Beyond Beta's Rejection

(Harper’s POV)

Driving up towards the pack house felt a lot more daunting than it did 24 hours ago. It’s hard to think that this time yesterday, I was so excited for the ball and finding my mate. And since then, so much has happened.

The house wasn’t lit up like last night. Most of it was dark. This gave it an eerie feeling. As we drove over, Louise explained the basic layout. The ground floor was where the great hall was, as well as a pack’s common area and a couple of spare offices. The 1st floor was all the main offices and where the majority of the pack businesses were run from, then the 2nd floor had the entertainment centre and gym which was strictly for named and high ranked as well as important visiting guests, who also stayed on the 2nd floor. The third floor was shared by the Beta and Gamma families. The top floor was the Alpha family living quarters and the named ranked private dining room, where we would have almost all our meals. And then the live-in Omega quarters were in the basement with the laundry and other housekeeping rooms.

The grounds housed the pool house with the indoor pool. That and the surrounding gardens were private to named rank only. The rest of the grounds were open access to the pack. I was aware of the private pool and gardens but had never seen them. Louise could have invited me in as my father was a higher rank than most pack members, but she was never allowed to bring Katie, so we decided to find somewhere more inclusive and less snobbish when we hung out together.

We pulled into Louise’s parking space, and I had just about managed to unclip my seat belt when my door was pulled open, and Colton was reaching in to pull me out. I yipped accidentally as he pushed me against the car, buried his head in my hair, and took a breath.

“You took way too long,” he growled, sending shivers down my spine. I tensed up, not sure what to do with this sudden display of affection. I glanced over at Louise and saw that Damien and Alex, Louise’s older brother and Gamma heir, were also standing there grinning and witnessing this embarrassing moment.

Colton lifted his head, and his eyes were the full gold of his wolf, and he grinned at me. He grabbed my hand and started pulling me towards the house.

“Colton!” I exclaimed. “My things.” I tried to turn back towards the car, but Colton kept dragging me towards the house.

“Leave them. Someone will bring them in,” he snapped and kept dragging me along. He was taller than me, and his legs were longer, and I couldn’t keep up with his pace and ended up tripping up over my own feet, running to keep up.

“Ow!” I exclaimed. “Colton, you’re going too fast.”

He growled again and turned and grabbed my arm. I assumed he was helping me up, but the second I was on my feet, Colton grabbed my waist, lifted me up and over his shoulder, and carried me into the house. The last I saw before we were inside was Damien, and Alex doubled over laughing and Louise grimacing.

“Colton put me down!” I cried, and he grunted in response and carried on up the stairs to the third floor, taking two stairs at a time. Once on the floor, he headed down one hallway, and to add to the embarrassment, I heard his mother coming in the other direction.

“Colton, dinner is in ten minutes,” she said. I mean, he’s carrying a girl over his shoulder, and that was all she said.

“Yep, mum. We’ll be there,” he responded. I was even more mortified when I looked up from my not-so-flattering position to see his mother looking back at us with a huge smile on her face.

Colton slowed to a stop at the door about halfway down and threw the door open, and walked into a dark room. He kicked the door shut and hoisted me off his shoulder onto something soft, which I quickly realised was a bed. Crap! I was alone with Colton in his bedroom! My heart suddenly started beating as I tried to fumble myself to a sitting position. A lamp came on beside me, and before my eyes had adjusted, Colton was on the bed pushing his body between my legs. I went to say something, anything, when his lips crashed into mine, and I fell back to the bed.

My mind was suddenly blank as his lips massaged mine and the sparks of the mate bond hit me full force. I couldn’t help but respond, wrapping my arms around his neck, pulling him in closer to me, and I could tell he was obviously pleased with my reaction and pushed his tongue against my lips, I parted them, giving him access, and he responded with a brief grunt. The passionate k**s went on for what felt like hours, but was probably only minutes. My mind began to cloud over a little as I got lost in the k**s, either from the lack of oxygen or the l**t-filled wolf that was excitedly yipping in my head.

Eventually, Colton pulled away with a lazy smile on his face. His eyes were still gold, but there was also some of the hazel coming through.

“Welcome home, Strawberries,” he purred and leaned down, kissing my nose. “I really want to progress this, but my father will skin me alive if we are late for dinner.” He leaned in for one more k**s before pulling away and climbing off the bed. He held out a hand, and I took it automatically. He pulled me up quickly, and I had to put my hand out to stop myself, crashing into him. He wrapped his arms around me and bent to k**s me again, just as I heard his father’s voice in my head. I could tell by Colton’s reaction that he was also in on the mind-link.

“Dinner now!” Colton rolled his eyes and then winked at me.

“To be continued,” he let go of me but grabbed my hand again and headed out of his room.

