Carry 33_The Lost Pack

** Callen’s POV **

 I let out a sharp whistle, and the kids freeze mid–sprint like someone hit pause. A couple of them groan, and a few flop dramatically into the grass, and one tiny omega throws his arms up and yells, “We demand

 extra time!”

 I grin, shaking my head. “You demand nothing, Greyson. You barely ran thest round”

 Greyson pouts and then gives me a cheeky salute before dropping into the grass beside his friends. I make a mental note to tell his parents he’s got potential beta energy. A smart mouth and a big heart.

 “Alright, pack it up.” I call. “Grab your water bottles and cool down. Then whoever’s still got energy left can help me carry the cones back.”

 A chorus of groans follows, but they obey, scattering to grab their drinks. Little Jaxes to stand beside

 I put my hand on his head me, watching the others, studying them. He’s already so full of alpha energy

 and ruffle his hair.

 “Did you enjoy that?” I ask.

 “Yes! Can we y some moreter?”

 I hesitate. With how Paige was acting today, I’m not sure if I’ll even see himter.

 “We will have to see if your mum has any ns first,” I say.

 “Okay, I’ll ask her after school,” he says before moving to the first cone. “I will help carry the cones back.”

 “Goodd, are you sure you’re strong enough, though?” I tease.

 “Yes. My mummy says I’m super strong for my age,” he says, dropping the cone to give me a full demonstration of flexing his tiny muscles.

 “You are” I nod, and then watch him as he collects the cones

 I let my smile fade as I turn toward the storage locker at the edge of the field. The sun is still beating down on us, thete summer heat baking my skin through my shirt I usually love these afternoons, love the way the pack kids look up to me, and the way the air smells like warm pine, but today is different.

 My stomach is in knots over Remy and Paige

 I’ve been turning over what i want to say to Paige for hours now. She deserves answers. She deserves the truth, but what I have to say isn’t just about me

 There’s a conversation </bing one that could break us apart before we’ve ever had a chance to build anything, and somehow, I’ve got to sta

 Remy and I have been talking in circles all morning, trying to figure out how to tell her about us. She knows there’s something between us, but she doesn’t know that I want to keep it going. That I want her and 

 Remy.

 The kids finish helping me pack up, and I wave them off to their teacher before slinging the equipment bag over my shoulder and heading toward the tree line. It’s a longer walk that I’ve taken a hundred times, through the woods, across the lower creek, up the path toward the cabins. I use it whenever I’m trying to pass time or just need some time alone to think. I know this route like the back of my hand.

 Today is different, though. I barely notice the birds singing or the coolness of the shaded forest floor. I’m too haunted by the image of Paige’s face, the way her shoulders had tensed, how her eyes became guarded, the way her voice wobbled when she said, “Not here. Not now.”

 God, I miss her already. It’s only been a few hours since I woke up with her soft, warm body in my arms, but it feels like weeks ago since I held her.

 She is one hell of a woman. The fire in her, the fight. The way she responds to us. The way she looks at Jaxon, like he’s her entire world. She’s already an amazing mother, and she is going to be the perfect mate

 and Luna.

 She’s so much stronger than she thinks. She’s been handling this whole situation so well, considering what

 we’ve dropped on her. But strength has limits, and what I’m about to confess to her could push her over

 hers. I’d considered waiting to tell her. To give her more time to settle before I throw another emotional

 grenade at her. But that’s not fair to Remy and I don’t want any secrets between us.

 My shoes crunch over dried pine needles as I duck beneath a low–hanging branch, mind still turning over the words I’ll say, when a sharp, sudden sting hits me just below my ribs.

 “Sh*t!” I curse, looking down and expecting to see a bee.

 Before I can even register what it is that I’m seeing, the burn hits me. It spreads hot and fast from the

 green feathered dart protruding from my side. My knees buckle and I drop the equipment bag as I stagger back against a tree. My vision is already blurring at the edges.

 Wolfsbane. The kind used by hunters.

 I barely have time to register the second dart before it thuds into my thigh, and the world tilts. My shoulder

 ms into the tree trunk, bark tearing into my skin as I drag in a panicked breath.

 “Hunters. On packnd.” I force into the mind link, but I’m too weak. I know they didn’t get the message.

 I

 I I I close my eyes and push through the haze, throwing everything I have into the mind link.

 “Danger. North woods Hunters. Wolfsbane. Ambush.”

 It’s like yelling underwater, but this time I feel the pack stir, voices ovepping, questions surging into a jumble of sound I can’tprehend.

