The Lost Pack (Paige) novel Chapter 151

Chapter 151

**Paige’s POV **

When I wake up, the world is quiet.

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The faint grey light of early morning seeps through the curtains and spills over the bed. For a second, I can’t remember how I got here. Then it comes back in pieces… the vision, the fear, the sound of Ryder’s voice shouting my name. He must have carried me up here after Jake cleared me.

The room smells like home, wood, soap, and the familiar scents of my mates. I can hear the soft rhythm of breathing around me. Ryder lies beside me, one arm sprawled across my waist even in sleep, his palm heavy and grounding. Callen is curled protectively on my other side, his fingers twined with mine. I can just make out Parker’s shape at the foot of the bed, and Remy’s steady presence by the window,

silhouetted against the pale light.

For a few precious moments, I just breathe it in, the peace, the closeness, the rare stillness that comes after chaos. Then the memory of the vision slides back in, sharp and cold.

The water, the light, the man kneeling by the creek, his hands black with what I think is poison, to maybe

it’s blood? The whisper, echoing so clearly it still feels alive in my bones.

She’s the key.

I don’t know what it means, or who said it. Was it in the vision?… I can’t remember. I feel like someone threw all my memories in a jar and shook it so they’re all jumbled up, and now I’m trying to find which one

fits where.

I shift carefully, trying not to wake anyone, but Ryder’s senses catch the movement. His fingers flex on my

hip, the subtle twitch that always gives him away.

“You’re awake,” he murmurs, voice low and rough with sleep.

“Couldn’t stay asleep,” I admit. “Not after last night.”

He opens his eyes, finding me in the dim light. “You scared me, you know.”

“I’m fine.”

“Passing out isn’t fine, Paige.”

I turn to face him. “Then let’s make it fine. Let’s go see what I saw. If the creek really is what I think it is, we can’t afford to wait.”

He groans softly, dragging a hand through his hair. “You and your timing…”

There’s no anger in his tone, only worry he doesn’t bother to hide.

Callen stirs at the sound, stretching like a cat before blinking awake. “We’re going, aren’t we?”

“Looks that way,” Ryder mutters.

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Remy’s voice drifts from the window. “The sun’s almost up. Good light for tracking”

Parker sits up with a sleepy grunt. “Do I at least have time for coffee before we go charging into

contaminated creeks?”

“If Ronnie hasn’t already finished it all,” Remy sighs.

That gets everyone moving. We dress quickly, and I pull on my thick socks. By the time we make it downstairs, the smell of coffee is already thick in the air.

Ronnie’s sitting at the kitchen island with a cup in his hands, his eyes heavy but alert. Beside him sits Leo, quiet, solid. He’s the kind of man who doesn’t need to say much to take up space.

They both look up when we enter. Ronnie’s gaze lingers on me longer than the others, assessing. “How’s your head?”

“Clear,” I say. “And I need to go to the creek.”

He studies me for a long moment, then nods slowly. “That’s what I figured you’d say.” He takes another sip of coffee. “Jake went back to the healer’s cabin a few hours ago. A pup came in during the night with a

fever, but Poppy’s still here.”

He tilts his head toward the couch, and sure enough, Poppy is curled beneath a blanket, a book still open

on her chest. The sight makes me smile.

The sound of our voices must wake her. She blinks groggily, then sits up, smoothing her hair. “You’re awake,” she says softly, relief softening her voice. “Thank goodness.”

“I am, and we’re heading out.”

Her brow furrows instantly. “So soon?”

Ryder answers before I can. “We can’t risk waiting. Paige is feeling drawn to the place that she saw in her vision, so we shouldn’t ignore her instincts.”

Poppy looks from him to me, worry etching into her face. “At least take extra hands. You don’t know what you’re walking into.”

“We’ll take some enforcers,” Remy says. “They’re already up and prepping.”

She sighs, clearly not happy but understanding the necessity. “Jaxon’s in bed, so I’ll stay here with him, the rest of you go.”

hesitate, not because I don’t trust Poppy, but because the realisation hits me. I’ve been so focused on getting out there, on what needs to be done, that I never even stopped to think about who would stay with Jax. That used to be the first thing on my mind… his safety, his comfort, always before my own.

