Not just the Beta (Oriana and Slade) novel Chapter 35

Oriana

As she expected, everyone was busy inside the pack preparing for Dariah’s special day. She’d looked at her new hair cut after Lindal had headed off that afternoon herself, though she’d kind of looked at her with a slight frown after really hugging her and murmuring “I’m sure you won’t get into trouble if you opt out today. I know you don’t want to go, so just don’t.”

Then she’d leaded back from her kind of looked at her a little weird, had touched her face and looked right at her “everything will be okay, you can stay here with Beckham and I, for as long as you need to. Our house is your house now.” Then she’d sighed a little and turned and headed off for the day.

A bit weird, and it had taken only a few moments of thought after Lindal had left, for Ori to realise the girl when hugging her had likely felt the pups’ heartbeat, and realised there was actually more going on here, with Ori, than anyone knew. But likely wouldn’t bring it up because Ori herself hadn’t mentioned it to anyone.

It was unlikely Lindal would tell anyone, she wouldn’t even know whose it was, she thought, or had done so; like everyone else, that she herself was a virgin. Lindal had no idea how far along she was or who the wolf was even. She definitely wouldn’t go and say anything to the pack’s Beta family, not with all that was going on.

Ori sighed and went and changed her clothes. She had been in her pj’s all day, went through that suitcase of hers and found some easy-fit jeans and a t-shirt, pulled on one of her men’s shirts. Had looked at herself in the mirror, she looked very different indeed. If she didn’t actively look at anyone it would definitely take them a moment to realise who she was, they would have to smell her to know.

She knew that big celebration for Dariah was about to start up there outside the back of the packhouse. Could actually feel like 90% of the pack up that way. She would normally have gone to it, actually liked Dariah.

She was tiny and sweet, always smiled at everyone, was polite and well-mannered, but there was a part of Ori that wondered if Dariah was like that because it was expected of her to be like that. Much the same way it was for Ori herself.

She was not going up there to enjoy the festivities, just couldn’t do it. Not only was she not in the mood to smile at all, she actually didn’t really care at all about the pack celebrating one of the Alpha’s children. Didn’t she realise, care about anything at all!

Though she couldn’t sit still, and do nothing, she was very restless, and so she mind-linked herself around the border patrollers to see if any of them wanted to let her take over their shift, so they could go to the festivities. That had taken some doing, she got many responses of, they couldn’t just hand their shift over to her, like they had once been able to, because she was no longer the future Beta, and couldn’t stop them from getting into trouble or being punished.

She had actually only found one on the southern border, and when she’d connected to Art she had actually been relieved to feel that connection. He was part of her social group and was 18 like she was. He’d been quiet for a long moment, and she’d sighed ‘Please Art, I just can’t go to that celebration and be around them all. It’s too hard. But I can’t just sit around and do nothing either. I need to keep myself busy. You know I can handle a border patrol.’

He did know that, it was actually part of the future Beta’s duties once or twice a week to do border patrol. She could handle it without issue, and had been doing it since she was 17.

‘If Ethan says it’s okay, then yes. But you contact him about it.’

She’d sighed a little but done as he’d wished, connected a mind-link to Ethan, he was in charge of scheduling the border patrollers for the pack. ‘Ethan it’s Oriana, I’d like to take over south patrol, zone 2 please. Relieve Art from his shift for the night.’

‘Why?’ he’d responded.

‘Honestly, I have no interest in being anywhere near the Alpha or his unit, or the future Alpha and his unit at this time. So I’ll work the afternoon shift and make myself useful.’

There was silence for a long moment ‘Alright, that shift finishes at 2200.’

‘I know what the shift times are, I’ve done many boarder patrols.’ She answered, and she did; they ran three 8-hour shifts round the pack borders. 6 to 2, 2 to 10 and 10 to 6. Simple easy, no fuss. ‘Inform the current Beta, I’m on patrol on the border, and to leave me the hell alone, unless he wants a wolfed out fight.’ She stated, she wanted him to know she was working, and on the border, so he wouldn’t concern himself with her leaving the pack. Was just on the border doing her job was all.

‘Yes Oriana,’ Ethan had stated. And she’d dropped the mind-link herself. Connected to Art and told him to head off to the packhouse she’d be there in a few minutes.

Then she had headed there herself, trailed her suitcase with her, didn’t bother to hide it from him, he’d stared right at it and then frowned at her. “I’m currently without a home and living out of it.” She told him with a shrug. “Gotta take it everywhere till I get allocated new housing, probably be in the single dorms by tomorrow.”

He’d sighed at her words; she knew he would understand, he, like all the rest, had been told about her demotion. “Don’t say it Art.” She murmured when that look of pity hit his face,”

Art laughed and nodded “Alright, be good woman.” And then he was gone.

She walked the patrol like she was supposed to back and forth for a good hour and then took that suitcase of hers and strolled on out of the pack with it, just a few minutes, and then came back, could feel a mind-link trying to connect to her, knew it was her own father, and let China snarl at him all aggressively and answer him even ‘I’m patrolling, go away.’ as though her wolf was in control as she stalked the border once more, then she herself report that she’d chased of a rogue into the forest, it was gone.

She knew that Ethan would report it to the pack’s Beta or the Alpha even, and check the border patrollers’ movements, through their pack tethers. It was a lie, but so was her being

out here on patrol until 10pm. She wasn’t overly concerned about leaving the border un-protected and walking away from it. This pack only ever saw the occasional rogue and there hadn’t been an actual attack on the pack for as long as she could remember.

She would patrol for 4 hours, showing them that she was doing what she’d said she would. She had two hours before, she enacted her plan to leave this pack. Was going to do her patrol and let everyone feel she was out there doing her job right up until she knew that party was in full swing. One hour before the moon set, she would stroll out of this pack, while everyone was in the middle of speeches and toasts, and were all focused on Dariah.

She knew how these things worked, and with her doing her actual job on the border patrol without issue for four solid hours, they would stop tracking her tether for that one hour, lead up to the full moon setting, and Dariah’s shift could take anywhere from 5 minutes to 20 minutes, and all eyes of her family and the Alpha units would be on her, in case there were any complications.

Ori organised herself a taxi to pick her up from where the pack road turned in, off the main human road, knew it was only a 10-minute walk from here to there, and patiently waited for the time to tick away.

She nodded to the other patrols on the edge of her zone, they just nodded back and then, with an hour to go, and she felt that mind-link from Alpha Roman, so everyone could hear his speech, which she severed herself, wasn’t interested in listening to him inside her head. She simply turned and walked to the middle of her patrol zone, out of sight of the other border patrols and left the pack. Grabbed her suitcase, dumped her phone and was gone into the human world.

She did not sever herself from the pack as she walked away from it, wasn’t that stupid, that would just let them know she’d turned rogue the minute she did it. No, she had a plan in her mind and was going to stick to it. She had left her phone on the ground where she’d stashed her suitcase, so they couldn’t call her, and demand she come back, or track her with it either.