The Lost Pack (Paige) novel Chapter 2

** Poppy’s POV **

After we all take a shower and I get some time alone with my thoughts, I can finally breathe again. The world doesn’t feel quite so overwhelming.

Whatever this power is… I feel a little more certain I can control it. I’ve started to recognise the signs. It’s not much, but it’s something.

When I go cold, something’s wrong. Something’s dying. Paige is too close. Or I’m about to break something without meaning to. My gaze drops to my hands, and I huff out a quiet breath.

Great, so the solution is what?… Stay warm and hope for the best?

When I head back downstairs, the cabin is too quiet. Jake and Leo both look up at the same time. Too fast, as if they’ve been waiting.

Jake’s hand stills halfway through pushing his hair back, his shoulders tightening before he lets them drop again. Leo doesn’t move at all. His gaze locks onto me, steady and unreadable, but his fingers flex once at his side before going still.

I pause on the last step. No one speaks. The air feels heavier down here, like the space between us has shrunk without me noticing.

For a second, I think maybe we’re all just going to stand here and pretend we didn’t agree to something that feels dangerously close to inevitable.

Jake exhales softly and runs a hand through his hair.

“I should get back to check the samples,” he says, like he’s giving us all an out.

He doesn’t move to leave, none of us do, because none of us actually want that.

“Jake…” My voice comes out quieter than I expect.

He looks at me immediately, and suddenly the space between us feels smaller. The warmth in the cabin presses in around me. Everything is becoming too much again, but in a different way than before.

“I meant what I said,” I add, forcing myself to hold his gaze. “About it not being you.”

Something shifts in his expression, and he gives me a sad smile.

“I know,” he says.

But he doesn’t look convinced. That twists something in my chest. I step a little closer.

“You don’t believe me?”

Jake huffs out a quiet breath. “I believe you,” he says. “I just…” He hesitates. “Thought we were further along than this.”

I’m glad he’s being honest, but it doesn’t stop it hurting.

“I thought so too,” I admit.

Leo moves to stand behind me, his presence solid at my back again, his hand brushing lightly against my waist, testing, as if he’s giving me time to pull away. I don’t; I can’t.

“That hasn’t changed,” I say. “It’s just got more complicated.”

“That’s one word for it,” Leo mutters and I almost smile.

Jake’s gaze flicks between us, something tightening there again, not jealousy exactly.

The bond flares in my chest, and the pull to Jake is different now, stronger. I can feel it pressing in from both sides, subtle but undeniable.

I like it more than I dare to admit. My breath catches as heat spreads through me. Warmth is good, much better than cold.

“You feel it too,” Jake says softly. It’s not a question.

“No,” I start automatically, then stop, because lying feels pointless. “…yes.”

The word barely makes it out. Silence follows, thick and charged. Leo’s other hand settles at my waist now too, firmer and grounding, but there’s something else there too. A battle for restraint.

Jake takes another step closer, slow and careful. Like he’s approaching something that might bolt or break.

“Poppy,” he says quietly.

The thought settles, and something in the back of my mind shifts. A quiet, steady presence. Watching, waiting.

“That’s not it, is it?” I whisper.

I get nothing but silence, and somehow that’s worse. My pulse starts to climb.

“Then what do you want?”

For a second, I think it’s going to stay quiet. That I’ve pushed too far, and I’ve finally crossed some invisible line.

“You need more than him.”

The words slide through my mind, low and certain, and my stomach drops. My gaze snaps to Jake, and then past him. Like something else is already coming.

I shake my head, trying to clear the spiral I’m about to fall into. That’s too much to unpack right now. My focus needs to be on Leo and Jake, my mates.

Leo doesn’t let go, but he doesn’t pull me back in either. The restraint is almost worse.

“I meant what I said,” I continue, locking eyes with Jake, forcing the words out. “I want this to be my choice.”

“It will be,” Jake says quietly.

I nod, but the doubt still lingers there. Because now I know what’s at stake, and I don’t know if I trust myself to make that choice when it matters.

Leo exhales slowly behind me, his forehead pressing lightly against the back of my head.

“We’ll figure it out,” he whispers.

I close my eyes. I want to believe that, I really do, but the closer they stand, the harder it is to remember why I’m trying to resist at all. Every part of my body aches for them, and by the way Jake is looking at me, and how Leo lets out a low growl, they feel it too.