LOGIN** Ryder’s POV **
By the time Paige finishes gathering the crayons and Jaxon is wrapped up warm in his coat and boots, the sun has dipped low. The air outside is still, expectant, heavy, waiting.
This is the moment I promised the pack, and I can feel Paige bracing for it even before she steps outside.
Callen, Remy, Parker and I flank her automatically. Walking behind us are Ronnie, Jake and Leo, with Poppy, whose shoulders are still tight. Around us, moving with natural silence through the trees are the Twiceborn.
I can’t say I’m completely comfortable with them, not the way I used to be, but she is. I can’t see them as pack the way they once were; they feel different now. They’re no longer mine; they’re hers.
We walk toward the clearing together, a slow procession. The kind that feels like it should be marked by drums or bagpipes, maybe. Inste
** Ryder’s POV **The cabin door shuts behind the others, and the silence they leave behind feels charged.Paige stands in the middle of the room, breathing slowly, the weight of everything we just planned pressing down on her shoulders. The glow under her skin hasn’t fully faded. It pulses soft gold at her collarbone, her wrists, along her throat like it’s following her heartbeat.She looks like pure power trapped in a human body… she looks like mine.Remy, Parker, and Callen left minutes ago, heading out for patrol. I know their absence leaves an ache in her, but the intensity of it lets something else bloom. Something that’s been circling us since the moment she said it.‘I have to mark you.’My wolf hasn’t calmed once since he heard the words, and neither have I.“It feels too quiet now,” she whispers.“It’s just us,” I answer, my voice low.Her eyes meet mine, and something flickers there… curiosity, want, uncertainty, all tangled together.For the first time since the attack, sh
** Paige’s POV **I move toward the kitchen, not waiting for anyone to guide me or usher me. I want to get this over with, to feel like we are actively taking steps to put an end to this rather than waiting for the hunters to make their next move.As we enter, Ronnie steps through the back door. Behind him, Nina hovers with Blaine, both looking calm but alert.We settle in the kitchen. Ryder on my left, Remy on my right.Callen leans against the counter behind me, and Parker slides into the seat beside Jake.Poppy claims the place across from me as if she wants to stare down the problem herself, and stands behind her.Ronnie’s eyes find mine. “Well. Dawn mother.”“Paige,” I warn softly.“Paige,” he corrects with a teasing smile.I clear my throat and cut straight to it.“Nina,” I say. “You said a human girl was involved. Someone the hunters called the university girl.”Nina nods. “Yes.”“Do you know exactly what she was feeding them?”“Not everything. I only heard snippets.” Her voice
** Paige’s POV **The moment the pack disperses, my legs stop working. I don’t collapse, but my knees go weak enough that Ryder’s hand shoots out, gripping my waist like he’s ready to catch me.“Easy,” he murmurs.Easy… if only.I can still feel it, the rush of the pack dropping to their knees. The surge of power that wasn’t mine and yet was. The echo of Ronnie’s voice calling me Eos, the Dawn, the renewal, all those impossible titles that feel too heavy for a girl who still panics at the dentist.I feel like the forest is watching me the same way the pack did. Like it knows something I don’t. My skin tingles; the glow under it hasn’t settled down yet. I exhale shakily.Remy steps in close. “Breathe, Paige.”Parker takes my hand. “We’ve got you.&rdq
** Ryder’s POV **By the time Paige finishes gathering the crayons and Jaxon is wrapped up warm in his coat and boots, the sun has dipped low. The air outside is still, expectant, heavy, waiting.This is the moment I promised the pack, and I can feel Paige bracing for it even before she steps outside.Callen, Remy, Parker and I flank her automatically. Walking behind us are Ronnie, Jake and Leo, with Poppy, whose shoulders are still tight. Around us, moving with natural silence through the trees are the Twiceborn.I can’t say I’m completely comfortable with them, not the way I used to be, but she is. I can’t see them as pack the way they once were; they feel different now. They’re no longer mine; they’re hers.We walk toward the clearing together, a slow procession. The kind that feels like it should be marked by drums or bagpipes, maybe. Inste
** Remy’s POV **I lean against the counter, positioned so I can see Paige and Jaxon in the living room. They’re colouring together, laughing and talking as if our world hasn’t been flipped.That’s one of the things I love most about her. The ability to compartmentalise so well for Jaxon. Watching them together warms something inside me I didn’t even know existed.Parker comes to stand beside me, crossing his arms over his chest and letting out a soft sigh as he watches them too. “She’s amazing, isn’t she?”I nod. “Our very own goddess. I’m not sure what we did to deserve this. To be chosen as her mates.”“I keep thinking this is all some kind of fever dream and I’m going to wake up soon,” he says, rubbing over the symbol beneath his shirt.“Can I see it?”“See what?” He frowns.I gesture to his chest, where his han
** Paige’s POV **Nina draws a slow breath, as if bracing herself. “There’s something else,” she says softly.The forest seems to freeze around us, and I feel everyone around me tense, waiting for the blow.Jake stands just behind Nina with a steadying hand on her shoulder. “What else?” he whispers.Nina swallows. “Someone else was feeding them information. Someone human.”Every hair on my arms rises… human. The only human I know here is Cora. Surely it wasn’t her. She has a mate whom she adores. Would she really betray his pack like that?Callen steps forward, unable to keep the anger out of his voice. “Who?”Nina looks at him, then back at me.“I didn’t know her name,” she says. “The hunters called her ‘the univers







