The Lost Pack (Paige) novel Chapter 249

Book 2 – Chapter 14

Book 2~ Chapter 14

**Jake’s POV **

+25 Points

Poppy falls asleep while we talk. Leo and I both know the exact moment it happens. Her breathing changes. The tension slowly drains from her body, the way it does when someone finally lets

themselves rest after holding too much for too long.

Neither of us move because we are not stupid enough to risk waking her. She’s curled against me

on the couch, her head resting lightly against my shoulder. My arm is draped loosely around her, careful not to hold too tightly, careful not to trap her. The blanket Leo pulled over us earlier covers her legs and half of mine, and Leo sits on the other side of her, his arm stretched along the back of the couch like a quiet barrier. Guarding the way he always does.

My wolf hasn’t stopped pacing since she walked into the cabin. He’s restless beneath my skin, equal parts relieved and unsettled, like he doesn’t quite trust that she’s really here. Like he’s waiting for her to disappear again. I understand the feeling.

Poppy shifts slightly in her sleep, her fingers tightening where they’re still tangled with mine. My

breath catches, and Leo glances at me immediately.

“Relax,” he murmurs quietly.

That’s easy for him to say.

“She’s still here,” he adds.

I nod, but I don’t loosen my grip, not yet.

The cabin is quiet now, the only sound the soft crackle of the fire and the slow rhythm of Poppy’s breathing between us. The porch light outside shines softly through the front window, painting everything in warm amber.

She looks peaceful. More peaceful than I’ve ever seen her. The sight makes my chest tighten. I feel like I need to pinch myself, because just yesterday was worried I’d never see her again, and now she’s here, in our home, relaxed against me.

“Did you notice it?” I whisper after a while.

Leo doesn’t look away from her.

“What?”

“She didn’t hesitate.”

He’s quiet for a moment.

“No,” he agrees finally. “She didn’t.”

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< Book 2 – Chapter 14

That should comfort me. Instead, it makes the fear twist sharper in my chest.

“What if she wakes up tomorrow and realises she made a mistake?”

+25 Points

The words slip out before I can stop them. Leo turns his head slightly to get a better look at Poppy.

His gaze softens just a fraction as he watches her sleeping face.

“Then we give her the space to figure that out,” he says calmly. “But she didn’t come back here by

accident, Jake.”

My throat tightens; I want to believe that. Goddess I want to believe that, but eight months is a long time to imagine every possible way something like this can fall apart. My wolf shifts restlessly again; he doesn’t like the doubt. He likes that she’s here and that she’s touching us. He likes that she smells like home again.

I glance down at her. A loose strand of her hair has fallen across her face. Without thinking, I brush it gently behind her ear. She sighs softly in her sleep, and my wolf quiets slightly at the sound. Leo notices, of course he does. His wolf is just as alert as mine right now, lurking just beneath the surface of his calm exterior. Watching… waiting… protecting.

“You’re not the only one afraid she’ll disappear again,” Leo says after a while, his voice low in the dim room. “But I don’t plan on treating her like she will.”

I let out a quiet breath; trust Leo to put it that simply.

My eyes drift back to Poppy. She’s shifted closer without realising it, leaning more fully into my si now. The warmth of her body seeps through the thin fabric of my shirt, grounding me in a way nothing else has since she left.

Eight months… eight months of wondering if I’d imagined the bond was strong enough… Eight months of walking past empty spaces where she should have been… Eight months of pretending I was okay with the possibility that she might never come back. My chest aches at the memory.

“She asked Callen to bring her here,” I say quietly, more to myself, but Leo answers anyway.

“I know,” he nods once.

“That means something.”

“It does,” he agrees.

Silence settles again, but it’s different now.

I glance toward Leo, He’s still watching Poppy, his expression unreadable, but I notice something l hadn’t before. The way his hand rests lightly against the back of the couch behind her, Not touching, just close enough to shield.

His wolf is calmer than mine, but only slightly. It’s the first time it really hits me, the first time I truly

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Book 2 – Chapter 14

+25 Points

understand that Leo loves her just as fiercely as I do. It’s not just the mate bond pulling at him; it’s love, even if he’s not ready to admit it out loud. He’s looking at her the way Remy looks at Paige. And instead of that thought tightening something in my chest the way it might have months ago, it settles something instead. Because if there’s anyone I trust to stand beside me in this… It’s him.

“We’re going to be okay,” Leo says quietly.

I blink. “You sound awfully sure.”

His mouth twitches slightly. “I’m not,” he says, surprising me. “But I know one thing,” he continues.

“What?”

His gaze flicks briefly toward me before returning to Poppy.

“We’re stronger together than we were apart.”

My wolf hums low in agreement, and I let that settle for a moment. Then I nod slowly.

“Yeah.”

Leo shifts slightly on the couch, angling his body towards her carefully. The movement pulls the blanket higher over Poppy’s shoulder where it had slipped down. She murmurs softly in her sleep, and neither of us breathes for a second. Then she settles again, and we both exhale quietly.

“Get some sleep,” he says.

“You first,” I huff softly.

He doesn’t respond because we both know neither of us is sleeping tonight, not really. Not with her here between us and the bond humming quietly again for the first time in months. And not with the fragile hope that this might actually work.

Poppy shifts again, her head sliding slightly lower against my chest. Leo reaches over and gently tucks the blanket closer around her, leaving his arm draped over her.

When Poppy’s breathing deepens even further, my wolf finally settles. At least for tonight, she’s staying, and if this is all I ever get from her, I’ll take it.

Leo doesn’t move his arm from where it rests lightly across her waist. His hand barely touches the blanket, but the intention is clear. He’s anchoring her there between us. I study him for a moment before speaking quietly.

“You didn’t think she’d come back.”

It isn’t really a question.

Leo’s jaw tightens slightly. “No.”

The honesty doesn’t sting the way I thought it might.

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Book 2 – Chapter 14

“Now we don’t have to pretend anymore. Did you want to go after her?” I ask.

His eyes flick toward me briefly before returning to Poppy. “Yes, of course I did.”

+25 Points

I let out a slow breath. I knew he was struggling just as much as I was; he was just better at hiding

“Me too.”

Leo huffs softly under his breath. “I know, you made it kind of obvious.”

I glance down at Poppy again, careful not to disturb her. Her hair spills across the blanket, and for

a moment I just watch the slow rise and fall of her breathing.

“I think she just needed the time to figure some things out,” Leo says after a while.

“Yeah. She had a lot dropped on her in such a short amount of time; we should have taken it

slower with her.”

I nod. “She took it all too well, she was too keen. We should have known then that we were heading

for a crash out.”

Poppy shifts again, her hand tightening in mine. Then she murmurs something softly. At first, I

think she’s just mumbling in her sleep.

“…but why do the wolves trust the night?” she whispers.

My wolf goes completely still, and Leo’s head snaps toward her.

Poppy frowns a little, as if she’s listening to something we can’t hear.

“I can’t. People already think I’m crazy because of you,” she says, as clearly as if she were wide

awake.

Her hand tightens briefly around mine again, then she settles again, her breathing evening out as sleep pulls her deeper under. I know she doesn’t have a fever because I’d feel it being this close,

but I check anyway.

I gently place my hand on her forehead. It’s exactly the temperature I’d expect for a human, slightly

cooler than a wolf. So that rules out fever-induced delirium.

Slowly, Leo lifts his gaze to meet mine. Neither of us says anything, but I know we are both thinking the same thing… That seemed too coherent for sleep talking, and Poppy shouldn’t know things like

that.

“Did you ever hear her talk in her sleep before?” Leg asks, finally breaking the silence.

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