Beyond Beta's Rejection

(Harper’s POV)

I felt like I was going to be sick. The feeling of dread in my stomach intensified as I sat back down in the chair opposite Nathaniel.

“No,” I said and shook my head. Nathaniel inclined his head and gave me a surprised look.

“No?” he asked.

“No!” I said clearer. “I can’t do this, Nathaniel. Please don’t ask me to do this.”

Nathaniel looked down at the papers and back up at me. The look of sympathy crossed his eyes.

“Harper, I’m not asking you to take this case.” His face dropped into a blank expression, and I closed my eyes. I knew that expression. It was the one he had when there was no discussion to be had. “In this matter, I am telling you that you will be taking this case.”

I shook my head again and opened my eyes.

“I can’t go back there. Not now, not ever,” I pleaded.

“Harper, the only reason why you are getting away with not being dragged up in front of the High Council and the Sovereign himself is because you are the only one that could even get close to this,” he said. “At this point, you have f****d up so much that no amount of skill and talent, no amount of sweet-talking will get you out of this.”

“I would rather become Drake’s puppet again,” I spat, and Nathaniel scowled at me.

“No, you wouldn’t, and you know that,” he scolded. “But if he had his way, you would be, and he is High Council, so you are lucky he hasn’t sanctioned the request already because I assure you it is on his mind.”

I shrank down in my seat and closed my eyes again. I felt a tear slip down my cheek.

“So my choices are death by trial, b***d w***e, or go back to the place that ruined me?” I asked rhetorically.

“Harper!” Nathaniel walked around the desk and came and crouched down in front of me. I looked at him as he took my hand and squeezed it softly. “You are not ruined! Not even a little bit.” He had a fierce look in his eyes. “You are one of the strongest people I have ever met. Yes, you make questionable choices in your love life.”

I snorted at that. I didn’t have a love life. I had a s*x life. After coming to the Council, I had attempted a relationship, and my f****d up brain wrecked it and almost ruined an important friendship for me. I chose to keep people at a distance and could lose a few fingers and still count on one hand the number of people I trusted.

“You can do this. You are not that scared little girl who arrived here almost ten years ago.” Nathaniel smiled at me.

“Come on, sweetheart, I think of you as my own daughter, and I wouldn’t ever put you in a situation that I didn’t think you couldn’t take.”

I smiled back. Nathaniel had really provided the father figure role to me these last nine or so years that he had been mentoring me in a way that my real father never seemed to be able to do, and I was ever grateful for it. I never even realised that it was a role that I lacked or that my own father had always operated from a more self-serving space until I met Nathaniel.

I sat up and wiped away the tears, and Nathaniel patted my hand. He stood up, walked back around the desk, and sat back down. He looked at me again, and I could tell by the grimace that there was more that I wasn’t going to like.

“Owens has a set way of doing things from what we have gathered,” he said, his tone all business again.

“When taking control of a pack, he kills the Alpha and in most cases the Beta and Gamma in most cases.” I nodded, keeping my face blank, but inside hoping that meant that the one person I didn’t want to see was on this criminal’s hit list. I immediately felt bad for thinking that, but if anyone deserved it, then it was him.

“In this case, it looks like he did just that. Alpha Daniel Chambers, Beta Eric Stokes, and Gamma Stephen Bennet were all found dead outside of the territory’s boundaries.”

I looked up, shocked. It was one thing to know that this new person was ruthless, but another to have known the people on his list. The Alpha and Beta had been nice to me, and, although I had limited contact with the Gamma, his daughter Louise had been my best friend for years.

“What about their families?” I asked, hoping that the ruthless reputation of Owens wasn’t as bad as it could be. Nathaniel started to look uncomfortable, and I didn’t like it.

“What?” I asked, the feeling of dread coming back.

“After Owens clears out the named ranked, he fills those roles with a mix of his own men and existing pack members. I can only assume that this is to establish authority and keep the familiarity that makes the pack compliant.” Nathaniel pulled out a sheet of paper and read through it before looking at me.

“The Gamma role was already free as the death of the Gamma left no heir due to an incident with the Gamma heir some years back.” The gamma heir, that was Alex. My heart hurt a little. Was the incident related to me escaping?

“That role has been assigned to one of Owens’ own men, a man by the name of Marcus Farwell. What we know of Farwell is limited to his time here. He trained as a warrior before something happened, and he disappeared. He was an exceptional warrior” Nathaniel grinned at me. “Someone who probably could have gone toe to toe with you.” I scowled at this.

“Owens has Alpha control in the current setting, but their report suggests that the original Alpha heir, Damien Chambers, is unaccounted for after fleeing the pack in the initial attack, although his wife was seized and is currently incarcerated in the pack cells.” I cringed at the thought that Damien had found a wife, poor lass. And for him to run away and leave her behind as well, well, that sounded like he hadn’t changed one bit.

I noticed that Nathaniel had stopped talking and was looking concerned.

“What?” I asked.

“As I said, Owens always installs one existing member of the pack into the named rank positions.” He handed me the report he was reading from, and I quickly scanned down the words. It was an update report from an independent scout. I looked for the latest information and saw where Nathaniel had been reading from.

“Ok Alpha, Elias Owens assigned his own man Marcus Farwell into the role of Gamma and original pack member and Beta heir-”

I stopped dead at seeing the name in print right in front of me. I resisted all the urges to scream or cry or the panic attack that was pushing at my carefully constructed walls. I took a breath and passed the sheet of paper back to Nathaniel.

“I’ll take the offer from Drake,” I said, keeping my expression as blank as possible.

“The hell you will,” Nathaniel snapped. I looked up at him, and his eyes were the silver of his wolf. Despite being a Council Elder and my mentor and, for all intents and purposes, my boss, he was a lower rank than I was. I was never a rank snob. The majority of the Council Elders and people within the Council had the silver eye rank. It didn’t matter here, and not now, because Nathaniel still exuded confidence and power without the rank status. Even now, seeing him glaring at me made me want to shrink back and hide.

“I told you, Harper, you will be taking this case.” I returned his glare, but he just ignored me.

“I have made arrangements for your entry into the pack territory. Aaron has already spoken with Thomas Kirby, your uncle, I believe.” I nodded, feeling kind of numb.

“Kirby has petitioned for you to enter the pack territory because you are there to grieve the loss of your father, Darren Kirby. You will be required to meet with Owens at his request.”

“Meet with him. Why?” It was common for outsiders to be granted limited access to territories but not so common for the Alpha to demand a meeting.

“Like I said, he closes the borders in the six months he is in a pack. He is almost paranoid about it. My guess is he will want to feel you out to ensure you aren’t a spy.”

“But I am a spy,” I said .

“Yes, well, I am sure you are able to convince him otherwise,” Nathaniel said. “You got the highest scores in the undercover practices exam in the last twenty-five years. I am sure you can manage this.” Nathaniel grinned, and I couldn’t help returning that grin. I knew he was particularly proud of that achievement of mine.

“The mission needs you to get close to Owens. Find me something I can use to bring this bastard up against the High Council. Anything that will help us get some dent in the armour that the Circle has, and I swear that you will be returning to that Councilman position.”

Nathaniel had a determined look on his face, and I knew he wouldn’t send me in unless he had to. I sighed and looked back down at the paper.

“When do I leave?” I asked, and Nathaniel seemed to visibly relax at my silent agreement to take the case.

“Tomorrow,” he said, “So you need to pack.”

I nodded. I knew I looked like I was focusing on reading the report, but I couldn’t take my eyes off of that one sentence. That one name that still sets fear in my heart.

Original Pack member and Beta heir, Colton Stokes, as the acting Beta.