The Lost Pack (Paige) novel Chapter 187

** Ryder’s POV**

By the time we reach our cabin, the midday sun is high in the sky.

Paige’s fingers stay threaded with mine for the walk home. She doesn’t shake. She doesn’t stumble. If anything, she grows steadier with every step. I don’t miss the way she keeps lifting her face to the sun, soaking up its rays.

But the Twiceborn?… they’re another story.

Nine wolves pad silently behind us, their paws almost soundless on the leaf-littered ground. When Paige slows, they slow. Their eyes glow with a strange silver-gold light, not threatening, just watchful.

The second we step out of the trees and into the clearing around the cabin, they fan out without a word, forming a perfect perimeter around the house.

Remy whistles low. “Well… that’s new.”

Callen snorts. “Fantastic. We’ve got an honour guard.”

Parker rubs his jaw. “More like a cult of very enthusiastic bodyguards.”

Paige turns, anxiety trickling through the bond. “I didn’t tell them to do that.””You didn’t have to,” I say softly.

They move because they know her. Recognise her.

Respond to her needs. A shiver runs through me at the thought.

Before we can say anything else, the cabin door flies open.

Ronnie steps out, his face hard with worry. “Is everything okay? What…”

He trails off when he sees the wolves, freezing mid-step, his mouth falling open as nine shimmering, resurrected wolves lock onto him with eerily calm expressions, and then completely ignore him to watch the treeline.

• Jaxon gasps as he rushes past Ronnie. “Mummy, they look like angels!”

Paige kneels, hugging him tight. He buries his face in her shoulder, inhaling her scent, already acting like a wolf.

Ronnie lets out a breath, running a hand through his hair. ” Okay. Somebody explain very slowly why the wolves that seemed like zombies just an hour ago are now shiny, coordinated, and forming a military perimeter around your house.”

“We’ll tell you inside,” I say.

Once the door shuts and the wolves settle outside like statues, Paige sits on the sofa with Jaxon pressed to her side between us. Callen and Remy stand behind her.

Parker keeps one knee pressed against her thigh. My handfinds her waist. We’re all still touching her in some way.

Ronnie pulls a leather-bound notebook from his satchel and clears off the coffee table.

“Start talking,” he says. “What happened?”

Paige explains everything.

The tether, the vision, the fire in her hands, the words, Rise, my Twiceborn.’ The second heartbeat feeling and the wolves awakening.

Ronnie listens intently, the frown on his face deepening with every word. When she finishes, his eyes are wide, his hand frozen halfway through flipping a page. He slowly lowers himself into a chair.

“Twiceborn…” he whispers. “I haven’t heard that name since I studied the Eos legends.”

My pulse stutters.

“Eos?” Paige repeats softly.

Ronnie nods, rifling frantically until he finds a page and slaps it onto the table. Ancient runes scribble the margins. His handwriting is barely legible.

“Eos,” he says, breath shaking. “Or Aurora, in Roman lore.

The Goddess of the Dawn. Daughter of Hyperion and Theia. Sister of Selene, the Moon Goddess, and Helios, the Sun God. She was the bridge between their powers.”Paige goes still.

Ronnie continues, his voice hushed and full of awe.

“She wasn’t just the bringer of sunrise. She awakened things. She breathed light into what had been lost. She was known for creating an army, not of soldiers she forced, but of souls that recognised her. Souls loyal because she was the dawn that freed them from darkness.”

Parker sits forward. “Free of corruption… like the wolves

Paige awakened.”

Ronnie nods sharply. “Exactly. The Twiceborn weren’t undead. They were reborn creatures… cleansed, remade, bound to the Dawn mother, as the older texts call her.”

“So they’re not following her because they have to?” Remy asks.

“No.” Ronnie’s eyes soften. “They follow her because they know her. They recognise something in her that’s older than their first life.”

Paige’s hand trembles in mine. Callen’s grip on her shoulder tightens.

