The Silent Alpha

*** Trigger Warning: Physical and emotional child-abuse ahead*** 

***Zanet**

 It feels strange to see the man I've feared for so long kneel before me, trembling like all the times I stood before him while I recited my poems.

But even as he bleeds, even as he sits at my mercy, I still see the look of disgust flicker in his eyes when I speak to him for the first time in almost 20 years.

"H-Hello, father," I snarl, my fists clenching at my sides as I fight to contain my anger.

How can he hate his own son so much!? Around me, the Scarlett Haven wolves gawk at me, unable to believe I just called their Alpha, ‘father’.

"You’re....You’re no son of mine,"

Sebastian pants, his brown eyes turning blue as the wolf within takes over.

"You’re nothing more than a weak, pathetic-" I swing my arm back, punching him in the jaw and nearly knocking him flat on his back before he can finish his sentence.

"E-Enough!" I growl, my father’s mouth clamping shut while his eyes widen in shock that my commands work on him.

"T-that’s enough! Y-you think y-you’re so strong and so t-tough? W-well look at y-you now, father! Wh-what good is y-your strength now?"

"How dare you speak to me that way!"

Sebastian roars.

"y-you have silenced m-me all of my life.Y-you do not get to silence m-me before my own p-pack!"

"Your pack?" He scoffs.

The Ravenstone wolves growl at his disrespect, proving that they are now loyal to me.

"My p-pack," I repeat.

"De-despite how little y-you think of me, not only did I-I find a p-pack that accepts m-me as I-I am, but I-I also managed to ou-outlive m-my replacement."

Sebastian laughs and opens his mouth to speak only to be silenced by a slap to the face as Grayson takes over.

"Did I say you could speak?"

Grayson roars, Sebastian’s eyes widening in shock at Grayson’s confidence.

A cold amused smile curls on Sebastain’s lips.

"Pack?" he laughs.

"The man who stands beside you killed your mother and your brother and yet you proudly show your loyalty to him," my father scoffs.

"H-he didn’t k-kill Jonathan-"

That's when I see it, the flicker of fear in his eyes when I mention my dead brother.He's hiding something...Lowering my walls, I allow the river of thoughts to flow between us.He can’t know about Jonathan.

There’s no possible way he would know! I hear him say to his wolf.

"W-what don’t I know?" I ask, my father stiffening with surprise that I know what he’s thinking.

"What?" he asks, bemused by my question.

"I -I said, 'W-What don’t I-I know about Jonathan?"

I repeat, this time taking a menacing step forward.My father tries to crawl back but winces when he tries to move his legs.

"W-What don’t I-I know about Jonathan?" I snarl, dread settling in the pit of my stomach.

My father stares back defiantly at me, refusing to speak so I take matters into my own hands.

Closing my eyes, I listen in to his subconscious, following the voices in his memories.

A coldness envelops me in the darkness before a bright light blinds me for a moment.

Like a movie projection, Sebastian’s memories begin to unfold on the dock in front of him for all to see.

Scarlett Haven and Ravenstone wolves alike fall silent to watch, allowing me to focus on the many rivers of thought trying to drown me.

In the first memory I find, all I see is Sebastian sitting at his desk, staring at a hairbrush in his hand.He does not use it, just carefully caresses it for a few moments before stuffing it into a drawer and returning to his work.

For a moment, he almost looks human...until he carefully hides all his pain behind a mask of stone.I dig a little deeper, unlocking another memory where my father berates Wyatt for questioning him.

"Zane will not take the title because he doesn't have what it takes to look his opponent in the eye and lead his soldiers in war," he snarls.

"He will always be weak...He’s useless...I showed mercy to him as a favor for Elenore.He was her son, but he was never mine."

Despite the venom in his voice as he says those things, I feel a smile curl on my face and a sense of relief wash over me as I realize something amazing.

His words no longer hurt me and I am now free of the chains that bound me to him.We are not family, just two strangers at war.

I continue scouring his memories, stumbling upon memory after memory of him ignoring the cruelty of his own pack against Agnes and I.I travel back many years until I find myself seeing the night of my mother’s death through his own eyes.I stand back and watch my mother leave the car to grab a snack for me, trailing behind Sebastian as they enter the King’s party.

