Beyond Beta's Rejection

(Elias’ POV)

***Earlier in the Day***

The last few days had been terrible. I had been in constant battle with whatever this thing was inside of me. The rage inside me at seeing the man responsible for my sister’s death had been like a drug to the monster, and I had spent much of the time in the back of my own mind. All I was able to do was go over the events that had just happened. Finding out that Harper was a member of the Council was a shock. But then she mentioned that name, Nathaniel. There was no way that the man she thought could help me was the same man I had spent so many years hunting for. I stopped struggling against the warriors then. Either Harpers Nathaniel was going to help sort this epic misunderstanding out, or…

Seeing his face was enough to unleash the monster. The man I had been hunting had also been hunting me, apparently. But when his eyes shifted to the vast desolate black, I realised that he had his own monster.

“Control your human,” he had said to my monster. Did he know what this thing was? And was he just like me? No, I couldn’t accept that I had anything remotely in common with that man. He had recognised me. I knew he did. He had even said that he had got the wrong sibling. I had too many questions and no way to get answers. Stuck in this cell. And stuck in the back of my own self, I only had my thoughts and questions going around and around.

It didn’t matter where I was, though. I still saw and heard everything. Marcus had spent the first twenty-four hours raging against his bars, his need to protect his Luna practically burning through his veins. Tommy mostly sat in quiet thought until Louise had been dragged into the cells. She had explained that she and Harper had got away with the help of Harper’s friend Aaron. They had gone to Howlers, the bar in town, and met with a few of the remaining allies we had that hadn’t already been dragged down here.

Then things had got hazy for me because I thought I heard Louise talking about angels and demons. I had tried to pull myself to the surface, but the monster was strong enough to keep me down. It wasn’t until I heard that Harper had turned herself into that bastard that I realised that she was in danger. Marcus had gone on a descriptive rant about what he was going to do to Carlos and Demetri, the two warriors who had apparently allowed my mate to make such an idiotic move. It wasn’t long before Stokes had turned up in all his snivelling cowardice and dragged Louise back out of the cells. Tommy had gone crazy, threatening many creative methods of torture towards Stokes as he disappeared down the hall.

Then the men and women in the other cells had settled into quiet confinement—all but me. My monster raged on, smashing my weakened body repeatedly against the steel door of my cell.

“Must get to mate,” he snarled when I questioned his actions. I could feel a panic in him, one that seeped into my own self as I craved for my beautiful mate. We were on one of the monster’s brief and sparing breaks of control when footsteps brought me from my thousand questions. I was lying on the small bed in my cell in pain from my monster’s abuse of my body. Even as a werewolf, I wasn’t completely indestructible.

I lifted myself up, wincing in pain, and made my way to the tiny window in the now battered and dented door. Standing in the centre of the main room was the bastard himself. I growled as he looked around at the different cells. I knew he heard me from the chuckle.

“Nathaniel,” I snarled, and he turned to face me. He walked up to the door of my cell and looked in through the window so that all I saw were his eyes.

“Hello, boy,” he said, and I growled again. “I see you are in control again. Good, I have some questions for you.”

“I have nothing to say to you,” I snarled, and he chuckled again.

“Well, if you want to see your mate again, you will answer my questions.”

“You harm Harper, and I will hunt you down and kill you,” I hissed. I could feel the rage boiling up again, and I tried to hold it in so as to keep control.

“How do you do it?” Nathaniel asked. “How do you both maintain dual dominance in the one vessel without it affecting your mind?”

“What?” I asked, confusion dampening the anger a little. Nathaniel sighed, and then I saw the corner of his eyes crinkle as they lit up with excitement.

“You don’t know, do you boy,” he said. “You don’t know of the power in you, do you? How can you go through life not knowing that you have demon b***d in you?” I felt my eyes widen as I stepped back in shock. No! It wasn’t true. He was wrong.

“He’s telling the truth,” the monster said from inside my head. “I am a product of the hell beneath our feet.” I shook my head. This wasn’t even possible. Suddenly, my mind went back to the words Louise was saying. Angels and demons, was she talking about me? And if I was laced with the spawn of hell, then did that mean there were angels who walked the earth too.

Something that Tommy had said suddenly hit home. I knew he worked with the Order. He had been the one that had contacted me and asked for help against the Circle’s influence in the pack. I didn’t know much about the Order, but I did know that sometimes it was referred to as the Divine Order. Tommy had only recently also told me that Harper was the Order, not that she worked for them, but was them. Could it be that my own mate was one of these angels?

“Angel b***d,” my monster whispered, and I shook my head again. How could she be mated to something like me if she was of such a divine origin?

“She is our mate. We need her!” the monster said. I heard a chuckle pulling me from my internal thoughts.

“I can almost see the revelations in your eyes, boy,” he said. “Well, let me give you another one. Tonight my nephew and your dear mate will complete the mate bond, joining our bloodlines and giving me access to the first seal,”

“What!” I heard Tommy exclaim. “No, you can’t. She wouldn’t!” Nathaniel moved away from the window and towards Tommy’s cell.

“Oh, but she would, Guardian,” he said, and I watched as Tommy growled. Nathaniel inclined his head, and I saw a smirk on his face.

