Not just the Beta (Oriana and Slade) novel Chapter 198

Slade

He’d walked Ocean all about, showed her not just the games room. But the library, the swimming pool and the gym, there were plenty of kiddie classes that were fun for her to attend. She was mostly interested in the swimming pool, but she looked around at the café on the ground floor, as did Londyn.

He showed them the ballroom and even inside the Alpha Bar, she seemed happy looking about the place, and asked lots of questions which he answered. Londyn also asked many questions which he or Yuri answered.

Slade also took her up to the Alpha floor and showed her his own suite, let her look around it. It was only furnished for him. The other bedrooms were all empty. She’d asked him about them, and he’d stated “For my children when I have them. One of them will be yours now, feel free to pick one.” she’d frowned at him, and he’d seen Londyn reach out for her and he’d added hastily “If you want that, of course.”

Realising he’d just tried to tell her she would be living with him once more, and not only shouldn’t he do that, Londyn also hadn’t liked it. Had actually taken Ocean’s hand and walked her right out of the suite, and Palmer had looked at him and shaken his head.

He couldn’t help it, she was his daughter, and she had the right to see what was hers, where she could live if she stayed here. It was what he wanted, and he kept falling into that trap of thinking they were here so they’d stay here. He knew it was wrong, but also knew it was to do with what he had wanted for so very long.

He didn’t even argue with Londyn or try and stop her, she was Ocean’s unit and Alpha-blooded, he wasn’t about to get in a fight with her over the removal of his daughter from his suite, because she was, he thought, just protecting her. None of them would let him take Ocean or make her do something, and it had appeared that way to her and Londyn.

He’d followed them out of the suite only to find Anika coming down the hallway, and she asked him and his unit to attend a meeting in the war room, a request from the council members. It was almost as if it was a saving grace. He’d walked Ocean and Londyn down to their suite on the second floor and smiled down at Ocean. “I hope we can have dinner all together. But I must go and attend council business.”

He’d headed down the stairs with the boys and saw that the seers were being shown to rooms on the first floor, nodded to them and moved on down the stairs to the ground floor. As he stepped into the foyer he saw the leader of The Kings Eyes, Ryder, walk into the packhouse by the front doors. Her eyes moved to his briefly, and then she continued on. He was of no concern to her, she had her own mission to complete.

Though she was also headed for the war room, as he and his unit were, and they followed her into it, only to hear her announce “I am ready to brand the traitors out there, that may be returned to the kingdom.”

“Alright.” Hailey had stated “Everybody outside.”

He’d stepped aside as Ryder had turned around to leave the room and come face-to-face with him and his unit. He might be the Alpha to this pack, but she was a part of the king’s direct circle, directed he knew by the king himself. He didn’t exactly know what rank a member of The Kings Eyes held, but he was willing to bet some sort of royal military rank, though she smelled only of warrior to him. He doubted very much that was her actual rank, just her bloodline.

He and his unit also headed outside, and he mind-linked to Ember on the way, ‘Ember sorry to interrupt, The Kings Eyes are here and about to brand the prisoners. Please also inform Ana, to see if she wishes to come and watch.’

‘Alright.’ Had been her only comment. He had no idea if he was interrupting their conversation, couldn’t feel Ana and her sisters to know where they were. Couldn’t connect with any of them to talk about anything.

He and his unit lined up along with the council as was directed, and he heard Ryder state “You are all deemed despicable wolves. Our Wolfen King, Christian, has declared you will all be, hereby and forever marked as traitors to your own kind. I, The Kings Eyes, will attend this, your punishment in his stead, as is my title. What I see, he sees.

“It is yet to be known who will die at my hands, or the Alpha to this pack’s hands, or who will be taken back to the kingdom by myself to be imprisoned for the rest of your naturally long lives. Within the king’s mines.

That will be known to all later.

“King Christian has already read several reports, none of you are deemed innocent in his eyes and none of you shall escape punishment. I am the one that wields his sword in this matter.” Then she held out her hand to one of the other members of her group.

Though as he watched her move along the line of traitors he could see she herself bore many scars, as did those that aided her, several of them also bore the same mark on her forehead that Ryder herself did, though not all of them. He could also smell them all now as well. They were all of the same pack. He could only imagine that to be Nightingale, but they all held different ranks, from Omega to Warrior. None were of ranked bloodlines that he could tell. That was a curiosity to him.

She got to Anders and looked at all the scarring on his back, some of it was still healing, he noticed, “roll him over I need clear unmarked skin.” She stated and stood up.

“You have a lot of muscle, this mark has to go to the very bone.” She stated and put that brand on his chest “This will hurt.” She stated and swung that mallet. It took seven hits before he heard it hit the bone, and she struck once more before lifting the brand and pulling it from him. It was stuck embedded into the muscle tissue, and she huffed and put a foot on Anders to yank it from him. “Hmm, that is going to be unclear.” She said as she inspected it. “That is unacceptable, I’ll double mark for clarity.” And then she just placed that brand on the other side of his chest and struck it once with the mallet, lifted it and looked at it, nodded and moved on.

Everyone was branded by her, and then Ryder turned to face the council. “So it begins.” She stated simply ” We’ll be in our tent, call when the results of the seers are ready and punishment to be dished out.”

Slade watched all of them walk away. He could see their tent over in the distance. It was very large and dark blue like their cloaks, the two door flaps had a symbol on them; to the left was a golden crown and to the right was a set of eyes. Which told everyone that tent belonged to The Kings Eyes.

His eyes moved to those out there on the shaming post. Everyone bar Elise seemed to be dealing with being branded. She however, was laying on the ground looking to be barely able to move, to him. She looked much worse off than all those out here, even Anders. She, he could see, was also the one that had thrown up the most.

She had a fair amount of finger bruising on the edges of her face where those seers had gripped onto her and looked into her, a lot more so than the rest. He could only presume she had been looked into the most, and that was why she looked so very bad this minute. He wondered if she would survive all of this. She kind of looked to be on death’s door he thought. Mentally and physically drained.