Chapter 223

** Paige’s POV ** The forest doesn’t explode into chaos. That’s the strangest part. The wind doesn’t rise. The hunters don’t burst through the trees, and the shots don’t come, but they will. It’s just a matter of time. Everything is silent, too silent as we wait for something, anything to happen. I stay on the porch, wrapped in the blanket Parker had draped over my shoulders earlier. All four of my mates stay at my side, their presence a constant weight, not pressing or crowding… just there. The Twiceborn melt into positions that feel less like defence and more like inevitability. The land hums with alertness beneath my bare feet, and I close my eyes, breathing slowly, carefully, keeping my awareness tight instead of letting it surge outward the way it wants to. I could reach so much farther now. I know that. The temptation is constant, a quiet pull behind my ribs, urging me to check, to know, to make sure everything and everyone is where they should be. Especially them. Especially him