The Silent Alpha

***Zane*** 

The Elders are brought in almost immediately and I undergo the uncomfortable procedure of venom extraction for the transfer of power.

"Just breathe through your nose,"

Toran instructs me as I am forced to bite down on a glass jar so that my canines protrude while an Elder squeezes the base of my jaw.

Tiny droplets of dark venom spill into the jar until I produce enough to fill two vials with my venom.

My jaw aches by the time I’m finished.

Tylen arrives with the pack tablet made of black stone with two wolves and a moon carved into the face of the stone.

Between the two peaks of the crescent moon, is an indentation with runes along the edges leading up to the carvings.

I get a good look at Tylen, the rightful heir to the title, but he does not seem the least bit concerned about the title going to me instead.

"Don’t worry about me," he says when he notices me staring.

"I’ve never wanted this. I hate pack meetings and diplomacy."

He pats my back to show no hard feelings and takes his place beside the other pack members in the tent.

"Are you ready?" Toran asks, his eyes flickering with confidence.

My mind drifts off to my mate and our pup.

Talia has no desire to be Luna again and I promised we would make this decision together when the time came.

The circumstances have changed, Grayson says, his tail flicking back and forth with pride.She Anows we will worship the very ground she walks on should she ever take her place beside us as Luna.She knows we will value her expertise and her guidance regarding all matters of the pack and she will understand why we came to this decision without her.

Trust her.She deserves our trust.

With Grayson’s reassuring words, I take a deep breath to calm my nerves and nod.

"Then let’s do this," Toran smiles.

He leads me to the table where the tablet sits and the Elder begins the ceremony.

There is no time to waste so he gets right to the point.

"Zane White, repeat after me: I, Zane White, do solemnly swear to preserve, to protect, and to serve the members of the Ravenstone Pack.I swear to put the needs of the pack before my own and to uphold the values of this pack.I swear to lead with strength and courage to the best of my abilities and to lead by example and stand with my fellow wolves through times of hardship and times of prosperity.I swear to guard the lives of every member of my pack until my final breath, so help me Moon Goddess."

I do my best to speak slowly, replaying Talia’s words of encouragement when I stumble through some of my words in order to calm my racing heart.

No one seems to notice or care about my stutter, reiterating that it was my father’s own prejudice that stood in my way, not my own capabilities.

When I’ve finished reciting my oath, the Elder takes a vial of my venom and injects it into the tablet, the green venom flowing through the runes to the carved wolves.

Toran then takes a dagger and slices the palm of his hand, a pool of blood quickly forming in his cupped hand.He pours a few droplets of blood into the small indentation and then hands me the dagger.

Without hesitation, I slice my own palm, watching as the blood travels along my fingers.

My heart pounds in my ears as the blood spills onto the tablet and into the indentation, mixing with Toran’s blood.

This is it, I sigh.

My time as Alpha has come.

Together, Toran and I press our bloodied palms against the carvings of the wolves.

in my ears for a second before

is overwhelming at first, my temples throbbing from the overstimulation but the

of pride washes over them and

they say, kneeling

of my fellow soldiers are heard welcoming me, but their song is kept short and

men gather around me, all of

Alpha?"

down at the map

we take Scarlett

***Sebastian*** 

base camp in the heart of the Harbor, setting up our guns around the perimeter to keep the Ravenstone mutts away while we

attack the East have failed as

now in control of the Harbor but it seems the Ravenstone mutts are determined to keep the bunker a secret from

the channel and the inner island only proves my theory that the bunker lies

have thought of her all night since discovering her existence, unable to understand how I could not have felt her all these years.I had felt her death, I had felt my soul

about it, the more it

Ravenstone wolves were savages on the night of their attack and virtually no bodies were able to be identified, many

could identify Elenore’s body, but I found her wedding ring next to a severely damaged corpse roughly her size and shape and having felt her fade away, I assumed she was

I was.But it does

alive and I

thoughts, entering my boat where

channel?" I snarl menacingly, Earl shaking

the steering wheel of the boat tightly, Earl stepping

break through Ravenstone’s lines of defense.The other channels are mine fields of gas canisters and explosives and we can’t seem to scan for their canisters fast enough before they

snarls with dissatisfaction and I search the map for any other clear paths to the center of the

tunnels via sonar but layers of steel and concrete made these

my scouts have been unable to locate the main entrances to the tunnels.It’s infuriating knowing that bastard still has the upper hand

about Zane’s existence and my wolves can’t find his stupid tunnels! Just as I’m about to order the scouts to

I wonder in unison,

to a halt, leaving

space, equally puzzled by the

celebrating?

pack hostage.I don’t have time to

a soldier says, bowing his head

James, sir.His body was floating by the docks.My condolences, sir," he adds, avoiding Beta

nothing, but I notice the tremor in

Weakness, Arden sneers.

the

been that bastard Toran or his i***t son! I

General Taryn fall

the soldier who shifts nervously

I also highly doubt Toran has a second son I don’t know about.Who is this mystery silver

don’t pay

at the

bring him to me.I want

salutes me, storming off the boat with the other

as Earl struggles

mutter, a bitter taste filling my

can’t say the

small speech doesn’t seem to help my Beta and I let

always messy," I sigh, walking over to my bar and pouring

to get what we want.Mark my words, your son’s death will not be in vain.We will take Ravenstone if its

break the silence, this time

out onto the docks to find my soldiers scrambling for their

silhouette of a single wolf.I cannot make out who it is but I feel their gaze directly on me before