The Lost Pack (Paige) novel Chapter 150

** Ryder’s POV **

The moment Paige’s eyes roll back, the world goes sideways.

Her body goes limp and heavy in my arms. For a heartbeat, everything inside me stops. Then the panic slams in all at once.

“Paige!” I shout, shaking her gently. Her head lolls against my shoulder, her hair spilling over my arm. The faint glow under her skin flickers once and fades.

Parker’s across the room in a second, grabbing her hand and trying to press his trembling fingers to her wrist. Remy swears under his breath. Callen’s wolf growls low and dangerous, too close to the surface. The sound vibrates through the room, primal and helpless.

Ronnie’s voice cuts through the noise, calm but sharp. “Lay her flat. Ryder, on the floor. Now.”

I obey without thinking, lowering her onto the rug at the bottom of the stairs. My hands won’t stop shaking. It’s ridiculous; I’ve carried wolves torn apart in battle. I was poisoned, watched my brother nearly die, but seeing her so still unravels every bit of control I have.

Ronnie kneels beside her, checking her pulse. “Still strong. That’s good.” He presses two fingers to her temple, then the hollow at her throat. “Breathing’s shallow, though. She’s drained. That vision pulled too much energy too fast.”

Parker crouches beside me. “Drained? Like… physically, or…?”

“Spiritually. Energetically. However you want to label it.” Ronnie’s tone stays even, but his eyes flicker with worry. “Her power’s new and reactive. It probably overloaded. Like a live wire trying to ground itself.”

Callen runs a hand through his hair, pacing a tight line behind us. “She said she saw the creek. Hunters. Light in the water. Could that be real?”

“I’d bet my life it is,” Ronnie says grimly. “She’s a conduit, not a dreamer. If she saw it, it’s happening… or about to.”

A soft whimper breaks through the tension. Jaxon stands in the doorway, eyes wide, clutching a handful of Lego bricks to his chest. His little voice wobbles. “Mummy?”

The word slices through me.

I get to my feet and cross to him fast, crouching low so we’re eye to eye. “Hey, hey… she’s okay, buddy.” My voice cracks halfway through the sentence. “She’s just… tired, that’s all.

She’ll wake up soon.”

Jaxon shakes his head, tears welling. “She’s not moving.”

Behind me, Ronnie says quietly, “Let him come closer. He’ll help.”

I hesitate. “He shouldn’t see her like this.”

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“He needs to,” Ronnie insists. “There’s no stronger connection than between a mother and child, he’s her anchor.”

I nod reluctantly and lift Jaxon into my arms. He clings to me, small fists tight in my shirt, as I carry him back to the rug. Something in his expression shifts.

He wriggles out of my arms, and kneels, placing his tiny hand over hers. “Wake up, Mummy,” he whispers, and damned if something doesn’t happen.

A faint shimmer passes between them, barely visible, like the blur of heat rising from tarmac on a hot summer day. Paige’s chest rises a little more; her lips twitch. Ronnie’s eyes narrow, watching closely.

“That’s it,” he murmurs. “She’s balancing through him. The love between them grounding her.”

My stomach twists. “Is that safe?”

“Safer than what was happening a minute ago,” he says. “Don’t move him. In fact, all of you touch her.”

I don’t hesitate, cupping her cheek with my hand. The air feels heavy again, charged. I can feel the faint hum under her skin returning, steadier now, not wild like before.

Callen kneels beside me, brushing the hair from her face, his voice low. “She’s stabilising.”

Remy exhales, tension leaking from his shoulders as he places a hand over her stomach. Thank the goddess.”

”

Parker crouches beside him, resting a hand on her shoulder. “Come on, Paige, let us help you.

〃

Ronnie doesn’t look relieved yet. He’s watching Paige’s face with an expression that’s half awe, half dread. “She’s stronger than I thought. But it’s not just her anymore.”

“What do you mean?” I ask.

