The Lost Pack (Paige) novel Chapter 253

<Book 2 Chapter 18

2

Book 2~ Chapter 18

** Poppy’s POV **

The bedroom door clicks shut behind me, and I let out a long breath. Then I turn on myself.

“You almost got me caught.”

+25 Points

The words come out in a harsh whisper, aimed at the empty space in front of me as if the voice might be standing there, lounging against the wardrobe, looking smug.

For a second, there’s only silence.

“You were already on edge.”

I press a hand over my eyes.

“That’s not the point.”

The voice doesn’t answer immediately, which makes it worse. The room feels too quiet. Like it’s

waiting to see what I’ll do next. I drag my hand down my face and glance toward the door.

There are no footsteps; no one is coming upstairs. No Jake knocking gently because he’s worried.

No Leo walking in with that steady look he gets when he already knows more than he’s saying.

Good.

I move further into the room, dropping onto the edge of the bed. The mattress dips deeply

beneath me, soft and comforting, but it’s too big for one person. A slow flush warms my face. I

don’t want to sleep in it alone, but inviting the guys into the bed creates expectations that none of

us have actually agreed to yet.

I look away and focus on the other furniture. There’s a large chest of drawers, which I already know

holds some of Jake’s stuff, and a wardrobe that I’ve not checked out yet. My eyes move to my

bags. I don’t have much, which kind of feels pathetic now that I have all this space of my own.

“I can buy more once I start earning again,” I whisper to no one, kneeling by my bags.

The zip sticks for a second before I force it open. Clothes stare up at me in a mess of wooly jumpers, jeans and things folded in a hurry before left. The faint scent of cooking oil still clings to the fabrics; maybe I should wash everything before I put it away,

“This place was made for you,” the voice stirs suddenly.

I freeze with one hand buried in a tangle of T-shirts.

“It was made in case I came back,” I correct.

“Which you did.”

<

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< Book 2~ Chapter 18

+25 Points

I yank a bundle of clothes free and stand, crossing to the wardrobe. The wood creaks as I pull the

door open. Inside, Jake and Leo have left almost all of it empty.

The hangers are neatly spaced. There are spare blankets on the top shelf, and a small basket with

hair ties and a spare hairbrush on the lower shelf. I stare at it for a long moment.

“They were afraid you wouldn’t stay if it didn’t feel like yours.”

That makes me stop. My fingers tighten around the shirt in my hand. “You don’t know that.”

The voice is quiet for a beat before answering again. “Don’t I?”

I shut the wardrobe a little harder than necessary and turn away from it. “You’re being annoying.”

There’s the faintest impression of amusement at the edge of my thoughts.

“And yet you keep talking to me.”

I glare at the empty room.

“That is very rich coming from the thing that keeps ambushing me in the middle of perfectly

normal moments.”

“There is nothing normal about you, Poppy.”

I feel a chill run down my spine, but I’m unsure if it’s from fear or from acknowledging the truth. No,

I’m not doing that. I go back to unpacking.

I hang a jumper in the wardrobe and fold my jeans into the second drawer along with my socks and underwear. My framed photos sit nicely on the dresser. Piece by piece, the room starts to look less like somewhere I’m borrowing and more like somewhere I might actually stay.

That should be comforting, and yet that stupid, hollow, unfinished feeling lingers beneath it all. Like I’ve reached the right destination but somehow missed part of the journey. There’s just a missing

piece I can’t name.

The voice speaks before I can push the thought away.

“You know what the absence is.”

My chest tightens,

“I’m not talking about this with you,” I whisper.

“Why?”

“Because you’re not real,” I snap; the words coming out sharper than I mean them to.

“You know that isn’t true,” it says, softer this time.

“You’re a voice in my head that knows too much and appears at terrible times. Forgive me if I’m

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< Book 2~ Chapter 18

not in a rush to label that healthy,” I laugh quietly.

“Healthy and true are not the same thing.”

“Give me a break, I just got them back,” I breathe.

“I know.”

“And they already think I’m fragile.”

“No. They don’t think that.”

My laugh this time is small and bitter. “Jake watches me like I might vanish if he blinks. Leo

pretends he’s calmer about it, but he’s not.”

The voice doesn’t answer immediately, as if it’s searching for the right words.

“They do not think you are fragile. They think you are hurting.”

+25 Points

I look away from my reflection in the window, from the damp-haired girl in Jake’s shirt and bare

legs who looks more settled than she has any right to.

“I don’t want them worrying about me again,” I admit, letting out a slow breath and sitting on the edge of the bed. “They spent months not knowing where I was, if I were okay, or if I hated them. And now, I’m back for less than a day, and I’m already jumping every time you speak.”

