The Lost Pack (Paige) novel Chapter 219

** Ryder’s POV **

I feel it before understand it.

It’s not a surge or the blow was expecting. Not the sharp crack of power l’ve learned to brace for whenever Paige’s gifts shift. It’s a settling. It’s like the final jigsaw piece fitting in to complete the picture.

I stop mid-step in the hallway of the healers cabin, my breath catching hard enough that Parker turns toward me instantly.

“You felt that,” he breathes.

It’s not a question. My wolf has gone unnervingly still inside me. Not alert or aggressive, just still.

The bond hums low and deep, no longer restless, no longer searching. The constant pressure that’s lived at the edge of my awareness since the field goes quiet, smooths out, and for the first time since Paige awakened, everything feels… balanced… complete.

Callen.

Parker exhales slowly beside me, one hand braced against the wall. “That was… different.”

Remy doesn’t answer. He’s gone very still, one palm pressed flat to his chest like he’s grounding himself. His eyes glow faintly, not wolf-bright, but deep and steady.”It’s done,” he says quietly.

The bond answers him with a pulse of strength.

Something rolls through all of us, subtle but undeniable.

My wolf lifts his head, not in challenge, but in recognition.

It’s like the threads of our bond snap taut, weaving tighter, and stronger.

I feel it, all of it, all of them. Air settles, fire steadies, water. deepens, earth anchors, and at the centre of it all is Spirit … Paige.

I close my eyes for half a second and feel it fully this time.

The way Callen’s presence has shifted inside the bond.

He’s not louder. Not stronger in the way alphas usually are when something feeds their dominance.

He’s clearer… sharper. As if the constant motion that defines him finally has direction.

Parker swallows hard. “Do you feel… taller?” he mutters.

I huff a quiet breath. “That’s not just you.”

Remy lets out a low, almost disbelieving laugh. “She didn’t just bond with him.”

He looks at me then, eyes burning with something close to awe.

“She stabilised us, the bond.”

The truth of it lands heavy in my chest. This isn’t about sex, or marks, or claiming. This is structure.Paige didn’t complete the bond because the Dawn demanded it. She completed it because we were unfinished, and Callen… Callen was the last piece.

Whatever was out there earlier… I feel it now. It’s far away, too far to find, but I feel the wrongness it left behind and the echo of the scratch Paige and Poppy described. It sends a shiver of unease through me.

Parker drags a hand down his face. “When we go back… we need to be ready.”

“For what?” I ask quietly.

“For her to feel different,” he says. “Not lost or changed in who she is. Just… more.”

Remy nods once. “And for Callen to be wrecked.”

That earns a snort from Parker despite himself.

I glance toward the closed front door of the cabin. Every instinct I have is tugging me forward and holding me back at the same time. Paige asked for this space, for choice.

For the bond to be finished on her terms.

So I don’t move, but my wolf settles deeper into my bones, stronger than he was an hour ago. Calmer, certain, more connected than ever before.

Ronnie steps out of one of the doors ahead, stopping in his tracks when he takes us in. His eyes widen.

“It’s done, isn’t it?”I give him a single nod as he stares at us with fascination.

“How do you feel? Any changes?” he asks, sliding his notebook from his pocket.

Parker clears his throat. “It feels stronger, more settled.”

“Bigger,” Remy nods.

“Solid… equal,” I add, trying to search for the right words, but there are no words to describe this, not really.

“Yes,” Ronnie nods. “This is what the Dawn wanted. Not submission or worship. It wanted balance. It wanted to bind all the elements together.”

Ronnie flips a few pages in his notebook, then stops. His fingers going still.

“That balance,” he says slowly, “just changed the board.”

I frown. “Meaning?”

“Meaning whatever was watching Paige earlier,” he replies, eyes sharp now, “felt her as unfinished. Spirit without full elemental stabilisation is like a fire with no fuel. It burns bright at first, but soon fades.”

Parker stiffens. “And now?”

Ronnie looks up at us. “Now she’s anchored.”

The word settles heavily in my chest. Anchored means harder to move. Harder to manipulate. Harder to destroy.Remy’s jaw tightens. “So the thing in the woods… the absence.

“Yes,” Ronnie says. “It was testing range, influence, reaction. It didn’t attack because it didn’t need to yet.”

*And now it will?” Parker asks.

Ronnie hesitates, then nods once. “Eventually, I think it will, especially if Paige purifies all its pawns.”

A ripple moves through the bond at that, something low and warning. My wolf shifts, alert but steady. Whatever Paige just did, didn’t just settle us. It sharpened us.

“I think it will wait,” Ronnie continues. “It will observe, and when it comes back, it won’t come as a scream in the trees.”

“Then how?” I ask.

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