Chapter 023: Underneath Surface

Jackson's POV

Standing in the midst of the packhouse peering out at the darkened woods, the weight of the day pressed down on me. The woman's ultimatum kept coming back to me, persistent and merciless: Step down as Alpha, or you won't see your kids ever again. Her comments bit me over and over. I had to start acting. Rapid.

Still, every road I considered was a trap. She was buzzling us into a corner, playing with us. Should I resign, all I had worked for—everything this pack had created—would be turned over to someone with unidentified goals. Should I fail, I would find it intolerable to consider what might happen to Lily and Caleb.

I looked as Ava entered the room; her pale face was set with will. She had hardly slept, yet even with the tiredness in her eyes, she had an edge I hadn't seen in a long time. We both understood we had to make the toughest choice of our life.

Her voice low but forceful, she continued, "We need more time." Jackson, we cannot cower in response to her requests. Not without ideas.

I nodded, yet every thread of my existence was screaming to run after them right now. "I agree, but she expects us to relocate. She will escalate if we fail to meet her needs by tomorrow.

Ava walked the room with purposeful, fast steps. "We have to figure out the twins without sacrificing the pack. We must consider this. One can always find a way.

Her comments were accurate, but the weight of the circumstances was stifling. I had always taken great satisfaction in my capacity for strategic planning and forward sight. Still, this time I was blindsided. This time they had my kids.

My thinking was cut off by a knock on the door. Turning to find Leo, my second-in-command, standing at the door, His attitude matched my own gloom.

"Alpha," he murmured as he entered. "The scouts are looking over the outside areas; we have upped the patrols. But there is no indication of them. Like they disappeared into thin air.

Ava's face stiffened, and I could see in her eyes the same helplessness I was experiencing. Her voice cooler than usual, she replied, "they didn't vanish." She's concealing them somewhere, waiting for us to screw up.

Leo nodded and looked over at us. "What's our next action??"

I stopped to weigh my alternatives. We have to compile data. From the past six months, I want every rogue sighting presented to me. We have to know everything; anyone who has been acting suspiciously or left the pack suddenly.

Leo inclined his head and walked away without saying another thing. Though I knew he was equally concerned as I was, I also knew he recognized the necessity. This went beyond simply tracking the twins going forward. This spoke to the pack's future.

I went back to Ava once Leo left. Her hands closed into fists at her sides, she had stopped pacing. "We need someone who can get near to her," she added softly. "Someone who can enter whatever group she is working with."

I scowled, thinking back on her comments. "We hardly know with whom she is allied. Someone sent in blind might be walking into a deadly trap.

"I know," she responded with a tense voice. "We are without other options, nevertheless. We cannot wait for her to move forward while seated here.

I nodded slowly while my brain flew. She knew exactly what I meant. We had to act, but anybody we dispatched would have to be absolutely trustworthy and talented enough to go undetectable.

Ava looked at me, her eyes ablaze with an intensity I had not seen in years. "I can walk."

I turned my head right away. "No," Not exactly at all.

"Jackson,"

I said no, cut her off, and spoke more sharply than I meant. "I am not endangering you either. Not right now when our kids are already at peril.

Though she didn't argue, Ava's eyes gleamed with irritation. She turned aside instead, peering out the window. Then who? she said, more to herself than to me.

The quiet in the room seemed thin, tension strung between us like a taut wire. Though I could not let Ava, I knew she wanted to act and wanted to be the one to solve this. Not here this time. Not with everything hanging on a knife-edge.

"We'll find someone," I replied softly, not sure exactly who I was attempting to persuade—her or myself. Someone who might enter without drawing attention.

Deep down, though, I understood this went beyond simply selecting the appropriate partner. This was about confronting an opponent who had already crept into our life without our knowledge, having meticulously prepared every action. And we were still catching up.

The packhouse had descended into a restless silence by the time the sun started to drop. The air was heavy with irritation since the scouts had returned knowing little. Every second without word of the twins felt like a lifetime.

In the main hall, Leo had assembled a group of dependable fighters each awaiting direction. The silence weighed heavily, the tension obvious. Every one of us was waiting for the evidence the woman had guaranteed. Searching for something, anything, that would provide hints about where to locate our children.

Ava stood next to me, staring about the room with a stony face. Her voice low, she said, "They're ready to fight." "But we have to be wise. We cannot charge into this without knowledge of our opposition.

I nodded, despite my instincts screaming to do precisely that. Every minute seemed like a countdown, an inexorable ticking clock I stop. Ava was accurate, though. Charging in without a plan would not bring our children home—only cause death.

The packhouse's doors opened suddenly, and the same woman who had threatened earlier entered with her cloak blowing behind her. She moved with the usual haughtiness and icy assurance, but this time she was accompanied.

When I saw Lily and Caleb standing next her, their tiny faces pallid and terrified, my heart stopped.

The woman said, "Proof," her voice tinged with delight. " As promised."

Ava gasped, her palm shooting to her mouth, and I had to slow myself down physically from running ahead. Right there were my kids, but I knew better than to act carelessly. One mistake, and she might vanish once more with them.

"You see?" the woman continued, her icy smile unwavering. "I honor my word of honor. Now, though, it is your time.

Jackson's voice stayed calm although his fists tightened at his sides. "They are returning home." You have raised a valid point. But I will not turn over the pack.

Her grin grew more broad. Oh, but you will. Since failing to do would mean She trailed off, eyes flickering to the twins with a terrible finality.

My heart thumping in my chest, I forward stepped. "Let them go; we will negotiate afterwards. You will obtain what you need.

The woman laughed, a harsh sound that irritated me. Ask to negotiate. You are not in a position to haggle Luna. You now have lost. Simply said, you do not yet know it.

Her words boiled my blood, but I pushed myself to remain cool. There had to be a way out of this for them without giving up everything. It had to be.

The room suddenly heard a low growl, and I turned to see Leo moving forward with dark, angry eyes. Enough, he snarled. You believe you could simply waltz up here and demand something? This is our land. We are not going to bend to you.

The woman's eyes danced with laughter. "Beautiful words. But words are insufficient to preserve your Alpha. Alternatively his offspring.

The woman's hand moved in a blur before I could react, and in the low light I saw something glint—a knife, squarely aimed at Leo.

Time appeared to pause as the blade soared through the air, but Jackson moved before it could land. He knocked Leo out of the path as his body crashed on his, but the knife wounded his arm severely and was bleeding.

As the warriors surged forward, the chamber descended into anarchy; the woman was already gone, disappearing into the shadows like smoke.

Heart thumping in my chest, I hurried to be at Jackson's side. "Jackson!,"

Gritting his teeth, he held his arm, but his eyes were fixed on the doorway from whence the woman had vanished.

"She's playing with us," he said, his voice low and angry. But we are not yet finished.

I nodded, my will strengthening. Though we were fighting our lives, one thing was abundantly evident.

Not lost would be us. Not to her specifically.

Not to anybody specifically.