Not just the Beta (Oriana and Slade) novel Chapter 142

Slade

He was still debating what to do about those logos on the app, all under Maddison Forester’s name.

Though he had been through the list of games on there now, he looked at all of them.

To his surprise, he’d found a child-friendly Japanese learning programme, and knew that had to be Ori or Ana’s doing. He had to start thinking of her in terms of Ana and not Oriana. The woman he was looking for was not the girl that had left the pack, all those years ago.

He checked on the pack symbol and found that, yes, it was Alpha Austin of the Wolfen Councils home pack. The very Alpha that he had emailed himself. Those three women were either wolfen or kitsune and protected by two Alphas, which meant that they had also likely been given a heads-up by their own Alpha as to him being there looking for Ana.

From what Yuri felt, he was betting on kitsune protection, and he couldn’t fight one of those. He didn’t even want to try to, though he was also not there to fight anyone. He just needed to get Ana to talk to him was all.

He was headed for the café to talk to Maddie, and his unit were all with him, because they all wanted to be out of their hotel rooms. Palmer, he knew, wanted to talk to Maddie once more and see what reaction he would get. Something they were all now curious about but weren’t going to push.

The place was filled with people and only as he looked about did he realise that it was now Friday afternoon and the long weekend was here. Even the streets were filled with people and there was a night market set up not that far away. It might be winter, but it was a holiday and the locals were out to make the best of it.

He could see there were plenty of people standing inside the café waiting on coffee or at the counter to order it. The outside area had been cleaned of snow and half the seats outside under the heat lamps were also already filled up.

He nearly smiled as he watched a young girl run out of the café, and gave a couple sitting there a small crotchet blanket each to put around themselves. She was barely six or seven, she had his platinum blonde hair, it was pulled up into a ponytail, and she was wearing warm clothing and a pair of boots; his footfall stopped at the sight of her.

Hail was up inside his mind. ‘Ours’ came from his beast as he stood and watched her. She was smiling at the elderly women and the lady gave her a hug. “It’s good to see you’re all better, sweetie. Glad to hear it was just a rash, and not the chicken pox.”

“Me too, I didn’t like being in the house all day, every day.” She smiled at the woman.

“How’s your mum doing, after…you know the breakup?” the woman asked.

“She’s okay,” his daughter nodded and then was gone back inside. His eyes tracked her all the way. He couldn’t not look at her. That was his daughter, and she looked so very happy.

His whole unit was standing there with him on the street. They had come to a stop when he had. She was so very beautiful, had her mother’s eyes and his hair and smile as well.

“Slade?” Vance murmured softly.

Though his attention was now on the couple, “I hope Ana gave that man a proper serve.” The woman sighed.

“Likely beat him one.” the other chuckled. “She does teach self-defense to all that want it.”

“It’s good to see little Ocean is unaffected by the breakup.”

“Yes, I was a bit concerned, she liked Pierce and his daughters.”

“He would have made for a nice dad, a cute family.” One nodded. “Though at least she found out before they got married.”

His eyes moved from the two women to the café. It was busy in there and as his eyes moved over the crowd he saw her, Ana. Right there serving customers alongside her sisters. Finally, after all this time, there she was.

“Slade.” Vance touched his arm.

“That was my daughter, Ocean.” He murmured. He’d ignored his unit to listen to the women. They had a good bond with her. She’d let them hug her, and she’d smiled and chatted with them, locals she knew, likely regulars to the café. He did like her name. It was pretty and unusual, like her mother’s, “Ana is in the café,” he commented.

She was there, smiling and happy, and he wondered if she thought he’d be holed up in his hotel room doing as Maddie asked, and so she thought it was safe to come to the café? He stood and just watched her for a bit, then took up a seat outside to try and decide on what to do.

He’d been searching for her for a very long time, and now here it was. She was right in front of him, and he knew he couldn’t go in there and try and talk to her with a café full of people.

But he also knew that a part of him was absolutely terrified of going in there and talking to her as much as he wanted to, knew he had to. He didn’t know what was going to happen when he did. Had never been able to predict it. She looked so very happy, and he could hear her laugh every now and then. She’d found a place she fitted in, and he was likely going to upset her when he walked into that café and her eyes landed on him.

“I’ll go in,” Vance stated, “She doesn’t know me. She might recall me from when she was 15, the last time I saw her, but I doubt it.”

“No.” Slade shook his head. He knew it had to be him, or he’d seem like a coward. He just needed a minute and for the crowd in there to thin out. “I’ll go, I just…need a minute is all. I don’t want to cause a scene, so let’s wait on the crowd to die down a bit.”

His eyes moved about the crowd and fell on his daughter. She was sitting talking to a couple of other children at the far end of the café by the window.

“She’s beautiful,” Palmer stated softly.

“Happy and healthy,” he nodded. “Perhaps, boys, we should come back later. I don’t want Ana freaking out and getting upset in front of those that she knows.”

“We can come back,” Vance stated.

“Slade, the Alpha Council is on its way. What happened out there?”

He saw his unit looking at him, had picked up her words. “I just laid eyes on Oriana, she goes by Ana, now,” he told her, and turned and walked away down the street, as he realised that couple were now looking at him, watching him and likely listening to him as well. His interaction with both Ocean and Ana was now

town gossip, he supposed. It likely hadn’t gone unnoticed that Ocean had his hair as well. It wouldn’t take long for them to put two and two together.

“And?” Dariah asked. He heard her anxiousness.

“I have a daughter. Her name is Ocean. Don’t tell your mother and father, no one, in fact.”

“So, it didn’t go down so well then?” she sighed heavily.

“First encounter like a minute ago. Can’t really expect it to be a happy one,” he sighed, and he’d not expected it to be, though it hadn’t really been that bad either. “Did the Alpha announce it, that the council is coming?” he asked her. He had stopped calling them mum and dad years ago. Always referred to them as the Alpha and Luna.

“He had to. Apparently, it is all 12 of them coming, and they stated he had to.”

That shocked him completely. He’d not expected that. His eyes moved to his unit and he registered the shock in their expressions as well. “It can’t be helped, Dariah, just leave it alone. I have no say in what is about to happen. I only reported what happened. The fallout is up to the council.”

“What did you report?” she murmured.

“Exactly what needed to be, so that they could come in and sort out the wrongs that happened, and get to the very bottom of everything. It’s likely not going to be very pretty.”

“I don’t think so either, father was requested to recall all pack members back into the pack. I’m headed home from Obsidian as we speak. Though he gave me the third degree about what I knew.”

“You know nothing.”

“I told him that, he rolled his aura at me to make sure I wasn’t lying.” She huffed. “Have you been recalled?”

“No,” he answered. Though it was likely just a matter of time.