** Paige’s POV **
Jaxon falls asleep quicker than I expect, probably thanks to the deep breathing and gentle bedtime routine Ryder had done with him. After a warm bath, a new storybook, and at least three stuffed animals tucked around him just right, he’s out cold.
I can’t deny how positive an impact Ryder has had on him already. He’s really stepped up as his father and I couldn’t be happier, but it also makes me so sad. Because it proves that all those years without him would have been so full of love and happiness, and we can’t ever get that missed time back.
I linger beside Jaxon for a while, watching the steady rise and fall of his chest as he sleeps and wondering what he’s dreaming about. It calms me.
I’m also stalling, because I know that when I go downstairs, everything’s about to change.
By
y the time I make it back to the kitchen, Ryder and Callen are already sitting at the table. Ryder’s sitting in his usual chair, arms crossed, and his eyes suspicious. Callen looks a little
more rxed, but there’s tension in his shoulders, like he knows something’sing but isn’t
sure how to brace for it.
Parker stands near the sink, watching the back door, and then, as if on cue, it opens.
Remy steps inside, <b>eyes </b>scanning over us all, and his jaw clenched. He doesn’t <b>greet </b>anyone,
just leans against the counter with the kind of energy that says he wants to bolt before
anyone says anything.
I take a seat between Callen and Ryder, and silence seems to grow thick and heavy around <ol><li>us. For a second, no one speaks. Then Parker breaks it. </li></ol>
“We need to talk,” he says, his voice low but steady. “All of us. Everything out in the open.”
Callen shifts ufortably beside me. He probably thinks this is about him and Remy. I
cover his hand with mine, giving it a reassuring squeeze.
Ryder raises a brow. “Talk about what?”
Parker looks <b>at </b>me first, and something about the way he softens his gaze before shifting it
back to the others makes my heart twist.
“The mate bond,” he says. “With Paige.”
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The room freezes for a second.
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Callen doesn’t look shocked, though. He just exhales slowly and rests a hand lightly on my
knee under the table.
Ryder straightens. “You… you’re her mate too?”
“I felt it the day I met her,” Parker says. “But everything was happening so fast, and I figured I’d wait, give her space, give her time toe to terms with everything and for the two of your to work things out. But there’s no denying it anymore. The bond is there, she feels it.”
Ryder drops his head into his hands, and the room falls silent again.
Then Callen looks at Remy, waiting. When it’s obvious Remy <b>isn’t </b>going to speak, Callen finally speaks up.
“Is that why you’ve been avoiding me?” His voice is rough, his expression <b>is </b>unreadable.
Remy looks at him, jaw still tight. “No.”
“Then why?”
Remyughs, bitter and sharp. “You’re really going to make me do this? Right here, in front of
everyone?”
Callen nods slowly. “Everything out in the open, remember.”
Remy’s eyes sh with frustration and pain. He gives me a brief nce and then his eyes.
lock back on Callen before he nods once.
“When you woke up in the healer’s cabin, you barely acknowledged me. <b>I </b>sat there for hours, holding your hand, pleading with the Moon Goddess to save you. I cursed the fates for trying to take you when it had only been a few hours since you finally told me you loved me. Then you woke up and asked for her.<b>” </b>
Callen flinches beside me, and I can’t stop the guilt from creeping in again, even though I
didn’t do anything.
“s**t, Rem,” Callen sighs. “I’m sorry. I could barely string a thought together, but I saw you, I knew you were safe. I needed to know Paige and Jax were safe too.”
“You want to know the real kicker? I came home after that, so angry and hurt, and the moment I saw her, the mate bond floored me. Great timing, huh?” Remyughs bitterly.
Ryder ms a palm against the table, standing. “You’ve known? Both of you?”
“Sit down,” Callen mutters, not even looking up. “Getting angry won’t help.”
“Don’t tell me not to be angry,” Ryder growls. “She’s got enough going on without this…”
“This is not something we can choose,” Parker snaps, standing straighter. “We didn’t ask for it. But it’s here, and I’m not mad about it.”
“Speak for yourself, brother,” Remy snorts.
“You don’t mean that,” Callen snaps back.
