The Lost Pack (Paige) novel Chapter 218

** Callen’s POV **

I have never knelt for anyone, not truly.

I’ve bowed my head in respect. I’ve lowered my stance to calm a pack fight. I’ve submitted in strategy and diplomacy. But kneeling… offering my throat, my power, my will, that has never belonged to anyone but me. Until her.

Paige stands in the centre of the bedroom, golden light barely contained beneath her skin. The cabin is quiet. Too quiet. With Jax at school and Ryder, Parker and Remy nowhere near this place, we are more alone than I think we’ve ever been. This moment is ours, carved out deliberately, protected, chosen.

My wolf wants to drop. It wants to kneel. To bare everything. To place itself at her feet and wait for permission to exist.

Her power hums between us, not demanding or forcing like it was earlier; it’s just present. A pressure in the air. A gravity that pulls me to her.

I swallow hard and step closer.

“Paige,” I say, and my voice comes out rougher than I intended.

She turns fully toward me.Goddess… I’ve always known she was beautiful. From the moment my eyes first landed on her, back when I thought she was just a tiny human female trying to calm an alpha wolf pup. I Knew right then she was a force to be reckoned with. That’s never been in question. But this… this is different. This is power layered with choice. Strength held carefully. A goddess who still remembers how to be human.

The pull hits me again, sharper now, threading through my chest, my gut, my spine. My knees bend before I can stop them. I sink down in front of her, slow and controlled, but still a surrender. My head bows. My hands rest loose on my thighs. I don’t look at her. I wait.

The Dawn surges in approval, but Paige doesn’t move closer. She exhales softly.

“Callen,” she says, and there’s no command in it, no power, just Paige.

I Lift my head instantly. Her eyes are shining, not with light, but with emotion. Real human emotion.

“No,” she says gently, stepping forward. Her hands come to my jaw, warm and steady, tilting my face up. “Not like that.”

My chest tightens. “I want to,” I admit. “Everything in me wants to kneel. To give you everything. To…”

“I know,” she whispers. “But I need you standing.”She presses her forehead to mine.

“I need you to be you,” she continues. “So I can still be me.”

Her light stirs, uncertain.

Paige’s fingers thread into my hair.

“Don’t let me get lost, Cal.”

The words hit harder than any order ever could, and something in my chest cracks open.

“I won’t,” I vow, without hesitation. “Never. If you drift, l’ll find you. If you rise too far, I’ll anchor you. If the world starts calling you a goddess before it remembers you’re a woman… I’ll remind it.”

Her breath shudders.

“I promise,” I say again, rising slowly to my feet, reclaiming my height, my presence, my dominance… not over her, but for her.

The Dawn responds instantly. The pressure shifts in approval.

Paige’s hands slide down my chest, slow and exploratory.

“Good,” she whispers.

Heat coils low in my spine. I step into her space deliberately, forcing her back a single step, then another, until her shoulders press against the wall. Not trappingher, just claiming the space.

Her pulse jumps under my fingers when I brace one hand beside her head and trail my fingers down her throat, over my mate mark.

“Still Paige?” I ask.

She nods. “Still me.”

“Good,” I repeat, softer this time. “Because I’m about to take what’s mine, and I need you present for it.”

Her eyes darken with hunger, and I lower my mouth to her ear.

“This is where you tell me to stop,” I say quietly. “Or where you tell me to continue.”

She doesn’t hesitate.

“Continue.”

The word ignites everything. I kiss her slowly, a kiss that is more of a claim. My hand slides to her hip, my fingers digging into the soft flesh there, reminding her who she belongs to.

Her light flares, not outward, but inward, coiling tight, preparing for whatever it is it does to brand her mates, her elements, as hers.

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