He glances at me, then at Jaxon. “Her energy is bonding outward, to him, to you all. That’s what makes it powerful, but it also makes it volatile. It’s growing so fast that I suspect if one of you is hurt, it’ll spike through her again. Maybe worse.”

Parker mutters a curse. “So she’s… tied to all of us.”

Ronnie nods. “That’s what bonds do when they form fast and deep. They connect everything

strength, pain, emotion. It’s why she feels what you feel. It’s only going to grow stronger.”

No one speaks for a moment. The only sound is the slow, steady rhythm of her breathing. It’s shallow, but it’s there.

Jax whispers softly, telling her a story. I sit back slightly, keeping one hand on her cheek, and just… watch her. The glow that flickered beneath her skin before is faint now, tiny sparkles of silver and gold. If you didn’t know to look, you’d miss it, thin veins of light threading along her throat and the inside of her wrist, fading in and out like they’re breathing with her. It’s beautiful, the kind of beauty that sneaks up on you, quiet and devastating.

In the low light, she looks almost unreal, her long lashes resting against her cheeks, the faint shimmer dancing across her veins. There’s something fragile about her in this stillness, but it’s not weakness. It’s like looking at lightning trapped in a bottle, delicate, but capable of burning everything it touches.

I catch myself smiling. Jax and I watched a movie yesterday while he was feeling ill, one of those old ones with fairies and pirates. He’d fallen asleep halfway through, but I’d stayed up watching it just to see how it ended. There was a scene where the fairy lit up the dark, fierce and stubborn and full of light. Looking at Paige now, I can’t help but think of that. My own damn Tinker Bell, too brave for her own good, always glowing when she shouldn’t.

Callen’s voice pulls me back. “What now?” he asks Ronnie.

Ronnie runs a hand down his face, tired. “We hold the line. Whatever she saw at the creek, we treat it as real until proven otherwise.”

Remy nods. “I’ll pull a few enforcers from the southern patrol and have them set up near the creek. They can start rigging the gentle snares and net drops.”

“Make sure they monitor the area,” Ronnie warns. “I don’t want some poor human kid wandering too close and ending up trussed like a rabbit.”

Remy smirks faintly. “We’ll set up a few trail cams to keep an eye on it. The traps should slow them down enough to give us a chance to catch them.”

“Good.”

Callen glances at me. “Rye?”

I blink, pulling myself back from where my thumb’s been tracing small circles on Paige’s hand. “Yeah. I’m going to contact Jake and tell him to bring Poppy. I want her checked

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properly, and Poppy might be able to sense something we can’t.”

Callen nods once. “Smart.”

I close my eyes and open the mind–link, the familiar hum sliding into place. “Jake?”

His voice answers almost immediately, sharp and alert. “Alpha? Everything alright?”

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“Not exactly. Paige had… a vision and passed out. Ronnie’s with us. He says she’s stable, but I want her checked. Bring Poppy.”

There’s a pause, then Jake’s tone turns serious. “On our way. Ten minutes tops.”

I end the link and look back at Ronnie. “Jake and Poppy are coming.”

He nods approval. “Good. She’ll need rest after they look her over. Whatever energy she used tapped her completely.”

Callen hums as he watches Paige. “She’s something else, isn’t she?”

I let out a breath. “Yeah. She really is.”

The hum under her skin shimmers again, faint sparks dancing through the veins at her wrist. The light moves like water, fluid and alive. For a second I think I see shapes in it, shifting patterns, almost like runes, but they’re gone before I can focus.

Ronnie’s watching too, eyes narrowed. “That light, it’s not random. It’s responding to something.”

“What do you mean?”

He gestures vaguely, as if trying to find the right words. “It reacts to proximity, to emotion. When you touched her just now, it flared. When Jaxon moved, it steadied. It’s like… it recognises you all.”

“She’s never going to be able to hide this, is she?” Callen murmurs.

“Probably not,” Ronnie says. “But she’ll learn to control when it shows. That’s what the training’s for.”

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