** Callen’s POV **

Trying to do the sports session with the pups is difficult today. Not because the kids are being difficult, but because I can’t get my mind off the absolute goddess of a woman I’d met on the way here.

Her auburn hair had hung in loose curls down her back and I envisioned myself wrapping it around my hand and pulling her head back as I rut into her from behind. Her crystal-blue eyes had mesmerised me and I wanted to see them staring up at me whilst she kneels in front of me and sucks on my c*ck.

What a shame she is human and imagining doing all that to her is as far as I can go. As joint Alpha of our little ragtag pack, I have to lead by example, and interspecies dating is something we have forbidden.

I am curious about her situation. She said she had recently separated from her husband, and the kid said he didn’t know his father, that his father was missing. Which is really sh*tty, because that boy is 100% a wolf shifter, and I suspect his mother has no idea. It’s either a tremendous stroke of luck or fate that they are here because, without a pack to guide him, that pup would have been in some serious trouble.

Whoever fathered Jaxon and bailed, leaving him to be raised by a human and without a pack needs shooting. If they hadn’t come here and the boy shifted, he could have hurt his mother and exposed our kind to the humans or drawn the attention of the hunters.

After my session with the kids, I mind link with my twin brother and our Betas, who also happen to be twins, and tell them we need to meet urgently.

“Where do you want to meet?” Remy, one of the twin Betas, responds.

“At home, I’m headed there now,” I say as I jog through the woods.

I arrive at our cabin to find Ryder, Remy and Parker waiting for me on the front porch. We all live here together. When we had been building our small village for our pack in the woods, we had shared accommodation. When we got around to building our cabins, we decided we liked each other’s company and decided to build one big cabin to house us all rather than two separate ones.

We have no plans to move into our own cabins unless we find our mates. Twins usually share a fated mate, so we would most likely only need to build one more cabin if we find our mates.

“Is beer appropriate for this urgent talk? Or do we need to fight someone?” Parker asks.

“Beer is always appropriate,” I grin.

Ryder and Remy raise a finger, indicating they want a beer too, and Parker heads inside.

“Everything good at the school?” Remy asks as I take a seat on the wooden armchair beside Ryder.

“Yeah, the pups did great. Regina said they’re really learning how to fit in with the other kids.” I nod.

Parker returns with four bottles of beer and hands each of us one before sitting beside Remy on the bench. “So what is so urgent that you had to pull us from work?” he asks.

“There’s a new woman in town,” I say, wondering how exactly to approach this because, at just the mention of her, my mind has gone straight into the gutter.

“Wow, what a shocker. I can’t believe a woman has moved into a new town. That’s so unusual,” Remy snorts, and I scowl at him. I’ll make him pay for that sarcasm later.

“Shut up, smart ass, I’ve not finished,” I huff. “She has a kid, and he’s one of us.”

“So we have an unknown she-wolf in our territory, and she hasn’t asked permission?” Ryder growls. His wolf’s territorial nature comes through in his voice.

“No, that’s the thing. She’s human, and I don’t think she has any idea what her son is.”

“Shit. Where is the kid’s father?” Parker asks.

“They don’t know. The pup said he is missing, but I suspect he ran out on her, or the hunters got him.”

“I hope for his sake the hunters got him because if I find out who the piece of sh*t is that got a human pregnant and then left her to raise a shifter pup alone, I’ll kill him,” Ryder growls even louder this time.

“Amen to that,” I say, raising my bottle, and the Beta twins nod.

I take a long swig of my bottle of beer, letting the cool, bitter liquid fizz down my throat whilst we all process our murderous thoughts.

“So now we have to explain to her what her son is without scaring her,” Parker sighs.

“We will need to be careful. If we don’t gain her trust first, she may take the kid and run,” Remy says.

“Yeah, and that kid needs us. You should have seen him. He hugged me as soon as he saw me. It was like he was desperate for that pack connection. He needs to be with a pack.”

“You two know better than anyone what it’s like to be raised without a pack and with no idea what you are. We can’t let that kid go through what you two did,” Parker says.

“We won’t.” Ryder shakes his head. “Callen, do you think you can get close to the mum? Try to gain her trust before introducing her to us. Only once she trusts us all will we tell her the truth about us and her son.”

