Chapter 041: Subtle Betrayal

Ava’s POV 

When I heard the slight tap on my door, the sun had hardly dropped below the horizon. Already before I opened it, I knew who it would be. Jackson stood there, a storm in his eyes, and we just stared silently for a time. He was my best buddy, my compass through the storms, not just the alpha. That compass was also whirling right now.

His voice low yet firm, he continued, "Walk with me."

Closing the door behind me as we descended the steps and into the crisp evening air, I pulled on my jacket. The night noises of the forest alive—rustling leaves, the far-off shriek of an owl. His pace slower than normal, as though he were gathering his ideas, we strolled in silence for some time.

At last he started talking. "You should be aware of something. Around Eli.

Hit me like a stone with the name. "I thought he was at last proving himself," I added carefully. "He has been performing as promised.”

Jackson's facial expression was incomprehensible, but his jaw was tense. "That is also what I believed. Until yesterday night.

He halted and fixed me with a strong look. Eli has started leaving after dark stealthily. He claims he is out looking for any Raven supporters, but there is more going on. A handful of the pack members followed him. Their findings... He stopped, and I watched the agony flash over his face.

"What did they discover?" Though I pushed myself to look him in the eyes, my voice was almost a whisper.

His voice tightening, he replied, "they found him meeting with a woman." " someone not from our pack. She handed him something, something he buried before going back.

Trying to digest the weight of this disclosure, I tightened my hands. "Did he say anything about it?"

Jackson shook his head. "He refutes it." Says it was only a quick meeting, nothing. But there seemed to be something wrong. Whatever he is hiding, it may endanger us all.

I felt a tsunami of emotions—angry, confused, betrayed. Just when I started to rely on him, this.

"Why did you wait to tell me?" Struggling to keep my voice steady, I asked.

Jackson moved in front of her, his eyes warm. "For I wanted to trust him. For the pack as well as for your benefit. Now, however. Ava, I want you to be careful. Whatever he is involved in, it is more than he is disclosing.

I nodded, as weight dropped in my chest. "What are you looking for me to do?"

Jackson continued, his voice firm: "I need you to keep an eye on him. He relies on you. You are the one who can convince him to open up if anybody else can.

Though I thought the concept was awful, I knew Jackson was correct. Should Eli be concealing something, I had to discover what it was.

Each engrossed in our thoughts, we strolled back silently. Jackson turned to me as we arrived at the packhouse, his hand resting on my shoulder.

"Be careful," he advised, his voice almost above a whisper. "I can't afford to lose you."

His staring intensity caught me off guard, and for a second I felt a flutter of something more than friendliness. I brushed it aside, though, pointing then back toward the packhouse.

I remained up that evening listening to every sound in the house. My head flew with ideas and unresolved questions. At last, as the clock hit midnight, I heard Eli's door opening softly.

Following him at a safe distance, I waited until he was midway down the stairs before falling out of my chamber. His motions were deliberate, his steps quiet and fast. We slid over the woodland, negotiating shadows and branches, until he stopped close to the pack's edge.

I covered behind a large tree and watched Eli wait. The air felt charged, tight, as though the forest itself were holding its breath. And then she materialized, as I started to question whether this was all a mistake.

A lady in darkness, her face hidden. She gave him a little metallic trinket and they spoke quietly before she vanished into the evening.

Holding my breath, I watched Eli go. He briefly paused there, staring at the thing in his palm, then tucked it under his jacket and turned back toward the packhouse.

Mind racing, I waited until he vanished from view before emerging from my hiding position. Her gift to him was what? And why had he misled people about it?

One last thought kept running through me as I turned around: How long had Eli been lying?

Eli was in the training area dueling some of the younger pack members the next day. He moved with a studied simplicity, his motions deliberate and smooth. But as I got closer, I caught a flutter in his eyes—perhaps guilt—that suggested disquiet.

"Can we discuss?" Keeping a laid-back approach, I asked.

He nodded, trailing me toward a more sedate area of the grounds. We stood silently for a minute, the strain between us clear-cut.

"I watched his reaction closely last night," I remarked.

Eli's countenance grew stiff, but he turned not aside. So you were following me?

"You lied to me," I said, keeping my voice calm. "You were seeing someone, but you claimed to be scouting. She was someone?

He stopped and I could see tension in his eyes. "It's..." complex.

With crossed arms, I said, "Try me."

Eli drew a long breath and ran a hand over his hair. "Her name is Mira." She is a longtime acquaintance. < A few weeks ago, she contacted me saying she knew about the Raven and about a pack danger. She had knowledge.

I wrinkled, my mistrust rising. "Why not have you told Jackson? Or me?

"Because I wasn't sure if I could trust her," he said, his voice almost above a whisper. "She is connected to the Raven. Should Jackson learn, he would presume the worst.

"Maybe he'd have a reason to," I shouted back, my fury blazing. "You ought to have told us, with me, straight out."

Eli turned away with a clenched jaw. I wanted to avoid dragging you into this. Should something go...

I pushed him to look at me as I moved in front. " Eli, I am already engaged. Whatever you are hiding, it is influencing the group as whole. Tell me the truth then.

He paused, and for a time I believed he would at last be clean. Instead, though, he shook his head, a trace of melancholy in his eyes.

"Ava, there are things I am not sure of. Not quite yet.

My heart fell as his comments weighed down on me. Though just now I wasn't so sure; I had wanted to believe him, trust him.

Then I suppose you will have to deal with the fallout, turning away before he could see the damage in my eyes.

Walking away, I sensed a storm building inside me—a concoction of wrath,

treachery, and something else—something that tormented more than I would have let clear.