The Lost Pack (Paige) novel Chapter 2

** Poppy’s POV **

Jake’s office door is half open when we reach it.

I don’t knock or slow down. I just push it wider and step inside because if I hesitate for even a second, I might lose whatever fragile grip I have on myself.

Jake looks up from his desk, where he’d been resting his head in his hands.

“Poppy?” His gaze flicks between me and Leo behind me. “Is everything okay?”

“No,” Leo says at the same time I say, “Fine.”

Jake exhales slowly. “Right. That answers that, then.”

I shoot Leo a look, but he doesn’t even glance at me.

“Shut the door,” Jake says with a sigh.

Leo turns and pushes it closed behind us. The click feels too loud in the quiet room.

Jake leans back in his chair, studying me now, properly. Even like this, with a deep crease between his brows and darkening circles around his eyes, he’s still one of the most gorgeous men I’ve ever laid eyes on.

“What happened?” he asks.

“Nothing,” I say automatically.

Leo moves in front of me, leaning against Jake’s desk, and suddenly I feel like a teenager back in the headmaster’s office. “Try again,” he says, voice low.

I resist the urge to cross my arms over my chest and scowl.

“I said I’m fine.”

“You’ve said that six times in the last five minutes,” he replies. “It wasn’t true the first time either.”

I let out a breath, giving in and folding my arms across my chest.

“I just got overwhelmed. That’s it. New bond, heightened senses, whatever. It’s done now,” I shrug.

Jake doesn’t look convinced, and neither does Leo. In fact, Leo looks… done.

“Don’t do that,” he says.

I blink. “Do what?”

“Shut me out.”

The words land harder than I expect.

“I’m not…”

“You are.” His voice doesn’t rise, but there’s an edge to it now. “You’re brushing it off like it didn’t just knock you flat.”

“I didn’t get knocked flat,” I snap.

His brow lifts. “You were five seconds away from dropping to your knees in the middle of a corridor.”

“That’s a bit dramatic.”

“No, that’s accurate.”

Something in me snaps. “I said I’m fine.”

“And I said you’re not.”

Jake raises a hand slightly. “Okay, maybe we all take a breath…”

“No,” Leo cuts in, not looking at him. His focus is locked on me. “Not this time. We’ve given her long enough to open up, Jake, it’s clearly not working.”

My stomach twists, and it’s suddenly too hot in here. This is it, his limit.

“Leo…”

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