Not just the Beta (Oriana and Slade) novel Chapter 136

Slade

He sat with the boys; they were all mostly convinced that the café owner, Maddie, was going to be Palmer’s Mate, due to her sudden burst of anger over his use of that Gamma Charm on her. A tell-tale sign to any Gamma that he may have found his mate. The only wolfen rank that had any inkling about who their own mate might be; due to not being able to charm one’s own Mate.

Vance had shaken his head and stated, “I don’t think they’re witches.” After some thought on the matter, “if they were, they’d have found a magical way to stop us from either going into that café or sending us away. They’ve had many chances to put a potion or spell in our coffee or food.”

It was entirely possible that Vance was right, and if they were a coven, where were the rest of the witches?

Usually, a coven would consist of a dozen witches in their world, not just all females either. They also held more than a healthy complexion, and when he thought about Maddie, Zara and Londyn, those three women held all the markers of she-wolves.

“How many witches do you see travelling all over the place, like Zara does? She models all over the country and in Canada as well. Witches like to stay close to their coven. Within their own inner circle, from my understanding,” Vance went on.

Again, that was true of witches from the otherworldly realms. Once they found a place to settle, they stayed put, were connected to the ground their coven was on, rarely left it unless it was needed for witching purposes. Modelling he didn’t think counted as that.

Palmer was confused and wouldn’t actually commit to anything where Maddie was concerned. His only comment was, “I don’t know, it’s possible. I would like to try again, to see if I get the same reaction. There are some that are naturally immune to a Gamma’s charm. Though not many,” he admitted.

“Do you find her attractive?” Yuri asked Palmer and all three of them turned to look at him, curious whether he did or didn’t.

“She is beautiful,” Palmer stated simply. “But only a full moon will actually let me know what she is or isn’t to me. I will not be getting ahead of myself, and none of you should be either.”

Slade knew Palmer was sensible and level-headed, despite his dirty mind at times. After what had happened, he would never just presume someone was his mate and go about trying to claim them before a full moon. Was at times more logical than Slade himself.

Vance, he knew, was hoping that Zara was his Mate. He had stated it out loud for all of them to hear, uncaring of what any of them thought, he was more than smitten by the girl. His hound-dogging ways had all seemed to have stopped as well, with him laying eyes on Zara.

That had surprised them all, his obsession with the girl and his lack of even looking at any others here in town. Not once had his eyes even wandered towards any of the other girls in Greenville. And that man got all manner of action over the past five and a half years of them being out here.

Not only wolfen action either, he had many a human girl notched onto his belt, had hooked up with a pretty vampire he’d come across one night. He had no aversion to any other species. He’d also found a fairy to play with and a few sirens as well. He’d had some real fun with that, apparently.

Vance liked the ladies, regardless of what they were, he could also be in bed with one today and a different one tomorrow. Though they had been here for over a week now, and nothing for the man, that was unusual for them all to see. He only had eyes for Zara. It seemed the hound dog in him was gone. Just like Vance’s father thought, he would settle when he found his mate. It was the only thing that could settle the wandering nature of a gypsy that couldn’t sit still.

Though he had not scented out the girl, he had already admitted that, but he was really hoping to. Come the full moon, he had stated, “I don’t know what it is about her,” in the beginning, but now “Goddess, she’s beautiful. I’ll never tire of looking at her.” came out of him. He was hoping that their Goddess had seen fit to put his Mate right in front of him.

Stated “Come on Slade, where else would my Mate be, but with the girl we’re searching for. Otherwise, I’d never find her, moving around the country as we do.”

Palmer and Yuri had stared at Vance for a long moment after that comment, and then just nodded, Yuri had stated, “It’s a sound theory.” Slade had just stayed out of it.

He stayed out of all Mate Bond conversations. He was not out there looking for a Mate, and hadn’t touched a she-wolf since Alpha College, which kind of surprised all three of them. But Palmer had understood it, and just nodded. He could see why. His only opinion on the matter was, “Only a full moon will tell you when you’ve found your Mate.” And he would not be swayed into any other way of thinking.

Not after all that had happened to him back then, both inside the pack and at Alpha College, he would never believe he had a mate unless he scented them out, and they scented him right back.

Palmer left the Yuri and Londyn topic alone. As per Slade’s request, there would be no stating what Palmer had thought, regardless of what he’d felt when using his Gamma ability, and picked up on Londyn’s feelings. It was clear to him that Yuri did not scent the girl, therefore, there was no actual proof of what Palmer had picked up on. So it was not to be brought up.

They would find out on the next full moon, though that was weeks away. He was a little curious about it, due to the fact that Yuri had been here on a full moon and unconscious at that. But he would not interfere with the Moon Goddess’s plan for those two if there was a connection there.

Slade sat in his room and googled the town of Greenville, Maine, scrolling through the pictures hoping to see someone had captured an image of her. No such luck. He typed in the café’s name, The Java Hut, and clicked on the web link to the business itself.

It had been up and running for a long time, 10 years now, long before Ori had become Ana and moved here. It had a photo gallery. He clicked into it and scrolled through pictures. A few competition winners photos with Maddie and the recipients.

Pictures of the food on the menu and the coffees that were the café’s specialities, that were up on the special board in the café itself. Each coffee was seen with the person it belonged to, and there it was, what he was looking for, a picture of Ana/Oriana and her specialty coffee.

She looked good, and her hair was back to being long and dark. She was wearing a simple fitted white top and a fitted brown skirt down over her hips to her knees, and then it flared out a little into a flowing skirt to her mid-calf area. It had a simple sash that ran across her hips and dropped off to dangle down her side, but somehow made that skirt on her more feminine to him.

She was out there and able to dress like the woman she was. No longer did she have to hide her feminine side from anyone. She was smiling at the camera, and he could see it in her eyes. She was really happy with her life here.

There were no photos of her with their daughter, and he nearly sighed. He still didn’t know what she looked like. He could only hope that it would be soon he’d get to see them together. That Ori or Ana would introduce him to her willingly.

She had been going to tell him, but he’d screwed that up on his own, and had no one to blame but himself for that. Though now she was in hiding and he knew it. She’d not come to the café even once since they’d been in town.

Though that had not been because of him, he didn’t think. Everyone in this town thought it was because her human boyfriend had cheated on her. He closed his laptop as he thought about that. He couldn’t understand it, that man should have thought himself lucky to have obtained her.

Why had he cheated on her?

He looked at the time. It was just after midnight and as tired as he was, he wanted an answer to that very question. The bed and breakfast was locked up for the night, he wasn’t getting out the traditional way.

He stood and dressed, popped the window open and dropped to the ground. He was going to get some answers about why that man was so freaking stupid as to do that; hurt her like that. Betray her in such a manner.