 “Callen?!” Ryder’s voice cuts through like a de. “Where are you? What happened?”

 “Shot. Not alone. They’re here.”

 (Chapter 11

 My knees hit the ground and I barely manage to stay conscious, digging my fingers into the dirt like it might anchor me.

 “Callen!” Remy roars into the mind link and his fear breaks

 my

 heart.

 A twig snaps to my left..

 I twist instinctively, a growl rising in my throat despite the poison crawling through my blood.

 Three men step out from the undergrowth like ghosts. They’re dressed in that sh*tty camo gear that looks. like leaves. No scents. No heat. Just cold eyes peeking through masks, and rifles that look like they were

 made for killing monsters.

 “Shifter down,” one of them says into a radio clipped to his shoulder. “Alive. For now.”

 I bare my teeth, already shifting, not fully, but enough to snarl through the agony. “You picked the wrong

 f*cking territory.”

 The leader doesn’t flinch. He just raises his weapon again and shoots me point–nk. The dart ms into my chest, left side, just above my ribs, and the world starts to go ck, spiralling out fast and hard.

 No. No. No. Not yet.

 I m my head back into the tree trunk behind me. Pain bursts in white stars across my vision, but it

 keeps me here. Keeps me awake.

 I can’t ck out. I can’t be taken. Not when I have something to live for.

 Paige. Jaxon. Ryder. Remy. The Pack. My pack.

 I grit my teeth and try to shift again, but it’s an even worse attempt than before.

 The hunters speak again, muffled now, like I’m sinking underwater,

 I hear the distant howls of my pack as I lose the fight and darkness crashes over me. I just hope I didn’t

 imagine them.

 A pulse of pain pulls me back to consciousness. My chest burns. My side aches like I’ve been cracked

 open, and my limbs feel like lead, but I’m breathing. I’m alive, but barely.

 I open one eye and wish I hadn’t. They’ve dragged me into a clearing. My arms are tied behind my back, the smell of wolfsbane thick in the air. The hunters are speaking in low voices, and I can hardly make sense of their words, but one word cuts through it all: “heir”

 I go still. Suddenly able to focus.

 “We don’t need the heir. We need a message. He’s an alpha. He’ll do just fine.

 Ice ms through my veins faster than polson ever could. They know something. Maybe not everything. maybe not what Jaxon is or what he might be, but enough to target him. To use me.

 My wolf ws at the edges of my mind, frantic to get out, to protect Jaxon, but I’m trapped inside my own

 <Chapter 33

 body. Half–shifted, half–useless.

 I picture Jaxon’s innocent little face. It would destroy Paige if something happened to him, if the hunters got to him. It would destroy us all. We promised he’d be safe here. I intend to keep that promise to my mate if it’s thest thing I do.

 Something inside me snaps. I lurch upward, pain be damned, my body shifting more fully now, tearing through the restraints, or trying to. But the wolfsbane has me half–formed, barely coherent. Still, I meet the leader’s eyes and grin, blood trailing from my mouth.

 “You’re not leaving this forest,” I snarl. “Not alive.”

 The hunter closest to me c***s his head to the side slightly, his eyes narrowing.

 Another steps forward and crouches in front of me. “You’ve got a choice, shifter. Cooperate, and this will end fast. Don’t, and we carve what we need out of you slowly and painfully

 My lips twitch into a bloody smile. “Go ahead. See how fast my pack rips your throat out.”

 He doesn’t flinch, but something shes behind his eyes, a sliver of uncertainty. He was expecting fear, begging,pliance, but I’m not afraid of pain. I’m afraid of what they’ll do if I’m gone. My eyes start to close again, my lids feel as heavy as stone, and I bite down on my tongue.

 Stay awake.

 Stay alive.

 I can’t let this be how I die. Hog–tied in the dirt while men with godplexes try to erase my kind from the world. I have to hold on, just a little longer.

 There’s movement beyond the tree line, shadows flickering too fast to be human… They’reing.

 I lean forward, my chest screaming in protest. “You’re dead,” I spit at them, right before the trees explode with my pack.

 A howl tears through the clearing, primal and furious, and Ryder crashes in like death itself, fangs bared, eyes glowing gold. Behind him are Remy, Parker, and three more enforcers.

 I let the pain take me then, because I know I did my job. I alerted the pack. I kept them safe. I know with certainty that these hunters won’t be leaving these woods alive. I’m just not sure if I will either.

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Carry 33