushing up to my feet. “I might have no choice but to stay here for my son, but I get to choose the rest. No magic wolfy bond cr*p gets to make those decisions for me. I don’t want you, either of you, and if you can’t ept that, then we have a problem.”


    “You know, this is not exactly how I nned on meeting my mate,” Callen says, standing now too. “This is not the day I’ve been dreaming about for years, but this is it. This is what we get. There is no choice, because it’s already been made, way before we were even born. Our perfect partner, created to be exactly what we need. The only choice we have now is to fight it or embrace it. Either way, the end result will be the same.”


    I process his words and I don’t know whether tough, cry, shout, tell him to f*ck off, or promise to prove him wrong.


    “I didn’t ask for any of this. I just wanted a fresh start with my son,” I say, shaking my head in denial as panic twists in my chest.


    “You got it. It doesn’t get much fresher than this,” Callen shrugs.


    the


    “It’s going to be okay, Paige. You are doing the right thing for Jax, that’s all that matters right now, rest will work itself out when you are ready,” Ryder says as he stands and approaches me cautiously, like I’m the monster here, the one capable of turning into a creature that could bite of his head.


    I back away, moving closer to the stairs. “I need air.”


    “Then let’s take a walk,<i>” </i>Rye offers, holding out a hand to me.


    I look at his offered hand and shake my head. “Alone.”


    “Okay. We will be right here if you need us,” he nods, seeming reluctant.


    I don’t respond. I just move. One shaky leg in front of the other, down the stairs and straight out the door, with no one trying to stop me. They know I won’t run, not without my son.


    The cool mountain air hits my face as I step out onto a porch. The sun is starting to dip behind the trees, casting everything in gold, and for a moment I just breathe it all in.


    This world is beautiful, but it’s also terrifying.


    <b>I </b>grip the wooden railing and close my eyes, trying to slow the pounding in my chest. Every breath feels like a struggle. My entire life has flipped upside down in just few short days. This timest week, I was just a mum, trying to survive a loveless marriage and hold my son together, and now? Now<b>, </b>I’m in some secret mountain town filled with shapeshifters and fated mates.


    How the hell did this be my life?


    The wind brushes my face, drying the tears I didn’t realise had been falling. My hands tremble, but I keep holding on like this railing is the only thing keeping me grounded, and maybe it is. Because everything else feels like it’s shifting.


    I want to hate Ryder. I want to tell him he’s wrong, that he doesn’t get toe back into my life and im a ce there. He doesn’t get to hope for anything from me. But I picture Jaxon’s small face, the way he had reacted to his dad, and I know. I know I can’t rip that away from him, not when he’s finally found somewhere he might feel like he belongs.


    Then there’s Callen. He’s infuriating. Too smooth, too sure of himself, and just smug enough that he makes me want to throw something at him. Yet, he doesn’t look at me like I’m broken. He teases and he jokes. He gives me the truth, even when he knows it’s not a truth will like. Somehow, in the mess of all this, he makes me feel like I’m not drowning. Like maybe, I can get through this ande out the other side stronger and happier. Maybe.


    I just need them to know I’m not staying for them. I’m staying for my son. Every decision I make is for him. Not because of fate. Not because of magic bonds or some mystical wolf bullshit that I still don’t understand. I’m here because I’m his mother and this is where he needs me to be.


    Even if it breaks me.


    I open my eyes and stare out at the treeline. The forest stretches far beyond what I can see. How many creatures are out there that I don’t know about? Is Drac going to show up next, wanting to suck my blood? Are fairiesing to grant me wishes? Hell, puff the magic dragon could drop in for tea for all I know.


    I’m just a human, way out of my depth. How am I supposed to navigate this new world?


    I already know the answer to that, even if I’m not ready to admit it out loud.


    It’s them. Even if I don’t want them. Even if I pretend I don’t need anyone. I have to ept that I’m not alone anymore. A small, traitorous part of me is relieved about that. It wants to believe them, to ept their help and let them carry some of this crushing weight. But wanting and trusting are two very different things, and I’m not ready to trust again, not yet.


    I’ve let myself fall apart, but now it’s time to put my armour back on for Jax. Because he’s the only thing I’m sure of right now.


    I hear the door open behind me and I brace myself to deal with Ryder or Callen, but it’s not either of them. Instead, it’s one of the other twins, not the one that tried to get rid of me. It’s the calmer, sater one.


    He moves to stand beside me, holding the railing and looking out at the setting sun. He doesn’t speak at first, as if giving me time to ept his presence.


    “It’s beautiful, isn’t it? I like to watch it set every evening, like closing the curtain on the day and preparing to light up again tomorrow. A fresh start, another chane,” he says, and I find myself nodding,


    “Thanks for keeping Jax entertained. Is he okay?”


    “He’s great. He’s a good kid. You must be proud,” he smiles.


    “I am,” I nod.


    “I’m sorry I didn’t get to introduce myself properly earlier. Things got a little… messy. I’m Parker, pack Beta,” he says, holding out a hand to me.


    I narrow my eyes at him. “Did Ryder or Callen send you out here to talk to me?”


    “Nope, Cal has gone out back for a run with my idiot brother. Rye is with Jaxon. I thought I’d give them some time alone. I came out here to watch the sunset,” he says, his hand still outstretched. Waiting.


    I take it.


    “I’m Paige, and I’m sorry for… all this. I’m not usually so…” I hesitate, trying to find the right word.


    “Shocked?” he offers.


    “Not what I was going to say, but yes, let’s go with that I halfugh.


    “It’s understandable, you’ve had a hell of a day,” he smiles, and it makes me feel a strange warmth.


    “So, tell me about the pack beta thing. How does it work?” I ask.


    Parker gestures to a bench, and I take a seat. He sits beside me and begins to exin pack dynamics to me.