The Lost Pack (Paige) novel Chapter 163

Chapter 163

“Remy, please,” I whisper, but there’s no answer, just that faint hum through the bond, thin and fraying.

Callen turns to me, urgency written across every line of his face. “Paige, take Jax.” He tries to hand him over, voice rough. “Run with Poppy and Jake. Now. Don’t look back.”

But I don’t move. I can’t. Something inside me is… shifting.

The edge of the world blurs. Every sound seems too loud… the crunch of leaves beneath running feet, the ragged breathing of wolves all around, Jax crying softly, begging for me. My hands shake, but it’s not fear

anymore.

It’s rage.

It starts low, coiling in my stomach, spreading through my veins like fire. I tilt my face up to the moon,

letting its cool light wash over me. It doesn’t calm the fire inside of me though… it fuels it.

Callen curses under his breath. “s**t, Paige…”

I shake my head, barely hearing him. My voice cracks when it finally escapes. “No one’s taking this from

me.”

He freezes. “What?”

The weight of everything we’ve lost crashes over me at once… the poisoned water, the constant fear, the

sound of my son’s heartbeat pressed against my chest as I wonder if we’ll make it to morning. I’m done

being afraid. I’m done running. The rage rising in me isn’t wild or reckless; it’s sharp, deliberate, born of

love and desperation. If the Goddess made me for something, maybe it was this.

I look up, meeting his eyes. “No one’s taking our home. Our pack. My family. Not again. I’ve lost enough.”

The air around me thickens. Something inside me ignites, burning bright and merciless. My skin tingles,

the air humming against it. Light flickers in the corners of my vision, first soft silver, then gold. My heart

pounds hard enough to hurt, each beat echoing with a pulse of energy that isn’t mine… or maybe it always

was.

Callen’s expression changes from worry to horror. “Paige, don’t… whatever this is, don’t let it take over…”

But I’m already moving.

The ground blurs under my feet. The trees whip past as I run, faster than I’ve ever run in my life. The wind

tears at my hair, whipping it into my face, but I barely feel it.

Behind me, I hear Callen roar my name, his voice raw. Paws thunder after me, Leo, Parker, other wolves too, but I’m gone before they can reach me.

The forest is alive with sound… gunfire, howls, the metallic scent of blood, and somewhere ahead of me,

through the chaos and smoke, I can feel him.

Remy.

The bond pulls at me like a thread wound through my ribs, tugging harder with every heartbeat. Each pull feels like a knife twist. I can feel his pain and fading warmth now.

“Hold on,” I whisper, though my voice comes out broken. “Please hold on.”

The deeper I run, the louder the noise grows. Shouts. Growls. The crack of bullets. My lungs burn, but I don’t slow. The glow inside me grows brighter, spreading across my skin, flickering through the darkness.

When the trees finally break open into a clearing, my heart stops. Ryder is there, kneeling in the mud. Remy lies beneath him, unmoving, blood dark and glistening in the moonlight. Ryder’s hands are pressed to the wound in Remy’s side, his face twisted in desperation, trying to stop the bleeding. There’s too much blood. It’s everywhere, on Ryder’s arms, soaking into the ground.

Remy’s chest rises shallowly once. Twice. Then it stutters.

“NO!” The scream rips from me before I even know I’m making a sound.

Ryder’s head jerks up, his eyes locking onto mine. For a fraction of a second, I see it; the hope flickering across his face.

And then the crack of a gunshot splits the air.

Ryder’s body jerks violently. His expression shifts from shock to disbelief as blood gushes from his chest. He slumps forward over Remy.

The world narrows to a pinpoint. Just like that, two of my mates are gone.

Somewhere distant, I hear the hunters shouting. The metallic click of reloading. The whisper of movement

through the bushes. But all I can see are the two men I love lying broken in the dirt.

I stagger forward; the breath leaving my lungs in short, gasping bursts. “No,” I whisper again. “No, please…”

A sound rises in my ears, faint at first, then growing, a voice that’s not my own or my mate’s, inside my

head. “It’s time.”

I blink, confusion cutting through the grief. “What…”

“You know what to do, child of two lights.”

The voice is soft, feminine, ancient. It vibrates through my bones, through the ground beneath my feet.

“You must restore the balance, Paige.”

The words vibrate inside my skull, too clear to be imagined, too ancient to be ignored. My vision flickers between gold and silver until the trees look like they’re breathing with me. The power isn’t asking anymore;

it’s demanding. It wants out. It wants to protect, and I’m fully on board.

I fall to my knees. My hands press against the dirt, shaking. Gold and silver light spills from my palms,

bleeding into the earth like liquid fire.

The air thickens, pressing heavy on my chest, and I scream, not in fear, but in fury. All the anger, the grief, the helplessness I’ve swallowed for months, tears free at once.

Light explodes outward. It bursts from me in a shockwave of silver and gold, rippling through the clearing in perfect, blinding rings. The ground trembles under the force, grass flattening, trees bending away. The first wave hits Ryder and Remy, wrapping around them like silk. The glow clings to their bodies, pulsing faintly, warm and alive. The next wave rolls farther, slamming into the tree line where the hunters stand. Their shouts turn to screams. I hear the thud of bodies hitting the ground. The wind rushes outward, carrying the sound of retreating footsteps and panicked voices. But I don’t stop. I can’t.

Every emotion I’ve buried for years pours out of me: the fear, the anger, the heartbreak, the love. It all blazes through me, uncontainable.

Images flash in my head…

Jax’s laughter, pure and bright.

Poppy’s smile, fierce and steady.

Remy’s teasing smirk.

Ryder’s steady hand on my waist.

Parker’s quiet warmth, the way his eyes always find mine when I start to spiral.

Callen’s laugh, wild and reckless, the spark that keeps the darkness from winning.

My mates. My son. My sister. My pack.

No one is taking them from me.

The light builds higher, wrapping around me until I can’t tell where I end and it begins. My vision goes white. My skin burns with power. My heartbeat echoes like thunder in my ears.

The voice whispers one last time. “You are the bridge between sun and moon. Burn, and be reborn.”

A final scream rips through my throat, half rage, half agony, as I slam both hands into the ground. The world explodes. A dome of pure energy erupts from the point of impact, expanding in a blinding flash. It sweeps across the forest, flattening the undergrowth, searing the air itself. The hunters’ cries disappear under the roar.

When it finally stops, the silence is deafening. Smoke drifts through the clearing. The light fades, leaving faint trails of gold and silver specks hovering where it had been.

My vision blurs. The glow still pulses under my skin, but weaker now, fading fast. I force my gaze toward Ryder and Remy. They’re still there. For a moment, I can’t breathe. I just stare, terrified to blink in case it breaks the spell.

The light still clings to them, soft and gentle, sinking into their skin like sunlight on water. Ryder stirs first, his head lifting slightly. His eyes find me, wide and dazed, and I see the faint rise and fall of Remy’s chest beneath him. He’s breathing. I didn’t destroy; I healed.

A sob of relief breaks from me, but it’s short-lived. The world tilts violently, the edges of my vision darkening.

The energy drains out of me all at once, leaving only exhaustion. Somewhere behind me, I hear voices… Callen shouting, wolves howling, Jax crying my name, but they sound far away, muffled and fading.

The last thing I see before the darkness swallows me is the faint shimmer of light still glowing around Ryder and Remy, protecting them.

Then I hit the ground, face pressed to the cool, wet grass, and everything goes black.