** Ryder’s POV <b>** </b>
The certificate rests in myp, the edges crinkled where my fingers have been gripping it too tightly. I can’t stop staring at the damn thing, as if I blink it’ll vanish, and I’ll wake up back in those years when I longed for Paige and had no idea our son existed.
Jaxon Madden. My son. With my name.
I trace my name under his, hardly able to breathe. It doesn’t matter that my DNA proved it<b>; </b>it doesn’t matter that I’ve known in my bones since the first time I saw him, that we have the same smile and eyes, that my wolf recognised him instantly. Seeing it written here makes it real in a way nothing else could.
Beside me, Paige leans against the seat, watching me with that small, gentle smile that always manages to break through my walls.
“You’re going to crease it,” she teases softly.
“I don’t care if it creases. I’m never letting it out of my sight.”
Her hand finds mine, prying my grip loose, and she folds the paper carefully before tucking it into the inside pocket of my jacket. “There, it’s safe. Now you don’t have to crush it to prove
how much it means.”
I swallow hard and turn my face toward the window, where I’m supposed to be focused. The streets blur past, ordinary people going about ordinary lives, while my entire world has shifted.
I’d swapped cars with Remy for the journey back, a mistake really. Not because I don’t want to be with Paige, I’d never leave her side if I could, but because I’m too distracted to guard her properly.
I sit up straighter, my eyes scanning everything we pass. Then, I open the mind link to Callen.
“All good there?” I ask.
“Yep,” he responds straight away. “No suspicious activity anywhere near our territory, and Jax is ying with the other kids. Regina is about to do some crafts with them. Everything good on your end?”
I press my hand to my chest, where I hear the crinkle of the paper in my pocket. “No issues so far; we are on our way back. We should be there within the hour.”
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“So it’s all official? Jaxon is my nephew in the eyes of humanw too?” he asks, and I swear I can feel his grin as he says it.
“Technically no, because there’s no official human paperwork that says we are brothers,” I
tease.
“Damn, you’re right. Maybe I should get a DNA test too, just in case.”
“Cal, I doubt anyone is going to try to take custody of you now.” I almostugh out loud.
“I mean, so I have rights to Jaxon if I ever need it. If anything ever happened <i>to </i>you and…” he trails off, not even able toplete that thought, and a low growl rumbles in my chest.
“What’s wrong?” Paige asks, gripping my arm, “Is Jax okay?”
“He’s fine,” I reassure her quickly. “I was just talking to Callen, and he said something that got us both worked up. It’s nothing to worry about.”
“What was it?”
I repeat the conversation back to her, and she looks lost in thought for a moment before she blinks and nods. “He’s right, we don’t need a DNA test necessarily, but a court order to say Callen should get custody in the event of our deaths. If we don’t, Poppy will fight for him, and while I’d have hoped for that not long ago, now I see it’s not what is best for Jaxon. He needs to be with the pack.”
I reach over and put a hand on her thigh, squeezing it. “We will bring it up at the next appointment with the solicitor.”
Paige nods and then turns to look out of the window. I hate that she has to lie to her sister, the only person who has been a constant in her life since she was a child. I feel like it’s all my fault, that I’m the one driving a wedge between them because of what I am, and even worse… I wouldn’t change it.
My wolf is a part of me in the same way my soul is. I’m nothing without him. I wouldn’t change a single thing about Paige either. She is perfect just the way she is, and she gave me the greatest gift I could ever ask for.
My son.
My wolf paces restlessly under my skin, half–wild with pride and relief. Ours, both of them. We have a mate and a child! It still doesn’t feel real sometimes.
The words ‘parental responsibility‘ ring in my mind. For so long I failed him. Failed them both. I wasn’t there when she needed me, wasn’t there when he was born, when his first steps shook her world. Now though? Now I don’t get to run. Thew says what my soul has always
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known, he’s mine.
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Paige leans in, her head resting against my shoulder. The soft weight of her pulls me out of the spiral of thoughts. “He’s going to be so happy when he finds out he has the same name as you,<i>” </i>she says softly.
That undoes me. A lump forms in my throat, and I blink hard against the sting in my eyes. “I’ll spend the rest of my life proving I deserve this.”
Her fingers squeeze mine, firm, certain. “You already do.”
