**Paige’s POV **


    “I like it here, mummy,” Jax murmurs, smiling up at me with sleepy eyes as I gently stroke his hair.


    I return his smile, but I don’t respond. I’ve learned that this is his moment, these quiet few minutes just before sleep, when his thoughts tumble out. If I say too much, he’ll talk for hours with endless questions and random thoughts.


    This has be our nighttime ritual. Sometimes I read to him until his eyes grow too heavy to stay open. Other nights, like this one, he prefers silence whilst he reflects on his day with my fingers threading through his hair.


    It’s one of the few times I get a clear understanding of how he’s really feeling. No distractions, no rush, just a quiet moment where his little heart can open up before he drifts off.


    “Thank you for finding my daddy. I really like him,” he says with a yawn and his eyes close.


    I wait for a beat, just watching as his face rxes and his breathing evens out into a deep, steady rhythm. He looks cosy and warm in the huge bed, with the duvet pulled right up to his chin.


    “I think he really likes you too,” I whisper, leaning over to kiss his forehead.


    I stand, taking in his angelic little face for a few more seconds, before I turn and creep from the room.


    but I


    I had originally nned to just stay in here with him, so I didn’t have to face the men waiting for me, have too many questions. If I stay, I’ll be gued by questions for hours. I’ll inevitably seek out the only people who can provide answers.


    The low voices I can hearing from downstairs hush as I reach the top of the stairs and begin my descent. Although I couldn’t hear what exactly they were discussing, I can guess I was the topic of their


    conversation.


    Ryder appears at the bottom of the stairs before I reach it. He looks up at me with caution in his eyes. “Did he settle okay?”


    “Yes, out like a light,” I nod.


    “Good,” He says. “Are you hungry?”


    I want to say no. I’m in no mood to eat, not after the day I’ve had, but my stomach has been screaming at me for food for the past hour.


    “A little.”


    “Parker is making pasta. Do you want something to drink?”


    “I don’t suppose you have any camomile tea?” I ask.


    “Um… no. Sorry, but I’ll make sure to get some on our next shop. Can I get you something else?”


    “Just water will be fine.”


    Ryder nods and turns away. I follow after him. I hate how awkward this feels. This is nothing how I imagined it would be if I ever found him again. I have to keep reminding myself that this is not the Ryder I


    remember. This is not my Ryder. And I’m no longer his Paige. We are both different people now.


    We move into the open–n kitchen where Callen sits at the kitchen ind, leaning back in his chair, arms folded over his broad chest as he watches me. Parker is at the stove, stirring something in a pan that smells delicious. He turns to look at me, a small smile on his lips.


    Callen stands and motions for me to take his seat. “Sit,” he says, but it’s more of an offer than amand.


    “Thanks,” I breathe, all my earlier confidence slipping away now that I’m back in front of the men that have just flipped my world on its axis.


    Callen leans against the opposite wall, his hair messed up from running his hand through it repeatedly tonight. Ryder ces a ss of water in front of me. I pick up the cool ss and take a small sip, painfully aware that they’re all watching me. I feel like my every movement is being observed, dissected, studied. As if they’re waiting for something. Watching for a crack to form, a reaction, a sign of… what, I’m not sure. Fear? Resentment? Weakness?


    I clear my throat, unable to stand the silence any longer. “So I have some more questions.”


    “Ask them,” Ryder nods, pulling out the chair opposite and sitting down.


    I hear heavy footsteps on the stairs and I look up to see Remy. He wears nothing but a pair of shorts. His gazends on me immediately, and he doesn’t look away. His presence is somanding it feels as though the entire room darkens with his arrival,


    I straighten in my seat, my fingers tightening around the ss.


    “Please continue. I didn’t mean to interrupt,” he says, but his voice is low, gravelly with an edge I can’t


    ce.


    “You’re not,” Callen replies, tone clipped.


    Remy moves around the edge of the room, slowly, looking every bit like the predator as he sizes up the scene. He grabs a bottle of beer from the fridge, pulls the cap off with his bare hand, and leans back against


    the counter.


