Chapter 7

** Callen’s POV **

Something’s off with her.

It’s not just that she’s gorgeous, though she is; it’s the way her smile faltered when I mentioned my family, the way her fingers curled tight around the countertop like she was bracing for a hit. I swear the colour drained from her face in seconds.

Her voice went higher, thinner, like she was trying too hard to sound normal. Her scent had changed too, but I couldn’t place the emotion. Then, just like that, she was shoving me out the door. No explanation. No chance to even say goodbye to Jaxon.

I walk away, replaying every word in my head. We’d been having dinner, laughing, talking about the kid. Then one mention of me having a twin and… bam. Door slammed.

What did I say? What am I missing?

“Where are you?” I mind-link Remy.

“Just about to head home. Why? How’s it going with the pretty lady?”

“You’re not jealous, are you, Rem?” I tease.

“Of course not. She’s a human. She’s not even in the same league as me to be any kind of competition.”

“Well, apparently I’m not as charming as I thought. She all but kicked me out for no reason,” I huff, kicking a rock across the forest floor.

“Aww, did poor Callen get his little feelings hurt?” Remy mocks.

“Come here and say that to my face,” I growl.

“Nah, I’d rather run and have you try to catch me.” He knows exactly how to push my buttons.

“Oh, you’re on. Your ass is mine, Beta boy,” I say as I pull off my shirt.

I strip fast, stashing my clothes in the crook of a tree branch for later. Shifting is like exhaling after holding my breath too long. My wolf bursts free with a low, eager growl. He’s restless, the same way I’ve been since Paige shut me down. Even now, as the forest opens around me and the air fills my lungs, I can still see her pale face. Still hear the tight edge in her voice when I mentioned I had a twin.

The ground thumps beneath my paws. Every stride feels like shedding a layer of frustration. There’s nothing more freeing than this. But even with the wind in my fur, she lingers in my thoughts. Why did she react like that?

My feet move faster when I pick up a hint of Remy’s scent. It lingers, as if he were here recently. I’m on the right path. He can’t be too far away. I push forward.

Soon I hear his footfall, and then I catch glimpses of his dark form moving through the underbrush ahead, just out of reach. He’s fast. He always is. But I’m faster.

His scent hits me then, sharp, familiar and intoxicating. Pine needles, musk, and that wild hint of him that drives me crazy. I push harder, picking up speed, the thrill of the hunt burning through my limbs.

He vaults over a fallen log, glancing back at me with amber eyes full of challenge.

“Catch me if you can.”

“You know I will.”

I gather every bit of strength and surge forward. My heart hammers in my chest, and the wind whooshes in my ears as I close the gap between us. I leap, and for a heartbeat, we’re weightless. We crash to the ground in a tangle of fur and limbs, skidding through the leaves.

I land on top of him, breathless and victorious. He writhes beneath me, growling low, but it’s a playful, mock protest. He wants this just as much as I do.

I bare my teeth in a panting grin before shifting, magic rippling over my body as fur transforms to skin. The cool air bites at me, but I don’t care. I’m straddling him, flushed with adrenaline and the heat of the chase.

“You’re getting slow,” I murmur, brushing a hand through his fur.

He shifts beneath me, smirking. “You’re a cheater.”

“No, I’m a wolf.” I say, leaning down until our noses nearly touch. “I hunt.”

I kiss him fast and rough at first, adrenaline still buzzing through my veins. But when our mouths slow, I can’t help the flicker of another face in my mind, Paige’s, when she wouldn’t meet my eyes. I shove it away, focussing on the heat of Remy’s lips, the familiar danger of crossing the lines we set.

When I had first arrived here in Cinderwood, Remy had been the first shifter I’d met. There was an instant connection between us, and a mutual attraction that neither of us had been able to resist for long.

I had tried to convince myself that I just needed one night with him, then I’d get him out of my system and we’d be done. I had been wrong, and time and time again, we would find ourselves back in each other’s arms.

We both knew we were not fated mates, so we couldn’t let whatever this was between us get serious.

Instead, we set some simple rules. We tell no one. We don’t show signs of affection or tenderness, and most important of all… we don’t fall in love. Simple, right?

I pull back just enough to speak. “What was that you said about hurting my feelings?”

He smirks, but his voice is rough. “I can’t remember.”

“Hmm, I seem to remember a snarky comment you made earlier, too, and ever since I have been imagining gagging that smart mouth of yours with my dick,” I purr as grind my hips against his, rubbing our erections together and drawing a groan from his lips.

“Then you better hurry, because I feel another snarky remark incoming,” he taunts.

I push up off of him and get to my feet, fisting the base of my cock as I watch him get to his knees in front of me. Remy’s eyes meet mine as he wraps his lips around my tip, but even as he takes me into his mouth, even as I groan his name, a part of me is somewhere else, still standing in that kitchen, watching a woman’s hands tremble at the sound of my brother’s existence.

“Fuck,” I groan, and my knees threaten to buckle as he slides his hot mouth down my length as he works his own cock with his hand.

I close my eyes and throw my head back as Remy makes quick work of bringing me to the edge. My mind conjures up an image of Paige, and I push all thoughts of her away and focus on the here and now, on Remy.

“Yes, just like that,” I praise.

Remy groans, causing a vibration to run from the tip and straight to my balls. I feel the hot spurts of his release hit my legs as I shoot my load into his mouth and he swallows it down.

“Who said you could cum yet? I wanted to edge you for a while,” I pout when he stands up and smirks at the mess he’s left on my legs, marking me with his scent like a claim we both know I can’t keep.

“That’s exactly why I did it,” he laughs.

“Then next time I’ll edge you twice as long,” I grin.

When it’s over, we walk towards the stream, laughing quietly.

“So what happened with the hot chick?” He asks as we walk naked through the trees.

“I don’t know. I played football with the kid, then we had dinner and she started asking me about my family. When I mentioned I had a twin, she started acting all weird and then said it was time for me to leave,” I shrug.

“Maybe knowing you are a twin puts her off,” Remy offers.

“Why would being a twin put her off me?”

“Lots of reasons. If she is looking for a life partner to settle down and have children with, then the chance of multiples in pregnancy is higher in a twin, and that might scare her. There’s also the worry she might mistake your brother for you one day and embarrass herself.”

I let myself imagine for a moment what a child created by me and Paige might look like, with my eyes and her hair. Then I stop dead in my tracks. I see Jaxon’s eyes in my head. I remember the timing.

“How long ago was it that Ron found Ryder?”

“About six years? Why?”

The answer drops like a stone in my gut. “I think Ryder might be the kid’s father.”

The humour drains from Remy’s face. “Callen…”

“I’ll make him tell me,” I say, my wolf already pacing inside my chest.

Because if I’m right, then Paige’s kid isn’t just her kid. He’s my brother’s… And that changes everything.