The Lost Pack (Paige) novel Chapter 203

**Remy’s POV**

By the time Annie is settled in Poppy’s room at the healer’s cabin, the sun is already dropping behind the treeline. The girl looks like she could shatter any second, and Poppy refuses te let her out of arm’s reach, fussing over her blankets and muttering death threats about Greg. under her breath. Jake promises to stay with them, and Leo sits himself right beside the door like a silent guard dog. Good. They can handle her from here. I have a family waiting for me.

step out onto the porch, dragging a hand through my hair as the weight of the day settles over my shoulders. It has been hours, but I can still feel Paige’s light on my skin, Like the residual warmth from a fire I stood too close to.

She forgave Annie, and when she did, I think something cracked open in all of us.

I make the slow walk back toward our cabin, leaves and sticks crunching under my boots and a cool breeze brushing the back of my neck. The world feels quieter after everything that happened, almost too quiet. Maybe it is just me. My wolf is pacing inside my chest, restless and keyed-up, replaying the moment she glowed in that tiny living room. The way she soothed that girl with nothing but touch and truth.

A goddess who forgives. A Luna who heals. A mate who loves fiercely, and steals my hoodies when she thinks l amnot looking.

1 want her badly. Not just physically, though the pull of it is a constant ache in my chest. But her mark… the instinct to be hers fully… the need seems to grow louder with every breath.

By the time the cabin comes into view, I have nearly convinced myself I can act normal, calm and controlled Then the door opens.

Ryder steps out first, followed by Callen and Parker. All three shift into patrol mode instantly, shoulders squared, senses sharpened. They look like a trio of predators ready for blood. Callen barely lifts his chin in greeting.

‘ “Everything okay with Annie?” he asks, with a hint of frustration in his tone.

“Alive and settled is about as okay as she can be tonight,” | reply. “Poppy is babysitting. Jake and Leo are on guard.”

“Good,” Ryder says. “We are doubling patrols on the east tonight. The afternoon patrol caught a foreign scent there this afternoon. They don’t think it was hunters, but I’d rather be too cautious than not enough.”

My wolf snarls at his words, but I force it down.

“Give me five minutes to grab some food, and fil be ready,” I say, moving to step around them.

Ryder stops me with a hand on my chest, shaking his head.”We drew straws, you’re staying home tonight.”

“And before you stage a protest or demand a rematch, Paige putted yours for you, and you can’t argue with a Goddess,” Callen grumbles.

That explains his mood. I don’t tell them that for once; I wasn’t going to argue. There’s nothing I’d rather do tonight than have some alone time with my mate. Maybe Callen was right earlier; maybe she is making us soft.

Parker claps my shoulder on his way past. “Paige is inside waiting for you. Jax is knocked out cold already. Do not let her stay awake all night obsessing.”

Ryder arches a brow. “And Remy… behave.”

I grunt at them, because the alternative is telling them to mind their own damn business. They disappear into the dark, their forms shifting into shadows between the trees until I cannot even hear their footsteps.

The Twiceborn stand guard in the treeline, watching, waiting, like creepy wolf sentries.

1 push open the front door and the warmth hits me immediately. The scent of Paige’s shampoo and the lingering trace of dinner. The faint glow of a lamp spills from the living room, and I head towards it.

Paige is curled on the sofa, her knees pulled up to her chest. Jaxon’s blanket is draped around her shoulders like a shield. The moment she sees me, something in herposture softens.

“You’re back,” she murmurs.

“Yeah.” My voice comes out lower than intended. “Sorry I missed dinner.”

“You missed burnt chicken nuggets and Callen ranting for thirty minutes straight.” She says with a tired smile.”

Trust me, you escaped.”

She nods once, shy and powerful at the same time. “If you want me to.”

Want is an understatement. Want barely touches the hunger that has been growing for days, the instinct screaming that she is mine, and l am hers and this is supposed to happen.

But I have to ask. “Are you sure? Paige… after today, you should rest. We can wait.”

Her eyes flick to my chest, to the spot she knows her mark will sit. “I don’t want to wait.”

Part of me wants to be noble, to insist that she rest, and pretend I have the self-control of a saint. But saints don’t feel this kind of hunger… this holy, desperate, consuming need to belong to someone. To belong to her. And she asked for me. That thought alone almost knocks the air out of my lungs.

My control shreds, and I lean in just enough that our foreheads nearly touch. “Then come here, my dawn.”

She does.

Her hands settle on my shoulders, and my breath catches.

I grip the edge of the sofa because if I touch her now, I won’t be able to stop. Her gaze flicks to my mouth, then my chest, then she takes a slow breath that shakes slightly. Her decision solidifies in her eyes, bright and gold and unbearably beautiful. She swings a leg over mine, straddling my lap. Her body presses against me, soft and warm and smelling like safety and warm vanilla, and everything I have ever wanted.

The pull between us snaps tight and hungry, and I know, without question, that tonight, I wilt let her take every part of me she wants. Tonight, I will finally be hers completely, the same way she is mine.

I never imagined being claimed by someone could feel like freedom. But with her… it feels like coming home.

Like something inside me has been waiting for this exact moment, this exact woman, this exact touch, for longer than I’ve been alive.

Tonight, she will mark me.