Hiding from the Beta

Chapter Eight

Nathaniel Heap

I slammed the phone down, angry that he would lie to me. One of my informants from that pack informed me of what has been going on. She said they had found Andy dead, she knew he was no good. Nobody knew that Anna and I were step siblings. We weren’t very close but she liked to keep me informed, especially after last year.

I told her about the debt and that we had a plan in place to have it taken care of. She called me earlier asking if the agreement to clear his debt concerned Tahlia at all. I wasn’t going to lie about that to the Luna of all people.

She told me everything that was going on. Andy, who was supposedly his daughter's mate, turned up dead and his daughter is missing. I know what it’s like to lose a mate, I lost mine the same day I found her. It’s a difficult process to go through. I only survived because of my alpha bloodline.

I really don’t want to mate with her, I am more worried about her in general. The world is dangerous, especially for a young woman going through the pain of losing a mate. I picked up my phone and dialed my Beta’s number.

He picked up on the second ring, “hey bud. What can I do for you?” He asked. I knew already he was surrounded by humans. Otherwise he wouldn’t have responded that way.

“I need you to start searching for someone.” I told him.

He started laughing, “did that i***t try to take off? I can track him down, that’s no problem.” He said. “He has to do his jail time, he can’t break the law and not pay for it.” Yep, he was definitely around humans, I could hear the music in the background.

“Why are you at the club? It’s five in the evening?” I asked him.

“I was just trying to get into a new frame of mind.” He laughed.

“You mean into another woman’s pants.” I said in annoyance. “One of these days you’re going to meet your mate and she isn’t going to like the fact that you’re a bit of a whore.” I told him.

“I resent that claim. Anyways, I can track him, that’s no problem.”

“No, I need you to track his daughter. You’re the best I know, we need to find her as soon as possible. She took off and her mate is dead.”

“What?” His voice changed, he now sounded like my normal beta. “I thought she was-“ I cut him off.

“Apparently not, we need to find her though. Either way I want to make sure she is kept safe. She may still be my bride one day, if it comes to it, and she agrees.” I told him.

“Got it, any idea where she could have gone?” He asked.

“No, talk to my step sister, Anna, and her mate, they can give you some information.”

“Yes sir. See you soon.” The phone went dead and I hung it back up.

There was a soft knock on the door, “yes?”

My assistant walked into the room, “Mandy, what can I do for you?” I asked as I leaned back.

She smiled and sat in front of my desk, “brother you need to destress.” She always called me brother when she was talking to me as family not as the alpha.

“I know, it’s been difficult, the talk of mating with someone else has my wolf on edge.” I looked up to the ceiling and rubbed my eyes, it’s been hard to sleep lately.

“Well it’s been nearly ten years since you lost her.” I nodded my head, “did you finalize plans to meet with her?”

I sighed, “no, she took off with her mate.” She looked at me skeptically, so I said again, “According to Anna she took off, her and her mate.”

She looked at me stunned, “I thought she was an unmated female.”

“That is what he said. However Anthony let it slip to Raylan that she would be mating with me and Anna called me immediately. She told me what was going on, sadly she found out earlier that her mate is dead.”

She gasped and her hands flew to her mouth. “Oh no, has she been located? What happens if she is found by rogues? What if she is found by hunters?” She asked with wide eyes.

“We will find her. Can you do that thing you do and get me her entire file please?” She nodded her head and walked out of my office.

I turned to the computer and pulled up the screen. I was about to pull up some other files when suddenly there was a beeping on the computer. I looked in the top corner and saw that Anna was trying to video chat with me. I quickly hit the answer button. “Anna, what can I do for you?” I asked her.

“Not me, Ray needs to talk to you.” She said, she moved to the side and I saw my step nephew come into view.

“Hey man, it’s been a long time since I saw you last.” I told him. It was not common knowledge that we were family. We never got close because she moved out a month after our parents were mated.

“Yeah, it’s been a while. I need to talk to you because I have some information that may help you.” Ray said, he glanced at his mother. “Are you sure? We aren’t even allies in the pack’s eyes.” He asked quietly.

She nodded her head. “Ray, I seriously don’t even care about the deal I made with her father. I know what it’s like to lose a mate. I just want to make sure she is found before someone else does.” I told him firmly.

