**Parker’s POV **


    I hear Remy leave out the back door. He’s in pain and I know I should go after him, but I’m still pissed at him. He tried to get rid of my mate. He scared her. Granted, I’m pretty sure he’s too focused on his own emotions to have even noticed what she is to us yet. Or maybe she isn’t his… It doesn’t happen often, but twins don’t always share a mate.


    Callen goes after him and then Ryder walks into the living room, where I’m ying Xbox with Jaxon. Why are they leaving Paige outside alone?


    Ryder’s eyes are on the boy, studying him in awe. Clearly still in shock that he has a son.


    “Here,” I say, holding out the controller to Rye with a wink. “He’s already beaten me twice.”


    “I beat Parker at the racing,” Jaxon says proudly, bouncing in his seat with excitement.


    “Wow, Parker is the champion in this house. You must be good if you beat him. Can you teach me how to beat him?” Ryder asks, sitting down on the couch beside his son.


    1


    I give Ryder’s shoulder a squeeze as I walk towards the door. <b>“</b>I’ll give you two some time alone to bond,” I say into the mind link.


    “Thanks, let’s hope I don’t mess this up too,” he responds.


    “You won’t. He’s a good kid, Rye, and he is desperate to get to know you. He hasn’t stopped asking questions about you since we left you,” I reassure my alpha as I go to hunt down his mate.


    I don’t have to look far. She is just outside the door, on the porch, watching the sunset. I open the door without a n, and I stand next to her like an awkward idiot trying to think <b>of </b>something to say.


    My mind goes to mush, all my brain cells misfiring as I stand so close to my mate. This is the woman that holds my future in her hands, and she doesn’t even know it. She could crush me in just a few words, or she could make me the happiest man alive. She has no idea how important she is. Or how much power she holds.


    I close my eyes for a second whilst I focus. Just treat her like any other person. What would I say if she was just some random guest? I open my eyes and look at the sun as it dips behind the trees, making the tops of them look as if they’re on fire. They shine gold and orange. 2


    “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” I say.


    More words pour from my mouth about the sunset and fresh starts. I don’t know what I’m saying, not really, but it feels like it doesn’t matter what I say to her just that I say something. I watch her shoulders rx out of the corner of my eye and know I’m not messing this up.


    I can be her safe guy, her friend. I’ll be whatever she needs me to be while she gets through this insane plot twist in her life. I remember when I found out what I was How it turned my world upside down, and I had it easier than she does. I had my brother to go through it with, and I always sensed I was ditterent. I had some time to ept it before I saw anyone shift or before me and Remy met our wolves for the first time. Paige had gone from zero to a hundred in a matter of minu


    When she asks me to exin my position in the pack, hope blossoms in my heart. She is interested in me, or more likely, my kind, but it’s a start. I’m more than happy to be her teacher. To be the steady tour guide that holds her hand as she ventures into this new world


    We don’t get to talk for long before I hear amotion in the woods at the back of the house. It’s hard to hold a conversation with her while trying to figure out what is going on with Callen and Remy. I’m torn between checking in on them or staying present with Page and leaving them two to fight, or f*ck it out.


    “What is it?” Paige asks, and I blink my focus back to her.


    “Huh?”


    “You hear something, don’t you? What is it?” she asks.


    “You hear it too?” I raise a brow. I didn’t think human ears were that good.


    “No, but the look on your face tells me you are listening to something.”


    “I’m that obvious?” I ask with a halfugh.


    Paige holds up her thumb and finger, leaving a small space between them and squinting an eye. “Just a little,” she teases.


    I can’t hide my smile. My mate is adorable.


    “You’re an observant little one, aren’t you?” I grin.


    “Hey, less of the little, I may be shorter than you giants but I’m the average height for a female,” she defends.


    I mimic her earlier gesture with my thumb and finger. “Maybe just a little shorter than average.”


    “Fine, slightly shorter than average,” she huffs, but I see the ghost of a smile pull at the corner of her mouth.


    I hear another cry from Remy, and it’s a pained yell that makes me wince.


    “What do you hear now?”


    “My brother, he’s… struggling,” I admit.


    “Because of me?” she asks.


    “No, of course not. Why would you think that?”


    “I’m observant,” she shrugs. “That, and he tried to get rid of me earlier. Which means me being here is <b>ruining </b>something for him.”


    “Remy just needs some time to adapt. He’s aplicated guy. Don’t worry about him, he wille around,” I reassure, but I can tell from the unease on her face that she doesn’t believe me.


