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** Ryder’s POV **
The air in the forest smells of pine and damp earth. I love being out here at this time of day, just before twilight, when the world starts to still. It usually settles my wolf, but not today. Today, he’s practically pacing with excited anticipation. The softer scent of sweet wax and
smoke drifts in as I light the candles we’ve set all around. I breathe it in and let my gaze sweep across the clearing, forcing myself to see it the way Paige will. It needs to be perfect. No, it needs to be better than perfect. She deserves more. She deserves everything I never
gave her when we were young.
The tent is up, “mping–style,” or so I’m told by Aubrey, one of our pack’s mated females. It’s much bigger than any tent I’ve ever seen, and miles apart from the one me and Paige used back then. Its cream canvas glows faintly with thenterns set up inside, it looks warm and safe. It’s so big that we have a proper bed in there, with sheets, pillows and nkets. There’s no thin sleeping bag or cold ground this time.
A light wind blows, making the candles flicker. Food containers fill the nket spread out on the grass, and there’s wine chilling in an ice bucket. I’ve checked everything twice, but my
chest still tightens with nerves.
The first time I had her in a tent, I was a boy ying at being a man. I thought it was the start of forever for us, and we’d never be apart again. Instead, I left her with nothing but a broken
heart and a son I didn’t even know existed.
This time, I won’t fail her.
“Daddy! Where do these go?” Jaxon’s voice cuts through my thoughts.
Hees stumbling toward me, his arms wrapped around a basket of wildflowers he’s been picking with Remy. His grin is wide and proud as he takes in the scene.
I crouch down, taking half of the load before the whole thing tips over. “We’ll spread them
around the nket, bud. Your mummy loves flowers.”
“That’s because they’re pretty, like she is,” he says matter–of–factly, nodding like it’s the most
obvious thing in the world.
My throat goes tight. He has no idea what he does to me with words like that. He’s such a sweet and caring child, especially when ites to his mum. I couldn’t be any prouder of
:.
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him. “Exactly like her.”
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We scatter the flowers together, little purple and yellow and white petals all around until the nket looks like it’s sitting in the middle of a meadow floor. Jaxon ps his hands when we’re done, bouncing up and down. “Mummy’s going to love it!”
“She will,” I smile, smoothing his wayward hair.
My boy is strong. He’s been carrying this secret all day without slipping up, even though he’s practically buzzing with excitement. He’s stronger than I ever was at his age, and that’s
because he has Paige as a mother.
“Red means love!” he announces proudly, pointing at the single red rose lying beside the ice
bucket.
“That’s right.” I grin. “How do you know that?”
“My mummy told me,” he shrugs. “We put purple and blue ones on Granny and Grandads
grave to tell them how much we miss them.”
She taught him about the rose colours, something I’d learnt from the only foster mother that
ever loved me. That breaks something in me, and I almost burst into tears. It makes me feel
like maybe I had a small part in his upbringing, even if I wasn’t physically there, Paige made
sure I wasn’tpletely absent from his life.
I clear my throat, but my voice stilles out thick with emotion. “They’re great colours to
leave for them.”
“We left a ck one for you too, at your old house,” he says, leaning into me.
His words hit me like a punch to the gut. She took him to my house and left me a rose. I don’t
even <i>know </i><i>how </i>to respond. Memories flood back to me of my old home. It hadn’t been a very
happy ce, not until Paige was in it, but knowing she still visited, and took my son there… my heart swells so much it feels like it might burst right out of my chest.
“Thank you,” I choke out, lift him for a hug, inhaling his scent. It’s the perfect mix of mine and Paige’s.
Behind us, Callen is stringingnterns through the branches, each one flickering to life in a soft golden glow in the dimming light.
“Thenterns are all set,” he calls down, sounding pleased with himself. “They will guide her straight here.”
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“Good,” I answer, though my mind is already racing to the next detail.
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Remy crouches near the new candles he’s just set down, shielding a match from the breeze. He mutters something under his breath about the wind direction and making sure nothing
goes out.
“Do you want the wine left on the nket or moved into the tent?” he asks without looking <ol><li>up. </li></ol>
“It’s fine there,” I nod, trying to picture it all through her eyes again.
He nods and stands to take it all in. “It’s looking good.”
