Not just the Beta (Oriana and Slade) novel Chapter 66

Slade

He stood on the training ground, Palmer and Yuri were there with him. Had walked down to the grounds with him, they had been up and coming down the hallway when he’d stepped out of his suite this morning, ready for training themselves.

His eyes had moved to the Beta suite, across the hall from his room, he knew that boy still resided in there, had never moved out of it, not even after Slade had told him he didn’t want to see him coming or going from it.

That boy might not have come out of that room with Slade in the hallway, risking a beating from him seeing that, which was what the threat Slade had verbalised to him. But he’d not yet come down for Alpha Unit training, he was looking at the path that led back to the packhouse. He wasn’t on it either.

Slade pulled on Hayden’s tether, and he was still in the packhouse. “Not coming to training,” Slade stated to the boys. “Good, that will only incur him punishment.”

He didn’t bother to mind-link to Hayden about it, they had pack laws which he should know. He was going to enjoy punishing that boy; Hayden had thought Palmer and Yuri were hard on him, they were nothing compared to what Slade was going to be like, that boy’s life was likely about to become a living nightmare.

He put the boys through training 40 minutes of hand to hand, and 40 minutes of wolf training, letting their wolves bond once more after a year apart. Then he pitted himself up against each of them in turn, and then they ran the packs border in wolf form at full speed before shifting back, and racing through the agility course to end the training session.

It was a good four hours of training, and they strolled into the packhouse just after 9am. His father looked at the three of them as they walked in shirtless, covered in bits of mud and grass from the agility course.

“Alpha training,” he stated, “Though one of the unit never bothered to turn up for it. I’ll punish him. accordingly.” Slade stated as they all headed for their suites to shower before getting food.

“Did Hayden know training was set for this morning?” his father called out to him.

“He should have done, it is standard practice, when I come home from being away for more than a week.” He called back.

“Slade,” his father muttered, “He might not know that.”

Slade stopped walking and looked at him. “It’s a Beta’s duty to know the pack rules. Has he not studied them? All the rules around Alpha unit training, he’s had a year to do that. I believe it’s in the handbook.”

He saw his father frown at him. “He has it… Your unit, however, hasn’t been exactly following it for the past year.”

He looked at Palmer and then Yuri “Did you?” he asked them.

“We did,” Palmer stated, “I as the highest ranking member while you were away, and him being untrained and not ready to take that position. Laid out training as I saw fit, and to your orders, to the letter.”

Slade looked back at his father and raised an eyebrow questioningly at him. “I’ll test his knowledge, after we’ve had breakfast. You’d best inform him not to be late.”

“Late to where exactly?” his father asked.

Not as stupid as the last time he’d been here, he thought “The war room say 45 minutes. If he’s not in there when I close the door, I’ll take it that he doesn’t want to be my Beta and de-rank him.” He stated and turned and walked away.

”

He showered and the three of them ate and made their way to the war room. He strolled in by himself and found Hayden in there along with both, his own father and Anders, Hayden’s father.

You don’t need to be here for this, it’s a simple questionnaire, a written test. Though Palmer has now informed me, that as far as he’s aware, Hayden hasn’t sat a single one at all over the past year.

He shook his head. “Irresponsible I think, Oriana had to sit one every month for an entire year, as did I, Palmer and Yuri.”

He saw his father hold out his hand to see what was on the paper he was carrying. “It’s a printed test from the Alpha training exam list. It is the first one only. I’ll, however, be making him sit all 12 of them today, seeing as he’s had a year to learn the rules by heart. Yuri is printing the rest out now.

he stated, and handed it over. It was as he said it was. He was following the pack rules.

“All 12? That’s a bit much, son, in one day?” his father stated as he handed it back to him and nodded to Anders.

Seems that neither his father nor Anders thought he was going to do this fairly. But he was going to, because he wasn’t lax in his duties, he was simply putting this boy through everything Ori had to go through was all. Something Anders should be making that boy do. But clearly, wasn’t.

Slade was going to point out all this boys’ flaws for them to see. If Hayden truly believed he was going to be a good Beta and wanted to actually be the pack Beta, he’d have put in the hard yards and studied everything. Pit himself up against his sister’s results and tried to beat her. Want to be better than her, to prove himself worthy of the role he now held.

Slade knew he’d not done that though, and so he was out to make both of their parents see just how lacking Hayden was. How the one they wanted to be the future Beta, wasn’t actually up to the task, because he’d never been made to work for it. He thought it was his right, so he didn’t have to work for it. How wrong he was.

“It’s been a year, he should breeze through all of them.” Slade stated and walked over to seat himself across from Hayden “I hope you studied hard.” He told the boy “Ori aced every one of them, I expect no less from you.”

“Son, stop comparing Hayden to Oriana, they are two very different people.”

“I am well aware of that. One had high expectations placed on them all day every day, even when off duty, and the other… had none at all.” He nodded.

Palmer and Yuri walked into the room, and he looked at his father and then Anders “You can both leave, I will not say anything or interrupt him in anyway. This will be run like a proper formal exam.”

He saw his father frown as both Palmer and Yuri sat down on either side of him. He stared at them pointedly, “There will be no help from either of you. Out.” He stated.

“Your eyes will be down on that paper, and unreadable to myself or Yuri, so you could mind-link to your father to get the answers to the questions.” Slade told him “there will be none of that in this room.”

“Sit down.” Palmer told him “It is actually standard Wolfen exam practice, and you know it. You’ll have 30 minutes for each test. I’ll be sitting it with you as well.”

“You’re not wearing a cuff.” Hayden stated.

“I’ve sat them all before, don’t need to. I’m not being tested. Just here to have your answers compared to mine.” Palmer told him.

“You have 30 minutes for each one, starting now. I suggest you sit.” Yuri stated and started his phone’s stop watch, propped it up for them to all see on the end of the desk.

Slade stood leaning on the door to the room, his father mind-linked to him ‘Really Slade, you cuffed the boy?’

‘I did. I believe that’s how exams are run here inside the pack with those of us who have wolves, so there’s no cheating. Or did you suddenly stop that while I was away? It’s just a test cuff won’t scar him.’

And it was, it would cut one from its wolf, but the cuff was a lower quality of silver so it wouldn’t scar any wolf and was only used for sitting exams. It was actually a pack law to use one, he was following all their laws.

‘I did not.’ His father muttered.

‘Then what’s the problem? You and Anders knew it was coming. I did nothing wrong. If you wish to come in here and stop the exams, I’ll consider it that he’s failed and is not up to the task you’ve allotted him. Demote him for all to hear via a pack-wide mind-link the minute you halt this’

‘You’ve changed, son.’

‘Yes, I learned from you and your unit, how to do things to get what I want. You showed me just how to do that.’ He stated simply ‘I’ll be a hard and demanding Alpha that gets what he wants regardless of what others think, only take into consideration my own thoughts on matters.

‘Slade?’

‘Isn’t that what you do? I’m just following your lead to the letter. He stated, and his father cut the mind-link and Slade nearly smiled. He could be punished himself for that remark, but if his father came in here to do that, it would stop the exam, and he could dismiss Hayden instantly.

Yes, he was playing dirty, choosing his words carefully to get what he wanted, but where had he learned it from? His own father. Who now had no one to blame but himself right this minute for

Slade’s actions!

Slade didn’t think that Hayden could pass all 12 of those exams.