Not just the Beta (Oriana and Slade) novel Chapter 61

Slade

Both Palmer and Yuri had sat and listened to him lay it all out. And after, they all discussed it, how they each felt about what had happened; what their own parents had done to Ori. What Audrey had done to him, and been punished for trying to coerce him into thinking she was his Goddess-Gifted Mate.

Which also meant that his own father and the Alpha Unit, all of those in on what they’d done, should also be punished. Not only for what they did, but for the outcome, the fallout and the lives that have now been ruined by the Alpha and his unit’s meddling in things they ought not to have meddled in.

For the deception and not just towards Ori, but in everything they did to Slade himself, in order to get him to step Ori down and take Hayden as his Beta. They’d played a game of coercion in their own way, just not voiced it out loud, but their actions had been for that very reason; what they believed they could bring about.

Leading him to believe the Vale’s were being banished, in order to get what they believed needed to happen. He now understood after this very long-involved conversation that his father and Anders wolfed out a fight; that not only he had heard, but all four council members had heard as well, it was all just an act. A show they’d put on for him, to get him to think the Vale’s would be banished. They knew he wouldn’t want that.

That the entire Alpha unit had been in that room when he’d made the call to his father that very night, now knew they’d all been in the Alpha bar, and they’d all simply been quiet, so he’d not known they were there. When his father had struck that Alpha deal with him, something he now knew to be born out of deceit; done solely to get what they Wanted.

Because of what they all had seen and convinced themselves was going to happen between him and Ori; if she scented him out and her reaction to Hayden getting her position. Something that no one could actually predict at all, because none of them were Ori.

Because none of them actually knew her well enough to understand what she would do.

Because they did not have all the facts. That she was hiding a secret herself; the pup she was carrying at the time. That one thing would likely have altered everything. He seriously doubted that if they had scented each other out and knowing there was a pup between them, that she would have rejected him.

Palmer and Yuri were also of this opinion, she was responsible for her actions. They all knew that. They, too, believed that she would have told him, if he’d not been so foolish as to tell her he thought Audrey was his Mate. That was what had stopped her from speaking up. They all agreed about that. He’d managed to screw that one up on his own, had no one to blame but himself for her not

telling him about their pup.

She also left thinking that no one inside that pack knew about her pup, so wouldn’t be out looking for her either. She likely thought he was right this minute Mated to Audrey as well. Had Hayden as his Beta and Audrey as his Mate. She probably thought he was happy and loved up, completely unaware, and didn’t care at all about her.

That, not knowing about their one night together, he couldn’t know about their pup. Her life was likely to have been very different to his over the past 10 months. It was always likely going to be

different to his. He was going to be hunting her. Stressed out and worried that she was a rogue, in trouble at times, or captured and brutalized, sold on the black market.

And for all he knew, she could well be inside a new pack, raising their pup all comfortable and happy. Could be out there attending a university degree even. He had no idea, all he knew was that their lives had been turned upside down and inside out, because their parents were stupid enough to believe they knew better than their own Goddess, and got involved in something they ought not to have.

Now everything was ruined and possibly never going to be fixed, or not for years. Palmer and Yuri told him to write that scroll, put in it whatever he needed to. But advised him not to put a date on it, to enact it only when it was needed. That had been his plan for it as well, so they were all on the same page, that was good.

None of them knew what was going to happen, and they could well take over at the scheduled time, if and when he found his Goddess-Gifted Mate or at 30. So that scroll could sit and wait, to be enacted on, at any given time. But they also didn’t want any of their parents knowing about it. It could be seen as traitorous behaviour towards the leadership of the pack, by the Alpha and his unit.

Not the righting of wrongs done, it could be seen as them plotting and planning to overthrow the current Alpha and his unit, and they didn’t want that. They’d all be demoted and banished, and how could they look for Ori, and bring her home if they weren’t part of the pack.

So leaving that off the table for now was the plan, only use it if it was absolutely necessary, until the time it actually needed to be opened. Kind of was a backup plan now, if the Alpha decided they weren’t going to be the next generation, because they were still loyal to Ori and wanting to bring her back to be his Beta once more.

It was a weapon to retain their position if needed. Use it as a viable threat if his own father decided

to step him down, step them all down in favour of their younger siblings, siblings that could all be moulded to their way. Be aligned to Hayden, siblings that were actually in Hayden’s social circle.

Though Slade did not think Dariah would want to take over as the heir, or have Hayden as her Beta, she was a year and a half younger than Hayden and had not liked the way he’d gotten his position.

Half the pack thought it was wrong.

Slade also knew that his father had told the pack to stop talking about it. He was the Alpha and his decision on how he did things was final. They were no longer allowed to talk about it at all, annoying to say the least, because it meant Hayden was all ‘I’m the future Beta. Something Slade didn’t like.

He was dropped off at Alpha College on Sunday afternoon and stated, “I do not want Hayden picking me up in two months’ time.”

Palmer had nodded “We’ll give him a little payback. To make sure he doesn’t make it.”

“Yes, but only to be opened when I request it.” he nodded.

“Did you seal it with your blood?”

Slade held it out to her. “I did.”

“Good option.” She stated, accepting it from him, and it glowed ever so slightly, and he understood that it was magically binding itself to her. “Step inside for a moment, Slade.” She asked him, and he followed her into her office, and she closed the door. “You don’t need to call and ask me to open it Slade. Likely your intent on when it’s to be done is bound into your blood. It will open when you’ve achieved your goal.”

He frowned at that. “If I call?”

“You won’t need to call me, just want me to open it and it will open. It’s that simple. There is a specific reason you want it, yes? Need it for some reason.”

“Yes, so when I find Ori, she can see I did not intend to hurt her, know the real reason behind what happened that day.”

“I figured,” she nodded, “the moment you have got that, found her and can talk to her, this will open and present itself to me. The investigation will start that day, if that is your intent, to use that investigation to have her come home to the pack once more.”

“It is,” he nodded.

“Then don’t concern yourself with it, it’ll open when you need it to. Another reason for your blood seal, your intent is in your blood, though you may change your intent at any time. The blood magic will know and act accordingly.”

“How many do you have?” he asked curiously.

“A lot.” She answered simply, “Off you go to breakfast, I’ll put this away.”