Chapter 52 The Mole
Levi:
As soon as the word came out, a ripple of confusion went through the room. But Jax, ever obedient, began unbuttoning his uniform shirt.
"Levi, what are you doing?" Rylan growled.
"Looking for the monster," I said, my eyes never leaving Jax.
He shrugged the shirt off. His torso was a map of old scars and hard muscle. This was the body of a loyal warrior.
"Turn around," I said.
He turned.
And there it was.
High on his back, just below his left shoulder blade, a mark. It was faint, like a shadow under the skin. A spiral of interlocking, thorny vines. It looked almost like a bruise, but the pattern was too precise, too deliberate. It pulsed with a faint, sick energy I could feel from three feet away.
Aurora gasped softly.
"What?" Jax asked, his voice tense. "What is it?"
"You have a mark, Jax," I said, my voice dangerously quiet. The rage was back, but it was cold, focused. It had a new target. "You've been branded."
Lucas took a sharp step forward. "A compulsion sigil. I've read about them. Old magic. Forbidden."
Rylan stared, his anger replaced by a stunned disgust. "They... they violated him."
Jax looked from their horrified faces to mine. The confusion in his eyes was real. The betrayal was real. He was a puppet who never knew he had strings.
"The enemy was never in this room, Jax," I said, the truth a bitter pill. "They were in your head."
The hunt was over.
The war had just changed.
The mark on Jax’s back seemed to pulse in the tense silence.
“I don’t understand,” Jax whispered, his voice cracking. “I would never…”
“We know,” Aurora said, her voice soft but firm.
“Get Agnes,” I ordered, my gaze locked on the sigil.
Lucas moved immediately, returning moments later with the wise woman. Her eyes went straight to the mark, and a deep sorrow filled them.
“A soul\-thorn,” she murmured. “It does not command. It corrupts. It twists a man’s deepest loyalties into a weapon against himself.”
“Can you remove it?” I asked.
“I can try. But the process is… severe. It will fight to stay. It has become part of him.”
Jax stood straighter, a soldier accepting a new mission. “Do it.”
Agnes nodded. “Lie down.”
As Jax moved to the sofa, I turned to Lucas and Rylan. The division between us was gone, replaced by a united, cold fury.
“The Northern Cliffs,” I said. “This changes everything.”
“They didn’t just kill a defector,” Lucas said, his mind already racing through the implications. “They used our man to do it. This is a declaration of a different kind of war.”
Rylan’s fists were clenched. “We burn it. We burn it all.”
“No,” I said, the plan forming with icy clarity. “They think they’ve won. They think we’re broken, hunting our own. So we let them think that.”
I looked at Aurora. “Can you feel it? The magic in that mark?”
She closed her eyes for a moment, then nodded. “It’s… cold. Hungry.”
“Good. I need you to learn its signature. I need you to find its source.”
Her eyes widened, but she didn’t hesitate. “I can try.”
I turned back to my men. “We play their game. We pretend the lockdown holds. We let rumours of my paranoia spread. But we are not hunting a traitor anymore.”
I looked at Jax, who met my gaze with pained, determined eyes.
“We are hunting the ones who did this to you. And we are not showing mercy.”
The mark on Jax’s back seemed to pulse in the tense silence.
“I don’t understand,” Jax whispered, his voice cracking. He looked from my face to the others, seeing the horror there. “I would never… I checked the vial log. I tasted the food. I remember it all.”
“We know,” Aurora said, her voice soft but firm. “It wasn’t you.”
“Get Agnes,” I ordered, my gaze locked on the sigil. My voice was too tight. Koda was a raging storm beneath my skin. This violation was deeper than any physical wound.
Lucas moved immediately. Rylan stood frozen, his earlier anger completely gone, replaced by a sickened understanding. “They didn’t just kill him,” he muttered. “They made us kill our own. With our own poison.”
Lucas returned with Agnes. She needed only a single glance. A deep, weary sorrow filled her eyes.
“A soul\-thorn,” she murmured, moving closer. She didn’t touch it, merely hovered a hand over the mark. Jax flinched. “It does not command. It corrupts. It finds a crack in the spirit, doubt, fear, a moment of weakness, and it grows. It twists a man’s deepest loyalties into a weapon against himself.”
“Can you remove it?” I asked.
“I can try. But the process is… severe. It is a part of him now. It will fight to stay. The pain will be immense.”
Jax stood straighter, his shoulders pulling back. The soldier re-emerging through the confusion. “Do it. Get it out of me.”
Agnes nodded. “Lie down.”
As Jax moved to the long leather sofa, I turned to Lucas and Rylan. The division between us was gone, burned away by a cold, united fury.
“The Northern Cliffs,” I said. “This changes everything.”
“It’s not just a fortress,” Lucas said, his mind racing. “It’s a trap. They weren't just hiding there. They were baiting us. Sending Jax back as a Trojan horse. The defector’s death was just phase one. To make us tear ourselves apart.”
Rylan’s fists were clenched, his knuckles white. “We burn it. We burn it all to the ground. Tonight.”
“No,” I said, the plan forming with icy clarity. “They think they’ve won. They think we’re broken, hunting our own. They’ll be watching for the fallout. So we give it to them.” I looked at Lucas. “The lockdown stands. To the outside world, Levi Kingston has turned on his most trusted men. The pack is on the verge of civil war. Let them believe that Levi Kingston has lost his mind.”