Beyond Beta's Rejection

(Harper’s POV)

I woke up in the dark. I vaguely remembered being carried into the pack house, and then I must have blacked out from the silver sickness. I could tell I was in a bed and wasn’t alone. I tried sitting up, only for a wave of nausea hit me like a truck.

“f**k!” I muttered and then heard a chuckle.

“Go back to sleep,” Colton croaked, his voice full of sleep. I felt him reach out to me, and I shrunk back. He grabbed hold of my wrists, and I jerked away hard enough that I fell off the bed.

“Ow! Damn it,” I exclaimed, and I heard Colton sigh. The bed rustled, and I held my arm out to try to stop him from coming near me, but I couldn’t see a damn thing. Suddenly the room was flooded with light, and when my eyes adjusted, I saw Colton standing by the door, watching me.

“If I come and help you up, will you try to hit me?” he asked, his tone strangely calm like he was talking to a child who was being stubborn.

“Yes!” I said, and he sighed again.

“Goddess sakes Harper,” he said, the frustration clear in his voice. “Just let me help you back on the bed, will you.”

“Go to hell,” I snapped, and he grinned.

“Yeah, probably,” he said, walking over to me. “But I’m used to it.” He leaned down towards me and I growled at him. He wasn’t fazed in the slightest. Even when I tried to kick out at him, he just dodged my legs and scooped me up off the floor, and dropped me onto the bed.

“See,” he said while I glared at him. “That wasn’t so bad, was it?” He pulled the covers back and put them over me. I wanted to fight, but I felt exhausted. I looked down at my wrist and saw the silver cuff sitting there. I lifted my arm in the air and looked at Colton.

“Take this off me,” I demanded, and he just chuckled.

“Not yet,” he said, walking to the door again. “We need a talk first, and then we can take it off.” He reached for the light switch, and the room was back in darkness. I heard Colton as he walked across the room and felt the bed move as he climbed back in. I was beginning to lose my fight against sleep again and was frustrated with myself for being so exhausted. I felt Colton’s hand on my arm and flinched.

“Touch me, and I will feed you your d**k,” I snarled, and he just chuckled again but moved his hand away.

“Go to sleep, Strawberries. We’ll talk in the morning,” he said, and I felt the bed move as he turned away. I could feel the compulsion in his voice pulling me under into sleep again, and I fell asleep, mentally cursing myself for being too weak to fight it.

***

“Hey, Strawberries,” I was softly shaken awake, and I opened my eyes to Colton sitting on the bed. He was fully dressed, and his hair was damp, I was guessing from the shower. The room was bright from the sunlight pouring in through the big windows. I looked around the room. It was decorated in greys and blacks and had a masculine tone, so my guess was that I was in Colton’s room.

“It’s time for breakfast, Harper,” he said and pulled back my covers. He reached down to lift me, and I glared at him.

“Get off me,” I snapped, and he held his hands up in mock defence. I swung my legs off the bed and set my feet firmly on the floor. I thought I was doing well until I tried to stand up, and my legs gave out. I would have crashed to the floor, but Colton reached out and caught me. He lifted me into his arms, and I had no other choice than to hold on to him, and he carried me out of the room.

Colton headed down the hallway, and once we got to the stairs, I saw that we were on the third floor. Colton headed up the stairs to the top floor and towards the dining room hallway. I could tell that the room was pretty full as Colton opened the door, although the room went suddenly silent as he walked in confidently. Colton headed to the Alpha’s seat at the table. The seat that was only recently sat in by Elias. Colton put me down in the seat next to his seat, the one meant for the Luna, before sitting down himself.

I looked around the table at the faces watching me. Lisa and Lily Chambers both looked uncomfortable and bordering on scared, while Jamie Bennet looked like he wanted to punch Colton. Nathaniel was sitting directly opposite me. He looked like he wasn’t paying attention, but I knew that look on his face and how his eyes occasionally darted around. He was watching every movement in the room.

“Harper,” Caroline Stokes called excitedly. “How are you, my dear?” she asked, and I glanced at Colton.

“Terrible,” I said to Caroline. “This damn cuff is making me feel like s**t, but they won’t take it off.” I held up my wrist for her to see, and her eyes widened.

“Colton, take that off your mate, young man,” Caroline scolded him, and Colton glared at me. I grinned at his discomfort. I saw amusement cross Nathaniel’s face too.

“It’s for her own good little sister,” he said to Caroline. “It’s stopping her burning up.”

Caroline looked at Nathaniel in confusion, and then she looked at me in sympathy before looking down at her food.

“Burn up?” I asked, and Nathaniel looked at me.

“In good time,” he said and gestured towards a plate being put in front of me by one of the omega servers. “Eat something, and then we’ll talk.”

I wanted to protest and refuse to follow his orders, but the smell of the food made me feel hungry all of a sudden. I looked down at the food, picked up a fork, and dug in. I glanced up to see Nathaniel watching me. He nodded and then turned back to the paper he was pretending to read.

Once I had eaten enough to satisfy myself, I realised someone was missing. I looked over at the twins and smiled. “Where is your mother?” I asked, and they both glanced at each other before looking at Nathaniel.

