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**Paige’s POV **
The day <b>had </b>been a strange blur ofughter and tension. Jaxon’s delighted squeals as Ryder chased him through the long grass, Callen’s amused smile when he caught him. The four of us spending time together like that was nice. It felt almost like a family; I just missed two others. I feel them more with every hour that passes. I feel the ache of their absence, which is strange. Especially with Remy, who I have no physical rtionship with. By the time the sun dipped low, I was exhausted and cranky. When Parker returned from patrol, I felt a little better, until Ryder had to leave for his patrol.
Will it always feel this way if they’re not near me? Like a piece of my soul is missing?
As if Callen and Parker can sense how unsettled I am, they pull me into Parker’s room and wrap themselves around me in the bed. Their steady presence easing the ache in my chest enough for me to sleep.
The sound that wakes me isn’t the one I expect.
It’s not the soft creak of a floorboard when one of my mates moves around the house, or Jaxon’s sleepy little footsteps padding toward me in the night.
It’s a shrill, jarring rm.
For a second, I can’t ce it. My brain is sluggish from sleep, but then I hear the sharp whoop again and the unmistakable rush of footsteps thudding against the back <b>porch</b>.
Before I can fully sit up, Parker is out of bed and rushing to the bedroom door.
<b>“</b>Stay here,” he says, voice clipped. His hair ruffled from sleep, but his eyes are sharp and
alert. “Hunters have crossed the border.”
The word hits me like ice water. Hunters.
I scramble to my knees on the mattress. “What do you mean? How close is the border?”
“Too close forfort. There’s no reason for them to be here than toe after us.” Callen says, putting a hand on my arm. “We’ve got a perimeter breach on the north side. Ryder’s
mobilising the pack. I’ll stay here with you.”
My heart’s trying to w its way up my throat. “What about Jaxon? Should we hide him.
somewhere?”
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“They won’t get near the house. He’s safe in bed. We don’t need to worry him.” Parker’s tone softens a fraction, just enough for me to see the flicker of worry. “I’ll be back soon.”
“Be careful,” I say, struggling to hold back the tears at the thought of them out there.
Parker leans over and kisses me before turning away. Then he’s gone, moving too quickly for me to get another word in, and I hear the heavy m of the front door a secondter.
Silence settles for half a breath. Then… chaos.
Shouts from outside. Barked orders. The pounding rhythm of multiple sets of footsteps hitting the ground at once. Somewhere in the distance, a wolf howls, a deep, bone–shaking sound that makes every hair on my arms stand on end.
“They’ll be okay,” Callen says softly, pulling me into his arms.
I tuck my face into his neck and breathe him in. “I can’t stand the thought of anyone getting hurt. After seeing what they did to you…” My words cut off with a choking sob.
“Hey, don’t think like that. I was out there alone with no warning. This is totally different. We are ready for them. Do you hear all that movement out there? That’s our enforcers mobilising. They’re highly trained fighters. Those hunters made a mistake tonight.”
Tense minutes tick by before Callen suddenly tenses and curses.
“What? What is it?”
“Hunters are pressing toward the east. Ryder’s hurt but moving. He’s outnumbered; he needs
me.”
The breath whooshes out of me. “Hurt? How bad?”
“Not bad enough to keep him down.” But there’s a flicker in his eyes that tells me it’s worse. than he’s letting on.
“I’ming,” I start, moving off the bed.
“No.” His voice is all alphamand now. “You stay in the house with Jaxon.”
The way he says it makes my stomach twist. He’s worried about my son too.
“Go.” I nod. “Just be safe and bring him home.”
“I’ll bring him back, I promise.”
Callen kisses me like it might be thest, and then he wipes away the tears streaming down
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my face and kisses under each eye.
“Don’t worry. We’ll be back before you know it.”
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I watch him walk away. Feeling a pit of dread open in my stomach. Ryder is hurt, and I don’t know if he will be the only one injured. Why can’t the hunters just leave them alone? Why can’t they take a moment to understand that the people they hunt are not a threat? That they’re capable of love and greatness. They don’t deserve to be hunted like vicious wild
animals.
I move to the bedroom window and watch as. Arge wolf leaps from the porch <b>and </b>rushes towards the treeline. He’s beautiful, his wolf form huge and ck, swallowing the dim light before he disappears into the trees.
My pulse hammers. I can’t breathe. I hate this, hate the feeling of standing useless in a house while the people I love throw themselves into danger.
I pace, pausing every few seconds to nce at the window. It feels like hours pass, though the clock says it’s barely ten minutes. I tell myself that no news is good news, that if something had gone wrong, really wrong, someone would havee for me. I’d hear the
howls of warning. There’d be some kind of sign.
But my mind keeps slipping. It keeps going to dark ces.
What if Parker gets surrounded? What if Callen doesn’t get to Ryder in time? What if they
don’t make it back?
The longer I wait, the louder the doubts get.
Maybe I’m not cut out for this world.
Maybe I’ll never be more <b>than </b>a liability, someone they have to guard instead of someone who can guard herself.
I stand there in the middle of the bedroom, my hands useless at my sides. Every second that ticks by feels like another piece carved off me. I think about how, if I were like them, I would probably have already been out there fighting alongside them. But I’m just here, waiting.
Some mate I am.
My eyes go to the door. I need to see Jaxon, need to reassure myself that at least one thing is still safe and steady. The image of his little sleeping form will be my anchor until they all
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I cross the hall and push his door open gently.
It’s empty.
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<i>v </i>to se
see
At first, I freeze, staring at the rumpled nket like maybe my brain is just too slow
him there, but the bed is empty. His pillow is cold.
A sound tears out of me, half sob, half gasp as my legs nearly give out.
Oh God.
I race through the house, calling his name. My voice echoes off the walls, sounding wild and desperate even to my own ears. The kitchen. The living room. Every bathroom. Nothing.
I’m already shaking my head before I get back to the stairs. I didn’t hear anything. He can’t have just… walked out.
Unless someone got in. The thought is like acid in my veins.
I tear down the stairs and fling the front door open. Cold night air ps me in the face. The yard is empty.
“Jaxon!” My voice is hoarse now, breaking on his name. I take a step out, then another, scanning the darkness.
He’s gone. Just gone.
I don’t even think. I just run. A sound rips from my chest <b>as </b>I bolt towards the edge of the woods. My feet are already moving before I register that I’m barefoot, that the night is swallowing me whole.
“Jaxon!” My voice cracks. “Baby, answer me!”
Branches whip at my arms as I push into the treeline. My vision is blurred with tears, my mind spinning in a cyclone of terror and guilt.
I let this happen. I was right there, and I let someone take my son.
“Jaxon!” My scream splinters the night.
Then, out of nowhere, arms wrap around me, strong and unyielding, a strong hand mping. over my mouth. I thrash, wing at them, but they drag me backward, off the narrow trail, down into a ditch I hadn’t even seen.
The smell of earth is thick in my nose as they pull me against the base of a tree. My heart’s a
< Chapter 47
thunderous roar in my ears.
I’ve failed. Not just my son, but all of them.
N.O Darling
Sorry for theck of updates. I had a few days of severe migraines a time for a while, plus my migraine medication makes me drowsy and want to risk writing absolute nonsense while under the influence