Not just the Beta (Oriana and Slade) novel Chapter 154

Ana

“Maybe.” Ana sighed to herself now, anything was possible. “I don’t really have memories of it… my pain and anger obliterate it all, I don’t really recall anything until I made the decision to leave and cut all my hair off.”

She watched Zara lean forward. “How did you actually feel?” Zara asked her “Explain that to me as best you can. Our memories don’t usually just disappear without a reason, our wolves can recall most things even if we can’t.”

“China remembers nothing at all, from the moment we screamed at Hayden.” She shrugged.

“Nothing at all? How angry were you?” Zara asked.

“Very, both China and I wanted to kill Hayden all of them, we couldn’t being pregnant. We kind of just both lost it, and there’s nothing really after that, until hours later, only feelings of pain, and anger, utter fury.”

“Both of you were lost to your pain and anger. How long did that take to happen?” Zara was right next to her now, frowning at her.

“What are you fishing for Zara?” she asked. She could see the Gamma in her was ticking.

“Kind of sounds like bloodlust, especially if it evolved very quickly. No one really recalls what happens in a bloodlust or a rare few. Once lost to it, they don’t usually come back from it either.” Zara murmured thoughtfully.

“I don’t think it was that Zara.” She shook her head. “I would have shifted and killed everyone. Ocean would have been lost as well.” She’d had a thought about it earlier, but dismissed it as she did now.

“Maybe, Ana, you fought it off all that time, to protect your unborn child, and that’s why you don’t recall anything.”

“No one fights off bloodlust.” Both she and Maddie stated at the same time.

Ana knew that 95% of the time, once lost to the bloodlust, all that was to do was for a pack to put that one down, to stop the rampaging beast it had become from killing everything in its path. That pack, when she’d left, was all up there celebrating Dariah’s first shift, they were all fine.

“Um, what’s bloodlust?” Londyn asked, interrupting them, and they all looked at her and then Zara chuckled a little.

“Sorry Londyn, I sometimes forget you didn’t go to wolfen school like the rest of us. It’s a state where the human and wolf counterparts come together in anger, their thoughts and feelings are 100% completely aligned to each other and that anger overwhelms them completely.

“They are then consumed by it, and turn into a rage-filled creature, that kills anything and everything in its path that moves. It happens when neither the human, nor wolf, can deal with what’s going on around them, and it usually stems from feelings of betrayal of some kind.

“It evolves very quickly, in less than a minute in most cases, though not many can survive it, get lost to the taste of blood from killing things, and then just lust after more blood and carnage, hence it’s called bloodlust.

“Not many can survive it and most that move into a state of bloodlust are hunted and put down, otherwise they’ll continue to kill anything and everything that moves, regardless of who or what they are. One in a bloodlust recognises nothing at all. Considered a wild savage beast with no thought process,” Zara explained to Londyn.

“Oh!” Londyn looked right at Ana. “That’s not a good thing…but Ana’s fine?”

“Mm, that is a full curiosity, it does sound to me like a bloodlust, got the all the right beginnings of one, and I think maybe it was Ana, but you fought it off because you didn’t want to harm your own pup.” Zara

stated “It might not be something that is documented; people fighting it off, but there are documented cases of people recovering from it, being normal afterwards even.”

Ana didn’t know, would likely never know, because she and China recalled nothing at all after a certain point.

“I’ve read a lot of books on things Gammas need to learn about, recognise and be able to contain, while growing up,” Zara told them all “before my pack go taken over. Dad made us all, he didn’t care about ascension rights, just the bloodline and his children needing to know how to use it correctly. Gamma lessons he liked to call them.” She smiled.

“You have,” Ana smiled at her. “Though most Alpha-bloods crave to claim what is theirs. You seem to be able to deal with not doing that.”

“Hmm, I have other concerns about him, and where he comes from, but…”

“You’re going to claim him.” Maddie chuckled softly. “You get incrementally closer to him every time he’s in the café.”

“I can’t help it.” Londyn muttered, “He smells so bloody good.”

“The Mate Bond has got her good.” Zara laughed and nudged Londyn, “Look at you, still got that blanket that smells like him in your hands.”

Ana watched Londyn smile down at it, “I’m going to sleep with it.”

It would probably be good for her, and that Palmer had given it to her, that was still a question to be answered. Did he or did he not know? They’d discussed it before, the possibility of Palmer picking up what Zara herself had, that blanket she now realised answered her question. It was a yes, he knew, and he’d done something to help Londyn feel connected to Yuri even.

He likely felt her tiredness and need to be close to Yuri, and this was all he could do about it himself, because Yuri, he knew, hadn’t scented Londyn out in return.

“Do you think they’ve figured out we are all wolfen?” Maddie asked.

“It is likely, with Zara’s Gamma charm now being used openly In front of them all, they’ll be hedging their bets on all of us being wolfen,” Ana nodded. “Though I think we should all still wear our necklaces to dinner.”

“I’m not taking it off. Palmer has no idea what I am. I could be a witch for all he knows. I checked on what a Gamma’s Charm doesn’t work on last night; witches, dragons, sirens and water nymphs, though mostly