“She is in the cells with the rest of the traitors,” Nathaniel said, without looking away from his paper.

“What the f**k!” I exclaimed, and Jamie muttered something before standing up so quickly that his chair went flying backwards. With barely a glance, he stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him. I raised my eyebrows, and Colton turned to Nathaniel.

“I think we need to watch him,” he said, and Nathaniel nodded.

“Put some men on him, see what he is up to,” Nathaniel said, and Colton’s eyes glazed over as he began mind linking orders. Nathaniel put down his paper and smiled at me.

“Why don’t we have that talk now,” he said. “And then we can see about getting that little accessory off you.” I glared at him but then nodded. If I could get the cuff off, I could get my strength back. Colton was on his feet and lifting me out of my chair before I had a chance to even protest.

“I can walk, you know,” I said, and he grinned.

“Sure you can, Strawberries,” he said.

He and Nathaniel headed out of the dining room and into a room I hadn’t been to before. It was all set up like the living room on the next floor. Colton put me down on one of the sofas and then sat next to me. Nathaniel walked to a bookcase and picked out a large book before taking a seat on the sofa opposite. He put the big book down on the table, and I immediately recognised the symbol on the front of the book straight away as the same one on the book, back as the bar. I glanced at the book and then back to Nathaniel. He was watching me with interest.

“I see you recognise this,” he said, and I stared at him, keeping my expression blank. I held out my arm, the one with the cuff on, and looked at him expectantly.

“Let’s have a little talk first,” he said, and I shook my head.

“First rule you told me was to work from a place of power. This,” I pointed to the cuff. “Is not from a place of power. I think I need my wits about me talking to you right now, and this is stopping me from doing that.” I held out my arm again. “Take it off if you want me to talk.”

Nathaniel smiled like he was proud and nodded to Colton. I heard Colton muttering to himself about it being a bad mistake, but he took my arm and unlocked the cuff. As soon as it was off my skin, I felt a rush of energy and felt ten times better.

I pulled my arm away from Colton and sat back in the seat.

“Also, I want Louise back with me, and…” I glanced at Colton. “I want my own room back.” Colton opened his mouth to argue, but Nathaniel nodded.

“Done. I will have you and Mrs. Chambers put in the suite on the third floor for now.”

I nodded. The short conversation Louise and I had on the way to the pack house after she had received a mindlink from Alex shouting at her was that staying together kept us in contact with Alex and, through him, Aaron. That was important. I told Louise that I hadn’t jumped in half-cocked to run back into the viper’s nest-like an i***t they undoubtedly thought I was. I had a plan, and the plan always worked better from the inside.

“Wait, but-” Colton exclaimed, and Nathaniel glared at him, shutting him down with a single look. I smirked at the gesture and turned to Colton.

“Looks like you’re not the one in charge right now, sweetie,” I said, and his face started to turn red with anger, “I guess the Alpha title is just an empty placeholder, eh?” Colton glared at me, and then it happened, just as I half expected it would. His eyes shifted to the soulless black that I had seen in both Elias and Nathaniel. I could tell it wasn’t the same, though, like there was a struggle between Colton and his demon. I had wondered how he had kept it hidden, but now I realised that it was less hidden and more powerless.

“Yep,” I said with a smile. “Just like your little friend in there, an empty placeholder.”

Colton growled in response, and Nathaniel sighed. “Harper, stop trying to bait him,” he said, and I glanced his way with a grin,

“Trying?” I asked. “That was hardly trying.”

Colton growled again, and Nathaniel turned his stare on Colton. His eyes shifted to black, and I immediately felt the power in his demon. Even though he wasn’t looking at me, I could feel the pull of the black abyss.

“Colton, control yourself,” he scolded, and then in the time he glanced back at me, his eyes had switched back to the blue I knew.

“Now that you have had your fun and I have agreed to your demands,” he said, leaning back. “Let’s talk about you.”

“What about me?” I asked innocently.

“Don’t play coy with me, child. I had known who you are since before I laid eyes on you at the Council,” Nathaniel said. “I haven’t been turning you into one of the fiercest warriors for nothing. You and I both know how special you are, Harper. And that is why it is my number one priority to keep you alive.”

“Great, so no killing the half-angel girl,” I said flippantly. “I can get behind that plan.”

“I have no plans to kill you, quite the opposite.” he said with a chuckle. “You are already feeling the burnups, the headaches, yes?” he asked and nodded at my surprise.

“All this is a result of your angel side trying to come forward. Unfortunately, that can have a very damaging effect on a body, including one built for such use.”

I mulled what he was saying over in my head and knew he was telling the truth. The headaches and pressure had gotten worse in the last few days. I thought it was the return of my wolf form, but now I could feel the presence of something else in the background.

“So the number one priority is that you and Colton complete the mate bond as soon as possible.”

I felt Colton move beside me and glanced at him to see him watching me with an intense need. “Whoa!” I exclaimed. “What does tying me to this psycho for life have to do with my angel coming forward?” Nathaniel leaned forward and smiled

“Because that is the only way to save your life, my dear.”