Chapter 036: Below the Surface

Jackson's POV

Before the day really started, the packhouse was still, a rare quiet time. As I went over the remaining loose ends we had to tie off, the weight of the recent evenings pressed down on me. Though the Raven might be gone, the seeds of mistrust and revolt she had sown still entwine themselves through the pack. And Lyra's treachery cut more than most of the pack was ready to acknowledge.

My thoughts were cut off by a gentle knock, then Leo came in with a solemn look.

"Alpha," he started, stopping as though looking for the proper words. "More disturbance has resulted from this. Another one of our scouts discovered Raven's insignia etched into a southern boundary tree.

I tightened my mouth to help me control my annoyance. "We've removed her, but her presence still shadows us."

Leo nodded with a wrinkled brow. She seemed to have scheduled this. Her last weapon of choice was doubt.

I ran a hand over my face, the exhaustion starting to show. "Any directions on Lyra's whereabouts?"

Leo hesitated. " few." A path headed west was reported by some of the scouts, but it turned cold before they could continue. She is familiar with the country.

"She's more dangerous than we thought," I said, the words weighing heavily. It is not only the emblem. To anybody ready to listen, she is delivering the Raven's message.

As I turned to face Leo, a notion occurred to me recognizing our struggle was against more than simply a handful of residual supporters. It was about eliminating the concept, the defiance she had ingrained in part of the pack. We required a fix not only for the stragglers but also for restoring pack confidence.

"We will call an assembly," I said, voice steely. "The pack has to hear straight from us. We should remind everyone of us exactly who we are.

Leo nodded in agreement. "I'll go around spreading the word."

I became more urgently needed as he went. There was no escape from this; only confronting it head-on would provide actual resolution.

The pack had assembled in the courtyard by evening, their features a combination of weariness, conflict, and hope. As I moved forward, I felt the energy flow through them; I looked across the assembly and saw Ava's face, her eyes fixed and comforting.

I lifted my voice and let it fill the clearing. "We have gone through far more than any of us could have predicted when the Raven first emerged. She aimed to split us, sow uncertainty, cause us to distrust one another.

Murmurs filled the assembly, and their mutual indignation of the scars the Raven had left behind simmered under the surface.

But she failed, I said, staring out over the crowd. "We still occupy this place. More robust with every test she sent before us. She no longer occupies a place in our life and her hold over us is gone.

Ava moved forward, her voice quiet but strong. Still, her impact lives in symbols and in whispers of revolt. And for this reason we stand here tonight united. To remind one another that we are one pack based on trust and that unity is our strength.

As the pack absorbed her words, a stillness descended upon them, and for a minute I could sense the group resolve growing. But as Ava went on, I noticed a flutter of motion at the courtyard's brink. Lyra stood in the darkness, a youthful, nervous face. She was observing, a wary yet inquisitive face.

As I understood she had come to listen rather than to disturb, my heart hammered. Perhaps part of her was still conflicted, still juggling allegiance to the Raven's values against the family she had known.

I looked at Ava, then gestured gently toward Lyra, and she nodded. Here we had to tread gently and be careful. The incorrect action could drive Lyra farther away, down into the Raven's influence.

I waited behind as the assembly broke up, observing Lyra loiter in the shadows, her eyes fluttering frantically between the others and me. At last, when most of the pack had left, I walked gently, unassuming, toward her.

"Lyra," I whispered gently, pausing a few steps apart. You did not have to come here.

She froze, staring aside. "I just wanted to check if anything had changed.”

I inhaled and chose my words deliberately. Though not in the manner the Raven wanted, things have changed. She only showed us our strength; she thought she could destroy us from the inside.

Lyra's shoulders hunched, her posture's rigidity somewhat released. "I thought in her words on breaking free, being more than just followers."

"There's more to strength than breaking away," I said, voice consistent. Real power comes from standing together and finding a purpose. You need not follow her road to strength.

Lyra peered at me, a flutter of doubt in her eyes. "I'm not sure whether I should just go back. Too much I believed in. There is.

"You don't have to decide right now," I replied, a sliver of hope flickering in me. Simply consider it. Recall what each of us fought for—what you once fought for.

She nodded slowly, her eyes fixed and turned back into the darkness. Watching her go, I felt a weird mix of relief and melancholy. Lyra was not totally lost, not lost at all. The path back would not be simple though.

Ava and I sat in the peace of the packhouse later that evening; the weight of the evening was at last resting. She glanced at me, held my hand, and opened a gentle grin.

"You did well tonight," she murmured, her voice a salve for my tired head. "You brought them back to what this pack represents."

Feeling the comfort in her hand, I grasped hers. "Still, we have a long distance to travel. Though she is gone, the Raven has a great influence. Rebuilding will take some time.

Ava nodded with a fixed look. "We shall reconstruct." In concert. One small step at a time.

Sitting in comfortable solitude, we let the weight of the day fade. Her quiet strength served as a reminder that we would find our way through whatever bad things got.

But as I started to unwind, there was disturbance close to the packhouse door. We both stood fast, staring worriedly at one another and then toward the commotion.

Leo and a few scouts were gathered around a figure as we emerged from indoors. My heart stopped as I identified Lyra—her face pale but her attitude firm. She fixed me squarely, something ferocious and urgent in her gaze.

Her voice a little above a whisper, she said, "I'm ready to talk."

Ava and I looked at each other briefly before leading her inside, maintaining the peace and nonviolence. She sat across from us, her hands tightly gripped, a countenance marked with inner struggle.

Her voice tense, "I didn't mean for it to go this far," she started. "I felt disoriented and perplexed. The Raven gave us the impression that we were the ones in charge, as if we could turn around everything.

I listened, felt the weight of her words, the guilt under her admission. Lyra, none of which is beyond atonement. What counts right now is what you decide.

She nodded, then lowered her eyes to her hands. "I just want to write things. Still others, though, thought in her same line as I did. They are out there still working to forward her message.

As I understood the extent of the Raven's reach, I shivered. She had spun her values into the brains of those she had shaped; they were spread, buried, just waiting for the right opportunity to be active.

"Can you assist in their search?" Ava asked softly, her voice both stern and sympathetic.

Lyra raised her head, her eyes ablaze with a resolve not before visible. Absolutely. I know the people still devoted to her and where they have been gathering. I can demonstrate this for you.

Knowing we had an ally who knew the Raven's warped world gave me a fresh will and a rebuilt strength. We would destroy every last trace of her revolt together, bring each one back to the fold or guarantee they could no longer endanger our togetherness.

Lyra guided us into the evening, and I could feel Ava's hand in mine, consistent and strong. Though our road forward would be challenging, we were no longer fighting in the dark.

And I knew this time, as Lyra disappeared into the darkness, we would find the light.