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.
