Beyond Beta's Rejection

(Harper’s POV)

“Sorry, darling,” I said as I brushed past him and walked out into the street, knowing he would be following on my heels. “I have no plans to follow through with that s**t show of an idea.” His hand circled my wrist, and he yanked me around to face him. I was expecting it and threw my weight into it to pull him off balance. But he was also waiting for my move and laughed as his grip on my wrist tightened, and he pulled me into his chest.

“Dammit,” I whispered more to myself, and his grin widened.

“Don’t worry, princess, I got you. Wouldn’t want any damage to come to my new Luna now, would I?”

“Not your f*****g Luna,” I hissed and pulled away from him, trying to twist out of his grip on my wrist.

“You can take that up with the boss, not my place.”

“What the hell is going on out here?” I heard Colton’s voice and g*****d, “Gamma, release her at once!”

“Not your call, Stokes,” Marcus said without taking his eyes off me. “Although you’d be happy, Alpha now agrees that this firecracker should stay at the pack house, just like you suggested.”

I glared at the two of them.

“Like f**k I am!” I snarled and kicked out at Marcus, but again he seemed to counter it, and he swept my one-planted leg out, and I landed on my a*s. “Son of a b***h!” I exclaimed. I looked up to see Marcus grinning down at me. I really wanted to wipe that smirk off his face so badly. Colton seemed to have the same idea, and Marcus was knocked from my view, and they both went tumbling down the drive. I took the chance while I had it and jumped up and set off running down the street. I was already rounding the corner and diving into the woods before the two testosterone-filled brutes stopped their fight, long to notice that I had gone. I grew up in these woods. Even after ten years away, I still knew them like the back of my hand. I quickly found the path I used to take to town and headed down it.

After ten minutes of quick pace walking, I came out by Katie’s place. I headed past and into the car park of Howlers. Which was packed out, Howlers itself was rammed. I could tell the dinner crowd was ending, and the night crowd was starting up. Perfect, just in time to blow off some steam. I headed to the entrance and was met by two large, unfamiliar werewolves. One of them glared at me while the other leered, his eyes travelling up and down my body. The scowly one elbowed the other in the chest before his eyes glazed over. Crap! He was mind linking someone, probably Marcus, or, worse, Colton.

His eyes cleared, and he sneered at me before moving to the side and waving his arm towards the door. I glared at him, knowing my time was limited. Chances are the Alpha already had guys on the way. They were super possessive that way. I remembered one case where two Alphas had gone to war over one poor woman they claimed was their mate. They had literally burnt a town to the ground fighting. And this Alpha had a reputation for being brutal. Which once again begged the question of why the moon goddess decided to mate me with not one but two nasty pieces of work.

I sighed and headed into the bar, past the two slabs of muscle. I obviously didn’t have much time to have fun before company arrived. I could have slipped out of the back, but at this point, unless I left town, I suspected that I would be found, eventually. I headed up to the bar and saw that Katie was serving at the end. I waved to get her attention, and her face lit up as she grinned. She finished with the customer and made her way down the bar to me.

“Harper!” she exclaimed. “What can I get you? On the house.” It was good because I had left my bag with everything in, at the house.

“Nice!” I nodded. “I’ll have a double rum and coke then.” She grinned and turned to prepare my drink. She soon had it ready in front of me and winked. I took a drink as I saw a door behind the bar open, and Alex walked through carrying two boxes of bottled beer. He was wearing a black shirt that looked so tight that it left not one part of his solid eight pack to the imagination. Katie followed my stare and grinned as she saw who I was drooling over. Alex looked up and saw me, and I bit my l*p and winked. He took a deep breath and looked around, and I thought for a second that he wasn’t interested, but then he walked around the bar and grabbed my hand. Before I could say anything, he pulled me towards the end of the bar and into a room marked office.

