Chapter 029: The Slaying

Jackson's POV 

As I gazed out into the darkness beyond the packhouse, the night seemed to be like a thick fog, everything weighing down on me. This felt different, even though I had always been the one bearing the weight of leadership, family protection, pack obligation. It went beyond simply defending what was rightfully hers now. It has to do with survival.

The surge from the past still pulsed under my skin, blending with the frustration and helplessness that had been my regular friend. Though the Raven had vanished once more, we had saved Caleb. She always kept ahead of us, always playing her next move before we could even expect it, no matter how near we got.

Ava had come to see the kids once more, her face pallid and drawn from tiredness. She was, if not more, as worn out as I was. Both of us had suffered from our anxiety of losing Lily and Caleb. We afford to rest, though. Not when the Raven was still prowling the shadows, waiting for her next opportunity to attack.

Now the packhouse was eerily silent, guards patrolling outside and warriors inside lounging after the protracted night. Still, the silence wasn't consoling. It was the kind of silence that cautioned of an approaching storm, the kind that made the hairs on my back of neck stand on end.

Turning as I sensed gentle footsteps behind me Ava came into the room with a grimace matching mine. Her slow, methodical motions suggested that she was bearing everything with her.

"They're sleeping," she murmured, her voice just above a whisper. Lily woke up for a minute but is now sleeping.

I nodded, my eyes once more flashing toward the window. "That's good."

Ava gazed at me from her seat on the edge of the table, her arms crossing over her breast. Jackson, we cannot keep doing this.

Her comments lingered in the air, weighty and full of significance. Exactly what she meant, I knew. constantly on defense, constantly a step behind, we could not keep responding to the Raven's every action. But determining her true nature—that which had escaped us from the start—that would have changed everything.

My voice low, I said, "We need answers." Ava, we seem to be lacking something. We still need to solve a bit of the jigsaw.

She let out an evident frustrated groan. "She slips away every time we get near. She seems to be engaged in a game, and we are not sure of the rules.

Feeling the tension in my chest, I said, "That's exactly what she's doing. "She is guiding us using our love for the children against our fear. She is focusing on our family for a purpose; I have to find out why.

Ava stopped momentarily and wrinkled her brow in contemplation. "Do you believe she has a historical connection to someone? Someone harbors resentment toward the pack or against us?

I gave her question some attention, the mental knot tightening in my thoughts. Many would like to bring me down as Alpha, and many foes have been waiting for me to slip. But this seemed different. This came from the personal level.

"It is possible," I answered softly. But I have no idea who. If this is about retribution, she has gone to tremendous efforts to conceal her actual identity.

Ava's eyes sparked with something, a trace of knowledge. Perhaps the secret is this. She is clearly hiding in plain sight. We have been searching for someone related to the pack, but what should happen should she not be from here? What if she is a part of something more grand than what we have even thought about?

I turned to face her completely, the jigsaw pieces beginning to fit together gradually. "Like a rival pack?"

"Or a group of rogues," Ava replied, her voice gathering power. Although she has been attacking us with rogues, they have always seemed messy. What if she covers them? What if her actual strength resides somewhere else completely?

Making sense was what it did. From the start, the Raven had been arranging anarchy using others to handle her filthy tasks while she stayed under cover. But supposing we were staring in the opposite direction all through? What if she had supporters we had not even given any thought?

"We have to identify her actual base of operations," I remarked, my head ablaze with fresh ideas. "She's not where her actual strength resides; she's been employing rogue dens, abandoned sites close to the boundaries. She is hiding somewhere else; we have not searched there.

Ava nodded, her gaze focused with will. We will need more intelligence. We cannot continue to find her traps underfoot.

"I'll send Leo to compile data," I answered, already planning. "We will probe every rogue we have come across as well as every adversary we created last year. Something has to be known by someone.

Ava reached out with her hand resting on my arm. "We are going to stop her, Jackson. we have to. For the kids.

I laid my hand over hers, the link between us anchoring me. "We'll."

But the weight of all we were fighting against collapsed on me even as I shouted the words. The Raven was more than simply an adversary. She was someone else entirely—someone who had studied us, discovered our flaws, and turned them to advantage everywhere.

How did she know us so precisely?

The packhouse hummed with subdued activity the following morning. Though the tension from the previous evening still pervaded the atmosphere, there was also a clear goal now. Our direction, our strategy, gave us something to hang onto.

Leo had already assembled a small squad of scouts and trackers ready to travel into the nearby areas in search of further data. I observed as their faces set with resolve and they moved with silent efficiency. The gang was ready for whatever next came.

Still, I couldn't get rid of the sense that we were still living in darkness. The Raven had been overly rigorous and cautious. We had something absolutely vital lacking.

My ideas were racing as I stood by the window, then Ava joined me with a deliberate look.

Her voice soft, "Jackson, I've been thinking," she whispered. "What should happen if the Raven isn't functioning alone? Suppose someone else is behind all of this?

I turned to her and scowled. "You believe she is seeing someone else?"

Ava nodded, her calm focus shining in her eyes. It would help to clarify her constant one-step ahead behavior. Someone providing her knowledge, someone with inside knowledge of the group.

Though it made sense, I had not given that prospect any thought previously. The Raven had been overly informed about our shortcomings and too exact in her strikes. She could not have accomplished it alone.

"We have to find out who her partner is," I added, sounding austere. "Someone close enough to the pack to provide her the required knowledge."

Ava's face grew darker. " Few people would turn on the pack in that manner. But should we locate them, we will have the secret to stopping her.

I nodded, my head already whirling over the options. Only a small number of people have such access to the inner operations of the pack. But of them, which one might have turned against us?

"Start challenging the council," I urged, my voice low. " discreetly. We cannot alert anyone off until we are positive of who is involved.

Ava had determined eyes. "I'll sort through this, Jackson," said. I refuse to allow them to separate our family.

My heart was sad but resolved, I watched her go off. Ava had it right. We were handling more than simply a despot. Another person wanted to see us fall and was tugging at the threads.

We were not going to let that occur though.

Not while battle yet lingered in us.

I gathered in the war room with Leo and the other fighters as the day drew on to go over strategy and future actions. On the table, the map of our domain was laid out, dotted with the sites of recent attacks and reports of rogue behavior. Still, it felt as though we were catching up, constantly responding to the Raven's actions rather than predicting them.

Leo responded, his voice tight: "We have to strike first." We cannot continue to wait for her to approach us.

With a stiff jaw, I nodded. "Yeah. But we have to know where to strike.

One of the scouts walked into the room with a stern but deliberate attitude. Holding out a piece of paper, he said, "We have found something." "A note." It was buried beneath a boulder at the southern border. From the Raven is what I mean.

As I picked the paper from him, gently unfolded it, my heart hammered. Though the message was brief, the words chilled me.

Alpha, "I'll see you soon." This is only the beginning.

As I went over the sentences once more, my hold on the page grew stronger; the weight of the threat descended over me like a black cloud. She wasn't here with us. Not quite close.

Still, neither were we.

I felt the same surge of will, the fire blazing inside me from the minute this all started as I handed Leo the message.

The Raven might believe she was in the better position. She had, however, undervalued one thing.

I was not merely defending the flock.

I was representing my family here.

And I would do whatever necessary to shield them.