The Lost Pack (Paige) novel Chapter 260

Book 2~ Chapter 25

**Leo’s POV **

For a moment, I can’t move. Not because I don’t want to, but because I don’t trust myself to.

+25 Points

The bond settles slowly, like something ancient weaving itself into place, threading through my chest, my lungs, my bones. It’s steady, deep, and unshakable.

Her… She’s there. Not just beside me or in front of me anymore. She’s inside me, in the bond. Alive, strong, mine.

My breath leaves me in a slow, unsteady exhale as I rest my forehead against hers, my eyes closing as I let myself feel it fully, feel her.

Relief hits first. Sharp and heavy, almost enough to bring me to my knees. Followed quickly by something deeper. Something instinctive. Something my wolf has been clawing toward since the moment she walked back into our lives.

Protect. Claim. Keep.

My hand tightens slightly where it rests against her, like I need to anchor myself to something real while everything inside me shifts.

“Mine,” my wolf murmurs, quieter now, fully settled for the first time in months.

“I know,” I breathe.

Because I can feel it, the difference. The absence of that constant tension that’s been sitting under my skin since she left. That lingering fear that she might slip through our fingers again if we didn’t hold on

tight enough.

It’s gone, not completely, but enough. Enough that I can breathe.

I hesitate for half a second, then I reach for him.

“Jake.”

The link snaps into place instantly.

“Leo?” His voice comes back immediately, tense, alert. “What’s wrong? Is she okay?”

Something in my chest tightens at that. He was already bracing himself. Already expecting the worst,

I glance down at Poppy, at the way she’s settled against me, steady and real and here.

“She’s fine. It’s done.”

Then there’s silence, not disconnected, just still. Like everything on his end has stopped.

“You’re sure?” he asks, quieter now.

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< Book 2 – Chapter 25

“Yes.”

+25 Points

Another pause. Then relief. It hits through the bond so hard it almost knocks the breath out of me. It’s

warm, heavy, and unfiltered. Jake and I have this connection that shouldn’t be possible. It started while she was gone, stronger, deeper than a normal link. Like we could feel each other, not just hear. It’s similar to the connection that twins share, but we are not even related, Jake double-checked.

“She wanted it?” he asks.

There’s something fragile in that question. Something he doesn’t want to hope too hard for. He needs confirmation that this wasn’t a loss of control during sex. That she chose this and won’t regret it. I look down at her again, brushing my thumb lightly across her shoulder.

“She asked for it,” I confirm.

The breath he lets out echoes through the link.

“Okay,” he murmurs, and just that one word carries everything.

Relief… gratitude… hope.

“She’s staying,” I add quietly.

“Are you okay?” Jake asks.

I glance down at her again.

“Yeah,” I say. “Better than I have been in months.”

Jake goes still again.

“I’m going to be here a while. Tell her I’ll be home as soon as I can.”

“I will.”

The connection fades, and I finally let my eyes close, not to sleep, but just to feel every moment of this.

Poppy shifts slightly in my arms, and my eyes open instantly. Her head rests against my chest now, her breathing soft and even, like she’s already drifting somewhere quieter, safer.

My hand moves without thought, brushing gently over her hair, smoothing it back from her face as I look down at her. She looks different, Not physically, but there’s something about the way she settles against me now. Like the distance that was always there before has finally disappeared. Like she’s not half here anymore because she’s chosen to stay.

My chest tightens at the thought.

“You okay?” I ask quietly, not even sure if she’s awake enough to answer.

She hums softly, barely moving.

“Yeah,” she whispers.

< Book 2 – Chapter 25

The sound is small, but it threads through the bond, warm and certain.

+25 Points?

I swallow hard, my hand stilling briefly against her shoulder, close to where she now wears my mark. I can feel her, not just her emotions, though those are there too, softer now, calmer, but her presence. A steady, quiet awareness at the edge of my mind. It’s dangerously addictive.

My wolf almost purrs, content and alert all at once.

‘Careful,’ he warns. It’s not words as such, more of a feeling of what he’s trying to say.

I huff a quiet breath. “I am.”

