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.

a second before the mindlinks between all the pack members

temples throbbing from the overstimulation but the pain very quickly

and the other pack members, a look of pride

home, Alpha," they say, kneeling down on

welcoming me, but their song is kept short and brief for our battle has only

gather around me, all of

now, Alpha?"

the map

we take Scarlett

***Sebastian*** 

quickly build a base camp in the heart of the Harbor, setting up our guns around the perimeter to keep the

to attack the East have failed as expected but

in control of the Harbor but it seems the Ravenstone mutts are determined to

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

mate is alive, living just a few miles off the coast all this time.I have thought of her all night since discovering her existence, unable to understand how I could

more I think about it, the more it makes

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

to a severely damaged corpse roughly her size and

wrong I was.But it does

wife is alive and I plan on

Earl interrupts my thoughts, entering my boat where I

I snarl menacingly, Earl

wheel of the boat tightly, Earl stepping back

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 set

with dissatisfaction and I search the map for

years ago, we were able to detect the existence of the Raven tunnels via sonar but layers of steel

entrances to the tunnels.It’s infuriating knowing that bastard still

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 of howls ripples

the f**k is that? Arden and I wonder in unison, our ears

suddenly come to a halt, leaving me to wonder if they

into space, equally puzzled by the sounds

celebrating? I think to

don’t have time to think about this as a group of soldiers

bowing his head in reverence at

body was floating by the docks.My condolences, sir," he

I notice the

Weakness, Arden sneers.

from the witnesses nearby.Several of the soldiers reported seeing James

Toran or his i***t

the heir.Many witnessed General Taryn fall to her death so we believe this to be

raise an eyebrow at the soldier

Silver wolf clans are far and few in between, but I also highly doubt Toran has a second son I don’t know about.Who is this

don’t pay

snarl at the

to me.I want

storming off the boat with the

Earl struggles to contain

he died with honor," I mutter, a bitter taste

can’t say the same

speech doesn’t seem to help my Beta and I let out a sigh

to my bar and pouring out a drink for

it’s a necessary evil to get what we want.Mark my words, your son’s death

silence, this time much

and I storm out onto the docks to find my

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