All Chapters of The Lost Pack: Chapter 61 - Chapter 70

** Parker’s POV ** The moment Paige takes Jaxon upstairs to bed, I pull out the file our intel guy handed me at the pack meet from where I shoved it in my jacket. I flip it open on the kitchen island, careful not to spread everything out too wide in case Paige wanders back in. She doesn’t need to deal with this tonight, not after the day she’s had. She’d been radiant today, nerves hidden under that quiet grace of hers, standing tall before a crowd that looked at her with suspicion. The first picture almost guts me. Paige in a white dress. It’s simple yet elegant, the kind of beauty that doesn’t need lace or sparkle to shine. Her hair is pinned up in soft curls, a few strands loose around her face. The sunlight streaming through the church windows catches her eyes, making them brighter. She looks younger here, and there’s a hope there I’ve never seen in her. It makes my chest ache; I want to make her look that way. I want to bring that hope back into her eyes. Greg stands a

** Paige’s POV ** When we all come back into the house together, Jaxon announces he’s going to play with his Lego and dashes upstairs. The moment he’s gone, I feel the air shift. The tension is suddenly thick. Ryder stands by the window, arms folded across his chest. Callen sits at the kitchen island, papers spread in front of him. Parker leans against the counter, his jaw set. Remy is restless. My stomach twists. “Okay,” I say slowly, looking from one to the other. “What’s going on?” The four of them glance at each other, in the kind of silent conversation that makes me want to shake them. I hate it when they do that, deciding how much I should know, how much I can handle. “Sit down, Paige,” Callen says gently, gesturing toward the chair opposite him. The way he says it makes my pulse skip a beat. I pull out the chair, my fingers trembling a little as possibilities fly around my head. Has the pack turned on them because of me? Was there another attack last night?

** Ryder’s POV ** The air in the forest smells of pine and damp earth. I love being out here at this time of day, just before twilight, when the world starts to still. It usually settles my wolf, but not today. Today, he’s practically pacing with excited anticipation. The softer scent of sweet wax and smoke drifts in as I light the candles we’ve set all around. I breathe it in and let my gaze sweep across the clearing, forcing myself to see it the way Paige will. It needs to be perfect. No, it needs to be better than perfect. She deserves more. She deserves everything I never gave her when we were young. The tent is up, “glamping-style,” or so I’m told by Aubrey, one of our pack’s mated females. It’s much bigger than any tent I’ve ever seen, and miles apart from the one me and Paige used back then. Its cream canvas glows faintly with the lanterns set up inside, it looks warm and safe. It’s so big that we have a proper bed in there, with sheets, pillows and blankets. There’s no

** Paige’s POV ** The inside of the tent is nothing like the memory burned into me from our teens. Back then, the tent had been cramped and cold, the ground hard beneath the sleeping bag, and it had smelt slightly damp and mouldy. We’d been so young, both of us fumbling and overwhelmed, and afterward I’d been left with only silence when he disappeared. This is warmth and comfort, a bed layered with pillows and blankets, lanterns hanging from the poles, flowers tucked into little jars. It smells faintly of the forest and something rich and musky that’s all Ryder. He taps something on his phone before placing it down on a side table. Soft music I recognise starts to spill out. A song from when we were younger. He really has thought of everything to make this night perfect. My throat tightens as Christina Perri’s voice fills the tent. “It’s beautiful, Ryder.” He steps in behind me, his hand warm on the small of my back. “I wish I could have given this to you that night. Thi

** Callen’s POV ** The first thing Jaxon does when we get back to the house is kick off his trainers and sprint to the living room like it’s been waiting forever for this moment. His little voice echoes down through the house, announcing to anyone within earshot what game we’ll be playing first. Parker goes straight to the kitchen. “I’ll get the pizzas started.” “Can you stick some of those southern fried chicken drumsticks in too? I’m starving,” Remy calls after him as he follows me into the living room. “And some wedges,” I add. “Like a pack of damn wolves,” Parker mutters under his breath. “It’s for Jax. He’s a growing little alpha, he needs all the extra calories,” I tease. “Yeah, the kid eats better than half of our warriors,” Remy grumbles. The living room is chaos within minutes. Cushions on the floor, Jaxon’s hoodie abandoned by the sofa, controllers and game boxes scattered everywhere. “Alright, little man,” I say, sinking onto the sofa and grabbing a co