“Because I startled you.”

“Yes.”

“But I don’t frighten you.”

I hate that it’s right. That’s the problem with it. The voice doesn’t feel malicious or sound cruel. If anything, it sounds almost patient. Like it’s waiting for me to catch up.

I lay back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. “Can ask you something?”

“You can ask.”

I roll my eyes. “You make yourself sound very mysterious, you know that?”

A faint pulse of amusement that isn’t mine brushes the back of my mind.

“Why can I feel you and hear you more clearly now? I ask.

“Because you are where you need to be to connect with me.”

My heart skips a beat, and I sit back up.

“What does that mean?”

“It means this place matters.”

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<Book 2 Chapter 18

+25 Points?

My gaze drifts toward the window. To the line of trees and the deep green shadows beneath their

branches, even in broad daylight.

“The cabin?”

“The pack will shape you.”

Something in my chest goes tight.

“I swear you’re making less sense on purpose.”

“No. I am making the amount of sense you can bear right now.”

I stand abruptly, getting frustrated. “That isn’t helpful.”

“Neither is pretending that you do not feel what is changing around you.”

My pulse quickens. “What’s changing?”

No answer. I turn in a slow circle, as if the room might reveal something.

Then the voice speaks quietly. “The quiet one leads differently.”

I freeze.

“The quiet one?” I repeat.

“Yes.”

I don’t ask who it’s referring to; I already know… Leo. Something about the way it says it unsettles

me more than the words themselves.

“You can see them?”

“I can feel what you feel.”

That shouldn’t make sense, but it does.

I think of Leo downstairs, of how he always seems to be watching the edges of everything, the exits, the woods, the places danger might come from. Of how he gave me space even when every instinct in him clearly wanted to close it. Of how safe he made this house feel just by standing in it.

I think of Jake too, of pancakes and how he blushes, and the tremor in his breath this morning when he woke and found me still there.

And then, because apparently I hate myself, I think of the unfinished feeling again. That strange, impossible sense that even here, even with safety, home, and two men I already care about too much, something is still missing.

The voice stirs again. “Two is not the shape of your future.”

I go cold all over,

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< Book 2 Chapter 18

“No,” I snap before I can stop myself.

“Refusing doesn’t change the truth.”

“No,” I repeat, louder this time. “No. Absolutely not.

+25 Points

Because that would mean the missing feeling is real. That it isn’t nerves or trauma or my own broken mind trying to make sense of the life in front of me. That it means something, and I am not ready for it to mean something.

I start pacing, shoving folded clothes into drawers that are already organised just to give my something to do.

“That’s ridiculous.”

“Is it?”

“Yes.”

“Even now?”

I stop. “Even now… what?”

My mind betrays me instantly, conjuring a smirk at a bus station. A hand around mine. A text thread I should not be smiling about. Another brother, quieter, sharper, hidden behind that first

reckless grin. I slam the drawer shut.

“No.”

“You should be more careful,” it warns.

I point uselessly at the air. “You need to be more careful.”

I’m met with silence, and I realise I’ve raised my voice and drop it immediately.

“This is exactly what I meant,” I mutter.

“About what?”

“About your timing,” I hiss as I look toward the door. “They almost noticed.”

The voice is calm. “They already notice more than you think.”

I press my palms to my eyes,

“No, I’m serious. If you keep doing that, they’re going to think I’ve lost my mind.”

No answer,

I drop my hands and glare at the empty room again

hands

“I’m not saying you have to stop talking,” I whisper furiously. “Just… maybe pick better moments?”

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Book 2~ Chapter 18

Still no answer, which somehow feels worse.

+25 Points >

“And the last thing I need right now is my mates thinking I’m mentally unstable,” I add. “They’ve already been through enough because of me.”

I sit heavily on the bed again. I don’t want to burden them with more uncertainty when they’ve barely had time to trust that I’m staying..

“I will be quieter around them.”

That shouldn’t make me feel as relieved as it does. exhale and rub my hands over my face.

“Thank you.”

There’s another pause, then the voice speaks so faintly I almost miss it.

“But not silent.”

A shiver slides down my spine. I look toward the door again, suddenly aware of how silent it is. A silence that wasn’t there a few minutes ago. There are no longer sounds of movement or dishes clinking. My stomach drops.

Oh no.

I’m moving before I can think better of it, crossing to the door and yanking it open. The hallway is empty. I stand at the top of the stairs, one hand tightening around the banister. The kitchen below is half visible from here. Jake is by the sink. Leo stands beside him. Both of them are very still, and they’re looking up… At me.

Damn it.

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