Beyond Beta's Rejection

Chapter 44

(Harper’s POV)

“You will stay in sight of one of my men or your room at all times.” I twirled my hair, quickly getting bored with Elias’ conditions for Louise’s release. “You are not permitted access to a computer with internet access, mobile phone, or any other method of communication at any time.” 

“Okay, we get it,” I scowled at him “she’s still a prisoner, yada-yada,” and Elias scowled back at me, “I have agreed to have lunch with the Luna-” 

“Former Luna!” Elias interrupted me, and I rolled my eyes.

“Former Luna. I want to take Louise with me,” I said, and Elias shook his head.

“No, not this soon,” he looked at Louise, “I need you to stay here right now,” she nodded.

“Why?” I asked. I didn’t want to leave my friend on her own after she had spent three months or so locked up. 

“Because I have arranged a personal guard for her, and he will be here soon,” he said, his tone clipped. I narrowed my eyes and glanced between him and Louise.

“And who might that be?” I asked.

“Me” I looked over to the door where Tommy was standing. Louise gasped and ran to him, throwing herself into his arms. Tommy captured her, his arms surrounding her, and buried his head into the crook of her neck. Louise burst out crying as she hugged Tommy tight.

“It’s ok, baby,” he cooed, “I got you now.” I smiled at them and then looked at Elias, who was watching me with a look of desire in his eyes. Our eyes met, and he smiled before looking away.

“Okay, everyone out, let’s give them some time” the two warriors, who were standing by the door, left, and Marcus followed them. I walked to the door, following Elias out of the room. I stopped at the door and looked back at Tommy and Louise. He guided her to the sofa and whispered things in her ear as she curled up against him. They both looked so relaxed and calm.

I felt his breath on the back of my neck as Elias moved in close behind me and whispered in my ear.

“See the beautiful power of the fated mate bond?” his hand slipped down my side and pulled me against him. He ran his nose up the back of my neck, and I shivered as sparks flew through my body. I pulled away, closing the door and giving them the privacy they deserved. I turned toward Elias, took hold of the collar of his shirt, and smiled.

“That was a very nice thing you did there, Alpha,” I said as he began backing me up against the wall. 

“It was the least I could do,” he said. “I didn’t know that she was Tommy’s mate. I just saw her as the future Luna and thought that she could help get me, Chambers.” I nodded. He smiled down at me and backed me up against the wall. I tutted at him and shook my head.

“Nah-ah,” I said as he started to kiss down my throat. “I told you I have plans,” and he chuckled against my throat. 

“As much as I want to pick you up, take you into my bedroom, and make you forget those plans ever existed, over and over again.….” I found myself biting my lip as images of what he wanted rushing through my mind. “Alas, I also have important work to do. So please enjoy your lunch plans,” he leaned in and whispered, “And maybe I will eat later,” he purred the word eat, and I stopped breathing for a second. Elias smirked at the reaction he was getting and kissed my cheek before walking away down the hall, leaving me almost panting at the wicked thoughts that he had put into my mind. Dammit, I was used to being the one that left them reeling in a lust-filled frenzy. I was starting to think that this mate bond would be the death of me in a whole different way.

I gathered myself, pushed away from the wall, and headed down the hallway and down to the next floor. I was a little later than planned but headed into the 3rd-floor living room where Alice Chambers and Caroline Stokes were sitting on one of the sofas chatting. Caroline looked up and smiled brightly.

“Harper darling,” she said excitedly, “how lovely of you to come. Did you bring Colton with you?” I stopped and narrowed my eyes at her, and Alice shook her head at me and looked over at Caroline with concern on her face. She leaned over and took her hand.

“Caroline, honey, Colton is working, remember?” Caroline smiled, 

“Of course he is. Bless him. He is so keen to get his poor dad to retire. I keep telling Eric that he promised when you had the pups.” Caroline continued in her own dialogue while I stared at her, confused.

“Please, Harper, come sit down,” Alice said, cutting Caroline off. I smiled and walked over and sat on the opposite sofa. Alice passed me a plate, and we lapsed into silence as we ate sandwiches. 