    I don’t miss the way his eyes flick to Callen, and I know there is something between them. It couldn’t be anymore obvious.


    “I believe you were about to ask your questions,” he says, his lips twitching, but it’s not quite a smile.


    I nce at Ryder, but he doesn’t move. His jaw is tight, and his eyes narrowed as if in silent conversation.


    Callen pushes off the wall with a sharp breath. “Remy…


    “I’m not starting anything,” Remy holds up a hand. “I just want to hear her questions and eat my dinner.”


    “Go ahead, Paige. Remy will behave,” Parker says from his ce at the stove, and I look over at him, returning his smile.


    Out of the four of them, Parker feels the easiest to be around at the moment. He rxes something in me.


    but I’m <b>not </b>sure why, but with him around, I feel safer. I know that’s strange because he’s a werewolf too, there is no pressure from him. He’s notying im to me or expecting anything, he’s just there, a friendly face in an emotionally charged room. He’s gives me a nod of encouragement and I nod back before fixing my gaze back on Ryder.


    “You said I’m your mate… how does that work? Could you be wrong?”


    “I’m not wrong. My wolf just knows. He feels it. He has been so unsettled for years, like some vital part of him was missing, but with you here, he is settled. He’s whole,” Ryder exins.


    “Then why didn’t he know it six years ago?”


    Ryder blows out a breath and shakes his head a little. He looks lost for words. Callen steps forward and puts a hand on his shoulder.


    “It’s not always instant,” Callen says. “Sometimes we know with just a look, other times it’s a touch, or conversation. It can take time for us to realise what is happening, but when we do, there’s no denying it.”


    “So you feel an attraction, or is it only your wolves that feel it?”


    “We feel it too.” Ryder reaches over as if to take my hand, but then thinks better of it and pulls away. “It’s not just attraction. It’s like… every instinct in me is wired to protect you, to choose you, to need you. I think I felt it back then. I just didn’t understand it, because I didn’t have my wolf to guide me. The moment I saw you again, I knew. It hit me like a truck. That’s why I struggled to contain my wolf.”


    I swallow, my throat tight as I study the twins in front of me. I see the truth in their eyes, but it doesn’t make this any easier for me.


    “When did you know?” I ask, my eyes fixed on Callen.


    He rubs a hand over his face and nces towards Remy before he answers. “I knew for sure when I saw Ryder’s reaction to you. But I felt an attraction to you straight away. I didn’t think much of it because… well, you’re hot as hell,” he shrugs.


    Parker slides a bowl of pasta in front of me and hands me a fork. “Thanks,” I smile, but my appetite haspletely gone.


    The pasta is in some kind of creamy sauce and smells amazing. I feel rude if I don’t at least try it.


    “He’s not poisoned it,” Remy snorts from behind me.


    I ignore him, staring at the bowl for a moment before forcing myself to eat. The food is surprisingly good. It’s garlicky and warm, the kind offorting meal that shouldn’t be served in a room filled with this


    much tension.


    “It’s great, Parker, thank you,” I say, shing him a smile that seems to make his day as he grins at me before turning to dish up more for the others.


    Parker sits beside Ryder at the ind and Can stands at the end. Remy stays over by the counter. I notice all of them are giving me space, which I appreciate.


    We all eat in silence for a moment before Ryder clears he throat and puts his tork down, his eyes locked on


    mine.


    “I know you’re my mate, Paige. Not just because of instinct, but because the idea of a future without you feels wrong, Empty,”


    Ryder’s voice cracks slightly. “I don’t expect you to feel the same yet. I know I hurt you. But this bond… It’s real. It’s sacred. It’s not something, I could ever feel for yone else. This is it for me. Whether you choose me. You are it for me, Paige.”


    Remy lets out a low whistle, but I don’t care, because Ryder’s words are threatening to melt me. Right now, as he looks at me with a raw vulnerability, he looks like my Ryder. No matter how much I try to object to this mate bond, I can’t deny that my feelings for Rye are still there. My heart may be broken and bruised, but even after all this time, he still holds it.