THE ALPHA'S FORSAKEN SECRET
son'
likewise too. The twins were asleep and ignorant of the storm building outside these walls in their room with Ava. Still, I wasn't sleepy.
ore than I had let on. He is aware of t
years that I was maintaining pack order and safeguarding them. The fundamental basis was falling apart right n
ur children. I too ought to have been with them. But the guilt got more every time I visited Ava and every time I observed tho
ing went through my hands, I had to keep moving, acting, doing something. And stil
hanging over her shoulders. Her eyes locked with mine, and for a moment we neither spoke. The quiet stretched thick
shattering the quie
thing, the words would not flow. What I could say to straighten thi
son," Ava remarked, he
r; the strain in my muscles
here to fight. But this kind of circling each other is
s not that straightforward, though. You separated the twins fr
ffering-but she stayed firm. I had to keep them safe.
nched. "You
ove a whisper: "I didn't trust any
g away from. I had turned her away. I had pushed her away since, for the pack, for me, I felt it
g." "What I found in front of me did not match.
een us stayed. Jackson, we cannot turn back the
n the future hangs precariously, we afford to bury ourselves in
want to protect them." But I h
exactly in front of me. You really have to believe me
lthough I had been treating her like a threat-that of someone who had betrayed me-the truth was
lackthorn's danger hovering over us. Not with a traitor
threatened to overwhelm me. Blackthorns are aware of the t
determine the traitor among us. Should we not,
k has been kept under great alert. Although everyone has been scree
brow. "Perhaps they are not hiding. Perhaps
ough that made logic, it also meant we were running out of time.
voice firm. "He has also been researching e
long enough to sa
ta, my closest friend. But lately, there had been cracks-tiny, hardly perceptible at
But I can't discount the likel
. "Then, Jackson, exercise caution.
ew exactly what I needed. We would lose ever
, the door knocked. Riley wa
he replied, "We
lerance was runni
ome men from Blackthorn close to the northern boundary. They
n surge of adrenaline coursed
maybe more". The worst o
then turned back to Riley. "
y currently have someone with
member of our flock. The disloyalty. Right n
wondered, my voi
clear view. Whichever it is, though, they are gui
xuding tension. "We have to stop them," she replied, her vo
it. The occasion we had been waiting for. At last the tr
er. One misplaced action
head to the northern border." "We'll grab w
at was in his eyes. Was it uncertainty? Dela
devoid of space for debat
pped myself with her glance. S
y jaw stiff. But you r
e wouldn't stay on the sidelines. Not
on was high in the heavens, giving the trees a terrible radia
That we would uncover the traitor, h
this was the starting point. Sti
o meet Blackthorn's scouts and find the trai