Now it’s like something’s shifting in me. I don’t know whether that should scare me or reassure me. Maybe it’s a side effect of this new gift pulsing under my skin. Or maybe I’m finally learning to trust the people around me. To believe that I don’t always have to hold everything together on my own for him to be safe.

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Chapter 151

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Poppy must see my hesitation, because she reaches out, squeezing my hand. “He will be safe with me,

Paige.”

I nod, swallowing past the lump in my throat. “I know.”

Ronnie sets his cup down. “Then it’s settled. Callen, Parker, and Leo, run ahead with the enforcers, make sure we aren’t walking into an ambush. The rest of us will follow behind.”

“We’ve had eyes on most of the creek all night, but it doesn’t hurt to be cautious before we take Paige out

there,” Remy nods.

“Understood,” Ryder says, slipping into Alpha mode. “Let’s move.”

“Don’t worry about a thing here. You’ll probably be back before he even wakes up,” Poppy says, her hand resting gently on my shoulder. “He’ll be fine.”

I give her a grateful smile and pull her into a brief hug before following the others out the door.

The morning air is cold and clean, waking us all up fully. Mist curls low across the grass in the dawn light. The forest beyond looks half–asleep, shadows long and soft, but I can feel the tension thrumming beneath

1. it. The quiet isn’t peace; it’s waiting.

Callen and Parker jog ahead, and we fall into formation without needing to speak. Ryder at the front, Ronnie and I in the middle, Remy bringing up the rear. Our boots barely make a sound against the damp

earth.

“Tell me again,” Ryder says after a while, his tone careful. “Everything you saw.”

“The creek,” I start, focusing on the memory. “It was clear, but the light was coming from underneath. It wasn’t a reflection, it was alive somehow, and someone was there, kneeling by the bank. I couldn’t see his face, but his hands… they were black. Coated in something.”

“Poison?” Remy asks quietly.

“Maybe I’ll understand more when we get there,” I shrug.

The trees thin as we reach the creek. The air here feels heavier somehow, haunted by the memory of what happened before, even though the healers said the water’s safe now. The current moves sluggishly; it looks more like chocolate milk than water, as if someone disturbed it recently and mixed all the sediment

from the bottom.

“Now what?” Parker asks, and all eyes turn to me.

Ronnie steps closer to me. “Paige, does this feel like the place you saw in the vision?”

I scan the creek, trying to match the scene in front of me with the fragments that still flicker behind my eyes. The trees here are close together, some with their branches dipping low enough to touch the water, but something about the angle feels wrong. In the vision, there was more light, and the bend of the creek was sharper, the sound of the current faster.

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I shake my head slowly. “No… it’s close, but not quite.”

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Ronnie studies me for a moment, his expression unreadable. “Then don’t think, just feel. Follow your instincts wherever they take you.”

I swallow, unsure what he expects me to find, but the pull in my chest is undeniable. It’s subtle at first, like a faint heartbeat out of sync with my own. I take a few steps upstream; the others falling into quiet formation behind me.

Somewhere beneath the rush of water, I hear it… a low vibration, too soft to be sound, more like a rhythm thrumming through the ground. It travels up my legs, into my spine, syncing with my pulse until I can’t tell where I end and the creek begins. Warmth blooms under my skin, chasing the chill of the morning.

After maybe one minute of walking, the path opens slightly. A fallen tree cuts across the water, covered with moss. The light filters through the trees brighter here. It’s pale and gold, scattering across the surface of the creek, and the moment I see it, something inside me settles.

“This is it,” I whisper, the certainty hitting me so hard it almost knocks the air from my lungs. “This is where it happened.”

Ronnie nods once, his gaze scanning the bank. “Then we start here.”

Everyone falls silent, so silent I hold my breath. Ryder’s jaw is set, his eyes scanning the tree line like he’s daring the forest to challenge him. Callen stands close enough that his shoulder brushes mine, silent

reassurance I didn’t realise I needed until I lean into it.

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