The Lost Pack (Paige) novel Chapter 2

** Jake’s POV **

Poppy stares at the shelf, her face pale. “What the hell was that?”

Leo is at her side in two strides, one hand pressed to her waist, the other catching her wrist when she sways. “Talk to me.”

Her eyes stay fixed on the plants. One standing taller than it had any right to. The other half-collapsed beside it.

“I didn’t do that on purpose.”

I believe her.

I step closer to the shelf, crouching just enough to inspect them without touching. The healthier plant is definitely weaker now. Not dead, not quite. But something has changed.

Behind me, Poppy’s voice comes quieter now. “Jake.”

I straighten slowly and turn to face her.

“What happened?” she asks.

Leo’s gaze locks on mine. He already knows I’ve seen something.

“Say it,” he says.

I hesitate. Because she has just proved my theory, and this is huge. If she can learn to control this… if she can do it with intent … we have just discovered the greatest healer of all time. My mind is already two steps ahead. Picturing shelves of plants growing in every room of the clinic, ready to heal and even revive anyone who needs them. I’m just not sure at what cost.

“It worked,” I say finally, trying to keep the fear and excitement from my voice.

Poppy lets out a disgruntled laugh. “That didn’t feel like working.”

“No,” I agree. “It didn’t.”

I glance at the plants again.

“You affected it,” I say carefully. “Both of them.”

Poppy goes still.

Leo’s hand tightens slightly at her waist. “Meaning?”

I shake my head slightly.

“I don’t know yet,” I admit. “But I don’t think this is the first time you’ve done this.”

Poppy’s breathing picks up slightly. “What do you mean?”

“He’s talking about the tree,” Leo says quietly.

I nod once.

Poppy looks back at the shelf again, her expression tightening.

“No,” she says under her breath. “No, because that would mean…’

She freezes mid-sentence. Her entire body locks so suddenly Leo’s grip shifts from steadying to protective in an instant.

“Poppy?” he says.

Her expression changes.

“No,” she whispers.

I step toward her. “What?”

Her gaze flicks somewhere over my shoulder, unfocused. And when she speaks again, I know she’s not talking to either of us.

“I’m not doing it again.”

The hairs on my arms prickle.

“What’s it saying?” Leo asks.

Poppy swallows hard. Slowly, she looks at us both.

“It said,” she whispers, “Always a price. Always one for another. That’s how it works.”

No one speaks. Leo stands a little taller, his eyes flaring gold, as if he can intimidate the voice to leave our mate alone.

My thoughts sharpen again, everything narrowing into something darker than before. The voice isn’t just commentary. It knows. Worse, it understands what she can do better than we do.

Poppy drags a shaky hand through her hair. “Tell me you have some comforting explanation for that.”

I wish I did. Instead, I look at the shelf one more time. One plant thriving and the other fading. At the proof.

“No,” I say quietly. “I don’t.”

Poppy closes her eyes.

Leo presses a kiss to her temple, his expression hard as stone when he looks back at me. “Then we keep this contained until we do.”

I nod, but my attention is already slipping back to the shape of it all. The voice, the shift, the pattern… the potential. But this isn’t just something she has.job-n-i b- c-o-m It’s something that’s learning, and that thought sits wrong in a way I can’t ignore. Because learning means adapting, changing, and getting better.

My gaze shifts back to her.

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