The Silent Alpha novel Chapter 33

***Zane*** 

Talia orders a pizza and the three of us sit by the fort and watch Shrek in Spanish.I can’t follow most of what is being said but the subtitles help.

Talia seems restless as we watch, glancing at me from the corner of her eye every so often and shifting on her pillow over and over again.

I know there’s something on her mind but I cannot bring myself to invade her privacy, so I timidly place my hand over hers, Talia flinching as the sparks ignite between us.

Ashamed, I pull my hand away but she takes it in hers and interlocks our fingers, muttering an apology under her breath.

"Sorry...it'll just take a little getting used to," she blushes, her thumb caressing mine.

"Your hands are...warm..." she smiles nervously.

She says nothing more, turning her attention back to the movie.

I want to ask her what is on her mind but before I can figure out a way to communicate, there’s a knock at the door.

A bit of dread settles in the pit of my stomach when I see Evan standing in the doorway.

He tries to hide his worried face with a smile, but his eyes give him away.

"The Queen wishes to speak to both of you about today’s… incident," he says, carefully picking his words.

"Zane didn’t do anything wrong,"

Talia huffs, taking a Grayson practically swoons over the gesture and like a love sick puppy, demands to come out and mark her on sight.

Is that all you can think about right now? I snap at him, knowing we are very likely going to get kicked off the territory for his behavior.

No, I'm definitely thinking about her t**s too, Grayson replies nonchalantly.

Just look at how she’s puffing out her chest.

They look great in this top...

I despise you, I sigh, knowing there is no way to trade wolves at this point.

Trust me, I'd trade humans in a heartbeat, he retorts.

"I never said Zane did anything wrong,"

Evan explains calmly, though I can see the fear flicker in his eyes as he backs away from my small Latina mate who glares furiously at him.

""Trust me, I would have loved to piss on Benoit Perrault years ago."

"So then why-"

"Things are more complicated than you think and unfortunately, Zane and his wolf only made things worse,"

Evan interrupts.

"Please, just come to the Pack house so Aurora can speak to you both."

Seeing that we would have to face Aurora sooner or later, we grab Kota and head to the pack house where Evan takes Kota out to play with Rio on the lawn while Talia and I head upstairs to Aurora’s office.I don’t smell the visiting Alphas anywhere, meaning they nervous.

Talia must be nervous too because she holds my hand as I open the door to the office, giving it a tight squeeze as we enter.

The tension in the room is thick, Aurora resting her head in her hands as she focuses on her breathing while her mate, Oliver, gives me a murderous look.

Carter, their Beta, seems to be the only one not upset at the moment, greeting both Talia and I with a smile.

A spine tingling fear washes over me when Oliver opens his mouth to speak.

"Do you have any idea what you two have done?"

Oliver growls, his blue eyes flickering between sapphire and silver.

"Do you have ANY idea how much you f****d up-"

"Oliver, stop it..."

Aurora warns, her face stern as she looks at her husband.

"Let them speak for themselves before you place blame on anyone."

"You know as well as I do that it does not matter what the reason was.Zane had no right to pee on an Alpha visiting my territory!"

"Our territory,"

Aurora corrects him, Oliver’s mouth closing instantly.

"You forget, Zane and Talia are my guests here and Benoit, as a visitor, should have respected me by respecting my guests.You and I both know he has not!"

"So what do you propose we do?"

Oliver shakes his head in disbelief.

"That we should just let Zane get away with throwing away everything we've worked hard on building because he can’t "You’re one to talk,"

Aurora retorts, Carter coughing to hold back his laughter.

Oliver gives him a deadly look, Carter holding up his hands in surrender.

"I think I need some air,"

Oliver mutters, storming past me.

"Je t'aime," Aurora calls after him, Oliver pausing at the door and taking a deep breath.

"I love you too," he sighs, closing the door after him as he steps out.

Aurora lets out a large breath of air, pinching the bridge of her nose as she once again rests her head in her hands.

"Aurora, I can explain," Talia says when the suffocating silence becomes too much.

"Zane was just-" Aurora holds up her hand, Talia clamping her mouth shut.

"I already know what happened," She mumbles, finally looking up at us.

"I saw your memories as soon as you walked in."

She runs her fingers through her hair and leans back in her chair with her eyes closed.

"Unfortunately, it does not make this situation any better."

"What exactly is the issue?" Talia asks for both of us.

"Benoit is just another Alpha."

"What’s the issue?"

Aurora laughs sarcastically, sitting up straighter.

"The issue is that Lune De Minuit is River Moon’s the pack company, but they also have a huge influence over our other shareholders.Alpha Jacques’s eldest daughter, Adeline, used to manage these shares before she went rogue 6 months ago.Benoit is the heir apparent to the Alpha title and has been managing the shares from France.He is set to take the title next month, so we planned to have a formal meeting with him next week to discuss the future of our partnership.His father, however, decided to show up two weeks earlier than expected."

She stops to rub her temples in exhaustion.

"Oliver has been negotiating with Jacque all week to come up with a finalized plan to end the partnership.They came to an agreement this morning until Grayson so graciously pissed on Benoit Perrault.Now, not only are all the negotiations off the table, but Lune de Minuit has declared River Moon and, by proxy, my kingdom, an enemy."

The young Queen looks like her head might explode with frustration and for a brief moment, she appears overwhelmed with emotions.

"I can’t believe I’ve only been Queen for less than 3 months and I’m about to enter another war," she whispers under breath, Carter walking over to her and patting her back.

"Give yourself a little credit," he chuckles.

"You were Luna for like 5 minutes before we went to war with the Witches and you took them down in less than 3 weeks.You can handle a snobby Alpha and his son with your hands tied behind your back."

Aurora does not smile but his words seem to have given her the comfort she needed.

An enormous wave of guilt washes over the Queen.

"It’s not your fault," Aurora says after a deep sigh.

"Benoit would have managed to cause trouble with or without Grayson’s help," she laughs dryly.

"But did it have to be piss?"

You're lucky I held back, Grayson snickers.It was either piss or rip out his throat.

You should be thanking me.Would you shut the f**k up? I snap, Aurora bursting into laughter.

"Me cae bien tu lobo, {I like your wolf},"

Aurora giggles, before her face once again grows stern.

"But he needs to learn discipline.I wholeheartedly disagree, Grayson replies before I shove him to the back of my mind.

"I still have something to discuss with both of you," Aurora says, her eyes switching between Talia and I.

"Are we being kicked out?" Talia asks, her hand squeezing mine.

"That depends entirely on you," Aurora responds with a shrug as she rests her hands on her desk.

"I made you a promise that I would keep you safe and I have failed you now on two occasions," she smiles halfheartedly.

"And now it looks like the time of peace in my Kingdom is over."

Talia shifts nervously on her feet so I wrap my arm around her waist and pull her close to remind her she has me to lean on.