Chapter 006: A Wolf's Gamble

Jackson's POV 

I walked back and forth in my office, the moon low in the heavens giving a soft silver glimmer over the packhouse. My ideas were disorganized, bits of guilt, rage, and anxiety. The weight of it all would not go away. Ava's comeback, the twins, the rogues—it seemed as though the earth was collapsing upon me. Worse of all, I lost faith in someone.

Riley." My closest friend, Beta, had been behaving unusually. Though he had always been faithful and had my back, lately something seemed odd. It was in his avoidance of my eye and his hesitation upon receiving directions. And now, as these renegade strikes grew more frequent and deliberate, I couldn't deny the chewing suspicion that had crept inside me.

Stopped by the window, I peered out into the black wilderness encircling our domain. The trees moved in the breeze, their limbs murmuring whispers I could not hear. The rogues were waiting, observing, organizing their next action somewhere out there. And I felt as though their behavior suggested they were not acting alone.

I was lost in ideas until a gentle knock on the door. I said, "Come in," my voice raspy from hours of nonstop thought without pauses.

Riley tightened his face when the door creaked open. "We have raised the patrols as you requested," he remarked, his voice calm but devoid of the customary warmth.

I nodded, staring at him with narrow eyes. "good." There is no more money for mistakes.

Riley moved his weight, avoiding looking at me. "I doubt this is solely about the rogues, Jackson. There is something more occurring here.

My limbs stiffened. Riley had long enough for me to know when he was hiding something. "What do you mean?"

He hesitated, his eyes straying to the floor before turning to face me at last. I listened and heard something. One of the rogues we caught brought up a name. Blackthorn is.

My heart stopped for a moment. Marcus Blackthorn here. Indeed. For years, the competing Alpha had been searching for a means to discredit me, constantly hiding in the background ready for a chance. I ought to have realized he would be involved. But why wasn't anything I understood? With Ava and the twins, what was his desired outcome?

I closed my hands and tightened my jaw. "Blackthorn has followed me for some time. But today he is focusing on my family. Riley, this goes beyond a power play. He is there for everything.

Riley nodded, but his manner seemed strange. A flutter of doubt, a split-second of hesitation. My tummy turned inside me. Is that plausible? Might Riley be involved?

Shaking the idea, I tried to concentrate. I could not let mistrust color my judgment. Not now, while everything was disintegrating.

We have to get ready, I started with a stern voice. "Two times the patrols once more. I want eyes on every square inch of our country. And start screening every pack member. Nobody gets a pass free-of-cost.

Riley turned stiff. Jackson, you do not consider—”

Frustration boiling inside me, I said, "I don't know what to think." "But I'm not taking any risks until we discover the traitor."

He nodded and turned to go, his face incomprehensible. But the doubt crept back in as the door closed behind him. Was I acting in line? Was I pushing too hard, creating rivals from nowhere? Alternatively was I not exerting sufficient force?

I dropped into my chair and ran a palm over my face. Ava's coming had set off a tempest I was unprepared for. Five years of hiding the past had gone toward me convincing myself I had made the correct choice. But seeing her once more—seeing our children—had sent everything into anarchy. I had crumbled. Too much. And I was paying the cost right now.

Again, a gentle rap at the door broke off my concentration. Ava did it this time.

Her eyes clouded with concern, she entered. Quietly referring to the twins, she remarked, "They're asleep." "But we have to chat."

I nodded and pointed her toward a seat. She refrained from Rather, she crossed her arms, a few feet away, as if her only means of self-protection was to keep her distance from me.

Her voice steady yet tight, she added, "I overheard what Riley said." "About Blackthorns."

I leaned back in my chair, inhaled sharply. "That is not the complexity here. Blackthorn is not following me exactly. He needs you. And the twin brothers.

Ava's eyes flicked with something I couldn't quite read: maybe fear, maybe rage. "Why?" asos. What is our role in this?

I said, "Power," just as basic. He has always been wanting control. And he spots a chance with you and the twins in the picture. He will do anything to have his needs met.

She shook her head and paced before the desk. What therefore ought we to do? Just watch for him to approach us?

Not one. I spoke with a forceful voice. Not waiting is what we do. We come to him with the struggle.

Ava stopped counting and fixed her eyes on me. "You're talking about a war, Jackson.

I got up to stand before her across the room. "I'm referring to looking out for our kids. I refuse to let him take them. I won't let him take you.

Her eyes softened, just momentarily, and I caught a flash of the Ava I knew. I had pushed aside Ava.

She replied softly, her voice hardly above a whisper: "You hurt me." "You upset me in ways I never would have imagined possible."

Though guilt tugged in my chest, I turned not away. "I know," said

She shook her head, her manner stiffening once again. "I doubt whether I should trust you. Not following all around.

I swallowed, her words weight pushing down on me. "I'll get it back for you. I'll argue for it.

Ava stared at me for a long time before nodding at last, although her eyes still harbored questions. "We'll see.

Although there was obvious conflict between us, there was no time to dwell on it. The enemy is already at our doorstep, the risk too close. I saw the storm approaching and knew it would rip everything apart when it struck.

But I refused to let it. I have not been losing lately.

Turn back to my desk and say, "We need a plan." "I'll send a team to border scouting tomorrow. We'll discover Blackthorn's troops if they are close.

Ava nodded and watched me with her arms still crossed. And with regard to the traitor?

I stopped; doubt crept back in. We will also find them.

Actually, though, I had no idea how. The walls were closing in and the confidence I had developed over years of leadership was eroding with every hour that passed. I had to solve it. Before it was too late I had to locate the mole.

Ava disturbed the quiet with her voice. "Jackson, take care. Whoever it is, they are not just after you. They are looking for our family.

I looked at her, her words laying over me like a weighty garment. " I know."

I gripped her arm as she turned to go and stopped her. "Ava, I'm sorry."

She stopped; her back remained fixed to me. I felt she would withdraw for a moment, but then she spoke softly. Therefore am I.

She dropped out the door with that, leaving me alone with my thoughts once more.

I stayed there for a long period, staring at the location she had been in, the silence of the night encircling me. Now the moon was higher, giving the forest a ghostly glow, and I couldn't get rid of the sense of time running short.

The traitor was still prowling in the shadows while the enemy was closing in.

I had to start acting quickly.

Jackson is left whirling from Ava's remarks, the mounting mistrust in his pack, and the approaching menace of Marcus Blackthorn. Doubts linger as he gets ready to meet the challenges ahead, making the reader wonder who the traitor might be and how Jackson would manage the approaching fight.