The Lost Pack (Paige) novel Chapter 181

** Callen’s POV **

The night air feels wrong. Ryder leads us through the treeline with perfect calm. Remy moves at his flank in wolf form, massive and silent as a shadow. I bring up the rear, scanning every dark corner like the bogeyman himself is waiting to jump out and ruin our already disastrous week.

We have patrolled a thousand nights, but none of them have felt like this. Not after what the hunters put us through. Not after Paige burnt herself out just to protect us.

Another pulse of energy slides under my skin. Paige. A soft thrum of anxiety, threaded through with something warm, needy, and definitely distracting. I grit my teeth and try to push it aside.

I fail spectacylarly.

“Anything” Ryder asks through the mind-link, voice calm enough that I instantly resent him for it.

“Nothing alive,” Remy answers, his wolf-voice edged with annoyance. “Surely, nothing is stupid enough to come back after what Paige did.”

“Check the ridge,” I say, mostly so I do not start pacing like a lunatic and alert every hunter within twenty miles.We move silently, professionally, but the tension is unmistakable. We all feel the aftershock of last night. We are stretched thin, unsettled, worried about Paige even though we agreed she was safest with Parker tonight. Our sweet, steady Parker, the supernatural balm to our collective trauma, not that KIl ever admit that out loud, he might get the wrong idea.

Still, leaving her behind went against every instinct have ever developed. No one likes walking away from their mate, especially when she is depleted and glowing like the world’s prettiest overcharged battery.

Another heated pulse hits me.

1 stop dead. “No. Nope. Absolutely not. I did not sign up for this psychic nonsense tonight.”

Ryder actually laughs out loud. The traitor.

Paige is not distressed. Not even slightly. She is wrapped in warmth and comfort, and Parker is doing exactly what we all asked him to do. Get her calm. Keep her anchored.

Distract her brain so she does not spiral into another energy spike.

Through the bond, I feel her relax… and then heat…. and then even more heat.

“Oh, for the love of everything sacred,” I hiss. “This is a cruel and unusual punishment.”

Ryder snorts. “Let her have what she needs.””I am letting her. Am I charging through the woods yelling Parker’s name? No.”

Remy’s wolf whines with laughter, and Ryder chokes on another laugh.

“You are jealous,” Ryder says.

“I am not jealous,” 1 reply with ridiculous speed

Another tug of warm desire slides through the bond.

… am annoyed that I’m out here and not with her.”

Remy snorts through the mind-link. “You want a comfort spack, Callen? A little hug? Maybe a soothing herbal tea?”

“Carry on, Rem, and I’ll snack on you!” I huff. “You know, I seem to remember having to help you cool off when you’re struggling with this exact issue not too long ago.”

“I will throw you into the river; that will cool you off,”

Remy snaps back.

Ryder smirks. “You know, there were moments in my life where I thought you could not get funnier. I stand corrected.”

“Shut up.”

He grins wider. “Make me.”

I don’t, otherwise, I might earn myself a punch to the face, and then Paige will be upset.Then it hits. A shift. A deep, rolling change through the bond that makes the hair on my arms stand up. It’s not fear. It’s something brighter and steadier.

Ryder feels it too. His head jerks toward me. “Did you feel that?”

“Yep.

Remy freezes mid-step. His hackles rise. “What is happening?”

“I do not know,” I admit. “But she is not in danger. That much I know.”

Paige feels fine, even more so than she has been since before the attack, and Parker feels very… Parker, except amplified. I can actually feel him through the bond the way I feel Paige. It’s not just the subtle awareness that it was before. It’s brighter, stronger, glowing in a way that makes no sense.

Ryder inhales slowly. “Should we go back?”

“No. We finish the patrol. They’ll call if they need us.”

The jealousy gnawing at me is not logical, but sometimes feelings are not logical, and tonight, mine are apparently powered by chaos, caffeine, and trauma.

Remy nudges my elbow with his wolf’s head, a silent reassurance. “She misses you just as much as you miss her.””Iknow.”

“Do you though?”

I clench my jaw. “Yes, I know, Remy.”

He huffs, unconvinced. Ryder shoots me a look. “If it helps, Paige was worried about you leaving.”

“It doesn’t help, it only makes it harder to stay away.”

Ryder laughs again.

By the time dawn lights up the forest, the perimeter is confirmed clear. No tracks, traps, scents or hunters.

Nothing but cold air and my own fraying sanity.

Ryder opens the mind-link wider, pulling Leo, Jake and Ronnie in. The moment they’re connected, we’re hit with their exhaustion. They’ve been babysitting the zombie wolves most of the night.

“Status?” Ryder asks.

Leo responds first. “We’re ready to move as soon as you clear us a path.”

“We are about to do a shift change, we’ll move the patrol,” I say, already adjusting our route on instinct. “That will give you a silent corridor straight to the clinic. No eyes, no questions.”

Remy jumps in. “Midnight’s marksmen have split into three rotating teams to keep watch. That buys us twenty-four-hour coverage, but there’s a very narrow path they can’t cover. Follow the creek to circle around the back; that should keep you out of sight.”

Ronnie’s voice slides in. “Don’t forget they’re slow; even Poppy can move faster than them right now. Move the patrol east. Leo will bring them through the ravine behind the training grounds whilst Poppy, Jake and I cross along the main route. Hopefully, we will draw enough attention so that the others can slip around unnoticed.”

Ryder nods, already moving silently in that direction. ” Done.”

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