Together they greet guests and slowly make their way towards the snack bar, smiling and laughing like the perfect couple.

To an outsider, they look like your average, happily married Alpha and Luna, but on the inside, I know my mother was screaming.

"’I’m leaving you," my mother murmurs as she grabs a plate of food for me.

"And I’m taking my baby with me."

have wondered why my mother never left Sebastian, believing perhaps their bond was just too hard to

come to understand the fear of someone hurting your

I would be hurt without Scarlett Haven’s

me as I recognize my

have been an easy

I need and

don’t worry, I don’t expect any of your money to help me raise

the anger seething in Sebastian’s brown eyes and he walks away, my mother turning back in the direction of the car, only to be pulled into

after, the attack begins and as the memory drifts away, I hear the most blood curdling scream, a scream that

me! Help me!" my mother screams, but Sebastian only turns the other cheek and runs in the opposite direction,

to understand howSebastian could abandon his mate

scream," I mumble, fighting back the angry tears that so desperately want to escape my

for help...and

off as I try to contain

could have lived a good life with

of regret for what

"She was Wyatt’s responsibility,"

retorts in a

who are you to judge me? You stand with the man who ordered her

the surface, taking over control

bullets

as his hands

"What- No! No!"

disobey the command but failing, his fingers plunging into the

with strained agony, blood pouring

"Areal Alpha doesn’t scream,"

sneers, Sebastian’s face seething with

shows weakness.Isn't that what you always say to

holds back his screams the further he pushes in

Grayson snarls, taking a step back to let me regain

I face the man again, I get down on one knee so that our

I whisper in a

my eyes, once again finding myself in the depths of my father's

but I stumbled upon one I have

this an heir?" my grandfather, Alexander, snarls as

"It can’t even speak."

in the presence of the old Alpha, his face contorted in disgust

pushing me behind her to

b***h of yours how to address an

me to

and I make a realization.He feared his father...just like I feared

as the sting burns across her face but she keeps her body in front of

may speak only if you are spoken to," Sebastian growls,

apologize for my wife's behavior." My grandfather only grunts in response, an unamused look on his

it never happens

"Yes sir,"

see Sebastian cower before another Alpha.I had been too afraid my whole life to notice Sebastian had his own

booms, my mother shaking her

yanks her away from me, hissing in

I wonder to myself, watching my younger self tremble as I take

me opening my mouth but saying

‘speak’ boy!" he snarls, tears springing to my

"He-hello, gran-gran-grandpa-"

eyes glow turquoise, the look on

little hands clawing at my

"Father- Sir, please,"

I collapse on the floor, writhing

Alexander to let me go and pleading with Sebastian to

"I-I’ll fix him,"

getting on

Sir.I’ll fix him.Just

self suddenly stops screaming, passed

stares coldly at his kneeling

YOUR KNEES, BOY!" my grandfather

Alpha never kneels,

walls rattle with his booming voice, and he turns to leave

I see that

memory fades away into mist,

mother sits in her rocking chair, nursing me while little Jonathan plays with a crinkly foil blanket on the

are in the old cottage by the waterfall,

walks in quietly, Jonathan pushing himself onto his feet and crawling over to his father to greet

taking Johnny to

whispers over his shoulder, my mother nodding haphazardly

him into the back seat, excitement dancing in his youthful face.I had long forgotten there was once a man under all his bitter hatred.I follow them on their drive, watching my older brother play with a rattle in his hand

middle of the road and by the time Sebastian sees them, it's already too late.He swerves off the road and into a ditch,

shattered and the smell of gasoline lingers in the

confused, Sebastian looks around the truck, blood trickling from his nose

cries in the back seat, little cuts

circle the truck, snarling and growling at Sebastian, daring him to

discovering that it is stuck and

the silver wolf snickers as he shifts into his

panics at the sound of his father’s voice and claws himself out of his belt, breaking a window with his elbow to

he presents himself before

earning him a

None of this mumbling s**t," his father snarls, Sebastian