The Silent Alpha novel Chapter 42

***Zane*** 

"This isn’t working,"

Evan sighs, looking down at me after having knocked me on my ass for the sixth time in a row.

"He’s not attacking, just blocking.You can’t win a fight by just blocking.You need to attack your opponent," he scolds me, helping me up to my feet.

Aurora bites her lower lip as she tries to think of a new training regimen for me, my self-esteem plummeting.

"You are doing all the right moves, Zane," Aurora tries to cheer me up, but I find it hard to believe given how long we have been at this.

I’ve been in training all week, exercising my silver wolf gifts with Aurora and learning to utilize my mind control, telepathy, and projection abilities better.

As it turns out, my mind control ability does not work on Aurora or her twin sister, Celina, but it works on pretty much any other wolf.

I do have a limit on how many wolves I can control at once, my magic number being four.

Aside from silver wolf training, I’ve been working closely with Gamma Evan, building up my muscles, endurance, and flexibility while also working on hand to hand combinations but all my efforts seem futile when I’m put in a sparring circle.

"We just need to find the right...motivation for you,"

Aurora adds with her timid smile, Evan handing me a water bottle while we take a break.I try not to sulk as she and Evan brainstorm when Aurora suddenly starts to squeal excitedly.

"Mia?" Evan asks, scratching his head in confusion.

"Why my mate?"

"Just trust me,"

Aurora smiles, flicking her wrist to open a portal and disappearing into it.Evan only shrugs, tapping me on the shoulder.

"So, how’s the mate? She like you yet?" He chuckles.

Like us?Grayson scoffs.She loves this dick- Stop talking, I mutter, forcing a smile and nodding at Evan.

"Listen, if you need any tips, I got you," Evan grins mischievously.

"I never had a brother I could pass on my wisdom to and I don’t wanna know what Aurora and Oliver do behind closed doors."

He shivers to emphasize his disgust and sticks out his tongue.

I smile and nod awkwardly, unsure how to add to this conversation.I am still not comfortable using my voice around people other than with Kota or Talia but it seems Evan doesn’t mind my silence.

"You remind me of Aurora,"

Evan observes, my ears perking up at this.

When he notices my peaked interest, he sits down on a mat.

"She was not always the strong Queen that you see now.She is still very shy and timid, but she was once also afraid.Very afraid."

I look down at the Gamma curiously.What could a wolf like Aurora have to fear?

 "Aurora was abused by her old pack, Lluvia Blanca, for years," Evan explains.

"Her family used to torture her every day and to be honest, I still don’t know most of the things she went through.All I know is she showed up here with a lot of scars, both mental and physical, and it took us a while to get her to open up to us and even longer for her to trust us.She still has bad days, though not as often." saw, but I did not know the extent of her abuse.

She seems so happy now.

I would have never guessed she is still struggling with her past.

"Look, all I’m saying is...you don’t have to be ashamed of your past and your fears.There is nothing wrong with needing a little help and guidance,especially with training.Healing is an ugly process and sometimes you're gonna stumble.No one expects you to always have your s**t together, silver wolf or not.Aurora is the most powerful wolf on the planet and she goes to therapy every week because it helps.I won’t lie, therapy sucks, but it's not meant to be easy.It takes a lot of strength to face your demons.l am only giving you this sermon because I can tell you're struggling with something.Don’t hold it in no matter how ashamed you are.There’s literally nothing to be ashamed of.You didn’t ask for your past, so why would anyone hold it against you?"

I like this wolf, Grayson says.I tell you the same thing but you never listen to me.I don’t get the opportunity to thank Evan for his words of encouragement because the next thing I know, Aurora and Evan’s mate, Mia, pop out of a portal.

Evan jumps to his feet to greet his mate with a kiss and asks Aurora to explain her idea.

"Don’t worry about it,"

Aurora smiles, instructing Mia to move to the middle of the sparring circle.

"Zane, get in your fighting stance."

Mia spreads her feet apart and raises her fists as she faces me.

Okay dude, this should be easier, Grayson says, getting into his own fighting stance.

Her punches won’t hurt as much when she knocks you on your ass.

Thank you for the encouragement, I mutter, Grayson grinning from ear Once in position, Mia begins to circle me and I shuffle my feet like Evan taught me to keep her within my vision.