    “Thanks for calming him down earlier, when he and Callen were fighting. It was so scary,” she says with a


    shiver.


    “I promise that has never happened before, not like that anyway. I mean, we all y fight in our other forms<b>, </b>but it’s never serious, and never in the house. We worked too hard building this ce to risk damaging it with our wolves.”


    “You built this house?” She asks, her eyebrows raised.


    “We did, the four of us mostly, with a little help from some of the pack,” I nod.


    “It’s stunning. Tell me about the pack. What are they like?”


    “Well, you have already met Regina. She runs the school making sure our pups get an education and mingle with other kids safely. It’s important that…”


    “The head teacher?” She cut in.


    “That’s the one,” I nod.


    “But she looks so… normal.”


    “What?… You didn’t notice her hairy palms?” I tease, and Paige flinches back, her gaze shifting to my


    hands.


    I turn them over slowly, showing her my bare palms.


    “Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that,” she cringes.


    “It’s okay,” Iugh. “It’s a lot to take in.


    “So, is that why Jax was so taken by her?”


    “Yes, he has good instincts. He would have sensed she was kin.”


    “This is insane,” she breathes, sitting back to lean against the back of the bench.


    “But at least it’s not boring,” I offer, trying to lighten the mood.


    We sit in silence for a moment, her gaze fixed on something in the distance. I hear Callen return and nce back through the window to see him stomping up the stairs buck naked. We should probably leave some shorts near the back of the house. We keep stashes of clothes further out near to the town. Usually, we don’t need clothes to return home as we never have guests that aren’tpletelyfortable with nakedness.


    “You okay, Rem?” I ask in the mind link.


    “Leave me alone,” he snaps.


    “Okay, but if you need me, just shout.”


    The door opens a few secondster and Callen steps out. He’s wearing shorts now, and he ces three bottles of beer on the table before he flops down into the chair with a sigh. He runs a hand through his hair and I think he looks more stressed than I’ve ever seen hun.


    “It’s you, isn’t it?” Paige says abruptly, her gaze on Callen.


    “What’s me?” he asks, ncing at me, and I shrug


    “Why Remy doesn’t want me here,” she says, and Called’s eyes go wide, filled with panic as he flicks his gaze between the two of us.


    Shit.


    “He thinks I’m not good enough for you,” she adds quickly, and I suspect she is covering herself, realising she has possibly just outed him to me.


    Callen doesn’t speak, he just leans forward to pick up a beer and chugs half the bottle. His eyes meet mine and I just shrug again, ying dumb.


    “He just thinks you’ll hurt his alphas. He’s protective. He wille around,” Callen says, finally.


    “Fair enough. I don’t me him. I should probably get going soon. Give you all some space to talk it out, and it’s almost Jaxon’s bedtime. Which way is it back to my house?” Paige asks and Callen sits up straighter.


    I brace for what is about toe.


    “Paige, you can’t leave. You need to stay here,” Callen says softly.


    “I won’t leave the town, but I have my own house. I havemitments. Jaxon has school and I have things to sort out, not to mention the fact I need to check in with my sister. I’d also feel much safer in my house.”


    “You don’t feel safe here? You are probably safer than you have ever been in your life,” Callen frowns.


    “No, I don’t feel safe,” she admits, and I see the pain on Cal’s face, her words hitting him like a punch to the


    gut.


    I know this because I feel the same. If my mate doesn’t feel safe here in our home, then we are failing her.


    “Shit. Paige,” he sighs. “How about you and Jax stay here tonight, then in the morning we will take you home and work out where we go from there? Otherwise, Ryder and I will be staying at your ce, and I’m pretty sure your bed will not be big enough for the three of us.‘


    “I am not sharing a bed with either of you,” she snorts.


    “Fine, then you can exin to your neighbours why you have a pair of wolves sleeping on your doorstep,” Callen shrugs, taking another swig of his beer.


    I want to add that it will be three wolves on her doorstep, but now is not the time to drop that bombshell. I pick up a beer and take a gulp to keep myself from saying anything.


    “You don’t trust that I will stay?” She asks.


    “Not 100% no, but it’s not just that. You are our mate<b>. </b>Our wolves won’t rest without knowing you are guarded. Please, just stay here tonight. We have spare bedrooms. We can work the rest out tomorrow,” he pleads.


    “Fine, but Jax and I will share a room. Keep Remy away from us,” she huffs.


    My wolf rxes, knowing she’ll be staying.