Beyond Beta's Rejection

(Harper’s POV)

I looked at the ring on my finger and then back around the room. Tommy had the look of fury on his face. Everyone else was smiling and chatting. Colton ran his hand up and down my arm, and the sparks made it hard to think straight.

I was engaged! To Colton Stokes! At any other time, this might have been one of those dream-come-true moments. Hell, this time yesterday, I might have thought that this was my dream come true. But now circumstances were different, very different. I took a step away from Colton and shook my head.

“But he rejected me,” I whispered. The Alpha stopped talking and looked directly at me. Then, I realised my father and the Beta had stopped talking too and were also looking at me.

“What did you say, Harper?” the Alpha asked, his tone oozing with authority. I couldn’t help but bit the side of my l*p. The Alpha was an intimidating man.

“I said, he rejected me,” I said a little louder and then looked at the floor, although I could still feel the Alpha’s eyes on me. Then I heard him chuckle, and I looked up in shock.

“Oh, don’t you worry, my dear,” the Alpha said with a big smile. “Young Colton here was a little rash in his actions, but he regrets that now, don’t you, young man?”

“Yes, Alpha sir, I do,” Colton replied before grabbing my hand in his. “And Harper, I am truly sorry, and I would like this opportunity to make it up to you and show you how much of a loving husband and mate I can be” his tone was sincere, but I knew it was just for show.

“But you rejected me,” I said again, more insistently. “So the bond… it’s broken, isn’t it?” I looked around at the men in the room.

“My dear child…” The Beta smiled at me. “I was under the impression that while my son was somewhat foolhardy, you didn’t actually accept the rejection.”

I nodded. “Yes, Beta sir.” The Beta stood up and smiled.

“Well, there you have it,” he said. “The bond is still alive, and as long as you complete the mate bond by the third full moon, then the rejection will be a silly mistake of the past.” He clapped Colton on the back and then leaned over and kissed my forehead. “And please, call me Eric, we are family now.”

“Wait, are you saying that you are expecting her to complete the bond and tie herself to this jerk for the rest of her life? And all within three months?” Tommy shouted. “Darren, really are you going to allow this?” My dad glared at Tommy, his face going red, but it was the Alpha that replied.

“Thomas, I understand your concerns and admire your guardianship of your niece. But I assure you that the moon goddess wouldn’t have paired her with Colton here if they were not a good match.”

“But you-” Tommy started, but my father interrupted him.

“Tommy, that’s enough,” he snapped. “If you don’t have anything productive to say, then you can just leave.” Tommy stared at my father in disbelief before muttering something under his breath. He stalked over and pulled me into a hug.

“I’m sorry, kid,” he said and then looked at Colton and pointed a finger at him. “I’m watching you, very closely.” And then he threw a nasty look at my father and stormed out of the room.

I watched him go and felt like I had lost my only ally. He had literally thrown me to the wolves. It was the Alpha who spoke next, shocking me out of my death stare with the door.

“Well, I think we should give the new couple a little bit of privacy,” he said. “I hear there is cake!” He then headed around the desk, shook hands with Colton, and kissed my cheek. I was shocked to hear Colton growl, and there was something about it that caused a flutter in my stomach. He had just growled at his Alpha for getting too close to me. The Alpha just chuckled in response.

“Nice healthy wolf there, boy,” he said and chuckled again before heading out of the door, followed by the Beta, who was frowning at Colton, and finally, my father.

The door closed, and we were alone. I suddenly felt extremely nervous. I looked at Colton and saw that he was staring at me, his eyes almost completely gold. I didn’t know what emotion he was feeling, but our eyes only switched out to wolf when there was some strong emotion present. And a wolf’s eye colour is a mark of rank. I had silver eyes, but when Colton and I completed the mate bond, my eyes would likely turn gold like all high-ranked.

Then it hit me when Colton and I completed the mate bond. Oh crap! I was going to be mated. I started to feel sick and felt like I needed to sit down again. Colton must have noticed because he took my elbow and guided me to the chair behind me. He kneeled in front of me and looked at me with concern.

