Chapter 007: The Cost of Secrets

Ava's POV 

Standing near the window in my makeshift room in the packhouse, the cool night air bit my skin. Being back here, in a location that had once been my house but now felt like a far-off memory, was unusual. Five years had brought considerable change—Jackson, the pack, me. Still, certain things had stayed agonizingly the same.

Through the woods, I watched the moon, its brilliance creating long shadows on the ground. In the other room the twins were asleep; the only sound that calmed me down was their gentle breathing. But it was just temporary solace, one eclipsed by the weight of all else. The threat that loomed, the rivals hiding in the darkness, and the secrets I had stashed for so long.

Mysteries starting to fall apart.

Early on, Jackson had been right. I ought to have brought up the twins with him. But, following all of this, how could I. His rejection still loomed large, a wound never quite healed. I had made mine; he had made his decision back then. Now, though, I wasn't sure whether one of us had made the correct choice as I stood in this room bearing the weight of our past on me.

Riley was standing in the door when it creaked open. Though his voice was difficult to understand, his posture caused me to become alert.

"Ava," he remarked as he entered. "We ought to chat."

I slanted against the windowsills and crossed my arms. "Around what??"

He turned to face the corridor, ensuring we were alone before talking once more. "I have been digging a little bit. More is happening here than only covert operations.

I tensed while my mind ran. "What are you meant to mean?"

Riley lowered his voice and stepped forward a little. "Blackthorn is being fed information by someone inside the pack. The rogues are not acting for themselves. They are under instructions.

I choked hard, the pit in my gut deepening. "Who"?

Riley said, "I don't know yet," clearly frustrated. But someone close is involved here. someone with total access to everything.

An icy shudder crawled on my back. Though I had sensed something was odd, hearing it verified it all the more real. Someone we knew was collaborating with the enemy; the pack was in danger.

"And you believe Jackson is ignorant?" I asked, my voice calm in spite of the inner conflict.

Riley gave his head shakes. "He doesn't know who but suspects something. He is unduly preoccupied with the renegade menace. He lacks perspective on the whole".

I bit my lip considering this. Jackson was obstinate, as usually had beent. Though he liked thinking he could do things on his own, this was different. This transcended him or the pack. It pertained also to our kids. Everything was more perilous since the twins were targets.

Do you have faith in him? Riley's voice sliced into my ideas, his eyes keen as he watched me.

I hesitated, the weight of the inquiry down on me. Belief. It was such a delicate thing, and Jackson broke mine years ago. Right now, though? Things had changed at this point. We were not exactly the same.

"I'm not sure," I said, my voice almost above a whisper. But I have to do it. For the twins.

Riley's face relaxed a little, but his eyes still held something guarded. "We have limited time, Ava. It gets more risky the more long this continues. Before Blackthorn launches his next action, we must determine the traitor".

I nodded, the weight of the circumstance falling over me like a thick mantle. Every second that went by drove us closer to a breaking point as we were borrowing time. Still, I couldn't get rid of the sense that this went beyond Blackthorn's goal.

Something else existed. Deeper still.

Finally, my will hardened, I said, "I'll talk to Jackson." If we want to end this, we must be in agreement.

Riley nodded, although before he turned to go there was a flickering of something—doubt, maybe. "Be careful, Ava. Right now, trust is a lethal thing".

I let out a breath I never realized I had been holding as the door closed behind him. One thousand ideas collided at once in my rushing brain. Riley's comments hung around the room like an unspoken threat. Though skepticism was hazardous as well, trust was dangerous. And right now I had no one to believe.

I moved across the room to find the twins asleep; their tiny faces were calm and uninformed of the storm building all around them. Holding her blanket closely, Lily shifted over and murmured something incomprehensible in her sleep. Caleb was still; his chest rose and fell in a calm, steady cadence. Watching them made my heart hurt; the anxiety was chewing at me.

Their deservedness exceeded this. They were entitled to a safe house, a life free from continual danger hiding around every corner. Not yet, though, I offer them that. Not till after this was finished.

I bent down next to Caleb's bed and combed a hair strand off his forehead. His face resembled Jackson's so much that it caused emotional tightening in my chest. How could I ever justify the decisions I had taken to him? Why had I kept them apart from their father for so long?

I doubted whether they would ever grasp. I would nonetheless fight for them. I would fight with all I possessed.

Once more the door creaked open, Jackson this time. He entered, staring at the twins then turned to face me. Though his face was inscrutable, there was something softer, more vulnerable in his eyes than I had seen in years.

His voice low, he said, "We need to talk."

I faced him standing with crossed arms. " Regarding what?"

"About everything," he said, staring fiercely. "Blackthorn, the traitor," the twins said. We cannot continue functioning under darkness and hiding secrets from one another. Not when our family is at peril.

Our family's words really touched me more than I anticipated and set something deep inside me ablaze. For so long, I considered the twins to be mine. My responsibility is to raise my children Still, Jackson was their father and they were his too, despite all.

"I know," I answered softly, my voice more steady than I could have felt. It is not that straightforward, though.

"It has to be," Jackson insisted, approaching closely. "Ava, we have no time for this. Blackthorn's close in is underlined by whoever is working with him becoming more audacious. We must get together.

I looked at him, looking for some indication he realized the weight of what he was asking for. Not following all we had gone through, trust did not come naturally anymore. But I noticed a flutter of something I hadn't seen in years when I stared into his eyes. Reiteration. And perhaps hope as well.

Finally, the words weighty on my mouth, I said, "I'll tell you everything." But one thing you have to promise me.

"What?," I asked.

"That you'll protect them," I murmured, looking toward the twins. "You will keep them safe whatever happens."

Jackson's posture softened, and for the first time in a long time, I believed him when he said, "I promise."

I inhaled deeply, the weight of my choice descending on me. This was it. < the instant things might turn around—for better or worse.

"There's someone inside the pack," I said, sounding steady. "someone close to you. Blackthorn is being fed information by them.

Jackson stiffened and tightened his jaw. "who??"

Frustration rising inside me, I said, "I'm not sure". But Riley has been looking into this. He believes it to be someone high up, someone with access to all of our strategies.

Jackson struggled to absorb the material while pacing the room and swore under his breath. "I ought to have seen it," he said. "I should've known."

Surprising myself with how much I meant it, "It's not your fault," I said. But we have to exercise caution. Should Blackthorn learn we are on him—“

"He won't," Jackson said with piercing eyes. " Not if we move quickly."

I nodded; the strain between us was palpable but not aggressive anymore. At last we agreed and started cooperating. And it felt natural despite all that had happened.

Still, a lot of the unsaid was still there, many parts of the jigsaw not fitting. And as I observed Jackson, I couldn't get rid of the sensation that we still lacked something really crucial.

Once the door creaked open, Riley strode inside with a grim face. "We have issues."

"What is it?," Jackson asked with a tense voice.

Riley hesitated, staring between us before he said at last. "One of the scouts came upon something close to the eastern border. That's a message. Straight from Blackthorn".

Jackson's hands closed, the weight of what was about to sink the room's air.

"What Does it say?" With a beating heart, I asked.

Riley's eyes darkened. "He is familiar with the twins. And he is arriving for them".

Ava and Jackson have to face the truth of the peril hovering over their family. Ava and Jackson have to decide who to tr

ust and how to defend Blackthorn's menace while the traitor inside the pack stays under cover and looms bigger.