The Lost Pack (Paige) novel Chapter 182

** Paige’s POV **

Breakfast almost settles me, almost, but not quite.

The guys keep trying to act normal, but the bond is a mess of tangled emotions. Curiosity, awe, worry, and something sharper threading through all of them… fear.

Not fear of me but fear for me, and it’s Ryder who keeps glancing at me like he’s fighting an internal argument he doesn’t want to have.

I can tell they’re discussing something through the mind-tink. It’s obvious in their subtle nods and their micro facial expressions. I get the same sense I had yesterday, that uneasiness I could feel in the morning trickling through the bond.

I know they’re hiding something from me, something they either think I can’t handle, or they’re worried I’ll have another power flare up. I hate secrets, but with my current circumstances, and my unpredictable power, I can understand. I trust them, completely, and I know they will tell me when they feel the time is right.

Ryder clears his throat, putting me from my thoughts.

“Paige,” he says quietly, “can I talk to you outside for a minute?”

My heart drops.This doesn’t feel like a normal “hey, let’s chat.” This feels like news, bad or dangerous news… or both.

I nod, trying not to betray the knot forming in my chest.

Ryder’s expression softens a fraction. He always could read me too well. He gestures toward the back door.

The morning air wraps around me the second we step outside, and I wrap my arms around myself. It’s quiet, the kind of quiet that feels loaded, waiting for something to crack it open.

Ryder closes the door behind us and presses his palm to his forehead for a moment, gathering his thoughts the way he always does when the words matter.

*”Okay,” I say with a sigh. “You’re scaring me. What’s wrong?”

He lets out a long breath.

“It’s not wrong,” he says carefully. “But it’s… complicated, and possibly dangerous. We didn’t want to overwhelm you before you were ready, especially not while we were under Midnight’s watch.”

“Overwhelm me with what?” I whisper.

He shifts his weight, his jaw flexing. This is Ryder in full Alpha mode, calculating and protecting.

“Yesterday,” he begins slowly, “while Remy was out on patrol at Midnight with Leo and Ronnie, he found something.”Silence stretches, and my stomach twists.

“Found what?” I ask.

His eyes lock onto mine, blue and burning with something I can’t name.

“Wolves,” he says quietly. “Our wolves.”

I blink. Confused at first, then horrified.

“You mean… you found… bodies?” My voice breaks. “From the attack?”

Ryder shakes his head once.

“No, angel. Not bodies, they’re alive.”

My breath stops. Literally freezes in my lungs.

Alive…

Alive?

I grip the railing beside me because the world tilts sideways. This doesn’t make sense.

“But… you told me…they told me the hunters killed…

“They did,” Ryder says quickly. “Paige, they did kill them.

We saw some of them go down. We saw the blood. We saw …” His voice breaks before he forces it back under control. ” But something brought them back. Or kept them alive. Or changed them. We don’t know which yet.”My pulse thunders so loudly i swear the whole pack can hear it.

“Changed them how?” I ask.

Ryder looks away for a moment, toward the forest, like the pines might give him courage.

“They’re not like before. Not fully themselves. They are… slowed. Their eyes are wrong. Their energy is wrong. Their wolves… their wolves are distant.” He hesitates. “And there’s something else Ronnie noticed.”

Fear slides down my spine like cold water.

“What?”

“They seem like they are waiting for something,” he says.”

Not like living wolves. Not like dead ones either. They feel …suspended. Like they’re stuck in limbo.”

“Resurrection,” I whisper on a shaky breath.

He nods.

“They shouldn’t exist,” he grimaces. “It’s not a gift any pack has ever used. Not one we thought could be used.” His jaw tightens. “But they’re alive, Paige. They’re alive, and they’re not okay.”

The world tilts again, but this time, something strange happens inside me… A pull.

Soft at first. Then firmer. Like an invisible thread hookinginto the base of my spine and tugging me in a direction i can’t physically see. I don’t feel panic or fear, just instinct.

Pure, deep, bone-level instinct.

“I need to see them,” I whisper.

Ryder’s head snaps toward me.

“No,” he says instantly. “Absolutely not. It’s not safe; we have no idea how your gifts will respond to them, or how they might react to you.”

“It is safe,” I insist quietly, a certainty rising from somewhere I don’t understand. “Ryder… I feel them.”

He goes still. Completely, utterly still.

I press a hand to my chest. That strange pull gathers strength again.

”m fine,” I interrupt.”You’re lying,” Callen fires back instantly. “You always say you’re fine when you’re about to pass out or burst into sparkles, or whatever the hell your power does when it’s having a moment.”

“Callen,” Rye warns.

Parker steps forward, calmer but no less worried. “Paige… sunshine, are you sure you want to do this?”

“Yes.” The certainty in my voice surprises even me. “I need to.”

Remy pulls a t-shirt over his head. “Then I’m coming too.”

“No.” Ryder shakes his head. “You need to stay here with me and Jax. If anything happens, we need strength in the house. Besides, you need to sleep before you fall down.

You’re no good to anyone exhausted. I think Paige has proved she is more than capable of protecting herself.

Don’t make me order you, Rem,” he warns.

I can tell Remy does not like that, but he nods anyway.

Parker grabs a jacket and shrugs it on. “I’m ready.”

Callen mutters something about terrible decisions, stupidity and trauma, but he throws on his boots anyway.

Ryder pulls me into a tight hug before I can leave.

“Stay between them,” he murmurs into my hair. “Don’t touch anything unless Ronnie tells you to, and if anything feels wrong, anything, you tell them to get you out. Doyou understand?”

I nod and squeeze him back. “I promise.”

Callen stands by the door, jaw tight, his hands fisting and unfisting like he can’t decide whether he wants to fight someone or hold my hand. Parker hovers just behind him, eyes warm, but I don’t miss the anxiety behind them.

“We’ll take care of her,” Parker says quietly.

“You’d better,” Ryder replies.

He kisses my forehead again, then steps back.

“Go,” he murmurs. “Before I change my mind.”

Callen grips the door handle, opens it, and jerks his chin.

“Alright, freckles,” he sighs. “Field trip. Let’s go look at the zombie wolves.”

Parker groans. “They’re not zombies.”

Callen scoffs. “If it died and came back weird, it’s a zombie.”

I take a steadying breath, my pulse syncing with that strange pull inside me.

Whatever waits at that clinic, whatever those wolves have become, I know deep in my bones that I’m meant to see it.

That I’m connected to them.