The silence stretches, but it isn’t heavy, just full. I rest my head against Paige’s hair, just absorbing this moment. And as the small townes into view, my grip tightens on Paige’s hand. Because Jaxon is waiting just beyond the trees, and today, I finally get to walk through those doors not just as the Alpha who fathered him… but as his father.
The closer we get to our cabin, the more my thoughts drift from the certificate tucked safely in my jacket to the fight ahead. Because as much as today feels like a victory, I know Greg won’t give up easily. He’ll drag this through the courts, through every loophole he can find, just to cling to the lie that Jaxon’s his.
I can already picture his arrogant face, wearing that smug half–smile I’d seen in Paige’s pictures, as he walks into court expecting Paige to still be his property, expecting Jaxon to still trust him. My wolf snarls at the image, the sound rumbling through my chest until Paige squeezes my hand, a silent reminder of where I am.
My thoughts shift in a different direction then. Let him walk into that courtroom cocky. Let him think he still has the upper hand. When we stand before the judge andy the DNA report and this certificate on the desk, Greg’s mask is going to crack. I want to see the exact second it dawns on him that he’s lost. That Jaxon isn’t his, never was, never will be, and then, when I get the opportunity, I’ll kill him.
Hayden<i>, </i>our enforcer and current driver, pulls the car up the gravel drive where we keep the vehicles, and kills the engine. For a moment, none of us move. Paige lets out a small, relieved sigh and straightens in her seat. My chest aches with how badly I want to give her a life where she never has to think about Greg or hunters again, never has to watch her back. But we’re not there yet.
Not yet, my wolf growls. But soon.
I open the mind–link, reaching out to someone I know I can rely on. “Brandon?” I project themand, making his energy snap to attention.
“Alpha.”
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+25 Points
“I need you to dig into a human called Gregory Thompson’s personal life. Finances, employment, debts, criminal records… anything that a human court would be interested in. I don’t care how small it seems. If there’s a weakness, I want it in my hands before the first hearing. I’ll email you his file.”
“Understood,” Brandon replies without hesitation. “I’ll start immediately. Should I keep this quiet from the others?”
“For now. Report only to me and Callen.” I confirm, not because I don’t trust Remy and Parker, but because I don’t want to bring this up until we have something solid. “And Brandon? Be thorough. I don’t want surprisester.”
“Yes, Alpha.”
Greg might think he can hide behind his humanws, but he’s not the only one who knows how to y dirty. If there are skeletons in his closet, and I’m betting there are, I’ll drag everyst one of them into the light.
We make the short walk through the woods, and as we approach the cabin, the front door opens before we even step onto the porch. Jaxon barrels out with Callen and Parker trailing behind. He’s grinning, his cheeks flushed from whatever they’ve been up to, and for a second the whole world narrows to just him. My son.
“Mum! Dad! Remy!” he shouts excitedly.
I crouch as he races toward me, and I catch him easily when heunches into my arms. I hold him tight, pressing my nose into his hair and breathing him in. My wolf settles instantly, pride swelling in my chest until it’s almost painful.
“Hey, little man,” I smile. “Did you miss us?”
“Yeah,” he says, muffled against my shoulder. Then he pulls back, eyes bright. “Did it work? Am I yours now?<i>” </i>
The innocent hope in his voice nearly undoes me. I nce at Paige and see her eyes shining and then look back at him. “You’ve always been mine, Jax,” I say firmly. “But today we made it official. Nobody can ever take that away.”
He grins wide and hugs me again so hard it knocks the breath out of me. Callen ps a hand to my back as we head inside; Parker makes a beeline for Paige, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. We’re home, all together and in one piece, exactly how it should be.
In the kitchen, Jaxon rushes to pick something up off the kitchen ind, then he turns back and thrusts a crooked card at me. I crouch to look at it. It has a green handprint across the front, and a wobbly stick–family drawn inside, each onebelled with a name. Mummy, Daddy,
:
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Jaxon, Callen, Remy, and Parker.
I turn it over to find a small note on the back.
‘I love you, Daddy. From Jaxon.‘
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My chest tightens, and he climbs into my arms, his small arms wrapping around my neck, and for a beat the court, Greg, and everything ugly slides away. I slip the card into my jacket
next to the birth certificate, keeping both of them close.
“Thank you, Jaxon. I love it,” I say, squeezing him.
<b>3 </b>
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