“And that’s not all,” Ronnie adds, flipping to another page.

“Eos was known for her… many bonds. Lovers, mates, companions. Not because she was cursed or indulgent, but because she needed multiple anchors. Her power was born from balance, moon, sun, life, death, darkness, dawn.She bridged opposing forces.”

My heart slams into my ribs. Four mates, four anchors, four souts balancing one goddess.

Paige’s breath catches. Jaxon lifts his head, blinking up at her.

Parker whispers, barely audible, “She’s Eos reborn.”

Ronnie nods once, solemn. “Or Aurora. Or whatever name she’s taken throughout the ages. But yes… the Dawn mother returns in cycles, reborn when the world needs her. A soul of dawn housed in mortal skin… and the Twiceborn? They rise because she calls them. Because she is their light.”

Paige’s eyes widen, glowing faintly again, and a warmth spreads through the room like sunrise.

Jaxon sits up straighter, his eyes sparkling. “Does that mean Mummy’s a goddess?”

Paige swallows. “I… I don’t know.”

But I do. I cup her jaw, forcing her eyes to meet mine.

“You’re ours,” I whisper. “Whoever you were before, whatever you are now, you are Paige. Our Paige.”

Callen leans in. “Our freckles.”

Parker kisses her shoulder. “Our sunshine.””Our light,” Remy adds.

Her glow softens.

Ronnie exhales shakily. “We need to be ready. If she truly is Eos reborn… then this is only the beginning.”

The single word makes him straighten.

“When my light hit you,” she says, “you didn’t collapse.

You didn’t get overwhelmed. You didn’t go silent. You protected me harder. You’ve been… you.”

His brow furrows. “I’m always me.”

“You’ve been… lighter,” she corrects softly.

His jaw works as he tries to find something to argue with.I watch him closely, the same way I have these last few days. The tension in him has eased. The stress he carried has settled into something steadier, clearer, more himself again.

“It might not work the same for mates,” Ronnie says, leaning forward. “Goddess-bonded partners are… different. Their souls are connected, amplified, protected.

So whatever purification she radiated might have manifested in you differently. It may not erase anything; it may just balance you.”

Callen looks away, throat bobbing. Paige reaches a hand toward him, and he doesn’t hesitate. He takes it.

Poppy steps beside the sofa, biting her lip. “What about the hunters then? If they were hit by that same… wave, they wouldn’t be able to keep doing what they’re doing.”

Jake flips his notebook open, scanning one of the translated passages. “In the old myths, Eos didn’t just heal or awaken. She illuminated the truth. When exposed to her dawn-light, mortals were freed from illusions, fears, curses and hatred.”

Paige tenses, looking overwhelmed. I slide my hand up her spine.

“This feels too big for me. I have no idea what I’m doing,” she whispers.

Ronnie taps his notes. “You will. Eos didn’t come into her power overnight either. Every rebirth is different. But ifthe Twiceborn rose because of you… if the hunters fled because of your light… then you’re already embodying her role.”

Paige sinks back against me, her glow dimming to something warmer, sunrise instead of blazing noon.

Jaxon crawls into her lap, resting his hand over her heart.” Mummy isn’t scary,” he declares. “She’s warm.”

Something in the room softens.

Paige kisses his hair. “I don’t want to change.”

“You won’t,” I murmur. “You’ll just… become more you.”

Callen squeezes her shoulder gently. “And we’re here. ALL of us. For every step.”

Parker leans in, pressing his forehead to her shoulder. ” We’re your anchors. Remember?”

Remy adds softly, “And your pack.”

Poppy sniffles. “And your very concerned family.”

Jake nods. “And your academic support.”

A faint laugh escapes her, a real one.

The room eases, but outside, the Twiceborn shift positions, ears twitching, forming an unbreakable ring around our home.

Protecting their dawn, their goddess, their Paige. Andeven my wolf knows Ronnie was right. This is only the beginning.