Not just the Beta (Oriana and Slade) novel Chapter 70

Slade

He mind-linked to Dariah, to let her know that he’d likely just dumped her into the shit with their father, and why. She sighed back at him ‘It wasn’t right, what Hayden said that day. Don’t worry about it, Slade. I can stand on my own two feet. He’s also already heard my opinion on it before. Clay and I were spoken to about it that night, in the Alpha Suite after dinner. I voiced how I felt.’

‘Alright, I just didn’t want you being ambushed by father. He’d told her honestly.

‘Let him try, I bite real good now. When it’s needed, just like you do big brother.’ She told him, then murmured ‘How are you doing, you’re always quiet nowadays, rarely smile at all.’

‘What’s to smile about?’ he muttered and dropped the mind-link.

He had left his father’s office with Anders in there trying to calm his own Alpha down, who’d not appreciated being called a liar, but now knew, that was what his own son thought of him. How the heir to the pack saw the current Alpha. It wasn’t going down so well for him or his wolf, he supposed.

But he had proved his point, he already had a copy of that punishment report, hadn’t been so stupid as to not start collecting evidence against not only Hayden, but his father as well.

Slade stopped walking as a particular thought struck him that had not before. He was looking at his mother, the Luna to the pack, as she was hurriedly making her way to the Alpha’s office. She glared at him briefly before moving on. Likely going there to help calm him down.

Slade turned and watched her walk in to that office, heard her state “Calm down, he’s still hurting, lost more than just his Beta, remember.”

He turned and walked back in there himself, and closed the door she’d left open. All eyes were on him, but his eyes were on his mother, the Luna of the pack; as his brain ticked. He’d forgotten something in all of this, and the punishments to be dished out as well.

“What Slade?” his mother asked him, frowning at his staring at her.

“You all thought Oriana was to be my Mate…and Luna…” his eyes moved to his father now. “Yet you didn’t punish that brother of hers for insulting…the future Luna, that I believe is a whole other crime.”

“She’s not here as the future Luna,” His father stated.

“That doesn’t matter. You all did what you did, to her, because you thought she would be…not because you knew. So, by that alone, you have to punish any and all infractions around her, according to her being my Mate, the future Luna to this pack… The mother of the future heir, to this pack.”

He actually smiled for real now, for the first time since getting home, as it dawned on him what he’d truly missed. “The day she took me to Alpha College, you already believed she was going to be my Luna. Hayden sabotaged her car that day. He sabotaged the future Luna’s car. That’s an actual real crime. Punishable by lashings.”

“There is no evidence of that,” Anders state instantly.

“Yes there is. You may have gotten rid of Oriana’s car, but we switched cars before leaving the pack. Lindal had it, went over it and found and fixed what was wrong with it.”

“That’s not proof it was Hayden.” His own father stated now.

“I smelled him in Ori’s car that day. He was in it, had no reason to be, had his own car, and I’d willing to bet Lindal smelled that boy as well. The spare was slashed with wolfen claws.”

I right at his father.

“Enough, Slade.” His father muttered.

“NO. Everything he did from the moment you took matters into your own hands; so the night you all saw Ori and I having sex. Everything he did after that moment is to be considered a crime against the future Luna.” His eyes met Anders now. “He’s a traitor to this pack, to his future Luna.”

He watched Anders’ jaw tick now and Slade actually laughed out loud “Oh, it gets better, didn’t he attack Oriana during training one day? While she was carrying my heir, the future of this pack…”

He would change his plans a little to see that come about, give her the right to punish her own brother, something he had a feeling she would in fact want to do. That boy had been trying to trample all over her, her entire life. She’d want to pay him back.

“How can I believe you?” his father asked him now.

“Because, unlike you, my word is good. I never broke our deal. He’s still the future Beta right now, even though it was the deal you made and broke, that gave him that position. I’m still holding up my end, am I not?”

“The punishment?” Anders asked. He sounded unhappy.

“Will be according to the pack laws.” Slade stated simply.

“Son, no one knows she was pregnant, we do actually need to keep that quiet. The pack also didn’t know she was to be your future Luna, again kept quiet.”

“Mm, because you all tried to coerce me, that’s your fault.”

“How are we to punish him accordingly, unless we tell the entire pack everything?” his father asked him now.

“I don’t care, to be honest, how you do it. Tell them whatever you like. Find crimes that have the same pack punishment and tell the pack he did those for all I care.”

“Son, that would mean lying to the entire pack,” his father muttered.

“What’s your problem? You lied to me, the heir, to get what you wanted, saw no issue in betraying your own son. Clearly, you’ve got the imagination to come up with something. I will stand for nothing less than full formal pack punishment…” he turned to leave. “I’ll check those myself as well, to make sure they all are fitting. What it is you choose to tell the pack.” he shrugged and walked from the office.