Not just the Beta (Oriana and Slade) novel Chapter 39

Slade

There was nothing at the airport, it had been three solid days, and they’d found nothing, she’d walked all over the airport in and out of every bloody gate there was, passed every damned possible flight that had left between 10pm and when they’d gotten there to search for her at 1am.

He, Palmer and Yuri had searched fruitlessly. There was no rogue scent outside the airport, which had meant she’d gotten on a plane and left the state. To where no one knew, the taxi driver had stated he’d picked her up and dropped her off, she’d spend the trip in relative silence. There’d been no stops on the way, he’d not even seen her use her phone, which was odd to him. Everyone did that.

It wasn’t odd to Slade she’d left that behind, so she couldn’t. The girl was smart, absorbed all their wolfen classes as a Beta should, and they had taken classes on how to track and retrieve, it was a must for the future Alpha and his unit, seeing as it was part of the job later in life to be able to hunt down and bring back any stolen pups or she-wolves from the pack.

She knew how to confuse one, to hide where she went, his girl was smart and that was what was going to make this so bloody difficult. She had trained with those hunting her, so she knew what to do, how to avoid them even, and she was using her knowledge.

In that window at the airport there had been 60 flights leaving for 34 different destinations around the country, over 7 airlines from all of those gates. They now had to check each and every one of them, likely even go to each of those places and search in person, at some point.

The only thing they had to their advantage was her eyes. They were so unique that everyone looked at them, so showing a photo of her to someone if they’d seen her eyes, come across her, they’d recognise her and his wolfen senses would be able to tell if they lied. Pick up the change in heart rate, the way their pupils reacted, the hard swallow that some did. Their fidgetiness even. But that was it.

He knew she’d not left the country; Anders had stated he had her passport locked up in the Beta family suite. At least that was something, only a search here and not all over the world..

He’d tracked her pack card, curiously she’d not left that here, she had taken it with her, though even that had shown him the next day, she’d used it at the airport to draw out her maximum daily limit of 5 thousand in cash withdrawal. Was keeping it for emergency use, he supposed. Though he doubted she would use it anywhere near her actual destination. She wasn’t that stupid. She would likely leave the town or the state, to withdraw cash from it in the future to. He’d stood in the middle of his suite and scrubbed a hand over his face. He couldn’t actually do that. It wasn’t right and he knew it. “I just need a few days.” He’d tried to tell her, and she’d hung up on him after a furious rant about how she wasn’t going to be coming second best to that girl. Who had been and was not now his Beta, wasn’t even a pack member anymore.

He’d been in his father’s office after that argument when Lindal had strolled in, carrying a box, she’d knocked on the door and stated “I found this in my house, it’s addressed to Bronnie. Ori’s handwriting.”

They’d all looked at it, she’d left something behind, a clue maybe? Anders had taken the box and nodded.

Slade had looked at Lindal why they were waiting on Bronnie to come to the office, then had mind-linked to her ‘How long have you had that.’

‘Long enough for her to get wherever she needs to be.’ She’d told him simply. ‘I understand why she left.’ And then she’d turned to leave.

‘She’s pregnant Lindal.’

But it wasn’t the hair that had him furious, it was the card that was in there, the words in her own mother’s handwriting, the offensive words to Ori, after all she’d gone through that day, her own mother had written words that compounded on her pain ‘Really Oriana, you think this is appropriate attire for your status.’ Under all that hair was the white outfit she’d worn in the nightclub that night.

And the response on the back of that card ‘Yes, perfectly fitting for my new status, as fucking nothing.’ His eyes had moved to the Beta’s Mate and a low angry snarl had come out of him How could you do that to her, say that when you knew she was already going to be hurting.”

Bronnie’s eyes had moved right to him, there were actual tears in them, and she’d shaken her head. “It wasn’t meant to be like that. Taken like that. I had her suitcases, something she was supposed to come and get after the full moon, after you two scented each other out and Claimed each other, it was…” he heard the slight tremble in the woman’s voice “meant to be a funny play on words for the future Luna status she’d have, after you and she marked and mated and came out of your suite.”

He stared at the woman. “So you were in on this as well?” he muttered “Does the entire Luna’s unit know?” he’d asked his father and got a simple nod of the head. It had ticked him off a lot. Not even his own mother had seen fit to stop this plotting and planning, had gone along with it.

“I don’t understand any of you.” he’d muttered and stalked from the office, though it had been Art who’d mind-linked to him before he’d left pack territory to go back to Alpha College, and told him that Oriana had short blonde hair now, had changed her look. There had been an apologetic note in his voice as he’d said it. Slade had not really said anything at all, so even searching through the airport camera’s looking for a brunette was a waste of the tech teams’ time for the past three days.

Now that search, had to start all over again.