The door to my office suddenly opened, “Nate I have the file.” Mandy stopped and stared at the screen with a smile on her face. “Hey, sorry I had to hack your system to get her file. It was faster that way.” She said bending down next to me to look into the camera.

Raylan came into view, “it’s fine, just next time ask permission. I don’t like that you can do that so quickly.” He said.

“Ray, you’ve grown so much.” Mandy said.

“Okay, stop. Ray, what information can you give me?” I asked him, Mandy slapped me on the shoulder and huffed. We may not be very close but when we did get to have family time her and Ray were closest.

Ray glanced back at his mom before speaking. “She took a bus to Minnesota.” He said.

That was closer to where we are, so that is slightly good. Although there were twenty packs in Minnesota alone. “That’s a step in the right direction. Do you know which city the bus was going to?” I asked him.

He nodded his head, “Bemidji. Look I know you and her father have a deal and all but I really don’t want her hurt.” He said.

“I already told you, I don’t plan on forcing her into anything right now. I just want to make sure that she is safe.” I told him as the phone on their side started to ring.

I could hear Ray on the phone. “Yes, Beta Seamus, we were just talking to your Alpha.” He said. He quickly relayed the information and hung up the phone. “I think he is going to get started on the search for her.” He said looking back at the camera.

“I have to go, I need to start searching for her. Keep me in the loop.” I told them. “It was nice to see you all, hopefully we will be able to talk again soon. Hopefully under better circumstances.”

“One last thing, you should know he isn’t her biological father.” Raylan added quickly.

I looked into the camera, stunned. “You mean to tell me that your beta offered up another man's daughter?” I said with a growl.

“Sadly yes, his mate is her mother, he killed her father before she was ever born. I do not know if Tahlia has figured that out yet. I don’t doubt that Andy would have kept that from her. However, with him dead, I don’t know if he ever got a chance to tell her.” I could see the conflict in his eyes.

“Okay, if I find her I will keep that tidbit to myself.”

Okay, talk later, please let me know if you find her. We are really worried about her.” Ray said then quickly hung up.

“Do you know where she could be?” Mandy asked.

I shook my head, “no but I bet Seamus will find her.” She sighed and then pushed the file towards me.

She walked towards the door and stopped with her hand on the handle. “Are you serious about not marrying her?”

“Yes, I will not force her into marriage. Especially after her mate’s death. I would not be surprised if Anthony had a hand in that.” I told her.

She sighed, “the pack does need a Luna and an heir.” She said sadly.

“I know, I am sure that we will get it all figured out. I have faith that the Moon Goddess knows what she is doing.”

She nodded her head and walked out of the office. I grabbed the file and opened it, the very first page had a picture of her on it. She was quite beautiful, so I flipped to the next page and looked at her schooling. She had gotten all A’s and there was a note from a teacher.

It read:

Tahlia is a joy to have in class, she has surpassed all expectations for warrior training. Her stamina is wonderful and surpasses nearly every other student. She is on par with Andy and Ray. If she wanted to, she could easily be in the top ten warriors.

I looked surprised when I saw a photo attached. It showed her in a very well formed fighter's stance. It was obvious she was in the middle of a move in the second picture. The amount of concentration on her face was impressive.

“We will find her.” My wolf, Storm, said.

I sighed, “I hope so, I wouldn’t wish that pain on my worst enemy.” I told him.

“Do you still plan to marry her?” He asked.

“Like I just told Mandy, I won’t force her into marriage. Right now I just want to make sure she is safe.” I told him.

“Okay, I don’t think we should marry her. I think we will find a second chance mate.” I could hear how confident he was as he spoke. “

“How could you possibly know that?” I asked.

“I don’t know, I just do.” I sighed as I continued to look through the rest of her file. “She is very pretty though.” He added.

I sighed as I looked at her pictures, “she is very pretty, however, I doubt she looks like this now that it’s been a few days since she disappeared. How long of a bus ride do you think it took her to get to Minnesota?”

He was quiet for a little bit, “well if she was running, probably two days with resting. But she took the bus so I would say probably twenty hours give or take for other bus stops.” He said.

“So she would have already left Bemidji, she could have jumped on a plane by now.” I said.

“I doubt that she would by now. She would become weaker as time went on. She is probably heading into the worst part of it.” I didn’t want to think about that, during that time you wished that you were dead. It was so painful to even breathe. “Do we know if she was marked?”

