Chapter 035: Echoes of Deception

Ava’s POV

Though it had an edge, as if the storm hadn't completely left, the air felt oddly still—that kind of stillness that follows. Although we had caught the Raven, quieted her warnings, the weight of what she had left behind persisted strongly. Though remnants of her remarks tormented me and suggested that her influence would not be readily reversible, I knew we had won the war.

Moving across the packhouse, I felt relief mixed with an uneasiness I couldn't ignore. While council members chatted in low accents, debating the next steps in rebuilding, warriors showed muted triumphs and tired faces. Underneath it all, though, I sensed the residual uncertainty—the seeds she had sought to sow.

Jackson was standing on the balcony, gazing far as though he were seeing beyond the forest. Though his lines of duty were clearly marked on his face, he seemed tired. Still, his stance gave me comfort. He turned, a little, weary smile crossing his face as he sensed me walking toward.

Not able to fall asleep? He asked gently, his eyes looking around me.

Shaking my head, I moved forward. Not with everything she said still whirling in my head. She may be gone, but her words live on.

Jackson's face grew black. She wanted us to start to doubt all we had created. Ava, but we are more robust than that. We are more powerful when taken together.

His comments were consistent, assured, and I saw a sliver of hope amid the upheaval. Still, there was one more unspoken darkness I couldn't overlook.

"What if she were right, Jackson? Though she might have been motivated by revenge, what would happen if the seeds she sowed germs? What if doubt grows like a pest?

He stretched out, grabbing my hand in his and grounded me. Then we will confront it together. The pack looks to us for consistency and for unity. We have to demonstrate to them that nobody can split us.

I nodded, finding strength in his words, but while we stood there the silence was broken by packhouse activity. A pallid and gasping scout hurried through the door.

"Alpha, Luna," he muttered, peering anxiously between us. "We came upon something rather odd."

Jackson and I looked at each other quickly then trailed the scout. He guided us to the brink of the forest, where a little clearing revealed a startling sight: a crude symbol painted on a tree, along with deep claw marks that appeared too intentional to be random.

As I identified the emblem, a cold crawled down my spine. It was one the Raven's rogues had turned to, a signal of defiance, a taunting. Neither with her gone nor should it have been there. Someone had done this on purpose, someone still inclined toward allegiance to her.

Jackson's mouth closed and his eyes hardened. "Looks as though she still has supporters not ready to let go. They are working to preserve her impact.

I felt a mix of annoyance and resentment as I tried hard to swallow. "But why?" She has disappeared. She no more presents a threat. What may their gains be from doing this?

Quietly, Jackson muttered, his gaze never straying from the symbol. "Control." "They want her spirit alive even now she is gone. She stood as a rebellion, a force that rocked us to our very core.

The concept disturbed me. Although the Raven had been taken out, traces of her influence persisted, rebellious and sneaky. Whoever had done this wanted us to live in her shadow, to question the peace we had so fiercely battled back.

"We have to root them out," I added, speaking deliberately. "We cannot let those still devoted to her poison the pack."

Jackson nodded with a firm look. "We will accomplish it, Ava, together. We will end her legacy whatever it takes.

Over the next three days, one searched every inch of the packhouse, interviewed fighters, and combed over the whole territory of the pack. Though each finding of residual symbols or hints of allegiance to the Raven motivated us to keep on, it was taxing. Not when we had come so far could we let her shadow hang about.

One of these investigations led me to the older section of the packhouse, a quiet corridor hardly utilized. Something struck my attention as I ran my palm over the aged wood—a tiny, carved emblem almost discernible until you knew where to look.

From the clearing, it was the same sign.

Examining it, my heart hammered as I felt the weight of the Raven's reach even here, in our most personal area. My blood stopped cold at the idea that someone she had put inside our walls had seen and known everything.

Turning, I looked down the vacant hall and heard a faint sound. A slow, rushed voice then the creak of a door. There someone was monitoring me nearby.

My pulse pounding with every step, I moved steadily toward the sound. I rounded the corner and saw a blur of movement—a figure sliding out of a side door and vanishing into the night.

I followed without thinking, tumbling into the shadows as I tracked the figure across the forest. Their feet were light and they moved fast, yet I could sense they weren't expecting to be followed. I stayed far-off, waiting for the ideal opportunity.

At last the figure halted in a tiny clearing, peering about as though looking for someone close. I moved cautiously forward, seeing them remove a tiny piece of parchment from their cloak; the moonlight provided just enough illumination for me to recognize the Raven's insignia.

"Who are you cooperating with?" Calling out, I entered the clearing and heard my voice resounding in the silence.

The figure stopped, their body stiff as they turned to meet me. Under the low light, I saw the face of someone I knew—a young warrior called Lyra, someone I had trusted, someone who had spent years training under us.

Her eyes gleamed with a mix of terror and defiance, the parchment securely in her grasp. "Ava... you do not understand."

Then make me understand, I murmured, my voice forceful yet subdued. "Why would you carry on the task of the Raven? She almost totally wrecked us all.

Lyra's face contorted, her expression combining desperation with rage. Though to us she was power, you call it devastation. She demonstrated for us the possibility to be more than just followers and the strength outside the guidelines of the pack.

Her comments struck me like a punch, a stinging reminder of the harm the Raven had done. Lyra, that is not a strength. That represents anarchy. She sought not independence but control. And you endanger everything we have created by trailing her.

Lyra's hold on the parchment tightened, her eyes fierce. Perhaps our need is for turmoil. Perhaps it is time the pack learnt to challenge its leaders.

My heart was hammered with a combination of grief and wrath. Lyra was young and impressionable; the Raven had targeted that sensitivity. But I couldn't let her revolt compromise the pack's safety.

I replied softly, stepping forward and urging not to do this. "Here, with us, you have a place. But there is no turning back if you keep down her road.

I briefly felt as though I could see a flutter of uncertainty in her eyes—a moment of indecision. Her jaw set, though, and I knew her choice was taken.

She murmured, her voice hollowly resolved, "I won't be part of your world." And she turned and disappeared into the darkness before I could stop her, leaving me alone in the clearing.

Jackson was waiting when I got back to the packhouse; his expression was tight as I related what had transpired. The weight of the circumstances descended upon us; the knowledge that the Raven's influence persisted even in her absence twisted the brains of people under her spell.

"We'll find her," Jackson shouted, his voice resounding with will. And anybody else still carrying the Raven's banner.

I nodded, tiredness falling over me, yet resolved. Her shadow would not linger over us any more. Together, we would destroy the seeds of uncertainty, face the remains of her legacy, and create a better future for our pack.

I had a flash of hope as we got ready for the difficulties ahead—a promise that we would find our way even in the gloom.

Our relationship was greater whatever the depth of the Raven's influence ran from. One step at a time, we would also verify it.