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.

ringing in my ears for a second before the mindlinks between all the

at first, my temples throbbing from the overstimulation but

I look up at Toran and the other pack members, a look of pride washes over them and they

home, Alpha," they say, kneeling

of my fellow soldiers are heard welcoming me, but their song

me, all of them

Alpha?" they

at the

we take Scarlett

***Sebastian*** 

the Harbor, setting up our guns around the perimeter to keep the Ravenstone

far, my plans to attack the East have failed as

in control of the Harbor but it seems the Ravenstone mutts are determined to keep the bunker a secret from us, blocking one

theory that the bunker lies somewhere in between and that my Elenore is very likely taking refuge

off the coast all this time.I have thought of her all night since discovering her existence, unable to understand how I could

about

were savages on the night of their attack and virtually no bodies were able to be identified, many torn to shreds or

ring next to a severely damaged corpse roughly her size and shape and having felt her fade away, I

wrong I was.But it does not

is alive and I plan on

my thoughts, entering my boat where

channel?" I snarl menacingly, Earl shaking

the boat tightly, Earl stepping

unable to break through Ravenstone’s lines of defense.The other channels are mine fields of

and I search the map for

Raven tunnels via sonar but layers

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

he even found about Zane’s existence and my wolves can’t find his stupid tunnels! Just as I’m about to order the scouts to start yet another search for tunnel entrances, a symphony

wonder in unison, our

to a halt, leaving me to wonder if they ever truly

equally puzzled by the sounds of what appear to be a

be celebrating?

time to think about this

Beta," a soldier says, bowing his head in reverence at Earl

uh - we found James, sir.His body was floating by the

says nothing, but I notice

Weakness, Arden sneers.

gathered intel from the witnesses nearby.Several of the soldiers reported seeing James fight with a

that bastard Toran or his i***t

Taryn fall to her death so we believe this to be a

soldier who shifts nervously under my

far and few in between, but I also highly doubt Toran has a second son I don’t

 "I don’t pay

snarl at

is and bring him to me.I want his head for killing Scarlett

off the boat with the other soldiers to complete

fills the boat as Earl struggles to contain his

I mutter, a bitter taste filling my mouth when I remember Caine’s own

say the same about

Beta and I let out a sigh

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

what we want.Mark my words, your son’s death will

break the silence, this time much closer to

is immediately on edge and I storm out onto the docks to find my

it is