We were just finishing up when Alice put down her coffee cup and looked at me.

“Harper, I want to apologise,” she said, and I glanced up at her. Her eyes glistened like she was about to cry, but otherwise, her face was calm, not devoid of emotion, but if pleasant was an emotion, I could imagine this is what it looked like.

“When I found out that you and Colton were…” she trailed off, “Well, I prayed to the moon goddess that she would find a way to escape the cruel fate that some of us couldn’t,” my eyes widened as the realisation hit with what she was saying. A tear slipped down her cheek. 

“Are you saying…” I trailed off and looked at the women. Alice nodded,

“Yes, the rotten apple doesn’t fall far from the tree at all. It was the reason Julia Bennet left. She escaped like you did.” I couldn’t believe what she was telling me. Especially after I had heard what Louise had gone through.

“But Harper dear, that’s not the important part,” she looked up at the door and then back to me, “When Daniel and Eric found out that Colton had rejected you, they had gotten very upset.” I had always wondered what had happened for him to go from rejecting me to going mental when I left.

“What with your family being a bloodline of The Order and all, it wasn’t enough for them to have your father in their chains, not with what he did and the strained relationship with Tommy-” Alice was talking, but I didn’t understand what she was saying.

“What are you talking about? What’s the Order, and what did my dad do?” Alice gave me a confused look.

“Harper, do you not-” she stopped suddenly and looked up behind me. I turned around to see Colton standing in the doorway. He was glaring at Alice, his eyes showing the gold of their wolf. 

I couldn’t help the growl that escaped my lips, knowing what he did to Louise. And he glanced at me in surprise before returning his furious look to Alice. I looked back at Alice, and she was staring at Colton with a smug smile on her face. I had the feeling that what she had said was something Colton didn’t want me to know about, which made me instantly curious.

“Harper,” he said, not taking his eyes off Alice, “The Alpha has asked to see you” I glanced between the two, uncertain.

“Go, my dear,” Alice said. “We can talk another time.” I nodded and stood up, walking to the door that Colton held open. I glared at him as he smiled at me. 

“Oh, Colton,” Caroline called, “While you are both here, could we discuss your 10th-anniversary party. Harper, would you like me to see if Alpha Daniel will allow some pink in its color scheme? I know how much you love pink. And we should start early so the pups could attend for a little bit,” I looked at Caroline, even more confused. I turned to look at Colton, and he was watching his mum with a sad look in his eyes. He saw me looking and shrugged. 

“We can talk about it later, mum, I promise” that seemed to appease her, and she turned to Alice to talk about this supposed party. Colton gestured to leave the room, and I walked into the hallway. 

He followed me out, closing the door. 

“What the hell was that?” I demanded, and he shook his head, the sadness still written all over his face.

“She’s gotten a lot worse since my father died, but she started declining steadily way before that.” He looked at the door and then back at me. “In her mind, you never left.” he moved towards me, and I moved back. “We got married, and we have two pups” my back hit the wall. Colton leaned in, his arms on either side of me, caging me in. “In her eyes, we are madly in love with each other. I sometimes sit there and listen to her talking about the life that she can see.” He leaned right to whisper, “Do you ever wonder what it would have been like if you never left me? Because I do. Every day.”

“And where does sexually assaulting my best friend fit into all of that,” I hissed, and he stepped back, shock written all over his face, “because from what I heard of that, I don’t think our lives would have been remotely happy,” Colton quickly returned to his arrogant mask and smirked at me.

“From what I hear about your exploits over the last ten years, I bet you would have quickly learned to love what we did.” It was my turn to look shocked. How did he know what the last ten years were like for me?

“Oh yeah, Strawberries, I know everything. The blood games with the vampire and the many not so forgotten names,” he leaned in again, “and especially, I know the secret of who you work for and why you came back,” Dread gripped my stomach. How could he know? 

“So if you don’t want your new lover to find out, and I can assure you he doesn’t take betrayal well, you and I better come to some mutually beneficial arrangement.”

Chapter 49 - Beyond Beta's Rejection