The Silent Alpha

***Zanet** 

I stop the projection, looking up at Toran in confusion.

Uncle Cyrus and Bre were mates...

How could Bre be Toran’s mate? "Your uncle and I grew up on stories of the Fated gold and silver wolf pair that were thought to create the most powerful wolf hybrids in all the land, the Ivory twins.I did not even think he believed in them, but I guess I was wrong to assume that,"

Toran chuckles dryly.

"We had known Princess Breanna, a gold wolf, our whole lives and being a silver wolf himself, Cyrus saw an opportunity he could not pass up.Though he did not know who Bre's true mate would be, before our 18th birthday, Cyrus sought the help of some Spirit witches to not only shield Breanna from her true mate, but also forge a false mate bond with her.This meant that when Bre and I turned 18, neither one of us could feel the bond...but she could feel it with him.I, however, had been betrothed to Bre for years and we were both committed to taking over the Kingdom together, even if we found our true mates.It was what we were taught to accept.Cyrus had hoped Bre would fall for him and leave me altogether, but his fake bond with her was not as strong as he had hoped.He could never convince her to leave me, because mate bond or not, she was falling in love with me...and I with her.wane because he could not mark her and it was not long before Breanna realized something was wrong with their bond."

Toran pauses for a moment to gather his thoughts, the memory of her fate still a fresh wound in his head.

"My wife was a smart woman," Toran says proudly, his eyes flickering with melancholy.

"And when the sparks began to fade between her and Cyrus, she realized her bond with him was nothing more than an illusion.On the day she no longer felt the sparks of their bond, she confronted him, demanding an explanation for what he had done.It was then that I experienced the true power of the mate bond for the first and only time.My heart felt like it was about to burst and I had a terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach.My wolf was practically inconsolable so I ran home to check on her and found her..."

He does not finish his sentence, his eyes fixating on a small spot on the table.

"I watched my mate die in my arms...and I never got to enjoy being hers," Toran whispers.

"Your uncle robbed me of my one and only soulmate...so I killed him and thus began my war."

"You see, Cyrus outsmarted us all," Toran adds quietly, leaning forward in his seat.

"He turned the truth against me and King Arthur believed every word.Bre and I were married several years, never once feeling the bond, and so, when I told King Arthur years, Bre had confided in her father that she felt the bond with Cyrus and several of Bre’s closest companions confessed that she had, in a moment of weakness, given herself to him.My heart became ice the moment I realized the world had turned against me and I waged war to seek my revenge.King Arthur chose to support Scarlett Haven and Ravenstone left the Kingdom."

A single tear rolls down his cheek but he quickly wipes it away, straightening his tie and clearing his throat.I try to make sense of everything he just explained, but there are still so many questions left unanswered, so many things I still do not understand, too much to just forgive.

"You have questions," Toran chuckles softly.

"Ask away."

Words spill out of my mouth before I have time to process them and I do not even care about my stutter anymore.

Something flickers in Toran’s eyes as I speak but I cannot decipher what he thinks of me.

"Y-you said y-you knew A-agnes....Th-that y-you sent her to m-me," I stutter, also signing the words so Agnes can follow along.

"That is not a question."

you

never thought to search her memories for that answer?" Toran asks, tilting his

where she came from before? I have always been curious about Agnes's past but she never answered any of

him, revealing to me that whatever their relationship was previously must not have been a good

pack member of mine," Toran

her husband well.He was a good hunter.One

myself, glancing at the small

father committed the most horrific war crime to punish me," he adds,

pack...We lost 26 pups, among them, Agnes’ only son."

given

your son?" I ask, hoping with every fiber in my body that Toran is lying, that my father is not truly the monster

the word yes, tearsday without wanting to tear him to

me in the eye and love me like her own son after what my

husband?"

she replies, pressing her lips together to hold back

in battle shortly after they lost their

how d-did she end up in

unable to meet my gaze and

knew you survived my attacks," he

somewhere in your Pack house.All I needed was to get inside and I

I have seen as my mother for the past 20 years

her much of a choice," Toran

angry, so full of hatred that I did not care what I did so

everything Toran just revealed to me and

me or has she always been looking for a way to complete her twisted mission? her, hurt

he tell you?" She signs, tears rolling down

"Because it’s all lies!"

to kill me," I retort, her kind

"Is that a lie?"

she shakes her head

to

are not your father.You were just a boy locked away in a room.A boy who needed love and I had so much love

my baby and that will never change, no matter

to understand

asked her

"V-victim?" I snap angrily.

unwilling to shed any more tears in front

Toran says nothing in