“I think I can do that. I certainly don’t mind spending time with her. She is so damn hot,” I say with a pained groan.

Why couldn’t she be a shifter, too? Life is unfair sometimes.

“For fuck's sake, Callen. Make sure you keep your damn dick in your pants. Do you hear me? Do not f*ck her,” Ryder growls.

“I know, I won’t, but I can’t promise not to imagine doing it,” I grin.

“You’re such a perv,” Remy laughs.

“Just wait until you see her, then you’ll understand. She has this hot little body that’s just screaming to be ravished, and her eyes, oh goddess, I could stare into them forever,” I hum as I close my eyes and picture the woman of my dreams again.

“Go take a damn shower and then get to work. Maybe take her some flowers to welcome her to the town. Focus on the kid. Women love men who love their kids,” Ryder says.

“Since when are you an expert on women? As far as I know, you’ve never actually dated one, especially not one with kids,” I snort.

Ryder gets that far-away look in his eye again that I’ve seen him do whenever we bring up dating or fated mates. I down the rest of my beer and then get up to take my shower. There’s no point trying to talk to him when he goes to this place in his mind. I wish he would tell me about it. We might not have grown up together, but we shared a womb, and now we share a house and a pack. One day, he might trust me enough to talk about whatever happened.

“Do you know where she lives?” Parker asks as I pull open the door to our cabin.

“I have a pretty good idea. She doesn’t know anyone here, so she must have her own place, and there was only one house available as far as I know.”

“The place on Alpine?” he asks.

“That’s the one,” I nod.

“I think I saw her, actually. Yesterday, while running, I saw two women through the window. I thought they were just viewing the place, though,” Remy says.

“And you didn’t think to mention anything? Who is the second female?” Parker asks.

“I didn’t know it was important. They could have been the estate agents for all I know,” Remy shrugs.

“The second one will be her sister. She mentioned she attends the university in the next town over,” I explain, glancing at my brother, who is still lost in his own thoughts.

With a sigh, I head inside to shower and imagine all the things I’d like to do to the little human that has managed to put a spell on me. I have a feeling she has just earned her starring role in all my future fantasies.

** Paige’s POV **

The school was fantastic, and all the staff were very welcoming. The head teacher, who prefers to be called Regina rather than Mrs Green, didn’t seem at all phased when I explained Jaxon’s history at his previous school.

By the time the tour was over, Jax had already made friends with a few of the kids, and he hadn’t wanted to leave. Regina had agreed for him to start with half days tomorrow before he starts full-time next week.

The walk back through town had been nice. We had stopped for ice cream at a small parlour. Then we had picked up some art supplies from a craft shop, so Jaxon can sit in the garden and paint, whilst I call the utility companies to get everything set up.

I’m still on hold with the internet company when there’s a knock at the door. I glance at Jax, who is still sitting in the back garden painting, and move to answer the door. Poppy hadn’t said she was visiting today, and we don’t know anyone here yet, so I’m tempted to ignore it, but curiosity gets the better of me and I open the door.

My heart seizes for a second when Ryder’s face stares back at me with a grin and my eyes shift to his hand, checking for the birthmark.

“Hey, sorry to call unannounced, but I was passing and thought maybe Jaxon wanted to kick a ball around,” Callen says with a ball tucked under his arm.

Before I can even respond, he pulls a small card from his pocket and hands it to me.

My number,” he says casually. “In case he ever wants a rematch, or if you need anything while you’re settling in.” 

I take it, tucking it into my back pocket.

He has changed his clothes since I saw him a few hours ago. Swapping out his black shorts and T-shirt for a baby blue T-shirt that makes his eyes look even more blue.

“Um… he’s actually busy at the moment,” I say, just as Jaxon runs in, holding up his painting and proudly declaring he’s finished.

“Callen!” Jax shouts excitedly when he spots him at the door. He runs towards him, tripping over his unfastened shoelace and landing with a heavy thud on the wooden floor against the wall.

“I’m okay,” Jax declares before I have a chance to ask him.

“Slow down, buddy, there’s no need to rush,” Callen says.

I help Jaxon to his feet and check him over. He doesn’t seem injured, but his painting is completely destroyed, as well as the once immaculate wall.

