The Silent Alpha novel Chapter 60

Fallen Heirs ***Wyatt?*** Korbin is eerily quiet as we drive the last leg of our trip home, staring off at the trees that we zoom past.

It’s frightening.

He’s never quiet.

(had not even set foot on the plane when Korbin called me the day of the attack, the fear thick in his voice as he demanded I return to the hotel.

He could not even explain to me what had happened, his words slurred as he incoherently begged me to come help him.

I did my best to calm him down and stayed on the line with him until I returned to the hotel where I got the shock of my life, finding Caine’s lifeless body stuffed in the back of the truck.

“What happened?” I demanded, unwilling to believe my own eyes as! stared at the body.

“H-he just went crazy!” Korbin hiccuped between sobs.

“I-I don’t even know what- what happened,” he cried.

“I tried to stop him.

I tried but he wouldn’t listen to me! He wouldn’t...

He just shot himself” he whimpered.

“He shot...

He shot himself.” It took several hours to calm Korbin down enough to make sense of what he was saying and even then, I could not make out the events of that day, unable to understand how Zane made Caine shoot himself without uttering a single word.

Caine is many things, but suicidal is not one of them.

He would have put up a fight before dying.

Something else must have taken place that day but I cannot get Korbin to tell me the truth.

“Dad...” Korbin whispers, his eyes glossy as he looks over at me.

“I’m scared.” now, so I swallow them back and put on a brave face.

“Alpha will want to know the exact details of that day,” I sigh tiredly, looking over at Caine.

“So what should I tell him?” Korbin whispers to himself.

My hands tighten their grip around the steering wheel as I try to think of a good answer to that.

Korbin can’t lie to save his life so it is best to come clean with what happened.

Lying to Sebastian is simply not an option.

“Tell me exactly what happened again,” I reply.

Korbin nods, his eye blinking fast as he clears his throat.

“W-we were on our way to River Moon like you told us, when we saw Zane and his mate driving in the opposite direction.

That’s when Caine went berserk and drew a gun from his pants.

I tried to stop him but he shot at them.

I think he hurt Zane’s mate.

I don’t know.

Everything just happened so fast and then Caine pulled over and started shooting at Zane again.

Zane shifted and just stared at Caine for a really long time.

That’s when Caine suddenly spun the cylinder of his gun and pointed it to his own head but he was crying, like he was begging Zane for mercy but Zane never said anything.

He just stood there, staring at him.

Caine even pissed himself, he was so scared.

He pulled the trigger many times until a bullet finally made its way through his skull.” “Zane turned to me and I panicked,” Korbin adds.

“I told him your message and he told me Alpha Sebastian would regret pushing him away-” “Wait, Zane actually spoke to you?” I ask, trying to remember the last time I ever heard Zane utter a single word.

“Well no,” Korbin shakes his head.

“He mind-linked me but...

it was weird.” mind-linked before.

I wasn’t even sure he could.

“How so?” “Well it was like...

it was like he was inside my head,” Korbin explains.

“Like he could hear and see everything I was thinking.

He gave me an order and I felt an urge to do as he said.

All he said was shut up and I couldn’t help but listen to him.

It was weird.” “Like an Alpha command?” “No,” Korbin shakes his head.

“No, my wolf wasn’t compelled to listen ...

[twas me.

I felt this urge, this need, this desire to do as he said.

It doesn't make any sense.” I grow impatient with my son and his cryptic storytelling as we pull up to the Scarlett Haven gates and snap at him.

“Listen very carefully, Kor, because I am only going to say this once,” I snarl through gritted teeth.

“You will be silent as I tell Sebastian what happened.

Do not even breathe while I talk, you understand?” Korbin nods his head and I proceed to explain my plan to him, Korbin muttering it to himself over and over again.

As we pull up to the pack house, Beta Earl is already at the door ready to receive us, a deep frown on his face when he notices only Korbin and I step out of the truck.

“Sebastian is furious about your failed mission,” he mutters, eyeing the truck suspiciously.

“You have some serious explaining to do.

And where is the little prick? His mother has been driving me insane all day asking why you took so long to return.” “l’ll explain later,” Ireply, Earl shifting his gaze between Korbin and I.

