The Silent Alpha novel Chapter 18

***Natalia*** 

The bright light peeking through the window stings my swollen eyes and I let out a soft groan.I do not want to wake up, not after the lousy night of nightmares I had.

In need of some comfort, I stretch out my hand in search of Kota.

My eyes bulge open, however, when I find the bed empty, his side of the bed cold.

"Kota?" I whisper, looking around the room frantically, feeling my heart sink to the pit of my stomach.

"Kota!" I scream, tears springing to my eyes as last night’s nightmares flash through my mind.

Zane’s head pops up from my side of the room and I look over to see Kota snuggled up beside him, his stuffed wolf in his arms.

Zane looks equally bewildered to find the pup curled up on his side, his body growing tense with my silence.

How did he get down there? I wonder as I scramble out of bed to pick him up.It's doesn’t matter ,I scold myself.

I’m just glad he’s okay.I gently pick up the sleepy pup, holding him close to my chest as several tears spill onto my cheeks.

Kota mumbles a hello to me, his sleepy voice soothing my heart.I squeeze him tightly, a slight sob escaping my throat.

"He won’t take you," I hiccup to myself as I comb my fingers l ignore Zane’s pained look, not caring that I probably looked like a lunatic to him.

"Estas bien Mami? (Are you okay, mommy?)" Kota asks when I finally loosen up my grip.He pulls back from my arms and pokes at my eyes and cheeks, staring at me with cute furrowed brows.

"You don’t look so good." I feign hurt at his words and hold back my laughter.

"Am I ugly?" I ask.

He shakes his head definitively.

"Bonita, Bonita," he sings.

"I have the prettiest mommy in the whole world!"

He shouts, my ears ringing from the sudden sound of his loud voice.I shower his chubby cheeks with kisses, feeling relieved to not be alone in this wolf's den.

"Where did you go?" I ask.

"Why did you go sleep on the floor with Zane?"

Kota fidgets with his stuffed wolf before whispering close to my ear.

"l had a nightmare," he says, hugging his wolf tightly.

"A big bad wolf came to take me away."

My heart nearly stops as the blood drains from my face.I want to scream but my words never spill out of my mouth.

All through the night, I dreamt of Christian finding us and taking Kota from me, disposing of me as he did all those years ago training to take over the Alpha title, turning my sweet little boy into a hardened Alpha.

Kota's large eyes widen and he smiles at Zane who blushes under his gaze.

"But then Zane saved me, mommy.He didn’t let the bad wolf take me!"

He climbs out of my lap and runs into Zane's arms.

"And then - And then Zane's wolf carried me home!" Zane's face freezes, his body tensing at the mention of his wolf.

"Aoh aoh aaooooh!" Kota suddenly howls like a wolf.

"Zane is a wolf, mommy. Did you know that?"

He howls happily again.

"Can I be a wolf, mommy? Can I be a wolf like Zane?" Several questions pop into my head.

How did he know Zane is a wolfand how could he possibly know a wolf was after us? I lick my dry lips, unsure how to respond to his question.

I always knew the day would come when he would earn his wolf but his first shift was so many years away; I thought I would have more time to come up with an explanation as to why he’d feel another presence within him or hear a little voice in his head...

Zane's eyes seem to bore into my soul as I stare at my hopeful pup still in his arms.

While I despised wolves, my son was the exception.I would teach him to be a good wolf loyal to his family and should he ever find his mate, he would never hurt her.

""O-of course you can," I finally manage to say.

"You can be Kota how is again, crawling on all fours and barking at me.

You will be a beautiful wolf ,I want to tell him but I swallow my words and smile at him as he rolls around the covers with his tongue hanging out of his mouth.

"Come on, Kota," I say, ignoring Zane's questioning eyes as I climb out of bed.

"We have to get dressed."

The sweet aroma of crepes fills the house as Kota and I make our way into the kitchen, both of us practically drooling.

We had skipped dinner last night and gone straight to bed after our shower.

We find Agnes hard at work pouring crepe batter onto a hot pan, swirling it around in circles to make a perfect crepe.

Despite laboring over the food, Agnes looks as beautiful as ever in a pretty blouse and matching skirt.

She kindly signs a good morning to Kota and I frowns at me when I try to steal a crepe, slapping my hand to not touch her food.

My pouts are useless against her and I instead help her pack the cut-up fruits and fillings to take to the main pack house.

When we are all ready to go, Zane and Agnes carry the food while I lead Kota up to the mansion, squeezing his hand tightly as my wandering eyes scan the area uneasily.

He can’t find us here, Iremind myself as we enter the mansion.We're safe.

An omega meets us at the door and leads us to a large dining Alpha Oliver sits at the head of the table, his Queen to his left.

Sitting beside Aurora is Evan along with a girl we had yet to meet.

To Oliver’s right is another couple whom we also did not meet yesterday.

The rest of the table is empty.

Part of Gamma Evan's job seems to be annoying his Alpha who scowls violently at him as he recounts a story.

"Anyways, Oliver ran through the entire school butt-naked looking for his clothes," Evan wheezes, Aurora on the verge of tears beside him.

"He was so mad-" His voice comes to a halt when he finally notices us, Aurora rising to her feet to greet us.

"Please make yourselves at home," she instructs, gesturing to the empty seats.

She points to the girl beside Evan.

"This is Mia, Evan’s mate and my cousin." She then gestures to the couple to Oliver’s right.

"And this is Beta Carter and his wife Rosalie, Oliver’s little sister." Rosalie jumps to her feet and rushes over to us with a kind smile on her lips.Her eyes widen in shock when she sees the food in Agnes and Zane’s hands.

"Are those crepes?" She squeals.

"Saviez-vous que nous sommes français? {Did you know we’re French?}.We love crepes!"

"Agnes is mute and deaf," I explain when Agnes stares blankly at Rosalie.