“And our dear sweet Harper agreed to mate with my nephew?”

“No, she didn’t,” he said. But I was struggling to listen. The rage was growing inside me again. The thought that my Harper would allow Stokes even to touch her again.

“What do you have over her?” I asked because I knew she wouldn’t agree unless she had to. Nathaniel inclined his head my way but kept his eyes on Tommy.

“The life of her friend Louise,” he chuckled and moved closer to the bars that Tommy was standing on the other side of and whispered something in Tommy’s ear. Whatever it was must have been bad because Tommy stiffened, and his eyes widened. I stood and watched through the little window as he reached through the bars at Nathaniel, who had already stepped back. Tommy’s face set in a rage as he clawed at the air in front of Nathaniel.

“I will f*****g kill you. Do you hear me? I will slaughter you if you harm one hair on my mate’s head.” he screamed. Nathaniel watched him for a few minutes before shaking his head and stepping back.

“Well, excuse me, everyone, I have dinner and a mating ritual to prepare for,” he said and turned on his heel and walked down the hall without another word.

I looked over at Tommy, who was still raging in his cell.

“Tommy!” Marcus shouted. “Tommy, what is it?” Tommy stopped and collapsed to the floor, tears streaming down his face.

“Louise,” he whispered. “She’s pregnant.”

***Present Time***

The room had fallen into silence over the last few hours as I tried to process my thoughts and the recent revelations about my monster’s origin, or should I say, my demon. The demon in me seemed to have retreated wherever it was he went. Occasionally Tommy would get angry and rant, and his hands were bloody from his attempts at trying to pry open the bars that held him captive. But right now, we were all silent.

Which is why we heard the screaming and shouting and stomps, even before we heard the doors of the cell building.

I jumped up to the window and made eye contact with Marcus in his own cell. I had a very bad feeling all of a sudden. From the look on Marcus’ face, I could tell that he did too. The inner door opened, and suddenly the screaming was louder as I heard footsteps coming down the hall. Then I saw it. Nathaniel, his face set in rage, b***d all down his front. And he dragged in his hands my screaming, struggling mate. The terrified look on her face was enough to set me off as the rage coursed through me. I had to get to my mate. I felt the demon in me, but instead of fighting me for the first time, we seemed to work together as I hurled myself at the door. It dented in the wake of my attack but still didn’t budge. I looked out the window again to see Tommy going crazy, as Louise was also dragged into the room by two guards. Stokes stood to one side, looking worried. But the one thing that drew my attention the most was my beautiful mate. She seemed to be almost glowing, without any actual glow. Her eyes met mine, and I couldn’t pull away from the sight of those steel blue-grey as they seemed to lighten with her increased fear.

Then Nathaniel whispered something in her ear, and her eyes widened. She tore her eyes from mine, and I saw as she looked around the room. Something clattered to the floor, and Harper’s eyes shot to mine again. I was stuck in their infinite beauty as I saw something like serenity cross over them. She held me in her gaze as her skin seemed to begin to redden. I was pulled into the deep depths of her eyes and felt her need for me, her love for me. It felt like there were only the two of us at that moment.

And then Harper broke contact. She threw her head back and let out a piercing scream. Everything came back into focus as my mate fell to the floor in pain, screaming over and over as b***d seemed to pour from her eyes, her nose, and her mouth. I couldn’t move. I wanted to rage and break the door, and inside my head, the demon screamed.

“Give me control, give me control,” he screamed, but I couldn’t. The screams of my mate had me frozen in fear. I saw Tommy and Marcus ripping at their bars like they were slow motion. I saw Nathaniel stepping back and Louise being dragged screaming from the room, and then I saw the room fill with warriors as they seemed to fight between them. But even though I saw all of that, I still saw as my mate collapsed to the floor and went still. I felt a sharp pain piercing me through my heart as I felt her connection to me being ripped away. Despite our bond not being complete, I felt the pain of it being severed in full as my beautiful Harper took her last painful breath.

That last final breath woke something back in me as the realisation hit. My face was wet with tears. I screamed and shouted as I fought with the solid metal barrier between my mate and me. I slammed myself repeatedly into it. At some point, the door opened, and I flew into the room. I landed at the stilled body of my dead mate. Her face looked calm like she was sleeping. But I knew her eyes would not open again. I pulled the empty husk of my mate into my arms, vaguely aware that it was hot to touch, and howled. I put all of the pain of my grief into that howl. I mourned my mate right there. I clung to her empty remains as a mass of activity whirled around me. I looked up to see a man standing in front of me. I could tell by his scent that he was a vampire. He looked down at me with sympathy all over his face. He kneeled and reached for Harper. I growled at him and pulled her cooling body closer to me. I could feel the demon trying to rise to the surface. He, too, was protective of what was left of our mate.

“Mine,” I growled again, and he frowned.

“I’m sorry, friend,” he said. “I can’t let you do that.” He nodded behind me. I felt a sharp pinch on my neck, and then a strong sensation rushed over me as my body began to relax and I weakened. I tried to keep conscious as long as possible, but I was already being pulled under by whatever powerful drug was coursing through my veins.

I dropped to the floor, still holding onto my mate, but the last thing I felt as my eyes closed was her body being pried from my arms.