The Silver Wolf (Diana and Talon) novel Chapter 6

Alpha Asher’s summons came just before dusk, the sky outside bleeding into bruised shades of violet and gray. Diana stood outside the Alpha’s office for a long moment, fingers curling slowly at her sides, grounding herself in the familiar ache of old scars beneath her skin. This room had once been a place of strategy and unity—a place she had fought to protect with blood, sweat, and sacrifice. Now, it felt like a courtroom.

She knocked once.

“Come in,” Asher’s voice commanded.

Diana pushed the door open and stepped inside.

The air was thick—heavy with authority, judgment, and something far more poisonous. Alpha Asher sat behind his desk, posture rigid, eyes sharp. To his right stood Beta Rafe, arms crossed, expression unreadable. Gamma Tyler lingered near the wall, unease etched into his face. And beside the Alpha’s chair, poised like a queen in judgment, stood Luna Hazel.

Diana didn’t bow.

“Alpha,” she said evenly, her voice steady despite the storm roaring beneath her ribs. “You asked for me?”

Asher nodded once. “Yes. Sit. We need to discuss your position as a warrior.”

Diana didn’t move.

“With all due respect, Alpha,” she replied coolly, “there is no position. At least, not anymore. I already resigned if you remember.”

“I remember,” Asher said, his jaw tightening. “And I did not accept.”

“You don’t get to refuse reality,” A bitter smile curved Diana’s lips. “I’m done.”

“You are one of the strongest warriors this pack has ever produced,” Asher shot back. “The younger warriors look up to you. You’re a symbol of resilience.”

“And look what that brought me,” Diana said quietly, her voice slicing through the room. “Betrayed by my own pack.”

“No one betrayed you, Diana,” Asher said firmly.

She laughed—once, sharp and hollow. “That’s big of you to say, Alpha.”

The words hung there, weighted with meaning neither of them needed explained. Asher had been the first to betray her. The rejection. The dismissal. The moment he turned away from her because her wolf hadn’t emerged on her eighteenth birthday, as if her worth had evaporated in an instant.

“I became one of your strongest warriors because I had no choice,” Diana stepped forward, eyes burning. “You told me I didn’t have a wolf. That I was lesser. So I made myself stronger as a human. I trained twice as hard. Bled twice as much. I pushed my body past breaking because I had to.”

She clenched her fists. “I did it to protect this pack. And especially to protect my parents.”

Her voice wavered—for half a second.

“If I had been alone,” she continued, regaining control, “I would have left this pack five years ago.”

Silence swallowed the room.

“And now,” Diana said softly, “I am truly alone. The only people I ever cared for here are gone.” Her gaze swept across them, cold and final. “So do you really think I need—or want—you to accept my decision to resign my position, given that I’m just a simple warrior?”

Luna Hazel scoffed. “Your disrespect knows no bounds.”

Diana turned slowly. “Am I speaking to you, Luna?”

Hazel’s eyes flashed.

“Alpha,” Beta Rafe interjected, voice measured, “a disrespectful and insubordinate warrior, no matter how strong, is still a liability. I advise you to accept her resignation.”

“Actually,” Diana nodded once, approving. “My resigning isn’t a suggestion. It’s an ultimatum. Either you accept my resignation… or you banish me from this pack.”

A murmur rippled through the room.

“Because I will never protect a pack,” Diana finished, voice ironclad, “that betrays its own.”

“How many times do I have to tell you?” Asher snapped. “No one betrayed you!”

“If that’s true,” Diana’s eyes darkened, she said slowly, “then answer me this, Alpha.”

She stepped closer to his desk, palms braced against the wood. “How is it that my parents were outside the bunker?”

No one spoke.

“Why only my parents?” she demanded. “The moment I reached the battleground, I was told everyone had evacuated and was safely locked inside with the Luna.”

Her breath hitched, just barely. “I stayed focused. I fought. I killed rogues with my bare hands. And then I heard my parents calling me through the link.”

“No one knows how long they tried to reach me,” she whispered. “Because I severed every unnecessary mind link—except the voices of the pack’s leaders. Because I trust this pack. I trust that my parents are safe. But my trust was misplaced.” Her eyes burned with unshed tears. “Do you have any idea what that feels like?”

Gamma Tyler swallowed. “We… we don’t know why they were outside the bunker, Diana. Luna Hazel said they didn’t come when everyone was called.”

“And you believe that?” Diana’s gaze snapped to him. “My parents were nothing if not obedient. Loyal. Rule-followers. My father was a low ranked warrior and my mother was a helper in the pack kitchen. All their life, they followed rules.”

She straightened, towering despite her stillness.

“I will fight not for this pack again,” Diana said, “if the one who betrayed me is not charged and convicted.”

“And how,” Asher demanded, “do we charge anyone when we don’t even know if a betrayal occurred?”

Diana’s eyes slid—slowly, deliberately—to Luna Hazel.

“Isn’t that an Alpha’s job?” she asked coolly. “Or perhaps you can ask your Luna. She was in charge of the evacuation. She had the duty to make sure all pack members were accounted for.”

Hazel stiffened.

“Are you blaming me?” the Luna hissed.

“As a matter of fact,” Diana replied without hesitation, “yes.”

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