Chapter 015: The Still Betrayal

Ava's POV 

Sitting in the little study room, the packhouse felt unnaturally silent as Blackthorn's letter weight pressed on my thoughts. We trusted whomever was behind this. someone near. The sensation that the adversary was much closer than we had thought would not go away from us—it was not hiding far outside our boundaries.

Jackson had hardly slept, his thoughts fixed on the letter and its ramifications. Leading the pack, looking after our kids, and now this secret treachery was draining him. I could see it in the rigid set of his jaw that never seemed to soften and in the way his shoulders stiffened every time someone talked to him.

I was not here, though, only to watch. I had to respond. For the sake of the pack, for our kids, I had to be a part of the answer. I could not be the quiet, powerless friend they believed I was. Not nowadays.

Jackson came in as the door cracked open, grimacing. Though he hadn't spoken much since we discovered the letter, his quiet said plenty. He moved across the room and sat down next to me, clearly tense.

He said, gazing at the floor, "We cannot trust anyone." Every choice I have taken, every partnership I have formed, may have all been motivated by falsehoods.

I stretched for his hand and lightly squeezed it. We will work things out. Jackson, we have traveled far already. We are not letting them prevail.

His eyes locked with me, the struggle obvious. But just who is it, Ava? Who would turn on us this way?

The reality was neither did he; I had no answer. For days we had been following shadows, and the opponent was always one step ahead. Blackthorn's turn-about had knocked us off-balance, but this traitor—this secret threat—was destroying all we had created.

As I was getting ready to reply, the door knocked. Evan walked into the room with his pale, drawn-in face. "You have to go to the main hall," he said gently. "There has been..." an occurrence.

My heart accelerated, a knot in my gut developing. "What happened?."

Evan looked at Jackson then responded. One of the guards came upon a corpse close to the edge. Among us is one of theirs.

Jackson surged to his feet, black eyes ablaze with wrath. "Who?"

"Marcus," Evan murmured with a sad voice. Among the spies we dispatched this morning was him. They discovered him close to the northern boundary, but it wasn't a rogue. This was a person from within.

The floor seemed to slide out underfoot. one more murder. Still another blow from the traitor, whatever their identity. "What about the others? Do the scouts pose any danger?

Evan answered, "They're shook." Right now, though, they are safe. Though we have doubled the guard,... He stopped, staring back at Jackson once again. "There is another." We came to another symbol etched into a tree close to the body. The same one from past times.

The emblem of the traitor, the jagged mark. My breath stopped, then I looked at Jackson, whose face was suddenly ashen with fury.

Jackson said, his voice icy and firm: "Get the senior wolves together." We have to face this squarely.

Evan nodded then hurried out of the room. Jackson turned to look at me, his face focused with will. "We are running out of time. Whatever this is, they are becoming more audacious. We cannot afford to just sit back any more.

I stood as my mind flew. "What is the scheme?"

Jackson remarked, "We will compile the senior wolves." And we will begin to directly challenge them. One of them at least knows something.

I nodded, yet the strain in my chest would not go away. Dealing with the senior wolves might provide solutions or exacerbate our problems. Still, I understood Jackson was correct. We were not eager for still another onslaught.

The senior wolves gathered, their features stern, and the big hall was quietly murmuring. There were twelve of them, all seasoned pack members having served faithfully for years. One of them, perhaps more, was concealing a fatal secret.

Jackson was in the front of the room, his presence as usual demanding. I stayed by his side, my eyes darting across the features before me in search of any indication of dishonesty or guilt. But all I saw were watchful eyes and guarded attitudes.

"We discovered Marcus dead this morning close to the northern border," Jackson said, his voice firm but charged. And this was not what rogues produced. This was a person from within.

Though some people stayed quiet, too calm for my taste, a murmur of astonishment ran over the room.

"We also discovered another one of those symbols carved in the trees close to the body," Jackson said, his eyes keen as they glanced over the space. "These days, these are hardly random strikes. Someone is leaving us warnings and is specifically attacking our family.

There was silence hanging thick in the air, and I could sense the strain building. The older wolves cast nervous looks at one another, but nobody said.

Jackson's voice became more rigid. "If anyone here knows something—anything—you should talk about it now. Since the next attack might not take place on the edges of our country. It may be right here. Perhaps our kids.

At his words, my heart hammered, and I watched several of the wolves show the flutter of anxiety over their cheeks. Good. They must realize how serious things were.

Leo, a broad-shouldered male among the senior wolves, moved forward with a concerned look. "Alpha, everyone of us has been a pack loyalist. If someone among us is a traitor, though, we must locate them before they separate us.

"That's exactly what we're aiming at," Jackson said, his eyes narrowing. But I depend on everyone working together. Gone are secrets.

The room went still once again, and I could sense mistrust hanging about. Still, none of anybody volunteered forward. Nobody came clean.

I turned to look at Evan, standing at the rear with a stiff expression. His eyes locked with mine, and for a few seconds I sensed something in his glance—something that chilled my spine.

One of the younger wolves broke into the room panting fiercely as if he had sprinted the whole distance before I could register it.

"Alpha!" he exclaimed. "There has been another attack!"

Jackson hardened. "Where?," asos

"The safe house," the pale-faced wolf painted. The one you sent the kids. Attacks are underway.

My blood cooled. The safe home, where we had dispatched the twins for security. They could have been in danger.

Jackson and I shot left the room without saying, the gravity of the matter slamming down on me. As we rushed across the corridors, my pulse surged and one thought—the twins—occupied my thoughts.

The wind blasted through my hair as we broke outdoors, and I could hear the far-off sound of a fight. Jackson's eyes gleamed with rage as he ran ahead, and I trailed closely, every muscle in my body tight with anxiety.

It was anarchy when we arrived in the clearing hiding the safe house. Wolves were fighting viciously as Blackthorn's troops had broken through the perimeter. All I could think of, though, was entering and locating the twins.

Jackson moved with brutal efficiency as he battled the assailants, yet I could sense despair in his motions. Right now he was fighting for our family, not for the pack.

We persevered through the anarchy and at last arrived at the safe home entrance. Jackson kicked it open, and my heart thumping in my ears, I hurried inside.

The chamber stood empty.

Panic shot through me as I looked wildly about the little area. Where were they?

As I was about to yell for them, I heard a faint sound—whimpering—coming from behind a wall panel.

Jackson was already slinking the panel open to expose a little crawl area. Inside, gathered closely, were Lily and Caleb, their faces pallid with terror.

I went to my knees and pulled them into my arms, then relief washed over me. Whispering, my voice quivering, "It's okay." These days, you're safe.

Jackson bent down next to me, his hand resting lightly on Caleb's shoulder. "We have you," he replied gently, his voice loaded with feeling.

But even as I held them close, the awareness came to me like a gut-reversing blow. The attack was not a fluke. It wasn't at random.

The traitor understood just where to attack.

And they were still out there, waiting for the next event to split our family.