A small smirk curls on her lips before she lunges forward on her right leg and kicks up with her left.I block the kick with my forearm and retaliate with my own weak high kick that she easily slaps away.

Come on, dude, Grayson groans.

You can do better than that! Punch her! Ido as l am told and swing my arm towards her face, but Mia ducks and slams her fist against my jaw.

She then spins around for a roundhouse kick to my stomach and I stumble back to recover.

Dude! Grayson growls.

I make a quick kick to her thigh, luckily landing the blow, but she then backs away before I can land a punch to her jaw.

Quick on her feet, Mia turns around and donkey kicks me in the stomach, nearly knocking the wind out of me.

The abrupt sound of Kota’s scream somewhere in the trees behind me startles us, both Mia and I putting down our fists.

"He’s hurting Mommy!" Kota wails, every instinct in my body telling me to run to him.

Suddenly, a group of guards appear, one of them stepping towards the Queen.

"Your Majesty, we received word that Alpha Jacque and his men have breached the northern and western borders! We are under attack!" he says with urgency, everyone now on high alert.

"Mommy! No!" Kota screams, my heart beating a mile a minute.

"Evan and I will lead the men to the north, Mia, take the west.getting in position.”

"Zane, you go protect your family.I will send back up immediately,"

Aurora adds, shifting into her white wolf and rushing towards the north with Evan and the guards at her heels.

I don’t need to be told twice and race off in the direction of Kota’s screams, anger burning through me at the thought of my pup and my mate being hurt.I attempt to shift to get there faster, but for some reason Grayson won't activate.

Gray, what the hell?

I snap.I don’t know, Grayson replies, equally confused.I can’t come out.I don’t have much time to dwell on my wolf form because Kota once again screams.

Will Just have to do this on my own.

Not far from the training grounds, I find that stupid French Alpha, Benoit, cornering Talia and Kota by a tree, Talia shielding our pup with her body.

Benoit throws a punch at Talia, hitting her jaw and sending her flying to the ground.

Kota wails just behind her, his large eyes widening when he sees his mom lying very still.

Grayson nearly goes feral as Kota shouts at his mother.

"Mommy!" he screams, sheer terror taking over as he crawls towards her.

"Mommy, wake up!"

All see is red as I run up behind him but Benoit hears me and dodges my punch, retaliating and slamming his fist on my jaw.I stumble back, hearing Kota’s screams as he shields his mom’s face with his hands to protect her.

Benoit makes a series of combination kicks to my face and stomach, most of which I manage to block or dodge.

He then dives and wraps his arms around my waist, dropping into a roll so that he lands back on his feet while I fall on my knees.stomach, but I slam my elbow on his knee cap to stop him.

He then flings his arms around my neck to strangle me but I grab onto one of his arms and flip over onto his back.He lands with a groan and staggers onto his feet, giving me the opportunity to stand up again and grab him on either side of his shoulders.

I slam my knee into his stomach over and over again, Benoit grunting with every blow.

When that doesn't satisfy me, I let him stand up enough so that I can deliver a punch to his left cheek, then his right and then left again.

Weakened and disoriented, he does little to fight back and I push him away to deliver the final blow, kicking him in the chest and knocking the wind out of him.He goes flying back, his body crashing against a tree.

Blood trickles from his nose, temples, and lips but my thirst for revenge is unquenched.

I stalk over Bencit’s slumped body, grabbing him by the collar with one hand and punching his face with the other.

"STOP!"

A voice commands me, my body resisting the urge to obey but submitting to the order.

I raise my head up to see Mia and Aurora watching me and I quickly realize I’m no longer in the forest but back in the sparring circle at the training grounds.

Kota and Talia are nowhere to be found and I look down to see I have Evan by the collar of his shirt, his face bloodied and bruised.I let go of his shirt, completely confused by everything.

Bruh, I'm just as lost as you, Grayson mutters.

Noticing my confusion, Aurora begins to explain.

"Mia is a silver wolf with the gift of illusions, hallucinations, and dream contortions," she says.

"I remembered how fast you reacted to Kota being fighter in you.I also blocked your wolf connection a little to keep you in human form temporarily.I just didn’t calculate how much of a fighter you really are even in your human form," she smiles nervously at Evan.

"Damn, you are one angry white boy,"