“Where is Caine?” “Tell the Alpha we have a Moon Warrior Ceremony to prepare for.” “**Sebastian*** “The Gamma has arrived, Alpha,” Beta Earl announces as he bursts through the door of my office.

Beads of sweat are gathered at his forehead, the look in his eyes telling me something is off about Wyatt’s arrival.

Dread prickles down my spine as I rise to my feet and follow him out to the driveway.

There, I find Wyatt standing by the truck along with multiple guards, the look in his eyes distant and emotionless.

Korbin trembles anxiously beside him, any slight movement frightening him.

“Alpha,” Wyatt says loudly, Korbin jumping nervously.

Something is definitely wrong, Arden, my wolf, mutters.

I count two heads, but where is my son? Wyatt seems to understand my question and lowers himself onto his knees before me.

“I regret to inform you, Alpha, that things took an unexpected turn while we were visiting California,” he says, his voice strong despite the fear laced within his words.

“Speak clearly.

You're not making any sense,” I snarl, barely hanging on to my patience as Wyatt stares blankly at me.

“Yes sir,” Wyatt nods solemnly.

“I took Caine and Korbin to speak with Zane one last time before we left and as we were approaching his new aimed at your son.” My blood boils hearing the news of Caine’s audacity to override my wishes and do as he pleases.

“Was Zane hurt?” I ask, a war waging in my head.

A part of me hopes that the boy was killed so I can be done with this ordeal while the other half prays no harm comes his way.

“He’s alright,” Wyatt explains.

“But Caine continued to shoot and Zane reacted to the gunfire.

The two got into an altercation for control of the gun so I don’t exactly know who shot who but the gun went off, and Caine was shot.” In ablink of an eye, the world comes to a stand still, my own lungs pausing for a moment.

“Where is Caine?” I ask, my face stone cold as I wait for his response.

“He’s dead, Alpha,” Wyatt announces very bluntly, the familiar pain of another lost son filling my heart.

Of course, this time, it's through no fault of my own.

“What?” a sharp gasp calls out from behind me.

Just then I hear footsteps approaching, Sara stepping out of the house as her lips quiver in anguish.

“What did you say?” She whimpers through a sob.

“Sara, go inside,” I command, Sara ignoring me completely and staring at her Gamma.

“What did you say?” She repeats, her hand clinging to her chest as several tears roll down her cheeks.

“Where is my baby?” “I said, GO INSIDE,” I snap, Earl stepping in her way and pushing her “No...” she whines, her face full of anguish as she pushes Earl’s hands away.

“No....

no...

no!” She whispers, her voice growing louder.

“No! No! Not my baby!” She shrieks, Earl wrapping his arms around her as she cries.” My baby! My baby!” She screams, pounding her fists against Earl’s chest in hopes of breaking free.

Wyatt climbs up the steps to the house to comfort his Luna, but she does not want his comfort.

She wants his head.

“You were supposed to protect him!” she snarls, slapping Wyatt across the face when he tries to hug her.

“You spineless, insignificant, waste of space!” She sobs angrily, collapsing to the ground on her knees.

As she screams, I slowly approach the truck, finding a body covered in linen tucked tightly in the bed.

My hands shake as I untie the ropes keeping the body in place and I pull back the linen, closing my eyes instantly when I see Caine’s face with two gaping holes on the sides of his head.

No weakness, Iremind myself, quickly tucking in my emotions behind a face of stone as I cover Caine back up.

An Alpha never shows weakness.

Another thought occupies my mind, anger and shame filling my being.

Without Caine, that stuttering buffoon is now the sole heir to my pack.

That weakling will be responsible for this- for MY PACK.

How could this be my fate? My legacy? In the hands of a man who can’t even say his own name without stumbling like an i***t? How? How could this have happened? My fury turns on Wyatt, the man I left in charge of this one simple task.

“How could you let this happen?” I snarl, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt.

“You had one f*****g job.

Where were you? Do you have any idea Stone was promised an heir and you let him die!” “I told you Caine was trouble.

Zane was only defending himself,” Wyatt tries to explain.

“I didn’t even know the kid had a gun with him.

I don’t know how the f**k he got his hands on a silver revolver.” I freeze, realizing the only person who could have given Caine a silver revolver ...

was his own mother.

The weeping woman seems to know this