Chapter 78


    78. The Silent Alpha


    78. The Silent Alpha


    ***Zane***


    The Elders are brought in almost immediately and I undergo the ufortable 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 ss 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 ck stone with two wolves and a moon carved into the face


    of the store. 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 ce 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 knows


    we will worship the very ground


    she walks on should she ever take her ce 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:


    1, 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, reying 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 hase.


    Together, Toran and I press our bloodied palms against the carvings of the wolves. There is a ringing in


    my ears for a second before he mindlinks between all the pack members flood my head. It is


    overwhelming at first, my temples throbbing from the overstimtion -ut the pain very quickly fades


    away, a sudden calmness washing over me.


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


    me with an ‘R’ sign over


    their heart.


    “Wee home, Alpha,” they say, kneeling down on one knee before me.


    Outside howls of my fellow soldiers are heard weing me, but their song is kept short and brief for our


    battle has only begun. My


    men gather around me, all of them ready to fight.


    “What now, Alpha?” they ask.


    I look down at the map of the Harbor.


    “N-now, we take Scarlett Haven.”


    ***Sebastian***


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


    to keep the Ravenstone


    mutts away while we figure out our next moves.


    So far, my ns to attack the East have failed as expected but my western attack proved partially fruitful.


    We are now in control of


    the Harbor but it seems the Ravenstone mutts are determined to keep the bunker a secret from us,


    blocking one of our paths into the


    inner circle. Their overprotectiveness of the channel and the inner ind only proves my theory that the


    bunker lies somewhere in


    between and that my Elenore is very likely taking refuge there.


    I am still in shock that my 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 not have felt her all these years.


    Thad felt her death, I had felt my soul shatter with her final breath that night. But the more I think about it,


    the more it makes sense. The Ravenstone wolves were savages on the night of their attack and virtually


    no bodies were able to be identified, many torn to shreds or burned before we could recover them. I


    never could identify Elenore’s body, but I found her wedding ring next to a severely damaged


    corpse roughly her size and shape and having felt her fade away, I assumed she was my wife. How


    wrong I was.


    But it does not matter. My wife is alive and I n on taking her home.


    Beta Earl interrupts my thoughts, entering my boat where I am currently waiting for his report.


    “Did you break through the channel?” I snarl menacingly, Earl shaking his head at me. My fingers grip the


    steering wheel of the boat tightly, Earl stepping back in fear as he provides his pathetic exnation.


    “The Eastern channels are heavily guarded so we have been unable to break 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 off.


    My wolf, Arden, snarls with dissatisfaction and I search the map for any other clear paths to the center of


    the ind ring.


    Several years ago, we were able to detect the existence of the Raven tunnels via sonar butyers of


    steel and concrete made these


    tunnels impossible to attack. To add insult to injury, my scouts have been unable to locate the main


    entrances to the tunnels. It’s


    infuriating knowing that bastard still has the upper hand on me after all these years. Somehow 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 of


    howls ripples through the mid-morning air.


    What the f**k is that? Arden and I wonder in unison, our ears straining to hear more.


    The howls suddenlye to a halt, leaving me to wonder if they ever truly rang. Beta Earl stares


    curiously into space, equally


    puzzled by the sounds of what appear to be a celebration.


    What could Toran be celebrating? I think to myself. I am holding his pack hostage.


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


    “Alpha, Beta,” a soldier says, bowing his head in reverence at Earl and I. “We – uh – we found James,


    sir. His body was floating by the


    docks. My condolences, sir,” he adds, avoiding Beta Earl’s eyes,


    Earl says nothing, but I notice the tremor in his hands.


    Weakness, Arden sneers.


    “We’ve gathered intel from the witnesses nearby. Several of the soldiers reported seeing James fight with


    a silver wolf.


    It must have been that bastard Toran or his /** * son!


    growl.


    “No one recognized the wolf as either the Alpha or the heir, Many witnessed General Taryn fall to her


    death so we believe this to be a


    fourth silver wolf.”


    I raise an eyebrow at the soldier who shifts nervously under my gaze.


    A fourth silver wolf? Silver wolf ns are far and few in


    between, but I also highly doubt Toran has a second son I don’t know about. Who is this mystery silver


    woll?


    “I don’t pay you to believe!” I snarl at the soldier. “Find out who this silver wolf is and bring him to me. I


    want his head for killing


    Scarlett Haven’s future Beta.”


    “Yes sir!” the soldier salutes me, storming off the boat with the other soldiers toplete his task.


    Silence fills the boat as Earl struggles to contain his emotions.


    “At least he died with honor,” I mutter, a bitter taste filling my mouth when I remember Caine’s own


    demise. “I can’t say the same


    about my son.”


    This small speech doesn’t seem to help my Beta and I let out a sigh of annoyance. “War is always


    messy,” I sigh, walking over to my


    bar and pouring out a drink for my Beta. “But it’s a necessary evil to get what we want. Mark my words,


    your son’s death will not be in


    vain. We will take Ravenstone if its thest-”


    Once again, we hear howls break the silence, this time much closer to our perimeter. Arden is


    immediately on edge and I storm out


    onto the docks to find my soldiers scrambling for their gear.


    On 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


    disappear into the trees. A humming sound murmurs just above us and we see small photography


    drones fly over the harbor. Each drone


    appears to carry a small glowing egg in a tiny arm.


    Eggs? I scoff at the stupidity of it only to realize I’ve made a grave mistake.


    The drones drop their little eggs onto the boats floating by the docs, exploding on impact. I am nearly


    flung into the water, my ear


    drums ringing as I hit the floor. I blink hard, straining my eyes to see through the dust and smoke. The


    sounds of screaming are drowned


    out but I can make out the distress and destruction through the mes.


    Focus… Focus… I tell myself, slowly forcing myself onto my feet. As I look around the Harbor, soldiers


    run into the water to help their N?velDrama.Org content.


    on deaf ears, all of my men disobeying their Alpha.


    Without a word, Zane’s wolf stands up and walks closer until he is only a few feet in front of me. His


    golden eyes stare defiantly at me,


    fiery flecks of emerald swirling in his irises.


    He has his mother’s eyes.


    I feel a slight pinch at my temples before a low voice whispers in my head.


    “You should always bow before an Alpha,” the voice snarls.


    Two gunshots fire and I feel my knees give out as two bullets pierce my legs. Audible gasps can be


    heard from my soldiers who watch in horror as I kneel in pain. My hands instinctively cover my wounds to


    stop the bleeding and I snarl at the two traitors who shot me.


    “What the f**k!” I roar, my blood boiling with rage.


    “Do not turn your back on me!” the voice growls in my head, my body reacting to themand despite


    my own protests.


    I stare at Zane in shock as he shifts into his human form, the scars on his body fiercely on disy for all


    to see.


    “H-hello father.”