The Lost Pack (Paige) novel Chapter 216

** Paige’s POV **

I feel it before Ronnie says the words, a subtle pull in my chest, threads tightening between me and each of them, different textures, different temperatures.

“You are Spirit,” Ronnie says to me, his voice steady. “Not light alone. Not life alone. Spirit is will, choice, meaning.

You connect what is, what was, and what will be.”

My stomach warms in response, a soft answering thrum that makes my breath hitch.

“And they,” Ronnie continues, turning slightly, “are the elements that allow Spirit to exist in the physical world.”

Ryder stiffens.

Parker’s hand slides instinctively to my back.

Remy goes very still.

Callen tilts his head. “Oh. This should be good”

Ronnie gestures to Ryder first.

“Earth.”

Ryder blinks. “Come again?”

“Earth doesn’t rush,” Ronnie says. “It holds. It endures. It protects territory, people and legacy. Ryder, when Paige doubted herself, you grounded her. When she was ready,you were the constant she orbited back to. The land answered her because you are bound to it.”

I feel it then… the weight of Ryder beside me, the steadiness, the way the ground beneath my feet feels more solid when he’s close.

Ryder swallows audibly, his jaw tightening. “That… tracks.”

Ronnie turns to Parker next, pointing at him.

“Water.”

Parker exhales softly with a small nod; he already knows.

“Water adapts,” Ronnie continues. “It heals, flows, wears down what is cruel without losing itself. You soothe her storms, Parker. You absorb what would drown others.

Where Paige burns, you cool. Where she fractures, you mend.”

My throat tightens. I think of Parker’s hands, his voice, the way he always seems to know when I’m about to break, and how he never demands I stay whole.

Parker nods once, his eyes shining. “‘ll take that.”

Ronnie’s gaze shifts to Remy.

“Fire.”

Remy laughs under his breath. “That figures.”

“Fire is destruction and survival,” Ronnie says firmly. “Itdefends, it purifies through force, it refuses to die quietly Remy, you are her fury when she cannot afford to unleash it. You burn so she doesn’t have to.”

My chest aches at that, because it’s true. Remy carries rage, so I don’t drown in it.

Remy’s voice is low when he answers. “I’d burn the world for her.”

“I know,” Ronnie says softly. “That’s why it chose you.”

Then Ronnie turns to Callen.

“And you,” he says, “are Air.”

Callen blinks. “Air?”

“Yes,” Ronnie says. “Movement, instinct, change, thought.

Air carries messages, it keeps things fresh, and forces evolution. Callen, you push Paige forward. You challenge her, provoke her, refuse to let her stay small or safe when the world needs her sharp.”

I suck in a breath because the pull between us tightens, quick, electric, and undeniable.

Callen’s grin fades into something raw. “I never wanted to cage her.”

“You never did,” Ronnie replies. “You taught her how to breathe.”

Silence settles over the field, heavy with understanding.”And together,” Ronnie finishes, “Earth, Water, Fire, and Air create balance for Spirit. That is why your bond is unprecedented. Not because you are powerful alone… but because together, you are complete.”

The truth of it slams into me all at once.

Spirit needs anchors. It needs forces to move through… it* needs them.

My gaze snaps to Callen as the pull surges again, sharp and bright. Air crackles between us, restless, demanding motion.

Ronnie notices immediately.

“Oh,” he murmurs. “There it is.”

“What?” Ryder snaps.

“That’s not death,” Ronnie says slowly, dread creeping into his voice. “Death leaves echoes that you’d feel. This leaves nothing.”

Callen steps closer again, carefully this time, stopping just out of arm’s reach. His voice is softer than l’ve ever heard. “Hey, glowstick. Look at me.”

I do.

Whatever the Dawn sees in him, I see it too. Loyalty so fierce it burns. Chaos wrapped around an unbreakable core. Someone who has always stood at the edge of things, ready to throw himself into the fire if it meant thepeople he loved would be safe. A perfect anchor.

“If you don’t want this,” he says quietly, “you don’t have to do it. I won’t fall apart.”

I shake my head, tears stinging my eyes. “That’s the problem. I want to, and the Dawn… it’s insisting, l just want it to be on our terms.”

“Then let’s do it on our terms. Let’s go home, just me and you. We will do it, but our way, the way you want, not here in the middle of the damn field with half the pack watching us.”

I glance around to see he’s right. We’ve drawn the pack’s attention. People peer out through the windows of their cabins. They’ve stopped whatever task they were on to watch around the edge of the field in small clusters.

The light flares inside me, hot and restless, urging motion, urging completion, but beneath it is something else now.

Awareness, control, choice and fear.

The cold presence presses closer, thin and starving, brushing the edge of my senses like frost creeping across glass. It isn’t attacking. It’s testing, probing, waiting.

“I don’t like this,” Ryder says tightly, stepping closer.” Whatever that thing is… it’s messing with her.”

“I know,” I whisper. My voice shakes, but my feet stay planted. “It’s watching and learning.”

Callen takes a careful step toward me, stopping when theair between us crackles, not dangerous, but charged. His voice is low, steady, stripped of its usual bravado.

“Paige,” he says gently. “Talk to me.”

1 meet his gaze, and the pull between us tightens again, pressure building, demanding release.

“It wants us unfinished,” I breathe. “Whatever that thing is … it feels the imbalance, feels the weakness.”

The Dawn surges at that, furious and protective, but instead of exploding outward, it coils inward, waiting.

The cold void reacts instantly. A sound rips through the trees, not a scream, not quite. It’s more of a high-pitched shriek, so high that it’s hard to hear.

Then it’s gone. The void suddenly filled with warm, vibrant Life again as if it had never been there.

I sag, breath coming hard, and Remy’s hands are on me instantly, steadying, grounding.

“What the hell was that?” Poppy calls as she rushes out of the healer’s clinic, looking around for the source of the noise.