Parker’s voice floats into my head through the mind–link. “She’s in the bath now with a face mask on. She’s rxed, Rye. So don’t rush, you’ve got plenty of time.”
I let out a sigh of relief, closing my eyes to settle my nerves. I can imagine her right now, her
skin flushed from the heat, hair damp and curling,pletely oblivious to what we are doing.
My pulse spikes, and I press a hand against my chest, calming myself. This night isn’t about
hunger. It’s about her. It’s about giving her the memory she should have had the first time. It’s
about binding myself to her forever.
“Ryder,” Remy snaps me back. “You sure about the flowers right next to the candles? They
could catch fire.”
He’s right. Thest thing I need is a wildfire. I adjust them, listening to Jaxon’s quiet chatter
beside me as he attempts to fold a napkin into a triangle.
Callen drops down from the trees, brushing his hands off on his jeans. “You’reying it on
thick, brother. She won’t know what hit her.”
“She deserves it,” I growl without meaning to. The wordse out rough and with more
intensity than I meant.
Jaxon frowns, mimicking me with his little fists on his hips and attempting a growl. ”
Mummy’s going to really love it.”
I have to fight hard not tough, not just at Jax but at the look on Callen’s face.
“Christ, no DNA test needed here,” he chuckles, ruffling Jaxon’s hair.
Parker pushes into my head again, this time tinged with amusement. “Oh, just a heads up… She asked about why we don’t look at her in our wolf form earlier. I did a little show and tell.
Now she wants a one–on–one meeting with the three of you too.”
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Jealousy spikes through me before I can shove it down. I wanted to have that moment with
her too. My wolf surges under my skin, possessive and restless, desperate to meet her properly. I grit my teeth. “I hope you didn’t keep her out too long. I need her rested for tonight.
“Rx,” Parker answers smoothly. “She’s fine. I’ll deliver her to you glowing.”
I roll my shoulders, forcing myself to breathe.
The sun dips lower as we finish, and the clearing transforms before my eyes. This is nothing like the rough camp from our teenage fumble, it’s closer to something out of a dream. Lantern’s glow and candles flicker. The tent looks warm and inviting. It doesn’t look like a teenage boy’s mistake. It looks like a man’s promise. It’s perfect.
“Okay,” Callen says, straightening. “Everything’s ready. Now we just wait.”
Jaxon bounces on his toes. “Can we hide, Daddy?”
I scoop him up, pressing a kiss to his cheek. “Yeah, bud. We’ll hide, and then we’ll let Mummy
see what we made for her.”
He wriggles in my arms, too excited to keep still. I carry him toward the tree line, casting one
“Thank you, all of you.” I say to Parker, Cal and Remy through the mind–link. “I couldn’t have
pulled all this off without you.”
“Sure you could, you did most of this, we just helped a little,” Parker responds.
“Speak for yourself. We had to lug an entire bed out here.” Remy quips.
“Yeah, and that tent was a b***h to put up,” Callen adds. “Just remember this when it’s our
turn to have our night with her.”
“This isn’t just about mating with her. It’s fixing a mistake. I want to prove I’m no longer the boy who ran away scared and left her in a tent alone. Tonight, I’ll give her the night she
should have had, that she deserved.”
Callen grips my shoulder, squeezing it. “I think she knows that already, Rye.”
I don’t respond, because maybe he’s right, maybe it’s myself I need to prove it too.
hug Jaxon tighter, reminding myself that night was not a total mess. We got this amazing
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little boy from it, and I know without a doubt that Paige wouldn’t change a single thing about that night if it meant Jax was never born. I find peace in that.
As thest of the light fades from the sky, Parker’s voice brushes through the mind–link
again.
“She’s ready. I’m bringing her now.”
My heart skips a beat and then pounds against my ribs. I set Jax down, smoothing his hair. ”
You remember what we talked about?”
He nods. “I won’t say anything. I’ll just smile big when shees!”
I grin despite the nerves coiling in my stomach. “That’s my boy.”
Then I take my ce at the edge of the clearing, every muscle in my body thrumming with
anticipation, waiting for the moment Paige steps through the trees and sees everything we
built for her.
I’m already hers, but tonight, I’ll make her mine.
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