The Lost Pack (Paige) novel Chapter 2

** Leo’s POV **

The second Poppy disappears up the stairs to get dressed, Jake exhales as if he’s been holding his breath for an hour. I don’t move. Jake watches the staircase for another few seconds before finally dragging a hand through his hair.

“She’s staying,” he says quietly.

It’s not a question, it’s a statement he needs to hear out loud again, and I suspect not for the last time.

“Looks that way,” I reply.

Jake lets out a low laugh under his breath, equal parts relief and disbelief.

“Good,” he mutters.

I glance toward the stairs again. Listening for Poppy’s voice, but there’s nothing.

The house still smells faintly of cinnamon and coffee. Morning sunlight spills through the windows, catching the dust in the air and warming the wooden floors. It should feel peaceful. Instead, my wolf is restless.

“You’re worried, aren’t you?” Jake asks through the mind link.

I nod slightly.

He leans his hip against the counter and sighs.

“She’s hiding something.”

I watch the staircase again, still listening.

“Definitely,” I say.

Jake frowns. “You sound strangely calm about that.”

“She’s been back less than a day,” I shrug.

Jake scratches the back of his neck. “Yeah, but…”

His words cut off when the floor creaks upstairs. Both our heads tilt automatically, our wolves on alert.

Footsteps cross the hallway; a drawer opens, then closes again.

Jake relaxes slightly. “She’s just getting dressed.”

“Good,” I say.

Jake glances at me sideways. “Are you angry that she lied?”

“No,” I say.

“Leo,” Jake snorts.

I meet his gaze. “I’m not worried about her lying.”

He raises a brow. “Then what are you worried about?”

I pick up the plates and put them back into the cupboard, needing to keep my hands busy.

“I’m worried about why she thinks she has to,” I admit. Jake’s expression softens slightly. “Yeah, me too.”

We fall quiet again. Upstairs, another drawer shuts, and my wolf lifts his head. Something about this morning feels different. Not wrong, just unfamiliar. Like there’s a different energy in the pack.

Jake pushes off the counter and starts rinsing the mugs.

“You know what the weird part is?” he says.

“What?”

“If this was anyone else in the pack, we’d say it was just them connecting with their wolf. Maybe she has one, and it’s only just waking up.”

I glance at him, raising a brow.

He shrugs.

“No,” I shake my head, “we’d have felt it. She’s not like us, but she’s not completely human either. Ronnie thinks she is like Paige, but I don’t see it. She feels different.”

Jake nods once.

“Maybe she will feel more like Paige when whatever is hiding inside her finally reveals itself.”

“Well, there’s only one way to find out,” I say, looking back toward the stairs.

“How?”

“We force whatever it is out.”

“I don’t like the sound of that,” Jake grimaces.

“She probably won’t…” The words die in my throat, and I go completely still.

For a moment, the kitchen fades around me. The hum of the fridge, even Jake’s presence beside me. Everything narrows to a single thought snapping into place.

Of course.

My ears ring as the realisation settles in, clear and undeniable. The answer to the question that’s been circling my mind for months finally surfaces. I could almost laugh at how obvious it seems now.

“Why do you look like you’ve just seen a ghost?” Jake asks.

His eyes flick around the room automatically before settling back on me, checking for a threat that isn’t there.

I don’t answer him right away. My thoughts are moving too quickly, lining up memories, moments, instincts that didn’t make sense before.

Jake watches me carefully. “You’re doing that thing again.”

“What thing?” I manage.

“The quiet alpha thinking thing where you figure out a problem and forget to tell anyone what the problem is.” Despite my current state of mind, the corner of my mouth twitches.

“Maybe, but I’m not an alpha.” Jake sighs.

“In here, you are,” he says, gesturing to the cabin. “Because I’m certainly not.”

Normally I’d argue with him. Tell him being an omega doesn’t make him lesser. That the pack needs both strength and balance. That the bond between us works because we are different. But the thought spinning in my mind right now is too important to ignore.

Instead of answering out loud, I reach for him through the mind link again.

“Jake.”

He stills immediately. The shift is subtle, but I feel his attention snap toward me fully.

“What is it?”

“Jake,” I cut him off, meeting his gaze across the kitchen. “Even if we triggered it, that doesn’t mean we caused it.”

“What’s the difference?” He frowns.

“It was already inside her.”

Jake glances toward the stairs again, where we hear Poppy move across the hallway.

“So what do we do?”

I follow his gaze. “We wait.”

“You and your patience,” Jake groans quietly, almost making me smile.

“She came back to us. That means whatever happened out there, she believes we’re part of the answer,” I explain.

Jake considers that. Then his shoulders finally loosen. “You’re right.”

Upstairs a floorboard creaks again as Poppy’s footsteps move toward the stairs. Jake perks up instantly. My wolf does too. Jake glances at me. “Do you think she’ll tell us?”

I watch the staircase, listening as her steps approach.

“Eventually,” I nod.

Jake huffs. “You really believe that?”

“Yes.”

Poppy appears at the top of the staircase, pulling her jumper down slightly as she walks. Jake’s attention snaps to her immediately, and as she starts down the stairs toward us, one thought settles firmly in my mind. Whatever is waking inside her… We’re going to face it together. Whether she’s ready for that or not.

She’s changed out of Jake’s shirt and into a simple pair of jeans and a soft grey jumper, but the sight of her still makes something tighten in my chest. She looks more relaxed, more settled. Like she belongs here.

Jake notices too. His wolf practically hums through the pack bond. Poppy pauses halfway down the stairs, watching us.

“You two look like you’re plotting something.”

“Always,” Jake grins.

She laughs softly, and the sound eases something in my chest I didn’t realise was tight.

“Ready to go?” she asks as she reaches the bottom step.

Jake nods immediately. “Yeah.”

She sits on the couch to put on her boots that I’d taken off her after she’d fallen asleep last night. The action is casual, natural, as if she’s done it a hundred times before. Like this is already routine. For a moment, I just watch her. Eight months ago, she walked out of this pack like she were escaping it. Now she’s standing here again, like she belongs. My wolf shifts uneasily. For some reason, something about that thought doesn’t sit right.

Poppy moves toward the door, and as she passes me, something brushes the edge of my senses. It’s not a scent or a sound, it’s something else. My wolf stiffens instantly.

Poppy pauses just before opening the door, her head tilting ever so slightly, almost unnoticeable. Like she’s listening, but not to us. The moment is so brief I almost think I imagined it. Then she pushes the door open and cool morning air spills into the cabin, carrying the familiar scent of pine and damp earth.

“Come on,” she says, stepping outside.

Jake follows her immediately, grabbing his bag off the hook by the door as he rushes after her. I linger for half a second longer. A tingling sensation starts at the base of my skull; my wolf is fully alert now, watching and listening. I step outside and close the door behind me.

As we start down the path toward Paige’s house, that strange feeling brushes my senses again. It’s faint, almost like a whisper across the bond.

Poppy walks ahead with Jake, completely unaware, or pretending to be. Jake bumps his shoulder lightly against hers, and she shoves him back with a laugh. Everything looks normal… domestic… comfortable, but my wolf isn’t fooled.

A quiet thought settles in the back of my mind. Maybe the thing she’s hiding is bigger than any of us realise.