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."

Sebastian,

Talia and our pup, I’ve come to understand the fear of someone hurting

would be hurt without Scarlett Haven’s protection...just like

recognize my mother’s strength to choose me over her pack and

not have been an

things that I need and

don’t worry, I don’t expect any of your money to help me raise him.You never treated him like

mother turning back in the direction of the car, only to be pulled into a conversation

hear the most blood curdling scream, a

but Sebastian only turns the other cheek and runs in

unable to understand howSebastian could abandon

the angry tears that so

mind-linked y-you for

I try

had Sebastian only protected his mate like he promised to the day he married her.I could have lived a good life with just my mom somewhere far from all the wars and abuse.I could have

back emotionlessly, not an ounce of regret for

"She was Wyatt’s responsibility,"

retorts in

to judge me? You stand with the man who ordered her death.You are no better than me.You’re just a

pushes through to the surface, taking over control

bullets

commands, Sebastian watching in horror as his hands move involuntarily towards his

"What- No! No!"

to disobey the command but failing, his fingers plunging into the

with strained agony, blood pouring from the open

"Areal Alpha doesn’t scream,"

Sebastian’s face seething with rage and

what you always say to me,

holds back his screams

snarls, taking a step back to

down on one knee

y-you," I whisper in

be." I close my eyes, once again finding

stumbled upon one I have

Alexander, snarls as he looks down

"It can’t even speak."

old Alpha,

me behind her to shield me from

do well to teach that b***h of yours how to address an Alpha," my grandfather

me to do it

hand, and I make a realization.He feared his father...just like I feared him.He hides it well behind

sting burns across her face but she keeps her body in

spoken

only grunts

it never happens

"Yes sir,"

before another Alpha.I had been too

here," my grandfather's voice booms, my mother shaking

away from me, hissing in her ear, "If you care about the boy, do

younger self tremble as I take timid steps towards the Alpha

younger me opening my mouth

said ‘speak’ boy!" he snarls, tears

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

the elder Alpha’s eyes glow turquoise, the look on his face that of utter

me suddenly begins to scream, my little hands clawing at my arms and begging for

"Father- Sir, please,"

the floor, writhing and kicking from the agony burning

screams with me, begging Alpha Alexander to let me go and pleading with Sebastian to stop

"I-I’ll fix him,"

says, getting on his

fix him.Just

self suddenly stops screaming, passed out from all the

coldly at his kneeling son, disgusted by his

YOUR KNEES, BOY!" my grandfather

Alpha never kneels,

with his booming voice, and he turns to leave

I see that boy," he says over

fixed." The memory fades away into mist, morphing

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

I realize we are in the old cottage by the waterfall,

pushing himself onto his feet and crawling over to his father to greet him with a

Johnny

his shoulder, my mother nodding haphazardly as she

face.I had long forgotten there was once a man under all

it's already too late.He swerves off the road and into a ditch, the truck flipping over a few times before coming

windshield is completely shattered and the smell of gasoline lingers in the

around the truck,

back seat, little

circle the truck, snarling and growling at Sebastian, daring

that it is stuck and trapping him in his metal

the silver wolf snickers as he shifts

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

blood from his nose, he presents

him a slap

with your chest. None of this mumbling s**t," his