“I don’t, if she was marked there is a good chance that she will die.” I looked back down at the file, attached was her birth certificate. I looked at the name’s of her parents, Anthony was listed. But the next page would have confused me if Raylan wouldn’t have given me a head up. There was a DNA test that had been ordered by the alpha. It showed that her DNA had zero matching markers to Anthony’s.

“Is that what I think it is?” Storm asked.

“If you think it’s a DNA test that showed she was never his daughter, then yes, it is exactly what you think it is.” I looked at the results and wondered what the complete story was. “Did you miss the entire conversation with Anna and her family?” I asked him.

“In all honesty, yes, I did miss it. I was napping.” He said haughtily.

“Storm, what am I ever going to do with you?” I chuckled.

“Oh, you love me and you know it.” He said in a playful tone.

I sighed, “of course I do.” Then I muttered, “if I didn’t I would have been driven insane by now. Oh wait, I am insane because of you.”

“You only wish it was because of me that you were insane.” He snapped back.

Tahlia’s pov

I woke up, I didn’t know what time it was as it was fairly dark outside. I tilted my head up to look at the clock on the end table, it said that it was six thirty in the morning. I slowly sat up, my head pounded like a gorilla was trying to break free. “Take it easy sweetheart.”

I turned quickly to see a shadowed Doris sitting in a chair, “what happened?” I asked, massaging my temples gently with my fingers.

“Well ya have been asleep all night, ya did keep that scrumptious cookie down that I somehow managed to get ya to eat.” She said, her voice soft.

“Did I keep you up all night?” I asked.

She shook her head, “Nah, I got a few hours here and there.” She turned her attention to the window, “however, we got a big storm brewing. Supposed to be severe, will ya help me a bit? I don’t want to leave ya alone again.”

I looked down at the quilt on my bed, it had bears, deer, and moose printed on squares. I didn’t notice it before. “I can try.” I said softly.

She snapped her fingers and the lights turned on. I covered my eyes with my hands and groaned. “Turn it off.” I begged.

“No can do darlin’. Eat another one of these, it will help you feel better. It should also kick that headache too.” I cracked one of my eyes open and saw a cookie in her hand.

“How would a cookie make me feel better?” I looked at her skeptically.

She sighed, “it’s not just any cookie. It’s a mate bond cookie, my grandmother created this recipe a long time ago, it helps numb the pain a little bit. Your headache is probably because of the broken bond.”

I looked at the cookie and gently took it from her, “is that why I slept so long?”

She nodded her head, “yes, do you feel better now?”

I thought for a moment, I did feel better. I could feel Daphne, she was still really weak though. “I do, but my wolf isn’t.”

She nodded her head, “it’s not surprising that it’s not completely helping your wolf. This is meant to just take the edge off and help you work through it. It’s not a cure, just an aid.”

I took a small bite of the cookie, it tasted wonderful. The chocolate mixed with the cookie blended together perfectly. It didn’t take more than a few minutes before the ache in my chest and the pain in my head lessened, I sighed in relief. “Those work, like actually work.” I said through a mouth full of cookie.

Doris smiled, “yeah, you’re gonna want to have one every couple hours. Now get on up girlie, we got some things to do.” She jumped up from the chair and I climbed out of bed and tossed on a sweatshirt.

“What needs to be done?” I asked as we walked out of the room and onto the sidewalk.

“All those signs need to come down, the umbrellas on the tables need to get put away, the chairs need to be stacked then tied down with the bungee cord over there, the awning needs to be reeled in. I think that’s everything.” She said with a bounce in her step as she walked. “Oh and we need to make sure all the windows in the vacant rooms are closed and locked, and the cinder blocks need to be put onto the trash can lids.”

I looked at her surprised, “is all of that necessary if we are going to be in tornadoes?” I asked her.

She chuckled, “we probably won’t see any tornadoes, however we will see some pretty intense wind, the weatherman also said that we could potentially see some rather large hail. I would like to be prepared for that darlin’.”

I put my hands up in surrender, “okay, I will start on the signs, where would you like them?”

“You can put them on the desk in the front office,” she pointed in the general direction. When lightning lit up the sky, I stood shocked as all the hair on my body stood up on end. The lightning struck a tree not far from where the signs were. “Better hurry darlin’.”