Blue, red and yellow paint is smeared down the wall like a crude attempt at a rainbow on the magnolia wall.

“Sh*t,” I curse under my breath and rush to the kitchen for a cloth. This is not the first impression I want to give to the landlord when he visits tomorrow.

“I’m sorry, mummy,” Jaxon says with tear-filled eyes as he looks at the mess on the wall.

“It’s okay, baby, it was an accident,” I reassure whilst I wipe the paint from the wall, which only seems to make it worse as I smear it further.

“Here, let me help. It was my fault for turning up unannounced,” Callen says, stepping into the house and holding out a hand for the cloth.

I’m about to protest when the phone tucked under my ear finally connects to an agent. I nod and hand the cloth to Callen to take the call. If I didn’t need the internet for work, I’d have hung up and called back tomorrow, but their call centre closes soon, and I need to get connected as soon as possible to meet the manuscript deadline.

I go through all my details and haggle a good deal on a TV and broadband package as I watch Callen and Jaxon clean the wall. Then they go out in the back garden to kick the football around whilst I watch them through the window.

When I end the call, I stay at the window watching Jaxon play. He looks so happy and thoroughly enjoying playing football. Greg never had time to play with him this way. He was always too tired or too busy, and I never was good at sports. My dad always said I had two left feet.

As I watch them, I can’t stop my mind from imagining another life. If Ryder hadn’t disappeared on me, and we lived together as a family for the last six years. Would this be how our life would have looked? Jax and Ryder out in the garden playing ball games whilst I prepare dinner? I catch myself smiling at the imagined life, and then I sigh.

I need to ask Callen if he has any siblings. I think that is the best way to see if he knows about Ryder, because no one can convince me they are not twins. I can’t ask in front of Jaxon, though. If Callen reveals he is Ryder’s brother and something awful happened or Ryder doesn’t want to meet Jax, then I’ll just be putting my son through unnecessary hurt.

I step out the back door, and Callen grins at me. “I think you have a future football star in the making here.”

“I scored a goal!” Jax says, throwing his hand up in the air.

“I know, I saw it. Well done Jax, it was a great goal,” I smile.

“Can Callen stay for dinner?” Jaxon asks, his big blue eyes full of hope.

“I’m sure Callen already has plans.”

“I don’t,” Callen shrugs.

“Great,” I force a smile, not keen on having him over for dinner when we only met him a few hours ago.

“How about I order a takeout? There’s a great Italian that does delivery and their lasagne is to die for,” Callen says with a groan.

“I like lasagne,” Jaxon nods.

“Three portions of lasagne, then?” Callen asks, looking at me.

“Sure, and thank you for helping with the wall and Jaxon.”

“It’s no problem.”

Although I didn’t want him to stay, I can see how much Jaxon enjoys having him here, and it takes his mind off Greg. Plus, I might find some time to ask him some questions when Jax is out of earshot.

Callen was right. The lasagne was amazing, and I had to fight the urge to groan like he had when it seemed to melt in my mouth. After dinner, I send Jaxon upstairs to wash and change into his pyjamas whilst we clear the table.

“You are good with kids. Do you have a lot of little ones in your family?” I ask, trying not to sound like I’m interrogating him.

“No, not in my family, but there are several kids in my... friend group.” He paused, making me suspect he’d rather have used different words.

“So, do you have a lot of family here in town?”

“Not really. I grew up in foster care and only recently found out I have a brother,” he says as we carry the empty plates to the sink.

A cold ripple slides down my spine. Jaxon’s eyes. Jaxon’s smile. Ryder’s face. It all collapses together so fast my brain can’t keep up. My heart pounds in my chest and my breath catches in my throat. I almost drop the plates into the sink as my hands tremble.

“An older brother, or younger?” I ask, my voice coming out higher-pitched than I’d like.

“I’m not actually sure. We are twins, and we don’t know which one of us was born first, but I think I’m the older one,” he laughs.

The world tilts, and for a second, I’m back in that hospital room, holding a newborn with Ryder’s eyes and no way to reach the man who left me to raise him alone.

“And he lives here in town?”

“Yes, just on the outskirts,” he says.

My head suddenly feels funny, and I grip the countertop to steady myself. I was right. He is Ryder’s twin, and Ryder is alive and right here, in the town I have just moved to. Is this fate or a cosmic coincidence?

