The Lost Pack (Paige) novel Chapter 153

Chapter 153

**Callen’s POV **

The walk back from the creek is quieter than it should be.

Even the forest feels quiet. Birds are still singing somewhere above, and the wind rustles through the trees, but it’s all background noise. The real silence is with us. Paige hasn’t said a word since Ronnie’s last comment, and honestly, none of us have.

She walks ahead of me, just behind Ryder, her shoulders squared, but her head slightly lowered, like she’s holding something heavy inside. Every now and then, a flicker of light catches on her skin, maybe sunlight through the trees, maybe something else. I can’t tell

anymore.

I keep close. Not hovering, exactly, but near enough that if she stumbles or that strange warmth in her chest turns into something worse, I can reach her before she hits the ground. My wolf’s on edge, pacing restlessly just under my skin.

She’s fine, I tell him, but even I don’t sound convinced.

Ryder glances back once, checking her the same way I am, before turning forward again. Remy brings up the rear, quiet as always, but the tension in his shoulders is impossible to miss. Parker walks beside her. His fingers keep twitching as if he wants to reach for her hand, but we can all sense she needs a little space right now.

No one knows what to say. Not yet.

We’ve seen strange things before, power flares, visions, even uncontrolled healing. But this? Paige touched the creek and cleansed it. The water was glowing like sunlight and moonlight tangled together, and when it faded, everything felt… cleaner. Lighter.

I’ve seen a lot in my life. I’ve never seen anything like that.

I reach out through the mind–link, brushing against Ronnie’s thoughts.

“You want to tell me what that was?” I ask him.

There’s a pause before his voice comes back, tight with hesitation. “I wish I could.”

“You always have an answer.”

“Not this time.” I can feel him sigh through the link. “What she did… it’s beyond anything I’ve ever heard of. I can’t explain it with what I know about Moon Children.”

“So what are you saying?”

He hesitates again, and I can feel the weight of the words forming before he says them. “I’m saying I’m positive she’s something else.”

The words hit harder than I expected, and I glance Instinctively toward Paige. She’s walking in silence beside Parker, head tilted just slightly, like she’s listening to something I can’t hear.

“Other how?” I ask.

“Her gifts have always aligned with Moon Child traits… empathy, healing, intuitive sight. But this… dual light, I’ve never heard of it. I saw it yesterday, and I brushed it off as just not explained well in the texts I’ve found, but what she did today… That’s not lunar. It’s something older. Brighter. Maybe she has a dual heritage, but I’m not sure what.”

Dual heritage. I chew on the phrase. It makes sense in a way; Paige has always been more than one thing. More than she realises. Fierce and gentle. Light and solid. Human and something else that even she can’t name.

But the thought of her being ‘other‘ doesn’t scare me. It doesn’t change anything.

“Does Ryder know what you’re thinking?” I ask.

“Not yet. I’ll tell him when I have proof. Right now, I just have theories, and theories won’t protect her.”

“Nothing ever stops us from protecting her,” I say, letting the certainty creep into my tone.

Ronnie’s answer is quiet. “I know.”

The link fades as he withdraws, but his unease lingers in my head like static.

I move up to walk on her other side, creating a complete shield around her. Paige turns her face to look at me and trips slightly over a root. I’m there in an instant, my hand catching her elbow before she can steady herself.

“Careful,” I murmur.

She gives me a small, distracted smile. “Thanks.”

Her fingers linger against mine for a heartbeat longer than necessary. They’re warm, not just the normal warm, but alive with something other, almost pulsing with that same energy she pulled from the creek. I can feel it thrumming through her like a second heartbeat.

“Are you okay?” I ask softly.

She nods, though her voice comes out quieter than usual. “Yeah. Just… tired, I think.”

TAPORIS

Ryder glances over his shoulder again, but I shake my head, silently telling him she’s fine. Still, I don’t let go of her arm.

We walk on. The path curves, the trees open up, and the cabin comes back into view. The sight should bring relief, but all I can feel is this low hum of worry that won’t quit.

Paige doesn’t look back once.

When we reach the clearing, Ryder calls to the enforcers to arrange a new posting for them, and Remy joins to speak with them. Parker heads towards the cabin to make fresh coffee, and Ronnie follows him, already digging through his satchel for the sample vials. Paige stands still in the centre of the garden, staring down at her hands as though she still expects them to glow.

Ryder goes to her first. I hang back, giving them space, but my focus doesn’t leave her. His hand cups the back of her neck, his voice low. I don’t listen to the words, not because I can’t, but because his tone is private, and I respect that, but I can feel the bond between them

settle.

I let out a slow breath and drag a hand through my hair. My wolf finally stops pacing, though he’s still watching her through my eyes.

She’s different. Whatever happened at that creek, it changed something. Maybe not visibly, but it’s there. I can feel it, and yet… I don’t care.

If she’s half Moon Child and half something else… hell, if she’s half Godzilla, it doesn’t matter. She’s still Paige. Still the woman who laughs when she’s nervous, who makes the whole pack feel steadier just by being near. Still, the woman who walked into our chaos and somehow

made it feel like home.

When I look at her now, standing in the morning light, warm auburn hair loose around her shoulders and that faint shimmer still clinging to her skin, I swear she’s the most extraordinary thing I’ve ever seen. Lucky doesn’t even begin to cover it.

“Callen,” Ryder calls, snapping me out of my thoughts. “Take the east side. Make sure the patrols are rotating every twenty minutes.”

“On it,” I say, though my eyes drift back to Paige once more before I turn away. She’s still with him, talking quietly, her brow furrowed in thought. I wish I could ease that worry, take some of it for myself. But maybe that’s what loving her is, knowing I can’t shield her from everything, only walk beside her while she faces it.

As I head toward the tree line, the bond between us hums faintly in my chest, a soft, steady pulse that feels stronger than it did this morning. Whatever power stirred in her, it didn’t push me away. If anything, it feels like it’s drawn me closer.

And I’ll take that. I’ll take every bit of her light and shadow, every secret and scar. Because she’s ours, mine, and I’d follow her into any darkness. Even one that glows gold and silver beneath the water.

I’m halfway across the clearing, preparing to shift the moment I hit the tree line, when my wolf suddenly tenses.

It’s faint at first, a flicker, a tremor that doesn’t belong to the wind or the forest. My steps slow. The air smells different here, sharper, like that earthy scent right before it rains, but the sky above is clear.

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