His father had stared at him, and then just sighed and walked off away from him. Now he was at Dariah’s celebration, and he knew that Ori was not here, but out there on border patrol. Ethan had seen fit to mind-link to him about it himself, concerned about her being on the border of the pack, after everything that had gone down yesterday. Though he’d also informed him that she’d given a valid reason for being out there, it was actually logical to not only Ethan, but Slade himself.
So, he’d told the man to just let her be out there, she likely needed the distraction right now, that he did understand she would not want to be here with all of them, at the packhouse and a celebration. Couldn’t blame her, he’d thought to himself.
He’d also stopped her father from going down there and pulling her off that border patrol, had actually laid a hand on him and physically stopped him, told that man “leave her alone, she’s not coming tonight.”
“It’s protocol that she be here.” Anders had told him.
“Not anymore.” He’d grated right back. “Not since you removed her from the future Beta’s position.”
“She is still my daughter, a part of the Beta family, its…”
Slade had snarled at him a full warning “You say that word and I will beat you one, like I warned you last night. Leave Ori alone, she’s hurting right now, and hurt by you, more so than anyone. I also gave permission for her to do border patrol. She doesn’t actually need to be here.”
Anders had glared right at him, but had gone and stalked back over to his own Alpha, he’d watched them have words privately, didn’t bloody care if he got in trouble himself. They couldn’t, it seemed, give the girl a break for even a single day. And she really did just need it. He knew she was throwing herself into working in order to try and cope with everything. That’s what she did. Always did that when upset, extra training or threw herself out on a border to patrol, just to get away from those that had ticked her off. Now was no different to that, only now she needed it more.
He stood an hour later, watching his father make a long speech about Dariah, relaying how proud of his daughter he was, that he couldn’t wait to meet her wolf. Made the crowd laugh, with some funny and embarrassing antidotes from when she was a small child.
Which only made Dariah hiss at him to shut up, making everyone laugh even more, it made their own father laugh. Then their mother got up to talk as well. Though her speech was shorter than his father’s, only about five minutes, whereas his father had gone on for almost ten.
He’d declined it, knew he’d have to connect himself with those on border patrol and Ori would not want that at all. She wasn’t ready to talk to him and he knew it. He simply smiled and stated, “Congrats, I bet she’s beautiful.”
He felt the moon set, as did everyone here with a wolf, at 2103 and was standing there with his father while Dariah was behind the screen with their mother, talking her through it. He felt the whole unit turn and look at him, and sighed to himself, he was right.
Ori was not his Mate.
He looked at the four of them and shook his head and stated simply “Nothing for me.”
His father mind-linked right to him ‘Do you lie to us, boy?’
Slade had looked down at that moonstone band on his wrist, something that would stay there until he left Alpha College, or found his Mate. He was more than annoyed by his father’s question.
The band did not glow blue like it was supposed to if he scented out his Mate, held it up for his father to see, he would know what it was, would have had to wear one himself when he was in Alpha College.
He connected himself to all four of them and grated out ‘I do not scent anyone, you all fucked Ori over for nothing, it seems. Well done, all of you.’ and he cut that link quite harshly and saw both the Gamma and Delta hiss in pain.
His own father and Ori’s had sighed, and he’d turned away from all of them. There was nothing. He did not scent her, he was actually a little disappointed. But he knew she was inside the pack and within range to scent her out if she was his Mate, could do that up to a good 10 to 12 miles, being an Alpha wolf and depending on the terrain. But there was nothing at all.
He watched as his sister’s wolf stepped out from behind the screen, and presented herself to the pack a few minutes later. A black and grey wolf with bright green eyes, she was a good-sized wolf, not as big as Hail, but only a few inches shorter. He smiled down at her. She was a pretty wolf.
He and his family were off running in the woods with her wolf a few minutes later, all over the place bonding, and letting Crystal pounce on things, dig in the ground and jump around all over the place. She was very happy to be out in wolf form for the first time. He could feel it through their family bond.
Hail stopped to look at their father’s wolf, Lyon, when its front feet folded underneath itself, and he fell down to the ground, got up and staggered about a bit, and then it just turned and looked right at Hail ‘What?’ he asked his father.
‘Oriana son…she just severed from me.’ He stated, sounded concerned and regretful even.
Hail was gone, ran from his family uncaring that he was supposed to be with them, shot off towards the southern border, to hunt her. She couldn’t have gotten very far. While his wolf was racing them away, he was yelling down that mind-link to his father ‘Look at what the hell you all did.’ As he urged Hail to run with all they had, through the pack.
Mind-linked right to Palmer and Yuri and told them to get their backsides to the southern border. Ori had gone rogue. They already knew they had apparently been standing near Anders and Bronnie and the pair of them had gasped in complete shock and Anders Wolf, Hanan, had ripped right out of him and barrelled through the crowd, Bronnie had told them, and they were now also on their way to the border.
Hail not only caught up with Hanan but shot right past him, and got to the border first, had run with all his Alpha Wolf speed, and left everyone behind him, to get here and start scenting her to find her and bring her back.
Even as a rogue, he could track her, knew what she smelled liked. They would be able to pick up the pure-beta bloodline if the rogue scent overpowered her chocolaty coconut scent, and they knew what China looked like as well, if she was in Wolfen form. And with a fresh rogue scent, all he had to do, was hunt that for now, he was faster than she was, and could catch up. He knew that.
Her father was never going to get her. China could outrun him, only Hail or Lyon could catch that wolf. She’d threatened to leave, and he’d not thought she actually would, but here it was, she’d done it, gone rogue. Had bided her time, even pulled pack duties as if to show them she wasn’t going to leave, but she had fooled them all.
His brain was ticking, and it took him only a minute to realise that she had known the only way to go undetected as she left was during Dariah’s celebration. 90% of the pack were on the northern side, and with her being so damned fast and on the southern border, she had found the perfect window of opportunity to leave.
He could smell her scent as he hit the border, that chocolaty coconut…and he realised, she still had that caramel scent as well to her. That was odd. Unless that boyfriend of hers was with her. He breathed in, no there was no one else out here, a curiosity to him. He would have to come back to it later.
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