But I don’t move away. I don’t loosen my hold, because after everything… I’m not ready to.

Minutes pass, or maybe longer. Time feels different now. Slower and heavier, like everything is settling into

place around us.

Poppy stirs again, her fingers curling slightly against my chest as she moves closer without even thinking

about it. The movement pulls something low and sharp through me.

Mine. The thought is mine this time, not my wolf’s; it comes unbidden, instinctive, and I force myself to

breathe through it. Not because it’s wrong, but because I don’t want to overwhelm her. Not again.

“She chose this,” I remind myself quietly.

My wolf huffs in agreement, and that matters more than anything.

I tilt my head slightly, pressing my lips briefly to the top of her hair, the gesture softer than anything I’ve allowed myself before.

I have to be careful with her. Even now. Especially now. Because the bond doesn’t just make things stronger. It makes everything more visible, more real, and beneath the calm settling between us… there’s something else. Something I can’t quite place. It’s faint, barely there, but it brushes the edge of my senses like a whisper I’m not meant to hear,

My brow furrows slightly as I focus on it, try to track it, but it slips away the moment I reach for it. Gone, as

if it had never been there at all.

My wolf lifts his head, alert again and questioning. Neither of us have an answer for what that was, and I

don’t like that, not even a little.

Poppy shifts again, her breath hitching slightly this time. Not fully awake, but not completely settled either. My hand moves instinctively, brushing gently down her arm in a slow, grounding motion.

“It’s okay,” I whisper. “I’ve got you.”

The words come naturally now, because they’re not just a promise, they’re a fact. I have her, and nothing in

this world or any other will ever get between us again.

She relaxes almost immediately, her body softening against mine again, and something in my chest eases

with it. Whatever that was, it’s not hurting her, at least not right now.

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< Book 2 – Chapter 25

+25 Points

Still… My gaze drifts toward the window, toward the trees beyond the cabin. The forest is quiet again, and that feeling from earlier, the one that’s been sitting just beneath the surface all day, hasn’t gone away. If

anything, it’s stronger.

My jaw tightens slightly. Three days. That’s all we have before the meeting. Three days before I have to leave her. The thought sits wrong in my chest. Even with the bond, even knowing she’s here. It still doesn’t feel right.

“She won’t be alone,” I remind myself.

The bond will help her; it will strengthen her. But it doesn’t make her untouchable. Jake will be with her, and her sister, the most powerful being I’ve ever encountered, who I have no doubt would protect her with her life. Not to mention Parker and Remy, the Twiceborn and the rest of the pack. She’s never been safer, but that doesn’t stop me feeling like she’ll be vulnerable here without me. Or maybe I’ll be the vulnerable one, because my heart and soul will stay here, always with her.

Poppy moves again, her fingers tightening slightly against my chest, as if she’s holding onto something in her sleep, or trying to. My attention snaps back to her instantly as a trickle of confusion filters through the

bond.

“Poppy?” I murmur.

She doesn’t answer, but her breathing changes. Uneven and tense now. A faint crease forms between her brows, and a quiet sound slips past her lips, too soft to be a word, but too sharp to be nothing. Her fear spikes, making my heart skip a beat.

“Hey,” I say more firmly this time, my hand moving to cup her cheek gently. “Wake up.”

Her head turns slightly against my touch. Her lips part, but no sound comes out.

My wolf surges forward, alert and ready.

“Something’s wrong,” I tell him.

I can feel it now, not just the shift in her breathing or the tension in her body. It’s something deeper,

something pulling.

“Poppy.” I say her name again, more urgent this time.

Her eyes snap open, and for a split second, they’re not right. They’re too dark, too aware, like she’s seeing

something that isn’t here. My grip tightens slightly on her without thinking.

“Hey,” I say quickly, softer now. “You’re okay. You’re here.”

Her gaze flickers, confusion breaking through whatever had just held her. Then she blinks, and just like that, it’s gone. Her breathing is still uneven, her hand still gripping me tightly as she looks up at me.

“I…” she starts, her voice rough. “I think I…”

She trails off, shaking her head slightly.

C

AIG