The Lost Pack (Paige) novel Chapter 280

Book 2 ~ Chapter 45

** Poppy’s POV **

The silence doesn’t last. Footsteps hit the hallway, fast and heavy, then the door swings open hard enough to rattle the frame. Callen steps in first, eyes scanning the room in a sweep before locking onto Paige.

“What the hell is going on?” he demands, already moving toward her. “I thought you said you were going to

the bathroom. This is clearly not the bathroom.”

Despite everything, despite the pressure still lingering in the air, I almost laugh. Paige doesn’t.

“I felt… something happening,” she says quickly, as if that explains anything. Like that makes this normal.” Then stuff just… got weird.”

Callen’s gaze flicks to the shattered glass, the cracked wood, the blown bulbs, then back to her, jaw tightening.

“Yeah,” he mutters. “No shit.”

Ronnie steps in behind him, slower and quieter, but the second he crosses the threshold, he stills. His eyes move between me and Paige, assessing us as if he’s not seeing the mess, he’s seeing through it.

“Well,” he says after a beat. “This is interesting.”

Callen turns on him. “Interesting? Ronnie…”

“Give me a second,” Ronnie cuts in calmly, already stepping further into the room.

Jake moves slightly in front of me, standing beside Leo protectively. Ronnie’s gaze tracks it. Then he studies Leo, then me, then Paige. Understanding flickers in his eyes.

“You felt it, didn’t you?” Ronnie asks, eyes on Paige.

Paige hesitates. “I… I felt something. I don’t…”

“It got worse when you got closer,” Jake says, cutting in quietly.

Callen’s head snaps toward him. “Worse?”

Jake nods once. “I think they’re reacting to each other.”

Callen looks between us, his expression shifting from confusion to something tighter.

“No,” he says immediately. “No, that’s not…”

Paige takes a step toward me.

“Don’t,” I say, too fast, too harsh.

She freezes, and there it is again, that flicker of hurt. It hits me straight in the chest. I lower my gaze to the ground, unable to look at her.

“But she’s my sister,” Paige says, her voice softer now, but no less stubborn. “I should be here for her.”

God. That almost breaks me more than the power did.

“I know,” I whisper around the lump that’s formed in my throat.

I take a small step back anyway. The distance helps a little, and it twists something in my chest.

“I know,” I repeat, forcing the words out properly this time as I look back up at her. “But you being here is making it worse.”

Her face falls. Callen exhales roughly, dragging a hand through his hair before stepping in closer to her, his

hand finding her arm.

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