 Masuk
Masuk



** Paige’s POV **Back at my rental house, I hold my breath as Ryder unlocks the door and pushes inside with Remy right behind him. My gaze drops automatically to the floor just inside the entryway. No ominous letters are waiting for me this time. I let out a relieved breath.We wait outside for the all-clear before stepping fully inside. The place is exactly how we left it, but the air is stale, like a room sealed off for too long. I move from window to window, unlatching and pushing them open to let the cool air trickle in. Jaxon plops onto the couch in the living room, the TV already flickering to life, and my guys drift toward the kitchen that suddenly feels far too small.It hits me then: this place has never really felt like mine. I’ve never spent enough time here for it to build those special memories, and it doesn’t have the familiarity or ease of home that the cabin does. And with four overgrown men in the kitchen, I can barely breathe.I should give this place up. Keeping it
** Ryder’s POV **The house is quiet, apart from the faint hiss of water running upstairs. Paige has disappeared into the shower, her laughter from training still echoing in my head. Only it’s not the memory of her laughter that keeps my wolf pacing. It’s the way she moves. I already knew she was fast, but this is more than speed or instinct. The way she blocked every move before any of us could touch her. Then there’s whatever the hell happened with Callen.None of us calls her on it, not out loud, but the look we all share speaks volumes. I’ve not been brought up in this life, and I might not know the limits of what the bond can do for a human, but I do know that the abilities human mates develop only come from our wolves. This isn’t that.Remy leans against the kitchen counter, arms folded tight across his chest, his usual smirk gone. Callen sits at the kitchen island, tapping his fingers on the marble restlessly, while Parker hovers by the window, looking like he’ll bite anyone wh
** Paige’s POV **The problem with Callen is that I can never tell when he’s joking. His smirk is pure trouble, but his eyes are bright with the kind of excitement that tells me he’s about to drag me into something I’ll regret.“Alright, sweetheart,” he says brightly, “time to put you through your paces. Let’s see if the mate bond makes you dangerous or if you’re just still soft and squishy human.”I cross my arms and glare at him. “Soft and squishy? Really?”Parker moves to stand closer. “Don’t rise to it,” he sighs, even though I feel his amusement through the bond. “He’s just trying to rile you up so you’ll try to prove him wrong.”“Well, it’s working,” I mutter, though my lips twitch into a half smile.Callen grins wider.Ryder steps forward, the air shifts. I can sense his presence more now, like I’m finally feeling what the pack does. He’s Alpha through and through. He rolls his shoulders, and his eyes light up.“We’ll keep it simple,” Ryder says, his voice steady. “Nobody’s thr
** Paige’s POV **Parker’s arms around me feel like home. Not just the pull of a bond, but something deeper, something real. With my mates, I don’t have to hide the pieces of myself I’d spent years tucking away. I can be fully me, and it’s met with warmth, not disapproval. With Greg, I became a show of myself, turning into someone unrecognisable just to keep the peace, just to keep him happy. But here?… Here, I am seen. I am accepted. I am claimed instead of coerced. I’m not controlled, but held in a way that lets me breathe, lets me be exactly who I’m supposed to be without apology. Finally, I understand the difference between love that cages you and love that frees you, and this is only the start.My fingers trace the line of Parker’s jaw, memorising the feel of him.“Thank you,” I whisper. “For being you, for being mine.”He smiles, brushing a loose strand of hair from my face. “Always,” he murmurs, resting his forehead against mine. The bond thrums faintly between us, warm and ins
** Paige’s POV **Parker helps me undress slowly, like each button popped, and zipper undone is an act that should be treasured. When I step into the bath, I’m still trembling from the almost overwhelming anticipation thrumming through me. The hot water laps against my skin, and I sink into it with a sigh, petals clinging to my shoulders, my chest.Parker sinks in behind me. He doesn’t rush. He dips a cloth into the water, wrings it out, then runs it across my skin with a tenderness that makes my heart ache. Over my shoulders, down my arms, across my collarbone. His fingers shake slightly as he works, betraying the control he’s fighting to hold on to.“Parker…” My voice cracks, but I reach for his hand, tangling our fingers together. “You don’t have to be so careful.”“I want to be. I’ve wanted this for so long, and I don’t ever want you to doubt how much you mean to me.”The sincerity in his tone steals my breath. I turn slightly and reach up, cupping his cheek with wet fingers. “I d
** Paige’s POV **The card looks so small compared to Ryder’s big hand, but the way he holds it like it’s as fragile and priceless as glass makes my chest ache. His whole world is right here, wrapped in the arms of a six-year-old who has no idea how much power he holds over us both.Ryder tucks the card into his pocket where I’d put the birth certificate earlier before Jaxon’s squeals of laughter echo through the cabin as Ryder swings him up into his arms. I watch the way Ryder presses his cheek into our son’s hair, the way his whole body softens when Jax tightens his grip. My throat tightens, because I’ve waited so long to see this, Jax being loved the way he always deserved, and Ryder not as the boy who left me, or even the Alpha I’ve had to learn to trust again, but as a father, and he’s perfect at it.I force myself to blink away the tears stinging my eyes before Jax can notice them and start worrying. He’s too young to understand how precious this moment is, too young to know ho








