Beyond Beta's Rejection

(Harper’s POV)

I woke up the next morning, still wrapped in Elias’ arms. I opened my eyes as Maia hummed, content in my head. She seemed louder than ever and happy.

“Maia?” I asked in my head and felt her shift around.

“Not yet,” she said, knowing what I was asking. I mean, after all, she was me. “Not yet, but soon. I can feel it,” and then she curled up and went back to humming. I was suddenly feeling restless, like I did when I was fifteen, before my first shift. It felt like something was trying to break through. Then it was Maia, but that wasn’t it this time, because Maia was already here.

I felt Elias move behind me, and he snuggled into me, nuzzling his nose into my neck.

“Goddess, I love that smell,” he whispered, and I couldn’t help but giggle as his stubble tickled my shoulder.

“Good morning, beautiful,” he whispered and ran his nose up my neck, and I shivered at the feel. I twisted around on the sofa to face him and smile.

“Morning,” I said, and he leaned down and gently ran his lips against mine. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him in tighter, opening my mouth to deepen the k**s. Elias complied and ran his tongue along my lips before finding my own. In the heat of the k**s, I found myself lying on the sofa with Elias above me, and I wrapped my legs around his torso. I felt his excitement as he pushed against me, and I tightened my grip to pull him in closer. Elias broke the k**s and began kissing down my neck, pausing briefly on my marking spot before running his mouth along my collarbone. We were both breathing heavily when I felt a buzzing against my leg, and I looked down, shocked, and Elias g*****d and buried his head into my neck again. The buzzing happened again, and I realised what was happening.

“Is that a bee in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?” I said with a chuckle, and Elias g*****d again.

“It’s Marcus,” he said as he lifted his head and kissed my nose.

“Marcus is using the phone?” I asked, and he winced.

“I’ve been ignoring his mind links for about five minutes,” he said as he pulled himself up from the sofa. “And I told him that if he busted into my room again after yesterday that he would find himself in a considerable amount of pain.”

“You know violence isn’t always the answer,” I said flippantly, and Elias grinned at me.

“This coming from the girl who has kicked the a*s of my Beta at least twice now,” he said, and I shrugged.

“Special circumstances, he’s a d**k,” I said, and he laughed.

“Can’t argue with you there, darling,” he said, and I chuckled. I stood up and stretched. Sleeping on the sofa wasn’t the most comfortable position, and I felt stiffness in my muscles.

Elias looked at his phone and g*****d. His eyes glazed over for a few seconds, and I waited patiently for him to finish his link conversation. He looked at me and smiled.

“I will be busy all day with it being the Midsummer ball tonight,” he said, and I realised that it was Saturday, so of course the ball was tonight. “I would love it if you did me the honour of accompanying me this evening.” I felt a weight in my stomach. I had no plans of going to the ball. I mean, I wasn’t a pack member, and well, the last time I went to one pretty much ruined my life.

“Erm, well,” I said, looking down at the floor, and Elias took my chin in his hand and lifted my head, so I was facing him.

“I promise that you will be safe,” he said, and I laughed nervously, “Please,” he said, his eyes full of pleading. I looked at him and smiled slightly. What was the worst that could happen?

“Okay,” I said. “Yes, I will go to the ball with you.” His face lit up into a massive smile that I couldn’t help but return. He pulled me into a k**s just as there was a knock at the door, and I pulled away, laughing as he g*****d again.

“I’ll see you later,” I said, and he smiled.

“I’ll pick you up at seven,” he said, and I nodded.

I headed to the door as Elias walked into the bathroom whistling. I opened the door to see Marcus standing on the other side.

“Whoa, princess,” he said with a big grin. “Walk of shame two days in a row, eh?”

I rolled my eyes. “And I wonder if you slept in your own bed last night,” I said, and his grin grew.

“Caught me there,” he said, and I laughed.

I didn’t have to guess that most of the girls in town would be fighting over Marcus’ attention. I knew that the former Alpha was particular who was allowed in the territory, so the takeover by Elias brought a series of fresh choices for the singles. And Marcus wasn’t exactly hard on the eye. His stocky but muscled build was pretty standard for a werewolf warrior, but add the golden tan skin tone, the rich brown hair and chocolate brown eyes that always seemed to have hints of gold, and his chiseled jawline, I could imagine he would have his pick of the bunch.

I made way for Marcus to enter the room and pointed to the bathroom door.

“He’s just gone in,” I said, and Marcus nodded.

“Thanks, princess,” he said and threw himself on the sofa, “by the way, I am gonna be busy with the Alpha today, so I would prefer it if you didn’t go for walks in the woods or anywhere for that matter,” he said, and I scowled at him.

“Marcus, I don’t need a guard. I told you I could look after myself,” I huffed, and he rolled his eyes.

“Just let me do my job, princess, please.”

I huffed again. “I can’t promise anything,” I snapped. “If I get bored, I won’t be sitting around twiddling my thumbs.” I stormed out of the room before he could respond. I was starting to get annoyed at the constant watching. Not only did it make it ten times harder to do my job, knowing that he was watching me, but I felt like some prissy girl who needed saving. Which I clearly did not.

I was starting to get a headache. Again, it felt like something was trying to come through, like some sort of pressure at the back of my mind. I decided to take a nap since my quality of sleep wasn’t so great last night and crawled into my bed, and it wasn’t long before I drifted off to sleep. However, I was rudely awoken by a knocking on my door. It felt like I had maybe been asleep for five minutes, but looking at the clock, I saw that it was almost midday. I g*****d and pulled myself out of bed, feeling worse than ever. Maybe I was coming down with something. Werewolves didn’t get standard colds and such, but there was a small variant of supernatural viruses that could knock a wolf down for a day, rare but could happen. I stumbled to the door and opened it, ready to shout at whoever was interrupting my sleep. It was Louise, standing on the other side. She grinned at me and barged into the room, pushing past me and heading towards my suitcase.

“You know, it really would be easier if you unpacked,” she muttered as she started rooting through.

“Erm, hi?” I said, confused, and she looked me up and down.

“Go get a shower, and be quick about it. Our first appointment is in thirty minutes,” she said and pulled out some black jeans. “Geez, Harper, do you wear anything other than black jeans?” She scoffed.

“No, I don’t, and what appointment?” I asked, and she grinned again.

“Well, we have dress shopping first, and then lunch with the Luna.” She glanced quickly at me. “I mean former Luna, and then we have hair and make-up ready for tonight.”

I shook my head, still confused. “What, wait, how?” I asked, and she winked.

“Marcus arranged it for us once he found out that you said you would go to the ball with Elias.”

The son of a b***h! I growled to myself. I had said that I wouldn’t sit around doing nothing, so he filled my day with stuff and got my best friend involved in it too.

“Why lunch with the Luna?” I asked, and Louise rolled her eyes. “Harper, you are going to the ball with the Alpha, who everyone knows is your fated mate,” she said. “Whether you like it or not, they will see you as the Luna, and that comes with certain responsibilities,” I scowled at her again.

“I would never have thought I would have heard that coming from you,” I said, and she laughed.

“Trust me. I am as shocked as you are. But this pack is divided right now, and seeing someone who is one of them, even if you have been away, trusting their new Alpha might be enough to sway the balance away from Colton’s dickery.” I chuckled at that last part. But I admitted that what she was saying was indeed true. I sighed in defeat and headed to the shower while Louise laid out some clothes for me. I would play the role of Luna for now and hope that it would help me get what I wanted to get out of here and back home.