The Lost Pack (Paige) novel Chapter 2

** Jake’s POV **

She seems calmer now. At least on the surface. Leo still has an arm around her waist, holding her close, and Poppy hasn’t pulled away from him yet, which tells me more than her words ever could. But calm isn’t the same as okay, and after everything she’s just admitted, I don’t trust the quiet settling over the room.

Not when I can still feel the wrongness of it pressing at the back of my mind. The baby. The tree. The voice. A pattern is starting to form, and I don’t like the shape of it.

“I want to try something,” I say.

Poppy’s head snaps up. “No.”

Leo’s eyes flick to mine. “Depends on what it is.”

“Nothing dangerous,” I say, keeping my voice level. “I just need to test a theory that could lead us to answers.”

Her arms fold tightly across her chest as she steps out from between us at last, putting a little space between her body and ours.

“I’m not a lab experiment.”

I nod once. “I know.”

“No, I don’t think you do,” she shoots back. “Because I just told you there’s some weird voice in my head, I nearly lost it in the corridor, and now you want me to what? Perform?”

Leo’s hand drops from her waist, but he stays close enough that if she sways even slightly, he’ll catch her.

“He’s asking,” Leo says quietly. “You can say no.”

Poppy glances at him, irritation flashing across her face. “That didn’t sound like asking.”

“You’re right, I’m sorry,” I say. “I’m asking.”

She raises a brow, clearly unimpressed.

I cover my eyes with a hand for a moment, forcing myself not to rush this. “If I’m wrong, nothing happens. If I’m right, we need to know.”

That quiets her, because deep down she knows I’m right.

Her gaze drifts toward the window for a second, as if she’s searching for an exit that isn’t there.

“One thing,” she says finally. “That’s it.”

I blow out a breath.

“One thing,” I agree quickly.

Leo looks between us. “What exactly are we testing?”

I glance around the office, my eyes catching on the small potted plant sitting on the shelf by the window. It’s nothing special, just something green one of the nurses probably thought would make the place feel less clinical. One side of it is starting to yellow, the leaves curling in at the edges from neglect.

I point to it. “That.”

Poppy follows my gaze and then looks back at me like I’ve lost my mind.

“No.”

“I didn’t even tell you what to do yet,” I say.

“You don’t need to,” she replies flatly. “Whatever you’re thinking, the answer’s still no.”

Leo huffs out a quiet breath, sounding equally amused and concerned.

“It’s a plant,” he says.

“That’s worse,” she shoots back. “If I somehow manage to kill it, I’m never going to hear the end of it.”

“I’m not asking you to do anything,” I say. “I just want to see if anything happens.”

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