The Silent Alpha

***Zane*** 

My chest burns as we rush through the woods, the toxins inhaled before putting on my mask scorching my lungs.

"Come on, Zane, we gotta move fast.The training grounds are just down there for us to resupply," Tylen instructs, leading the way through the thick forest.

I follow him silently, my mind drifting off to Taryn. It was so close! So close.

I just needed to reach a little more and she would have been safe! We reach the training grounds, Tylen raiding the weaponry cabinets for supplies, not once mentioning what just happened and carrying on like his aunt didn’t just fall to her death.

How can he be so cold? He hands me a new rifle and its accompanying bullets, snapping his fingers at my face when I don’t immediately grab them.

"Hey, snap out of it," he barks.

"I need you here. I don’t have time to babysit you or your feelings."

"S-she’s dead..."

I murmur, the image of her last soft smile flashing in my mind.

"D-doesn’t that bother y-you? "Of course it does,"

Tylen snaps with indignation.

"But we don’t have time to mourn right now.All we can do is honor her sacrifice and make it out of this war alive.That is what she would have wanted.That is what I plan to do," he adds, loading up his rifle.

"This is war, Zane.It does not care about your feelings.It does not care if your heart or your body hurts.It does not care for your conscience, it wants blood.It brings death and destruction.There will come a time where you will have to make an ugly decision and you have to remember: there are no good and bad guys here, there’s just them and us and the sooner you make peace with that, the easier it will be to handle."

He takes my rifle and inspects it to make sure I’ve loaded it right.

"Let’s go."

His stonecold face tells me he’s repeated these very words to himself over and over again throughout the years to get through each day and it worries me to think I might ever become like him.

Tylen takes me to the edge of the island and instructs me to lay flat on my stomach among the brush to camouflage.

Through binoculars, we scope out the Scarlett Haven boats as they enter the channel.

"The Eastern part of the main island is stable, but the west is f****d," Tylen mutters to himself.

"Those Scarlett mutts have managed to take control of the harbor and it won’t be long before they make it into the inner circle of the islands and onto the bunker island.I’ve called for some of the reserved troops from the two northern islands to mobilize, but most will be going to the main island and the few that are coming here will take some time to get here, sol need you to focus.We need a plan to block off the mouth of the channel so that the Scarlett mutts don’t touch the bunker.Any more brilliant ideas?" He asks, turning to me.

I’m surprised he’s asking me, but I focus on my task at hand and scan the waters.With the fog clearing away, it is much easier to see the tactical movements of the Scarlett Haven wolves.They appear to be moving in groups of two, maneuvering at a snail’s pace in single file through the channel.

To my relief, they barely move a few feet at a time in the untouched waters where mines of gas canisters are still hidden.From the cliffs above, Scarlett Haven troops monitor for any attacks coming from our island.

"W-what exactly is y-your gift?" I ask, my brain trying to come up with a plan.

"Molecular combustion," Tylen shrugs.

"I can turn any object into a bomb."

Why is he only mentioning this now? Grayson mutters.

"The issue is I have a limit.Charging the bombs is energetically draining.The bigger the object, the more energy it takes for me to convert it," he explains.

"The silver beads my father gave me were a solution to that problem.They are small enough to not require a lot of energy but still pack a punch when used," Tylen adds.

"I still have some energy left but I’m all out of beads." He turns back to the water.

"Your gift is...what exactly? I thought you were a telepath."

"M-mind manipulation. Th-that’s my gift," I reply.

"I-l.can see y-your thoughts and memories and show them to p-people and I-I can control minds-"

"So Professor X but on a smaller scale?" he asks, rolling his eyes when I stare blankly at him.

"Please tell me you know Professor X?"

He barely knows how to masturbate, Grayson laughs.He's basically an oversized toddler.

Ignoring my wolf, I try to focus on the idea formulating in my head.

Scanning the cliff face and the wolves just above and below, I notice a weak spot on the cliff caused by erosion and my plan begins to materialize.

"Is it me or are they not moving?"

Tylen suddenly blurts out, nudging me to look through my scope.He's right.They’re not moving...Grayson observes.

They must be waiting for something...

Knowing time is not on our side, I try to focus on my idea.

"H-how many b-big explosions do y-you think y-you can make?" I ask, Tylen calculating in his head.

would

hum to myself, suddenly very nervous to present

what if we.. w-what

is not the time

an idea, spit

fanny pack, Graysonsnarls. I set this

Stop talking.

think! I snap, trying to gather my

always tells

deep

ask,

look, I

four or five rocks and w-we aim for that we-weak spot on that cliff, w-we can cause

the remaining gas canisters with the movement to wipe out both the boats and the soldiers on top entirely!" Tylen finishes

that might

saw resistance bands a-at the training grounds,"

them and I'll find the rocks,"

and meet at the edge of the forest with the clearest view of the

two large trees as our base for the slingshot, I tie the end of

loads the first rock, placing both hands on the top and bottom of the stone and pulls back as

the scope of

"Go left."

releases the stone, my breath hitching as I watch

huge cloud of smoke rises with the explosion, bullets flying in our direction

I take cover behind the trees, counting to five before returning

the smoke cloud clears, Tylen and I load another rock, Tylen charging it up before releasing it.We

s**t, it’s working," Tylen hisses as

on the way.They’ve cleared the east and sent soldiers to the west.We just need to hold them off a

the job, when we suddenly hear the hum of

agricultural plane..." Tylen whispers under his breath, his

to panic, taking the charged stone from his hand and pulling it back as far as I can while crouching down on

"What are you doing?"

reply, my eyes searching the dark skies

find the plane, I listen for it and release

5...

4...

3...

2...

followed by flares of

smoke, we see the plane fly

fire, and debris crumble into the ocean, several of

canisters burst open and bullets from

f*****g did it," Tylen whispers in

f*****g did it!"There’s no time to celebrate our

is coming in from

up

he pants, taking long

takes a step forward, he

a second to

shoulder and wrapping my arm around his waist when he suddenly yelps in

f**k, f**k," he winces as I walk him to

I find

did that happen?"

shot," I reply, searching my

it," Tylen groans, attempting to push himself off

"We gotta go."

I mutter, pushing

taking a few deep breaths to gather his bearings

"Now let’s go."

we sprint down the slope

up with an actual fleet of soldiers," he mumbles, gesturing for me to help him remove the rock hiding the

like we'll have to

face with my old pack terrifying me.I had spent years living in fear of the

Would I be proving my father right? I spent years silently

show them all who the f**k Zane

them wrong, not only for yourself, but for

a lesson and then when Agnes came into your life, he let those Scarlett

not an Alpha,

the true Alpha is.I breathe in slowly as we approach the exit of the tunnel, focusing my energy on Grayson’s

should shift," Tylen

up there." We slow down, Tylen grimacing

fine," he sighs,

I hand control over to

it’s showtime, Grayson chuckles.

Please stop, I groan.

tunnel, Tylen taking the lead and peeking out

indicating it's safe for us