The Lost Pack (Paige) novel Chapter 202

** Callen’s POV **

The moment Annie collapses into Paige’s arms, something inside my chest twists. it’s not jealousy exactly. It’s more of a pressure. Like the weight of everything we’ve survived is suddenly pushing down on all of us at once, and I want to be the one in her arms.

Paige holds Annie like she’s comforting a child. Poppy joins in too, wrapping both of them in a fierce hug. Jake hovers close, one hand on Poppy’s back, Leo beside him Like a silent shadow. The emotion in the room is thick enough to choke on.

Ryder steps back, Parker moves with him, and Remy subtly shifts to my left like we’re forming an instinctive barrier around Paige. We don’t need to touch her to protect her. We just stand there, ready, but I’m not sure what for.

That’s when the mind-link snaps open. A private thread just between the wolves in the room.

“We need to talk. Now. Before we move her anywhere,”

Ryder says.

“Agreed.” Remy nods subtly.

“Shouldn’t we be discussing this with them?” Jake asks, tilting his head towards the three women.I glance at Paige. She is still holding Annie as if she is something breakable. She looks nothing like the force of nature she was five minutes ago.

Parker shakes his head. “Let them have their moment while we work out the next steps.”

I fold my arms across my chest, trying to hide the restless energy crawling beneath my skin. This room is too small, too warm, too full of feelings I do not know what to do with.

I keep my eyes on the girls but push my thoughts into the link. “Fine, someone start. What exactly are we going to do with her?”

* “Paige is going to want to take her with us,” Rye says, running a hand through his hair.

“Poppy too,” Parker adds.

“Obviously,” Remy snorts. “Their hearts are bigger than their bodies. They’d adopt a serial killer if he cried enough.

Especially now Paige can fix them.”

I snort under my breath. Holding back a joke about that being why Paige tolerates him, I’m not sure he’s quite ready for those jokes yet. He is not wrong, though.

Goddess help us all if Paige ever walks into a prison.

“I’m not saying leave her for dead. But are we seriously making her our responsibility?” I ask. “Because that’s what bringing her back means.”Ryder’s jaw tenses. “She won’t be safe here. Hunters know who she is. They know where she lives.”

“Then let her go stay with a relative,” I shrug. “Or a hotel.

Or literally anywhere that isn’t right in the centre of our already complicated lives.”

“Callen… she’s a victim,” Parker says softly.

“She’s also the reason we nearly died,” I huff. “She’s the one that told the hunters we were at Paige’s rental that night. They shot Leo!”

The memory flashes like a knife across my mind. Leo bleeding. Paige’s terrified eyes. Jaxon’s silence. Rage stirs hot in my gut, but it dies quickly. Paige wouldn’t want that.

A heavy and uncomfortable silence falls over everyone, and I can imagine they’re all replaying the memories from that night.

Then Ronnie’s voice threads into the link. “You’re all missing the real point.”

1 glance at him. He’s watching Paige like she’s a living prophecy unfolding in front of him.

“This wasn’t about Annie,” he continues. “Not really. It was about Paige.”

“Yeah, we noticed the glowing.” I snap sarcastically.

“Callen…” Ryder warns.”What? You’re all thinking it. She glowed like she was about to sprout little halo wings and bless us all, and it’s getting brighter each time.”

Ryder sighs, long and exasperated.

Ronnie doesn’t flinch.

“Callen’s sarcasm aside, he’s right.” Ronnie agrees reluctantly. “Paige responded instinctively. She didn’t choose violence or punishment. She chose forgiveness.

We should respect that.”

Ryder nods. “Which is good.”

“It is divine,” Ronnie says, his voice full of awe.

That makes all of us go quiet.

Divine…. The word should feel ridiculous, but looking at Paige with that soft glow still clinging to her skin, it doesn’t.

“Dawn deities aren’t creatures of vengeance. They don’t scorch the earth to make a point. They rise. They heal.

They reveal the truth where darkness lies,” he adds.

“So you’re saying this is part of her… awakening?” Remy asks.

“Yes,” he nods. “Every god or goddess has a defining nature. Paige’s is renewal… and mercy.”

I never imagined my life would include divine lecturés in a student flat, but here we are.

1 rub my face. “Great. Our mate is becoming a peaceful, glittering saint. Meanwhile, we have hunters on our doorstep and Greg to deal with. Does anyone see the problem here?”

I run a hand through my hair, trying to scrub away the panic. I do not know how to love something gentte. only know how to fight for her.

“Don’t talk about her like that,” he snaps, taking a step towards me.

Ryder’s eyes flash as his wolf presses forward, and mine rises to meet it out of instinct before I can stop it.

I stand my ground, staring right back at him, reminding him he’s not the only Alpha in the room. “I love her just as much as any of you. But we can’t pretend this isn’t happening. She just forgave the girl who could have got Jaxon killed.”

Remy puts a hand on my chest, breaking the rising tension. “I thought that too. But watching her? I don’t know. It felt… right. Like she saw something we didn’t.”

I do not understand it, but I guess I don’t have to. I just know that whatever instinct is guiding her… it is stronger than all of us combined.

Ronnie nods slightly, completely ignoring the standoff between Ryder and me. “Paige isn’t losing her strength.She’s gaining clarity. Gods don’t see the world the way mortals do. They see what people could become, not just what they have done.”

“That’s… beautifut, actually,” Parker smiles, staring longingly at our mate.

“It’s terrifying, actually, and don’t look at me like that, Parker. I’m allowed to be terrified. Every time she glows, my heart stops because I don’t know if she’s going to light the whole damn world on fire or bless it like some holy garden.”

Ryder shakes his head. “She’s learning control.”

“We still don’t know her limits, and hunters don’t care that she’s the Dawn, they’ll put a bullet in her skull anyway,” | almost growl.

The link goes quiet again.

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