Chapter 001: The Return

Ava's POV 

Coming back here never appealed to me.

As I drove down the little, twisting road heading toward the Blood Moon Pack's territory, my lungs smelled familiarly of pine and earth. The air seemed to weigh more and became dense with memories and unspoken words the closer I approached. My pulse accelerated as my hands tightened their grasp on the driving wheel, the dark contour of the forest loomed ahead enveloping the territory of the pack in a shield. 

Five years as opposed to this

Five years after Jackson Wolfe tossed me aside like I was nothing—his mate, his weakness—reversed. I had been damaged, brittle, uncertain of who I was without him back then. But that woman? She vanished from sight. I was not the same Ava that had grieved and powerless stumbled out of this woodland.

I had shifted. My kids had made me different.

"Mama, are we almost at it? Lily's voice drew me back into consciousness. Her brilliant green eyes wide as she stared out the window, she sat in the rear seat. Caleb, her twin, remained silent next to her as usual; his face was blank, but I knew he felt the strain slinking up my spine.

We are almost there, yes, I responded, trying to keep my voice cool. Actually, though, I was not ready. Whether I would ever be ready to see Jackson once more was unknown. Once my everything, the man was... and who with just a few cold, apathetic remarks had broken me?

*You are not strong enough to be my Luna*.

Though years had gone by, the agony of his rejection still lingered in my mind that evening. But today it went beyond me. It revolved around Lily and Caleb, the kids he knew nothing about. The heirs he omitted from claiming.

My heart thumping in my chest, I inhaled as the automobile rolled to halt at the boundary of the pack's territory. This is it. Now turning back was not possible. The pack had to know what was ahead—what was already hunting us. And, as much as I detested to say it, Jackson was the only one able to keep us safe.

Opening the car door, I stepped onto the gravel road and felt the clean air blast over me. My legs felt weighty, as if every stride pulled me back into a history I had labored so hard to flee. Lily and Caleb reached for mine with their little hands as they climbed out behind me. Though not yet, they knew enough to perceive my anxiety; they did not know the whole significance of this spot.

"Mama??" Caleb's subdued voice broke through stillness. He raised his black eyes, Jackson's eyes, full of questions he was not ready to ask.

Though I wasn't sure if I believed it myself, I whispered, "It's going to be okay." 

Hand in hand, we strolled toward the large iron gate signifying the entrance to the pack territory. When I felt it—an invisible pulse of force, familiar and overwhelming—I had hardly set foot on the opposite side. The pack ties. Though farther away now, it was still there. a reminder of what I had lost as well as what I had before participated in.

From the shadows a deep growl rumbled, and we were encircled in an instant. Wolves: Three of them together. Their strong figures were ready for attack; their eyes shone in the low light. Heart pounding as I confronted the threat, I instinctively drew Lily and Caleb behind me.

From the trees, though, a fourth wolf surfaced. And this one I could identify.

Jackson's.

He turned before my eyes, his human form materializing in the gap separating the wolves from us. He was just as I had described—tall, strong, every inch of him radiating the authority of an alpha. His dark hair hung haphazardly around his face, and his silver eyes locked into me with a force that caused my breath to stop. 

We neither spoke for a moment. All the weight of all the things we had left unsaid weighed the air between us.

At last he whispered, "Ava," his voice low and harsh.

I forced myself to meet his stare and choked hard. I have to talk to you.

Jackson's gaze strayed to the twins behind me, his expression turning to something incomprehensible. But one of the wolves at his side snarled before he could talk.

The wolf snipped forward in his human shape, saying, "We don't need to hear anything from her." I identified Riley, Jackson's beta and devoted second-in-command right away. As they rested on me, his dark eyes brimmed with contempt. " Jackson, she is a traitor. She headed off. We owe her nothing at all.

My gut turned around. Though I had expected animosity, Riley's comments' venom pierced farther than I had thought.

"I'm not here for a reunion," I murmured, my voice icy although my palms shook. "Something is scheduled for the pack. Something lethal. And should you ignore us, all of us will die.

The words hung there, a heavy quiet trailing after them. Jackson scrutinized me and stiffened his jaw and narrowed his gaze. I felt for a second that he may turn me away, that he would allow the years of hatred and animosity between us distort his judgment. Then, though, his expression changed—something I had not seen before.

Fears.

Quietly, he muttered, gesturing to the wolves encircling us. "Bring them inside." We'll chat.

I released a breath, relief rushing through me, but it was fleeting. Still, this was merely the beginning. Still to come was the actual struggle.

My mind flew as we headed for the packhouse. How was I meant to approach him? How could I say that all was dependent on the kids on my side—our kids? That they were the reason the rogues had located us and why they were hunting us so assiduously?

More significantly, though, would Jackson respond when he came to know the truth?

With my heart hurting at the realization that Lily and Caleb's lives were about to alter permanently, I looked down at them. Safe, hidden from the perils of this planet, they had been. Now, though, I had pulled them back into the center of it into a fight they were too young to comprehend.

Jackson guided us into the packhouse, his steps deliberate yet his quiet frightened me. It was not like he would have held back. Jackson I knew never avoided conflict; he always expressed his opinion. Now, though, he was silent, his eyes lingering on the twins with an expression I understand.

Riley turned on me as soon as we walked into the room, his rage hardly restrained. "This better not be some plot, Ava. If you are lying—that is, "

"I'm not lying," I said, my own rage . "I wouldn't have come back here if it wasn't serious."

“Enough” Jackson's voice sliced through the suspense, strong and commanding. He looked at me, his silver eyes fixed on mine. "Tell me what's happening."

I paused just a second before leaping right in. "We came under attack." Rogues discovered us—ambushed us, out of nowhere. But it was not a haphazard attack. Jackson, they were out hunting us. They were searching for something—or someone.

His gaze shifted to the twins, and his expression stiffened. "Who?,"

I took a deep breath, preparing myself for what I was about to say to them. They focused on Lily and Caleb.

The quiet that followed was intolerable. Jackson's expression stayed blank, but I sensed the strain in his shoulders and the way his hands closed at his sides. He did not probe the obvious question. He was not obliged of course. The truth was right there, squarely facing him.

"They are your children, Jackson," I replied gently, my voice almost above a whisper. " Our children."

I briefly felt as though I saw something flutter in his eyes—shock, even astonishment. Then, just as fast, it vanished and was replaced with a hard, chilly mask.

"You kept this away from me?" His voice was low, threatening, and I could sense the rage boiling under the surface.

My heart hammering, I responded, "I had no choice." "I could not stay after what transpired between us. Not here, not when—I raise children here.

"Not when I rejected you," Jackson said, his voice acrid.

I stammered; the words pierced more deeply than I had thought. I did not, however, back off. "I followed my intuition about what would be best for them. for us.

Jackson fixed me for a long time, his eyes looking for something I wasn't sure I could provide him. And then he turned aside, just as I thought he may flare out, letting his rage overwhelm him.

"We'll discuss this later," he murmured, his voice icy and far away. "We must now concentrate on the threat.

I released shame and relief flooding over me in equal measure. This was not over—not by a margin. Still, we had a temporary truce at least for now. 

Right now we were on the same side.

Deeply down, though, I knew that wouldn't last. The truth has a way of disentangling everything, and more secrets just waiting to come to light.

And then nothing would never be the same after they did.

My heart dropped as Jackson turned away. Though the severity in his voice froze me to the bone, I had expected wrath. This was simply the beginning.