Not just the Beta (Oriana and Slade) novel Chapter 132

Alpha Austin

He sat staring at the Priority 1 sss from Alpha Gretta out in New Mexico. His own jaw ticked quite a bit as he read the details, but it wasn’t the coercion that made him curious; coercion was rife in their world, and they dealt with it quite a bit.

No, it was who this sss was about, one Alpha Slade Southerland, the heir to the Highland Hills pack. That man had emailed him only just over a week ago about one of his unit coming across a she-wolf that scented of human.

That would be Maddie and her sisters. He knew in that group was a female Beta ranked she-wolf with an Alpha pup for a daughter. He sighed heavily… leaned back in his chair and just knew that young Ana and little Ocean were going to be the ones Slade Southerland had reported as Oriana Vale, his missing and pregnant Beta at that time, who was now going by Ana Forester.

Ana being the last part of her actual name, most people that decided to vanish kept some form of their original name, usually just went by some sort of shortened version or a nickname, so that they easily answered to someone calling out to them. It was still familiar to them enough for them to go ‘oh that’s me’ and answer their new name.

The question now for Austin was, what was he to do about that Alpha Unit, coming across Sloan’s little group of rogues, those four women and that little girl lived on a tiny piece of land that belonged to Sloan, or well, to the Willow Moon Pack in Italy, technically. Felt like Fox territory to anyone that knew what that felt like.

Those four women had found a way to protect themselves, and were just living happy lives out in the human world, their own way. No one minded, they harmed no one, and were a happy bunch.

Maddie’s genius and toying with him had tickled Sloan’s funny bone. She emailed Maddie quite regularly, every few weeks. It didn’t bother Sloan that he’d once thought Maddie could be his human Mate or been with her. She simply liked the girl’s attitude on toying with him over the years. Called her mischievous and devious, told him once that Maddie would have made for a good Kitsune.

He’d put a call into Gretta, just a quick chat about his thoughts, and heard the intent of that scroll, so it was likely Alpha Slade and or one of his unit had actually laid eyes on Ana or Oriana, as she was known to them.

He needed the information to decide on what to do about his own knowledge. That scroll called for investigating all within it, involved in the deception. So Slade, Palmer and Yuri, who were all out there in Maine, all needed to come back to the pack for the investigation.

Oriana: they could leave her out of it, or she could decline on the grounds she’d left that life behind her and no longer cared about what happened to her biological family. She’d blood-bonded herself willingly to others, which effectively severed her kin bond to any and all in the Vale bloodline, and her mother’s bloodline. It was a quick and very efficient way of starting over. Severing all ties with a single drop of blood.

Though reading that scroll, Slade had written it for a solid purpose, to create proof for Oriana to read, to show her he too had been betrayed and what his actual intent was, how he wanted to tell her of the demotion his way, and had not been allowed to his father had screwed him over just as much as she had been.

He logged himself into the council intranet and checked on the Highland Hills pack. Alpha Roman Southerland was still in charge. The way Slade had gone about this? Austin wondered as he got up from his desk and headed upstairs to talk to Sloan. Wondered if Slade had left his father in charge for a particular reason or if he’d not thought he had the power and strength to overthrow him, or did he not have enough evidence against the man to unseat him.

There could be one of many reasons to leave that man in control of the pack, but this scroll intended to unseat him and have him investigated for the crime, punished for the crime to the full extent of the Wolfen Law.

He pushed into the Alpha suite and smiled at his three little kits, all girls, completely precious to him, they were one and half now, running around everywhere, they all looked up at him “Daddy.” They called out to him.

He knelt down and opened his arms to them, hugged them all to him, Allegra the firstborn, Carla the second born and Erica their third born. All of them had Sloan’s unique silver grey eyes, but he was certain their beasts would all have red eyes when they got them. They were all Kitsune’s, and identical to each other. So very cute and adorable.

“Where’s your mamma?” he asked, though he knew she was in their bedroom, he could smell her, and it didn’t surprise him she was having a nap, because she was once again pregnant, just a month along, with quadruplets. She was already showing her stomach distended several inches.

She needed to nap, was chasing three bouncy toddlers all over the place as well, something she wouldn’t let anyone else do, she had refused to have a nanny, loved her daughters and, in her words, “I will raise them myself.” when he’d offered to have a nanny brought into help her.

Their little girls were happy running about unsupervised, though it was likely he thought that Blade was keeping an ear out for them, and they’d probably been in that bed with her until he’d walked into the suite, and they’d heard him and come running.

Kits he’d found out were raised a little differently to pups, they were fully attached to their mother and were happy just being around them even if they slept. They were settled as long as their mother was settled, and right there with them. He walked into the bedroom and smiled at his lovely Mate.

He watched as their daughters ran over to the bed and climbed up the steps she’d had made so they could get on and off the bed at will, something else that was a bit different to pups. Only Carla had fallen off the steps and just once, cried for a minute and gotten over it, he’d been concerned about it. Damned, near panicked, only to have Sloan shake her head, and let it go. Muttered something about ‘do you know how many times I fell off my parent’s steps. She’ll be fine. Apparently this was normal inside a den.

Sloan opened her eyes and looked at him as he strolled across the room, “What’s wrong, Austin?” she asked him, holding her hand out to him.

He sat on the side of the bed and took her hand, leaned down and kissed her softly. She always knew when his mind was ticking “Alpha Council business to attend to. I have to go away tomorrow. Preside over an investigation at the New Mexico College.”

Oakley pushed forward to look at his Mate and growled a little at her. She smelled lovely to him, soft like nutmeg, it was the scent of her being pregnant and his beast really liked it.

“The wrong? That was against Ana then?” Sloan muttered.

“80% her, 20% him is my opinion.” Austin nodded “I will leave in the morning, are you going to be alright?”

She laughed “Yes, of course I am. How long will you be gone?”

“Unknown, we have to investigate the four council members first, then off to the pack. The one the charges are against, are still the current leadership.” He sighed.

She nodded “Likely to be that way on purpose, so Slade can be out hunting for his missing Beta and his child. Did he know about the pup?”

“Yes, it was written in there that she was pregnant.” Austin nodded. “Though, from my recollection, Ana stated he didn’t know and had a Mate. She doesn’t know that he knows about the child.”

“He wasn’t mated the last time I saw him, none of his unit were.” She sighed. “There is more going on I feel.”

“Likely so, if need be, would you be willing to bring them in for me.” Austin asked her “I wouldn’t normally ask.” He looked at her distended belly.

“I know the girls, and that Alpha and his unit won’t argue with me…” she nodded herself, “I can do that, though.” She looked at the triplets, “They won’t like being separated from me at all.”

“Julianna?” he asked.

“Mm, alright, I will call her and have her come to watch them. She will love the excuse to visit, now that she believes her daughter is finally ready to take over Willow Moon. This will show her that and likely see her ascension when Juliana gets back.”