“Hey, Strawberries,” he said, moving my hair to one side in a tender gesture. “Breathe.” He began to run his thumb in circles on my hand like he had last night. I started to feel the panic attack forming subside, and he smiled. Last night! Last night when we had slept together, and then he rejected me! But now he was here, and I had a ring on my finger. The anger hit me like a wall, and I jumped out of the chair away from him.

“You bastard!” I hissed at him. “How dare you?” he stood up, an amused look on his face, and started to move slowly towards me as I backed up.

“You rejected me!” I yelled. “You didn’t just reject me. You humiliated me!”

He glanced at the door and hissed, “Keep it down!”

I knew that no matter how loud I shouted, the office was soundproofed, which I always found strange, but my dad said that it kept sound out as well as in. I didn’t tell Colton that, though.

“What’s wrong, Colton?” I raised my voice, and he lost the amused look. “Don’t you want everyone to know how you f****d me and then broke me?”

“I mean it, Strawberries, you do not want to see me angry.” He had gotten closer and suddenly felt so much bigger.

“And then you come in here and decide that you made a mistake. What am I good enough to settle down with now, or did daddy tell you off?”

“Harper, I am warning you,” he growled.

“Maybe I should just accept your rejection right now and break the bond for good.”

He went very still. All emotion disappeared from his face, but pure gold surrounded the black centre of his eyes. His powerful beta aura blasted into me, sending my body cold.

“Bite your tongue, little one, else I do it for you.” His words held a promise that had me shivering in fear. I should have stopped there, but of course, I didn’t. I stood straight and glared at him.

“I, Harper Kirby, acknow-” my words were cut off as I was pushed against the wall, and his lips smashed onto mine. I tried to push him away, but his hands grabbed mine and pinned them above my head into one hand. He kissed me hard enough that I was sure my lips would be bruised. I stayed unmoving, not kissing him back despite everything inside me wanting to. I could feel the damaged mate bond and the overwhelming need to fix it.

Colton growled into my mouth, and his free hand ran down my body and landed on my a*s before squeezing hard. I gasped, giving him access for his tongue to slip in and explore my mouth. My walls broke, and I found myself kissing him back. All the need and l**t rushing to the surface and washing over me. Colton let go of my hands, and I wrapped them around his neck, and he lifted me and pulled me hard against his body. I wrapped my legs around his waist, and he g*****d and ground into me. He moved over to my father’s desk and sat me on the edge. My whole body reacted to him as I remembered the last night and the way our bodies melded together perfectly. The thoughts ignited a fire down below, and I could feel myself getting damp. Colton g*****d as the scent of my arousal surrounded us.

Colton wrapped his hand in my hair, and I cried out as he yanked my head back, breaking the k**s.

“Now listen here carefully, Strawberries,” he growled against my ear as he nipped at my neck behind my ear. “You belong to me, you have always belonged to me, and you always will belong to me. You are MINE!” I gasped as he snarled that last word sending shivers down my body.

“And so help me, goddess,” he growled. “If you ever try to pull a stunt like that ever again, I will mate you and mark you right where you stand.”

My body reacted to the promise of the mark, and I couldn’t help the m**n that slipped out as his teeth grazed the very spot where he was to put his mark on me. Even Maia, my wolf, who had been silent since last night, suddenly made an appearance and yapped at the feel of him so close to me.

“Do you understand?” he growled, yanking my hair again, exposing my throat in submission, and bringing my attention back to his question. His eyes were pure gold, and his dominance played in overdrive, emphasising his anger. I involuntarily whimpered against the look in his eyes but nodded.

“Y-yes, Colton,” I stuttered, and he smirked in approval.

Suddenly his eyes bled back to their mostly hazel with the gold flecks, and his face rested into a flirty smile. He let go of my hair and hooked his finger under my chin, tilting it upwards.

“Good girl,” he cooed before brushing his lips gently against mine before pulling away. He smiled at me again, as if the past few minutes of aggression had never happened.

“Come on, baby girl,” he cooed. “Let’s go get some cake.” He lifted me off the table and slipped his hand into mine. He laced our fingers together, pulling me towards the door and out of the office to our waiting families and cake. Well, at least there’s cake.