I have no idea what to say next. Do I tell him his twin is Jaxon’s father? Do I demand he take me to him or call him and tell him to come here? How do I approach this and keep my son safe?

If he’s Ryder’s twin… then Ryder is close. Too close. And I can’t let anyone, especially a stranger with his face, see me unravel.

** Callen’s POV **

This woman is so hot, but she is also odd, or maybe unwell? Is it rude to ask?

She had started asking me questions about my family and then started acting strange. I hadn’t missed the slight tremor in her hands, or the way she had gripped the countertop as if it was the only thing keeping her upright.

She had gone as pale as a ghost and her voice had gone a few octaves higher. Maybe she just had period cramps or something, which would explain her practically pushing me out of the door part way through our conversation.

I had thought everything was going well right up until that moment. She hadn’t even let me say goodbye to Jaxon.

I replay the whole evening and my every interaction with her over and over in my head as I walk back home. What did I do to upset her? What am I missing?

“Where are you?” I ask Remy in the mind link.

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

“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 about kicked me out for no reason,” I tell him with a huff as I kick a rock on the forest ground.

The rejection hits harder than it should. Something about her… her panic, her scent, her warmth, got under my skin. My wolf hates the distance between us already.

“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 says, knowing damn well that will get me riled up.

“Oh, you're on, your ass is mine, Beta boy,” I say as I pull off my shirt and toss it to the ground.

I take a quick glance around to make sure no one is nearby, and then I kick off my shoes and drop my pants before picking up all my belongings and stashing them in a tree. I’ll come back for them later when I’ve taught Remy a lesson for all the sass he has given me today.

I shift into my wolf, inhaling deeply. I’ve kept him locked up too long, and tonight he’s agitated, restless… confused. He keeps flashing back to Paige’s face when she looked at me like I’d just broken her heart.

The forest seems to breathe with me, the rapidly cooling air filling my lungs as I run. My paws pound the earth in a rhythm that is like music to my ears. There is nothing more freeing than this. The setting sun casts long shadows that flicker as I weave between the trees.

My feet move faster when I pick up a hint of Remy’s scent. It lingers, as if he was 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, 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 those amber eyes, daring me.

“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 hair as he starts to shift beneath me.

A moment later, he’s human too. His cheeks are slightly red from the cold and the run. His chest rises and falls rapidly beneath mine.

“You’re a cheater,” he smirks.

“No, I’m a wolf, and I don’t cheat,” I say, leaning down until our noses nearly touch. “I hunt.”

I need the distraction. I need something else to fill my head, anything other than the way Paige’s voice cracked when she asked about my family. I kiss him, fast and rough at first, as the last sparks of adrenaline from the chase fuel me. But then I soften it for a moment, our lips slowing, mouths learning each other all over again. It’s been too long since we kissed this way.

Remy and I have an understanding, and this kiss pushes the boundaries of the rules we set for ourselves.

When I first arrived here in Cinderwood, Remy was 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 my lips from his and look down at him. “What was it you said about getting my feelings hurt?”

“I can’t remember,” he breathes, his voice low and husky.

“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 I 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 c*ck 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.

“F*ck,” I groan, and my knees threaten to buckle as he slides his hot mouth down my length as he works his own c*ck 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.

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

“Now that is cheating. Next time I’ll edge you twice as long,” I grin.

We walk towards the stream that runs through our land. I need to wash his scent from my legs before we go home, otherwise our brothers might get suspicious.

“So what happened with the hot chick?” Remy 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 with a twin parent. 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.

“How long ago was it that Ron found Ryder, exactly?” I ask, my heart racing as I piece the puzzle together.

“It must have been six years ago, at least. Why?”

“I am so f*cking stupid. I think Ryder might be the kid’s father,” I admit, realising how crazy it sounds now that I’m saying the words out loud.

The timeline, the age, the way Paige looked at me like she already knew me. It all snaps painfully into place.

“How can he be? Even if it was a possibility that he hooked up with this woman, you look so much alike that she would have recognised you as him.”

“You’re right,” I sigh, but I don’t fully believe it. I need to find out more, starting with a heart-to-heart with my brother.