The Silent Alpha (Natalia)

Chapter 34: Hidden I
***Zane***

“Why did you hide your stutter from me?” She asks, her hand reaching out to touch my cheek.

I flinch away, my entire world collapsing in on me.

Quick! Play dead, Grayson snickers, his stupid comment making me even more nervous.

Unable to face my mate, I turn around on my side to hide my shame from her, pulling the covers over my head.

For a long time, the only sound I hear is the pounding of my heart against my ears, drumming louder with every passing second.

“Zane?” Talia whispers, tentatively placing her hand on the covers.

“Zane, please look at me.You don’t have to hide from me.”

The fear gripping my heart, however, makes it hard for me to face her.I know better than to speak.

My father spent years reminding me just how worthless my words were and he trained me to be quiet to avoid embarrassing him.

I know all too well that the second she hears my voice, she’ll laugh, or worse…she’ll hate me like my father.You’re being irrational, Grayson mutters.

If she really hated you, why on earth would she still be here with you? The Queen gave her a chance to leave and yet she chose to stay here with us! She asked us to protect her and her pup.

Our pup! She kissed us here alone with us! Does that sound like someone who hates you for your flaws? Do her actions remotely resemble Father’s? Each individual word he says makes sense, but I cannot understand their meaning together.

How could anyone love me the way lam? My own father could not even stomach the sight of me.

Gamma Wyatt never mistreated me, but he went along with my father’s idea to pass me off as Agne’s son and pretended I did not exist.

He turned a blind eye to the torture and abuse I faced in the Hive.

Agnes cannot hear me so she cannot grow impatient with me when [ have to repeat myself over and over again.

My mother was a kind woman, but I knew all too well that I was a burden to her and that I ruined a lot for her.

She and my father would have had a better marriage had I not stood in the way with my ineptitude.

I was only a month old the day my brother, Jonathan, died but there is no doubt in my mind that she wished my brother had lived instead of me.

He would have been a better son and my father would have been proud to name him as the next heir of Scarlett Haven.

Kota is the only person who does not seem to notice my imperfection, but he is only a child and he does not understand that the man he wants to call Dad cannot even say his name without getting stuck.

One day, he will grow up and find it embarrassing for me to speak around him and his friends.

pretend to not know who I

anyone or cause trouble if I stand back and never say

lurks in the shadows, watching over the people he loves from

Bullshit! Grayson snarls.

is bullshit and you know it! Our mate is giving us an opportunity to show her who we are, he adds, his anger evident in

how huge that is? After what her former mate did to her, she is sitting here, asking us

in our mate and give her a chance.She

a little faith in Moon Goddess for once? Grayson

us for a reason and I, for one, would like to

you? Yes, but…But nothing! Grayson

used to stand in front of the mirror reciting poetry while his father

when she’s scared and kisses you when she doesn’t know what else to

wants you to be

over you for the last twenty years without

teach you to be a better version of

we will prove to Talia that we deserve every kiss, every hug, and every ounce of her around

my mate.I want to lead a pack

processing Grayson’s argument, Talia pulls back the covers and rests her head on my shoulder,

she whispers,

upset with you for keeping your voice to yourself, but I need to know the

disappears as I

Her mate…

around my bicep and gives it a good

anymore,” she murmurs, her fingers moving up to graze my

all of your flaws and imperfections…all of your pain and worries.You are wrong to

head and look

chuckles softly

hate a lot of things

hate herself? I roll over on top of her, grabbing her wrists and pinning them on either side of her

whispers, her lips almost

think I hate being

pain in her eyes as

think I’m strong?”

“Well I’m not.”

spring to her eyes but she refuses to let them fall, batting her eyes to make them all go away before she looks at me defiantly.It is

She hides…just like me.

is time for both of us to come out of hiding.I can feel her heart fluttering in her chest, one beat after the next as neither one

my cheeks as she leans forward, her

but I pull away before my mind turns

look flickers in her eyes as I push myself up onto my knees, pulling her up into

red as I push her legs closed and spin her around so