As we walked quickly through the halls, although at a slower rate than before, I actually got a closer look at the place. I had only ever seen the ground floor before, which could be compared to the look of a five-star hotel. For some reason, I assumed that the decadence would be toned down in the private levels, but it actually felt more elite. The walls had dark wood panels and heavily patterned beige wallpaper with gold metallic accents, and the floor had deep soft coffee coloured carpets. Various paintings and decor items were at different points, each looking more expensive than the last. As Colton opened a door on the top floor, light flooded, and it took a couple of seconds for my eyes to adjust.

The room was huge! There were several large windows, all dressed with super heavy and luxurious-looking curtains in dark blue, and the walls were a powder blue. There was a large dining table in the middle of the room, which was already mostly filled with seated werewolves. I stuttered to a stop as we walked into the room, suddenly feeling really shy. Colton chuckled at my hesitation and began to rub circles on my hand with his thumb. I realised that he had done this several times over the last couple of days, and each time it had relaxed my nerves almost instantly.

I could feel the eyes of everyone in the room on us as he stood and stared into my eyes. He smiled, and my heart skipped a beat at the adoring look in his eyes.

“You okay, Strawberries?” he asked, and I smiled and nodded. “Good,” he said as he turned and pulled me around the table into a seat next to Louise while he sat at the other side of me.

“Nice of you to join us,” his dad, who was sitting next to him and at one head of the table, said. He scowled at Colton but then smiled when his eyes turned on me.

“Ah, leave them be, Eric,” said the Alpha, who sat at the other head of the table. Damien was on one side and the Luna on the other side. “You remember what it is like to find your mate, don’t you?” The Beta inclined his head at the Alpha and then smiled at his wife, who was sitting opposite Colton. The Gamma fake coughed before speaking.

“Well…” He smiled at me, although it didn’t reach his eyes. “It is a pleasure to have you as part of the family, Harper.” I nodded a thank you, scared to actually say anything in case it came out as a squeak. He was sitting in the middle of the long table opposite Alex. The only other people at the table were the Alpha’s twin daughters and the Gamma’s youngest son. The one absence was the Gamma’s former wife, who had left around six years ago. I had only just started being friends with Louise at the time but remembered how much her mother abandoning the whole family had been on her.

The rooms suddenly filled with amazing smells as a door I hadn’t seen opened, and four servers came into the room carrying food. I watched as plates were placed in front of the Alpha, Luna, Beta, and Gamma before leaving again and reappearing with more food. It wasn’t long before a roast chicken dinner with all the trimmings was placed in front of me. The room lapsed into silence as everyone began eating. At some point during the meal, the wine glasses were swapped out for champagne glasses, filled with sparkling bubbles. The Alpha stood up, holding his glass and everyone stopped to listen to him.

“I just wanted to take this time to officially welcome Harper to the family. May the moon goddess shine her blessings on you both.” He raised his glass. “To the future Beta and Mrs. Stokes.” Everyone raised their glasses.

The Beta chuckled, “The far future Beta, I’m not ready to give up that title just yet, son.” Colton frowned at him.

“Not planning on retiring yet then, dad,” he said, grinning. “Spend your golden years with mum and all.” Even I could tell the underlying message. Colton wanted the Beta title, and by the look on Damien’s face, he wanted the Alpha title too. The Alpha laughed, which only infuriated Damien more, and the Beta inclined his head towards me.

“You can always get started on producing that heir son. It’d strengthen your position when you claim it.” I was taking a drink of the champagne at the time and almost spit it out everywhere, but still choking on it in the process. Everyone looked at me as I went bright red. I’d not even thought about pups, and as a named rank, Colton would be expected to have at least one heir. I was going more and more red just thinking about it. The Alpha laughed again, and the Gamma joined in while Colton rubbed my back.

He leaned in close and whispered, “And I want a big family, Strawberries.” He kissed my neck, my stomach flipping in response. He leaned back in his chair, a satisfied smirk on his face, and his hand started to caress my thigh under the table.

“Give the poor lass a minute to get settled in, maybe,” the Gamma said, smiling sympathetically at me.

“Yeah, or three years or so, at least,” Louise muttered, and Colton’s head snapped up.

“What do you mean, three years?” he asked, the smile dropping from his face.

“That’s how long university is, dumbass,” she said, and Colton growled, and his hand tightened on my thigh.

“Oh, you got a university place?” The Beta asked happily.

I nodded. “Yes, sir.”

“And what are you studying?” the Alpha asked. I was suddenly aware of two things. First, all eyes were on me, which made me want to hide. And second, for some reason, Colton was furious.

“Erm..” I was feeling more and more nervous as his hand gripped my thigh. “Childcare, Alpha sir.” He nodded, impressed.

“No!” Colton said, and I turned and looked at him in horror, and that one word held so much fury. “I do not give you permission.”