All Chapters of THE ALPHA'S FORSAKEN SECRET : Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Ava's POV Early morning mist hung on the ground as I headed for the training grounds. Although the chilly air hurt my cheeks, it was not at all like the shiver that had crept into my bones since discovering Riley's body. The whole pack was on edge after his murder, and the rumors of a traitor among us had only become louder."The real traitor is already among you," the message eluded me from memory. Riley's death and everything else that had transpired came from someone we trusted. Still, who? And before we learned the truth, how much harm would they cause?Jackson was dueling some of the younger wolves as I arrived at the training areas. His motions were frantic, and his wrath propelled every hit. Riley had been his closest friend, like a brother; his irritation and anguish were obvious.He stopped when he saw me observing and dabbed at his brow to clear sweat. "You're up early," he replied, his voice hoarse.Walking nearer, I said, "I needed some air." "And I wanted to see how you

Jackson's POV As we returned from the cabin, the night seemed abnormally silent; the forest absorbed whatever noise we produced. I ought to have felt let-off. Elena, a senior wolf who had turned from the pack for Blackthorn's promises of power, had turned out to be the traitor. Rather, yet, the stress still tormented me from the margins of my consciousness.Elena's treachery wasn't a one-off occurrence. It was a sign of something more basic, something rotting inside the pack. Her words stayed with me: You are not deserving of Luna. She had targeted Ava not only as a mother or a rejected partner but also as someone she thought to be still vulnerable. She had been mistaken, but it informed me one thing: others like her, wolves who questioned us, had doubts.Ava moved next to me, silent but keen, her senses alert. I could see how much she had changed—stronger, more decisive—after all that had occurred. Though I hadn't seen it before, she had always been strong in her own unique manner.

Ava's POV Sitting in the little study room, the packhouse felt unnaturally silent as Blackthorn's letter weight pressed on my thoughts. We trusted whomever was behind this. someone near. The sensation that the adversary was much closer than we had thought would not go away from us—it was not hiding far outside our boundaries.Jackson had hardly slept, his thoughts fixed on the letter and its ramifications. Leading the pack, looking after our kids, and now this secret treachery was draining him. I could see it in the rigid set of his jaw that never seemed to soften and in the way his shoulders stiffened every time someone talked to him.I was not here, though, only to watch. I had to respond. For the sake of the pack, for our kids, I had to be a part of the answer. I could not be the quiet, powerless friend they believed I was. Not nowadays.Jackson came in as the door cracked open, grimacing. Though he hadn't spoken much since we discovered the letter, his quiet said plenty. He moved

Ava's POV As we walked Evan inside, his head hung in shame and his feet dragged as though the weight of his treachery had at last landed on him, the air in the packhouse felt stifling. My feelings were a jumble of wrath, doubt, and grief. Evan was not only some foreigner. Among us, he had been one of those Jackson and I had trusted. Now, knowing he had endangered our family, it seemed like a blow from which we would not be able to bounce back.As we made our way to Jackson's office, the corridor remained still. Seeing us approach, the soldiers stationed outside the entrance stiffened and their eyes flew between Evan and Jackson. None of those were queries. The reality weighed too much for words to adequately express.I closed the door behind us as we entered the office; the faint click of the latch echoed across the space like a last phrase. Evan stood in the middle, his once-confident manner now broken as his eyes dropped.Jackson's body tensed with barely controlled rage while his

Jackson's POV I walked back and forth in the courtyard, listening for the feeble breathing of the scout. The message etched into the wood—you're too late—burned into my head, mocking me. My tummy turned upside-down, the weight of every choice I had made squeezing down on my chest. Now, one could not dispute it. The traitor was still prowling, providing intelligence; the enemy knew every step we took.Ava stood next to me; her eyes were keen and clear, but I could sense the anxiety under her composed front. This was personal, not only a hazard to our pack now. Our family was the goal; whoever drove this had been ahead of us everywhere. We had to act. But one bad action could cost us everything."How were they sure where to ambush the scouts?" Ava asked with a quiet but consistent tone. One of the several things I appreciated about her was her ability to remain cool under duress. She kept me in line.I tightened my hands, rage bubbling under the surface. Gritting my teeth, "someone's b