The door was barely closed before he pushed me against it and his mouth was on mine, pushing his body against me like he couldn’t get close enough. I laced my arms around his neck and pulled him even closer. My lips parted, allowing his tongue access, and he took delight in exploring all the corners of my mouth while my own tongue chased his. He broke the k**s sooner than I would have liked and looked down at me.

“I have been wanting to do that ever since I saw you this morning,” he said. “Geez, Harper, how are you so f*****g beautiful?” I blushed slightly at the compliment and smiled at him.

“What else did you want to do to me?” I asked the most innocent tone I could muster, especially with the aching that was starting between my legs. Alex g*****d as I leaned up to nibble against his neck.

“Aw sweetheart, I’m not sure there are words for what I want to do to you that could be said in the company of a lady,” he growled, and I felt heat flush through to my core in excitement.

“Good thing there aren’t any ladies around her then, isn’t it?” I purred, and he growled again. He grabbed my waist, lifted me, turned towards the desk, and sat me on top of it. I wrapped my legs around his waist and pulled his face down to me again. He began to trail k****s down my throat, and his hand began to unbutton my jeans. I started to pull his top off so I could get a good look at the raw goods underneath when Alex stopped. He froze mid-action and then hissed.

He stepped back, untangling himself from my legs and arms, and I frowned at him.

“What the hell, Alex?” I snapped. “I was starting to enjoy that.”

He scowled at me. “Tell me it’s not true,” he growled. His eyes were full of l**t and his hands clenched by his side.

“What?” I asked.

“Tommy is just f*****g with me, right?” He looked towards the door and then back at me. “Tell me I was not about to sign my f*****g death certificate by screwing the Alpha’s mate.” I closed my eyes in frustration.

“I’m not his mate,” I said defiantly. “I belong to me, no one else.”

Alex g*****d. “f**k, Harper!” he exclaimed. “He is going to f*****g kill me. He’s killed others for less.”

“I told you, I’m not his mate,” I said, jumping down from the table and fastening my jeans back up. “But if you’re not interested, I’ll find someone else to have fun with.” I walked past him to the door, but he grabbed my arm before I reached it.

“Harper, I am saying this as a friend,” he said as he moved in close and took in my scent. “Watch out for this guy. He’s not Stokes. I’ve seen some of the things he has done that have earned him the reputation he has.” Alex pulled me in close to him. “I hate to say it, but if he decides you’re his, then get used to it.”

I pulled away from him and watched his face to see if he was trying to mess with me. “f**k this s**t!” I said, “I know he’s a bad guy already. I have no plans of being involved with him any more than I have to.” I turned towards the door and pulled it open before Alex had time to say anything else.

I was halfway down the hall when it registered that it was unusually quiet for a bar. The music and chatter had stopped. I rounded the corner into the main bar and stopped dead. The place was deserted. There must have been over a hundred people in here before. But now I could see Katie standing behind the bar looking nervous, the two goons I had encountered on the way in, and Marcus standing by the DJ booth with a new black eye and a wide grin. But all of those people faded out as I met the eyes of the man standing in the middle of the room with his arms crossed. I didn’t get a good look at him in the office, but I had seen enough pictures of him to know who he was, even if my body wasn’t reacting to the scent of mint and sea salt. I knew the man in front of me was Alpha Elias Owens.

I felt Alex come up behind me and swear as he saw the scene. But I couldn’t rip my eyes away from the man in front of me. Despite being the smallest frame of all the men in here, and dressed in a three-piece suit, everything about him screamed pure dominant Alpha. He narrowed his eyes slightly and tilted his head as he watched me. His face was completely devoid of any expression. But the look in his eyes said everything. He was, without a doubt, a hunter, a predator, and I was his prey. Alex was right. In his eyes, I was already his.

I felt breathless as just his look felt like it woke something up inside me. Something that stretched and growled inside my head. Then I heard the voice of someone I hadn’t heard in almost ten years. I felt as my wolf Maia recognised the wolf staring back at me through the man’s eyes as she said what I already knew.

“Mate!”