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

as anyone or cause trouble if I stand back and never say a word.I can be the Silent Alpha, the one my father is too afraid to ever let the world

the shadows, watching over the people he

Bullshit! Grayson snarls.

know it! Our mate is giving us an opportunity to show her

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

our mate and give her a

faith in Moon Goddess

us for a reason and I, for one, would like to know what that

but…But nothing!

You have to remember that you are not the same little boy who used to stand in

she’s scared and kisses you when she doesn’t

pup who wants you to be his

watched over

to be a better version of

every hug, and every ounce of her around and watching everyone else find their place in this

my mate.I want to lead a pack like Moon Goddess intended, and most of all, I want

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

am trying to understand you,” she whispers, her breath ticking

need to know the truth about you.I

as I concentrate on her

Her mate…

bicep and gives it

me anymore,” she murmurs, her fingers moving

and worries.You are wrong to assume everyone else is perfect but you.I have my own flaws, things

and look at

surprised,”she chuckles softly to

hate a lot

grabbing her wrists and pinning them on either side of her head.I lay between her legs, her knees propped up at my sides and an amused look on her

her lips almost grazing my

think I

pain in her eyes as

I’m strong?” She

“Well I’m not.”

to let them fall, batting her eyes to make them all go away before she looks at me defiantly.It is only now that I realize

She hides…just like me.

can feel her heart fluttering in her chest, one beat after the next as neither one of us

as she leans forward, her lips pressing up against

of butterflies rushes through my body but I pull away before my mind turns to

as I push myself

closed and spin her around so that her