Not just the Beta (Oriana and Slade) novel Chapter 207

Slade

He could see that his words completely shocked everyone inside this room, not just Maddie herself. She was staring right at him, appeared to be completely speechless over his reasonings. She managed to stammer out “I… I don’t… Know what to say to that.”

He smiled at her and told her there was no need to thank him, she was the reason they were all together like this. He also thought he’d explain it pretty clearly.

“The forest part?” Zara asked after a moment of staring at him herself, her head was tilted to the side and he could see she was trying to figure him out.

“It’s who you all are. Maddie gave all of you her last name, Forester. I just shortened it is all. It is also Ocean’s last name, and I don’t want to change that.” He smiled at Ocean. “She’s a Forester, and will stay that way. I will not be asking her to take mine.”

Ocean smiled up at him, happy about this, it seemed herself, and if he got what he wanted, what had now also been implied to all in the war room this morning. He was going to take their name, and get rid of Southerland altogether. He would be asking both Palmer and Yuri to do the same. Vance might do it on his own. The Gypsies did as they pleased and had their own rules to follow. He no longer wanted to be known as a Southerland anymore, not with all he now knew those traitors had done to those inside of Highland Hills. He would also be allowing all of those that were related to anyone of the leadership of that pack to change their last name. They could take their Mate’s former name to help them feel like they were not a part of those traitors’ bloodlines.

It would be a lot of paperwork, but those here that had those names, he didn’t think would want to have to state it out loud, reminding others of what had gone on, when they would all be trying to move on from it. He’d brought it up quietly with Gretta, and she’d smiled at him. “Most will from my what i’ve seen, past experiences.” She told him “I’ll send the paperwork to you after things settle.”

Dinner tonight was very nice. Ana actively interacted with everyone, as did Ocean and all of her aunts. They’d been standoffish on the day they arrived, and it was to be expected, none of them had been inside pack territory for a very long time. He also got to see the bond between Yuri and Londyn. They were all good, as Yuri had stated, and she smiled nonstop at Yuri. Completely smitten with her Mate it seemed.

He saw Zara roll her eyes at Vance many times and torment him like she’d done in the hospital yesterday. It was fun to watch Vance try and actively have Zara feel him. The girl was completely resistant to his Beta, and despite all her no’s and shaking of the head, Vance persisted. She didn’t, however, brush him off completely, kind of ignored him, but kept him on the hook at the same time.

She was fully amused, he could see, by her own antics with Vance.

Maddie sat and talked with everyone, even Palmer managed to get her to sit and chat. Once he asked her about being a tech, it was easy. She actually enjoyed talking about that part of her life. Liked talking about her skills and the online company she had built.

They all got to hear about her scent masking oil, how she’d improved on the everyday masking spray, and turned it into an oil so it would be waterproof, and then infused it with human pheromones to make them all smell human. She chuckled to herself and told them about Ana’s reaction to it. How confused she’d been that Maddie not only knew what she was, but that she was also pregnant considering she’d scented of human

They all actually enjoyed being human even though they were wolfen. They liked that no one in, not just their world, but all other worldly realms, didn’t know they were anything other than human, that Sloan was the only one to pick it right away. How long they’d known Austin and gotten it passed him as well. Maddie thought that was hilarious, as did Sloan.

He felt there was more to it that, but none here said there was, a curiosity still, something likely to come out later when they all got to know each other better. He sat smiling in that room, as he realised they were all having a proper dinner and interacting with each other as though they were all friends.

Got along even, laughed and joked and Maddie, he realised, was a very big torment leaned on that table and playfully tormented not only Vance, but himself as well at times. He was seeing them in their natural comfort zone tonight.

Ana smiled and laughed along with her sisters, and they all told Yuri funny stories about Londyn. Ocean got up from her seat and went down there to sit on Londyn’s lap and smile and laughed and call Yuri, ‘Uncle Yuri’ right to him.

“You raised her well, Ana. She’s bright and bubbly, happy and able to just be who she wants to be.”

She nodded, “Honestly, Slade, as hard as I now know it must have been for you all those years, I no longer have any guilt about taking her away from that place. After what I heard with Elise’s scroll…” she sighed heavily “I’m glad I left as well. Was able to keep her safe from those horrid people. I am sorry that you didn’t get to see her grow up though, but you’ll not miss anything from here on out. I promise you that.”

“You weren’t the only person to change Ana, I became a very different person that very weekend. My eyes were opened, and I learned from that one weekend. How an Alpha should and shouldn’t act. I believe I have become a better person from all of this. Just like you got to become who you were supposed to be.” He smiled at her.

“I think maybe it was our Goddess’s will. Perhaps this was the only way she could intervene in everything, separate us knowing I’d never give you up, so that all that was going on inside Highland Hills could be brought into the light. Perhaps sometimes, bad things have to happen, so that good things can come from it.” he stated.

She raised an eyebrow at him questioningly now “I don’t really understand that. Maddie might she’s devout.”

He smiled and let it go, “Are you up for a walk? I know there are many itching to say hello to you did ask them to wait on it. You only got here yesterday, but, you seem comfortable right now, so, maybe you’d be up for saying hello?”

She looked at her watch, and he smiled at it, very feminine, a soft aqua blue with a rose-gold rotating blossom over a blue mother-of-pearl face. She was very different to the Oriana he’d once known, who would have glared at that watch if asked to wear it back then, and likely hurled it across the room if someone had tried to make her wear it. “I’d like to see Lindal and the others, she nodded “yesterday was just a bit overwhelming for me, I didn’t mean to ignore them, just dealing with a lot of information in a very short amount of time.”

“It’s fine, when they saw you during pack pledge, you’d not even been in the pack 10 hours. I did ask them to wait a few days, Lindal however can’t sit stl.” He chuckled.

“I don’t think it’s too late,” she smiled at him.