Remy steps forward. “Yes, I do. Are you all forgetting she’s human? She can’t handle four <b>f</b>*cking mates, especially not two alphas and two betas. We’re even too much for our own
kind, and she’s weaker than a she–wolf.”
“Don’t call her weak. She has proven she is anything but weak,” Ryder says with a low<i>, </i>
dangerous growl.
“Fine, if you all want to put your own desires over her safety, then on your heads be it, but
don’t…”
“Enough!” I cut him off as I push to my feet, hands braced on the table. My heart’s racing so hard I feel dizzy. “You’re all talking like I’m not even in the room.”
Four pairs of eyesnd on me.
“I didn’t choose this,” I say, trying to keep my voice from shaking. “But I feel it. With all of you,
and I don’t want any more lies. I can’t do this, guessing who’s pulling away or hiding
something or waiting for me to fall apart.”
Ryder’s expression shifts, some of the anger draining. “Paige…”
“No.” I shake my head. “I’ve spent days wondering why I was feeling so torn. I’ve been ripped
from the world I thought I knew and thrown into this strange one, and now I’m being called
too weak… and having choices made for me without even asking what I want or what I feel?”
“I was trying to protect you,” Remy says quietly.
“By making me feel like I ruined your perfect little life and that I’m too fragile to make my own
decisions?”
He winces. That one hit home. “But it’s not just your decision.”
“You think this is easy for me?” I ask, softer now. “Being human? Being dropped into all of this? I’m trying to learn how to keep Jaxon safe, how to survive in a world I didn’t know
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existed two weeks ago, and all I want is a chance to figure this out with all of you.”
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There’s a long pause. No one speaks. Then Callen stands slowly, his hand brushing my back as he moves to stand beside <b>Parker</b><b>. </b>
“I already told her I’m in, and this doesn’t change that,” he says. “Whatever this looks like. Whatever we need to work through. She’s worth it.”
My heart warms at his words, and I smile at him.
“I don’t understand how this happened. Four mates is almost unheard of, but the Moon Goddess doesn’t make mistakes and she put us all
what any match you to four if you weren’t strong enough,” Ryder says, and I take his hand in mine.
of us think you can handle, because she wor a reason so it doesn’t matter
Remy remains silent, his eyes on the floor, shoulders tense.
“Remy?” I ask gently.
He exhales as if the weight of it might crush him. “I want to run. Every instinct in me says I should.”
“Then why are you still here?” Callen asks.
Remy finally looks up, and in his eyes, I see it all. The fear, the longing, the anger at fate and at himself.
“I don’t know,” he whispers and turns on his heel and walks straight out the door.
“Remy…” I get to my feet and take a step after him, but Callen’s already moving, his hand. brushing mine as he passes<b>. </b>
“I’ll go,” he says softly. “Let him cool down, but not alone.”
my throat
The door clicks shut behind him. I stare at it for a moment, my heart thudding and my going tight. This was never going to be easy, but I didn’t think it would feel like losing something before I’d even had the chance to hold it.
Ryder clears his throat. “I’ve got patrol,” he mutters, pushing his chair back with a scrape. He pauses in the doorway. “You okay?”
I nod, even though I’m not sure I am. “Yeah. I will be.”
His eyes flick between me and Parker, unreadable. Then he leaves without another word.
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Parker exhales beside me, dragging a hand through his hair. “That went… about as well as I
expected.”
I lean against the edge of the table, crossing my arms over my chest. “It all feels more real
now.
Parker takes a step closer, his voice low. “Yeah.”
I study him in the soft kitchen light, his strong jaw, his gentle eyes. I step forward, close enough to feel the heat radiating off him. I ce a hand over his chest, right above where I
feel his heart beating. Parker’s breath catches.
I rise onto my toes, kissing him before he can say anything else. It’s soft at first, but when his arms wrap around my waist and his hands sy across my lower back, everything else melts away. His lips move
with mine, slow and deep, and for the first time in days, the chaos fades.
into silence.
We break for air, our foreheads pressed together.
“You don’t have to hold back anymore,” I whisper.
His eyes flick to my mouth, then back to my eyes. “That’s dangerous to say.”
I smile. “I’m not afraid of this kind of danger<b>.” </b>