** Ryder’s POV **
I feel it before I understand it.
It’s not a surge or the blow I was expecting. Not the sharp crack of power I’ve learned to brace for whenever Paige’s gifts shift. It’s a settling. It’s like the final jigsaw piece fitting in to complete the picture.
I stop mid-step in the hallway of the healers cabin, my breath catching hard enough that Parker turns toward me instantly.
“You felt that,” he breathes.
It’s not a question. My wolf has gone unnervingly still inside me. Not alert or aggressive, just still.
The bond hums low and deep, no longer restless, no longer searching. The constant pressure that’s lived at the edge of my awareness since the field goes quiet, smooths out, and for the first time since Paige awakened, everything feels… balanced… complete.
Callen.
P
