** Paige’s POV **


    More Rewards <b>> </b>


    When we alle back into the house together, Jaxon announces he’s going to y with his Lego and dashes upstairs. The moment he’s gone, I feel the air shift. The tension is suddenly


    thick.


    Ryder stands by the window, arms folded across his chest. Callen sits at the kitchen ind, papers spread in front of him. Parker leans


    against the counter, his jaw set. Remy is restless.


    My stomach twists. “Okay,” I say slowly, looking from one to the other. “What’s going on?”


    The four of them nce at each other, in the kind of silent conversation that makes me want to shake them. I hate it when they do that, deciding how much I should know, how much I


    can handle.


    “Sit down, Paige,” Callen says gently, gesturing toward the chair opposite him.


    The way he says it makes my pulse skip a beat. I pull out the chair, my fingers trembling a little as possibilities fly around my head. Has the pack turned on them because of me? Was there another attackst night?


    “You’re scaring me,” I admit.


    “It’s <i>not </i>meant to scare you,” Ryder says quickly, his voice rough. “But we need to ask you some questions… about your wedding.”


    The word makes me freeze. My wedding. I haven’t thought about that day for a while, not really. <i>I’ve </i>spent so long trying to forget it, trying to erase the feeling of Greg’s hand gripping mine too tightly, the vows that felt like shackles instead of promises.


    “What about it?” I ask warily.


    Parker steps forward, setting a file on the table. His eyes flicker with something that looks like guilt. “We got hold of some photographs from that day. The ceremony and the reception.”


    My chest tightens. “Why?<i>” </i>


    “They were uncovered during our checks into Greg, and we found something,” he says


    sympathetic smile, sliding the folder toward me.


    with a


    < Chapter 64


    More Rewards <b>> </b>


    I hesitate, then open it. The first photo is of me in my dress, bouquet clutched tight, my smile wide but not quite real. My breath catches. I remember that moment too well, the way my cheeks ached from forcing it. I’d convinced myself it was just nerves, but I know better now. The whole thing felt off, and I knew I was making a mistake, but it was toote to pull out.


    Then Jax. My little boy, about to turn four, in his tiny shirt and tie. My heart twists. He looked so proud, so happy, pping his hands like the world was perfect.


    My fingers brush over his face on the photo before I turn the page. Guests, tables,ughter. Then Parker taps the two faces circled in red.


    “Do you know them?” he asks carefully.


    I lean closer as I study their faces. I didn’t really know anyone, not really. The only guest I invited was Poppy, the rest were all Greg’s friends and family.


    “Yes,” I whisper. “Well, I know <i>of </i>them. They’re Greg’s friends. He worked with them for a while, I think. He invited them. I don’t remember their names, but they came to the house a few times. Why?”


    The silence that follows is deafening. Four pairs of eyes fix on me, and my skin prickles.


    “Are they hunters?”


    It’s Callen who answers, his voice steady but low. “Yes. This is the asshole who shot me,” he


    taps on one of the men’s faces. “This one is on a wanted list for an attack on another pack.”


    The words hit me like a blow. Hunters, near my boy. My breath stutters out of me, and the


    room tilts slightly as I look at the pictures again. On closer inspection, it is obvious that both


    men are watching Jaxon, and they aren’t the only ones.


    “No,” I say, shaking my head, refusing what is right in front of my eyes. “That can’t be right.


    They were just… Greg said they were workmates. How could I let them so close?” My voice


    breaks. Even as I say it, I know the truth is undeniable.


    Ryder moves closer, crouching beside me, his hand gripping mine. “Paige, we wouldn’t bring


    this to you unless we were certain. The intel’s solid. Greg had hunters at your wedding. Around you and Jax, but none of this was your fault. How could you protect him from a


    threat you had no idea existed?”


    A pit of cold dread opens in my chest. My wedding day, already a memory I’d wanted to forget, now morphed into something darker. Now I rey every smile, every toast, every handshake, questioning it all. It wasn’t just family and friends. It was predators sitting at the


    ::.


    (Chapter 64


    tables, watching me, watching my son.


    More Howards


    “Oh my God,” I whisper, my chest heaving. They could have taken him right then, and I’d have


    been powerless to stop them.”


    Remy stops pacing and looks at me. His features are hard, but his voice is soft. “You did nothing wrong, Paige. They wouldn’t have taken him like that anyway, because they know you


    would have screamed from the rooftops if they had taken him. They know how fiercely you


    would have fought for him and brought attention to them. That’s why they chose to be


    sneaky about it. They nted one of their own to be a father figure to Jax, to


    manipte him.”


    But it feels like my fault. Like I let them in. Like I invited the hunters into our lives and handed


    them the most precious thing I had.


    I press both hands to my face, trying to breathe past the panic wing at my throat. “Why


    would Greg… Why would he do that? I thought he cared, I thought…


    “Maybe he did, in his own way,” Callen shrugs. It’s possible he wasn’t working with them.


    willingly, they could have had something on him. We don’t know yet. But those photos prove


    he’s connected. This wasn’t random.”


    Anger spikes through the fear, making me feel dizzy. Greg, always hurting me, lying to me,


    breaking me down, and now this. He wasn’t forced into this, or he’d have found a way to warn


    me; he’d have told me what Jax was.


    I drop my hands, looking at all of them, my voice shaking. “What do we do now?”


    Parker’s gaze softens, but there’s a fierceness in his tone. “We protect you and Jax, and we find out exactly how deep Greg is involved with them.”


    Ryder nods, his hand still covering mine. “Don’t worry about anything<i>. </i>We’ll handle Greg.”


    I look at my mates, and despite the fear and betrayal still twisting in my gut, they make me


    feel safe. I believe them. They won’t let anyone hurt us, not ever again.


    I hate that the life I thought I’d left behind isn’t done with me. Greg is not just my past


    anymore. He’s a threat.


    The more I discover, the more truth begins to unravel in threads I can’t ignore. It’s as if I had


    been blind to all his faults until I stepped away, the distance giving me rity. Greg never


    raised a hand to me, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t cruel.


    <Chapter 64


    More Rewards <b>> </b>


    He chipped away at me in subtle ways, making me doubt my own memory, my own worth.


    Every time he dismissed my feelings, every time heughed at my dreams, every time he told me I was overreacting when something felt wrong… it was all control. I see it now, clearer


    than ever.


    Then the worst thought hits me… if he did it to me, what was he trying to do to Jax? Did he already start trying to control him, to turn him into a weapon?


    The room has fallen quiet, just the distant sounds of Jaxon’s animated noisesing from upstairs as he ys,pletely unaware of how much danger I’d let near him. The weight of it all presses down harder and harder until I feel like I can’t breathe. Hunters at my wedding, around my son, around me, and maybe even in my bed. The thought gnaws at me until I can barely sit still.


    “I need a minute,” I whisper, pushing back from the table. My legs feel unsteady, but I force myself upright and walk out of the kitchen before any of them can stop me.


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