Chapter 032: In the Den of the Lion

Jackson's POV

Moving across the packhouse, the wind felt colder than usual while my mind ran through all that had come to light during the past several days. It was wearing on all of us the Raven's insults, the defection among our ranks, and the continuous sense of surveillance. Though Ava and I had a strategy, the Raven seemed to know exactly what we were doing with each move.

Alone in the war room, I discovered myself standing in front of shadows across the map on the table from the one lamp. With my hands down on its margins, my mind was assembling our next action. But since the last note was discovered pinned to the tree, I had a persistent sense that kept invading me.

The traitor was not merely near. Right here in the thick of everything, observing, listening. I was barely controlling the tempest that realization was building within me.

I was startled out of my reverie by a gentle rap at the entrance, then looked up as Leo entered, his face marked with concern.

"Alpha," he whispered softly, looking about the room then back at me. "We ought to chat. quietly.

I nodded for him to go on.

Leo paused, his jaw tightly closed. The warriors have been discussing this. People are beginning to doubt one another and wonder why the traitor or the Raven eludes us. They start to question whether you are hiding anything.

Though I kept my voice calm, I became really frustrated. And do you find them credible, Leo?

"No," he answered with great conviction. Nevertheless, that's the issue. I'm not sure how long we can keep doubt from fraying the pack together. Jackson, the Raven is acting deliberately here. She wants us to be split and suspicious.

Breathing deeply, I ran a palm over my face. Leo had good reason. She was aiming for our foundation; even if I wanted to locate her and stop this, we were stepping into every trap she laid. We cannot fight this conflict with physical force by itself. We had to get more intelligent.

"Get the council tonight," I urged, my mind turning to a fresh strategy. "We are going to face this squarely."

Each council member watched the others in the main hall of the packhouse with a mixture of mistrust and discomfort. Along with a few other reliable pack members, Carter was there, his attitude guarded. Ava stood next to me; her face was placid but her eyes were keen, sweeping the space as though trying to read every mind in the room.

I gazed over my load, the people I had vowed to guard, and could feel the strain. I had laughed with, battled alongside, and trusted these folks. But suddenly everyone was questioning each other as the poison of the Raven spread. I had to straighten the air and concentrate their doubts on the Raven herself, outside our group.

I started to cough, and the whispers in the room stopped. "I know there has been talk—rumors spreading through the pack—my voice steady," I said. "I know you're all wondering why we haven't stopped the Raven, why she appears to know our every move.”

A few council members nodded, their looks austere. Carter looked at me, his eyes suggesting an unconscious inquiry as though he too were seeking solutions.

"The truth is," I said, "the Raven has someone close, someone feeding her knowledge." someone who turned against us. We haven't been able to predict her strikes for this same reason. I let the words sink in while the shock and resentment reverberated over the space.

Ava advanced, her voice steady but forceful. "We are aware that this is not clear-cut hearing. Our pack is based on trust, thus we will learn who is betraying that confidence. But everyone needs to remain alert. Turning against each other is not something we can afford. The Raven is exactly looking for it.

With a strong tone, Carter's voice came forth from the quiet. And Alpha, how do you intend to accomplish that? When the adversary might be any one of us, how do we know who to believe?

I looked at him and felt his inquiry weight down on me. We are going to flush them, I declared with great conviction. "We'll set a trap; our answer will be there when they grab the bait."

Though Murmurs of agreement permeated the room, I could still sense the uncertainty. Though it would not be simple, it was a beginning.

"Until then," I said, my voice echoing across the room, "keep your eyes open, and don't let your guard down." One pack comprises us. Not against each other, we fight for one another.

I then called the meeting to adjourn, observing as the council members filed out, their expressions marked with concern but their resolve sharpened. But I felt the weight of our circumstances rest even more firmly on my shoulders as the last of them went.

Ava grounded me with her hand on my arm. Jackson, we are acting morally here. This is the only way.

I nodded, though doubt still bit me. " I just hope it's enough."

The next day we started to arrange the trap. The scheme was straightforward: we would release misleading information about a planned valuable supply drop for that evening, suggesting that it was vital for the pack's defenses. She wouldn't be able to refuse if the traitor was actually feeding the Raven knowledge.

I watched the fighters and council members closely throughout the day, looking for any odd behavior. Every contact seemed fraught, every glance loaded with subliminal significance. Anybody may be a traitor; that thought made me nervous.

I was standing on the packhouse balcony as darkness fell, the cold evening air doing little to release the strain coiled inside me. Ava arrived a moment later, her face softly glowing from the moon.

She quietly inquired, "How long do you think it will take?"

Not long, I said, staring beyond the treeline. "She will want to act before we have an opportunity to adjust our plans if she has been depending on this traitor."

Ava nodded, her eyes reflecting thinking. "It's weird, isn't it? She has gone to all the work and taken so many chances. for what? In order to destroy one pack?

I glanced at her, the weight of her inquiry hovering over me. "This goes beyond what first meets the eye. something private. And I aim to discover what it is.

We were silent, and then I heard rustling downstairs. Stressing to see in the low light, my heart hammered. Moving across the shadows, a man headed toward the area where the expected supply drop was situated.

Ava contracted next to me, her hand clutching my arm. Is that...?

I nodded while my pulse surged. yes. Time is running short.

We moved fast, discreetly alerting the fighters lying close by. I could see the figure's motions more precisely as we got toward the clearing. Hunched over, they surveyed the space as though searching for something—or someone.

The stranger turned as we drew in, the moonlight lighting their face. My heart spun with incredulity.

"Carter," I whispered, my voice quiet but bursting with the betrayal inside me. " Why??"

He stopped, shock and resignation mixed on his face. He seemed older, more tired, as though his deeds had aged him.

"Jackson," he said, his voice low, "you don't understand."

Then make me understand, I insisted, stepping forward. "Why would you turn against your own pack? Why endanger our family, our kids, here?

Carter's shoulders slumped, his eyes dropped to the floor. "I had no choice," he said. "The Raven... She presented me with a means of escape and family protection. She knew things—secrets I had kept under wraps, things I wanted kept under wraps.”

My jaw tightened, resentment bursting inside me. So did you sell us out? Sold out of your own family?

He raised his head, agony written on his face. I felt I could regulate it. I could offer her just enough to drive her away. Nonetheless, Jackson, she is unrelenting. Once she had her claws in, she never let go.”

Ava moved forward, her voice chilly. You let her pick our kids. For your personal secrets, you let her cut a chunk out of our load.

Carter's face wrinkled, regret apparent in his eyes. I am aware of it. I apologize. Nevertheless, it's too late.

His comments weighed me down, and the knowledge that this betrayal went farther than I had ever thought put me back. But forgiveness and compassion had no place here.

"Take him," I said, sounding hard. And ensure the Raven understands she has lost her inside source.

Though it was tempered by the awareness of what we had lost, I felt a terrible sense of satisfaction as the warriors guided him away. Trust, innocence—pieces of our baggage that would need time to recover.

Ava ground me with her palm on my arm. "We accomplished it, Jackson." Our search turned up the traitor.

I nodded, although the triumph seemed empty. "Once one battles down. The war is not quite over, yet.

And I understood the last clash with the moonlight as we stood the