Chapter 213

Chapter 213

Chapter 213

**Paige’s POV **

Morning comes too fast and slow at once. I don’t think I ever actually fell asleep, not fully. I drifted, floated, hovered somewhere between exhaustion and adrenaline. Between fear and hope. Between the things I lost… and the things I might be gaining.

A child, a possibility.

My hands rest over my stomach without me realising it again. The warmth there answers me with a soft flutter that steals my breath. It’s not a kick or a movement. Just… awareness. As if something inside me is whispering back. ‘I’m here.’ The bed creaks as Ryder shifts behind me, and a moment later his arm comes around my waist, pulling me into the heat of

his chest.