Not just the Beta (Oriana and Slade) novel Chapter 123

Vance

He’d been annoyed that Londyn was ticked off with him and wouldn’t let him even talk to Zara, practically called him a stalker. He didn’t like that, and he wasn’t that at all. He also didn’t like hearing that Zara didn’t like his attention on her either. She flirted back with him.

He just thought the girl was amazingly beautiful was all, and wanted to go out to dinner with her and get to know her. Maybe have the girl let him kiss the hell out of her, and those pouty lips, that were begging to be kissed by him.

Though her responses to him, told him she was likely used to being hit on, by the men around her. She knew how to say no, and could in fact say no. Had told him no, to his disappointment, but he just couldn’t seem to give up on the girl.

He wondered if her resistance to him was because she was a model, something he’d not known until last night, but now did, and so she saw good-looking men all the time. Knew how to handle them, turn them down with a friendly smile, he’d not once been insulted by her turning him down. She was always polite about it, didn’t intend to insult him when doing so, and he knew it.

But today, after what they had found out last night, that she had actually modelled with Oriana, he did actually need to talk to her today. He wanted to really lay on the charm and get her talking to him, perhaps have her talk about her modelling. He’d even had a picture of her and Ori together on him, to show to her, ask about the woman in the photo.

See if she remembered her or not, there was always the possibility she did know her, and would chat about her. And even though not once in the past week, had she even been willing to give him her phone number, he was going to try once again.

It was unusual or even considered odd, for him not to be able to get a girl’s phone number. He could usually get that from a human girl and with ease. They kind of fell all over their feet at his smile. It notched up his handsomeness to smoking hot.

Seemed he wasn’t going to be able to get near Zara today. Londyn was blocking her, something that was normally a Maddie job. It was weird that all her sisters actively got in his way and stopped him.

Though again he could put that down to him being from out of town, and them thinking he was just going to pull her into his bed for a one-night stand, and then leave town when his vacation was over. They were, he thought, protecting her virtue.

They kind of weren’t wrong to either, if Ori wasn’t here in this town, and he did managed to get Zara into his bed, when they left, she wouldn’t be going with them. He sighed as he looked at her over there making coffee, and talking to the other customers that came into the café. Realised he’d never tried to get a girl’s number so hard in all his life.

No meant no, but there was just something about this one, that he couldn’t seem to let go of. She was funny and friendly with her customers, had a great family bond with her sisters, and she was amazingly beautiful in his eyes. He also never saw her flirt with the other customers. As far as he could tell, it was just him, so she had to like him on some level. It didn’t make sense to him, if he was a Gamma, he’d be half tempted to think she was his human mate, and he couldn’t charm her because of that.

Though watching her hug Londyn, the way she had, after Slade made some comment about dads thinking about their kids and the kids not knowing about it. He’d known Slade had taken that comment of Londyn’s personally, because Vance knew Slade thought about his child all the time. It had arced him up, and he’d butted into their lives unwittingly, because he didn’t think they should think the dad didn’t care.

Slade had just overstepped the boundary, forgotten he was just a stranger to them, who was a customer here to get breakfast and coffee was all. Their thoughts on Zara, perhaps knowing Oriana, had gotten to the man, it seemed. That was why he’d brought up that there was no Ana in those photos on that wall. He was trying to sus out who Ana was.

Vance sat back and just watched the interactions, picked up on the almost instant comfort Londyn had taken from her sister. She settled down really quickly, much more so than he’d thought she would. Kind of reminded him of a Gamma using her charm on a pack member.

Really looked at them now, moved his eyes to Palmer. The man was also focused on those two girls over there and his head was tilted ever so slightly, sussing out the emotions of them there sisters as well.

That Slade was correct, they looked nothing at all alike. Surely if they had the same father, there would be some sort of sibling trait they all got from him. His eyes, or smile, his height, a nose even, but no, none of them had any of that as far as he could tell.

Then Londyn was just suddenly all fired up and more than annoyed, angry he thought, and he saw Palmer’s head tilt even more, as that man focused right on her. He’d gotten something from the girl, something of interest to him, he thought. His foot touched the man, and he raised an eyebrow at him. He didn’t want to interrupt the almost seemingly argument that was now brewing between an angry Londyn and an annoyed Slade.

They’d left the café with no new information other than Ana was nowhere to be seen, not even a photo of her, the plan that came from Slade. He thought was a good one, though it was Yuri’s words that had piqued his interest. Oriana, Brianah and Ana, yes, it was entirely possible in his eyes now, that they were all the one and the same person.

He did not interfere in Slade’s conversations with that officer or the Sheriff himself, but his wolf Ames was all up inside his mind listening, as he appeared to be browsing the missing persons notice board. Both of them had increased heart rates, though the officer more so.

Peirce himself was well composed, though he did check the man out, and saw him eye Slade off, look him over real good, he knew Slade would smile at that man, it showed just how handsome he was, he could smile occasionally though most of the time it was an act for the humans to see.

He and the boys could make him chuckle once in a while, but they knew he really wasn’t happy deep down inside, so he rarely held onto a smile or chuckle, though smiling at Peirce, was likely genuine, seeing as the response he’d gotten to just Oriana’s picture.

A real sighting of her by Yuri, and now officers with increased heart rates at the sight of her, they knew her. He was willing to bet she was the very girl he now suspected was Ana. Peirce and Ana together. She’d found herself a human and that dumbass had cheated on her.

When that actually dawned completely on Slade, that human standing before him could find himself in a world of pain. He did enjoy extracting revenge on her part. His whole life revolved around hurting those that had hurt her and driven her away. He wouldn’t even let himself be happy, because he didn’t think he deserved to be.

Though Ana being Oriana, meant that she had moved on, she didn’t even consider that Slade could be her Mate, she had no idea of that part of her own parents’ thought process, so she was in all likelihood out there living her life. Carefree and happy until this human had opted to cheat on her, that was.

The dumbass was going to get a beating at some point, and hopefully Slade would remember at the time of said beating, that he was human. An officer of the law, which could see him be arrested for it, and contain himself and his beast; in the punishing of the man that dared to hurt Oriana.