Chapter 205

** Parker’s POV ** The house is quiet when I get back from patrol. Too quiet. I pull on some shorts from the basket we keep stocked by the door and pause. The air smells different. Warm and charged. Ryder catches my eye from the kitchen table, where he’s nursing his coffee like it committed a crime. His hair is a mess, and his shirt is inside out. Ryder never wears anything inside out. He had to come back early from patrol last night; the pull of Paige had got too much for him. So intense that he was more of a hindrance out there than a help. I know how it feels; the same had happened to me when she had marked him. Being marked by her opens up the bond in a way that’s beautiful, but overwhelming at the same time. Callen follows me in, slumping into the chair opposite Rye. “He’s alive,” Ryder mutters before we can ask. “Is that what we’re calling it?” I laugh. “I think he’s going to be feeling more than alive today.” Callen smirks. “I bet Paige lit him up like a damn sunrise.” Ryder gru