Jane’s POVI put my hand over her arm and leant in close, my eyes darting around the grounds to make sure we weren’t being overheard. “What did you hear?”She shook her head; she too was looking around, and the tension swelling around us made the tiny hairs on my forearms stand up. The warm, early autumn air suddenly turned chilled. “Let’s find somewhere we won’t be overheard,” she whispered.I nodded, then pursed my lips as I thought through our options. “We can’t go back to my rooms. The boys are there, and,” my face flamed red, “it’s prone to interruptions.”“We could go back to mine?” she suggested. “S is working, and it’s so secluded by the woods that, now the excitement of us becoming mates has died down, we don’t get many visitors.” She eyed my blush, having only just noticed it. “Are you okay, girl?”That only made it grow darker. I couldn't get thoughts of Hunter out of my head. I could still feel his electric touch, the heat of his body pressing against mine...I forced them

Hunter’s POV‘You really think this is going to work?’ I asked Reg.He nodded firmly. ‘Trust me.’Rolling my eyes at him, I thought to myself that I’d be wiser to trust Pinocchio when his nose was elongated. But I did it anyway. I didn’t have much choice.If this was what I needed to do to win Jane back, then I would do it. I lifted my hand and knocked on the door, calling out the boys’ fake names for good measure.“I’m here for Ramil and Cargan Bree.”If I knew Jane as well as I thought I did, then I knew she’d heard my knock and was, most likely, already up and stood waiting, with her sons already ready to go. She was the most prepared woman I’d ever met; that was why I liked to throw curveballs her way. Seeing how she deflected them was always interesting.Or at least it had been, until she’d put a stop to seeing me altogether. That defensive tactic hadn’t been my favourite.This was my way back in. It had to be.She’d already slipped up yesterday. I couldn’t stop thinking about it

Jane’s POVHunter marched straight into my bedroom and grabbed my shoulders. He yanked me to him; his nostrils were flared and his eyes were wide.Dread swept through me barely a second before he spoke.“Jane, are they my kids?”My world careened off its axis. I was quick to hide my shock and quick to recover. Instead of frowning – or gasping – I arched an eyebrow at him. “Who are you talking about? Actually, what are you talking about?”His whole body shook. “Don’t – don’t do that. I want the truth, Jane. Tell me the truth.”I lifted my chin. “I don’t know what you mean.”“Yes,” he snarled, gripping me even tighter, “you do. Are they my kids?” he asked again.How on earth had he worked it out? I trusted my boys completely; they wouldn’t have told him. We’d all been so careful to keep the secret. He had no reason to think Ares and Owen were anything to do with him.What had happened during their first training session?Before I could answer, the two of them rushed in. “Alpha Hunter,

Jane’s POVI stood in my bedroom, my hands braced on the windowsill, until I’d managed to halfway process everything that had just happened.Then I thought the words, ‘Hunter knows Ares and Owen are his sons,’ and I started to spiral all over again.I sank down until I hit the floor, my back sliding down the wall. I buried my head in my hands and took some deep breaths. I didn’t even have Ina to talk to anymore, not in the same way; without her, my worries consumed me.Distantly, I was aware that I was supposed to be at work. I couldn’t let myself fall apart now. Wasn’t that just the story of my life?After checking on Ares and Owen and getting them off to pack school, I drifted over to the hospital in a daze. My mind stopped forming full sentences at some point and just provided me with a series of images, mostly Hunter’s facial expression shifting, almost infinitesimally, just enough that I could feel his hurt and anger reverberating through me.It made me hate him all the more. Or

Jane’s POVColin knotted his hands together in front of him and swayed back on his heels. His brow was creased and his bottom lip was red and sore from being bitten.I bit back a sigh. “What do you want to talk to me about?” “It’s important,” he insisted.“I gathered that.” I gestured for him to follow me over to the sofa. “Come on. I don’t think I can deal with whatever this is standing up.”“Probably a good idea,” he muttered. I shook my head slightly before dropping down heavily onto the couch.“Well, go on then. Shoot.” Colin picked at his cuticles. “I’m sorry for saying it was a mistake.”It took me a moment to realise what he meant. “Oh – that? It’s fine, Colin. Honestly, it was.”He dropped his gaze and pulled his arms tight around himself. “Oh,” he whispered.I could feel myself getting impatient. “Do you have something important to tell me or not?”“I do!” he blurted, looking up so fast his red hair was flung back from his freckled forehead. “I had to say it was a mistake b