Beyond Beta's Rejection

Harper

“But I don’t get it,” Katie said. “Why does it break the seals? What makes it different from what Lucifer did?”

“Because Lucifer was impure,” Drake said. “His love for Rachel and his willingness to give up his throne was enough to spark humanity in him. We see that here with young Mr Owens and his friend.” Drake waved towards Elias who scoffed at the term friend.

“I highly doubt that he is becoming more human,” Elias said. I saw something flash behind his eyes and he shook his head.

“Are you sure?” Drake asked, “Just yesterday he said that he needed to protect Harper. That is hardly the mind of a demon.”

“He did?” Brighid asked. She looked between Elias and myself with curiosity. Elias nodded in confirmation.

“He also said that I couldn’t let him get to her in a dream last night,” Elias said.

“How very interesting,” Brighid said. “The demon b***d’s main objective is for their bloodline master to be set free. That is the only way for them to be also set free from the human restraints.”

“Where did you read that?” Aaron asked.

“Oh, I’m not sure,” Brighid said with a shrug. “I am sure I heard it somewhere.” Aaron began looking through the books again.

“Colton, or his demon, said something to the same effect when I spoke to him this morning,“ I said, and Elias stiffened next to me. Aaron frowned as he searched through the books.

“Really? I haven’t seen anything to that effect in what I have read so far.”

“Please remember Mr Jacen, I have been around a considerable time longer than you. I have seen many Specialists come and go in my time.” I narrowed my eyes on Brighid. She seemed to be way more offended about Aaron’s questioning than what seemed necessary.

“Specialist?” Elias asked, “What is this specialist thing? You said something when we first came in.” Aaron grinned at Elias and I could see the pride shining in his eyes. He nodded his head.

“Yeah, I was surprised when Drake told me,” he said, “But I am a Divine Order Specialist. Apparently it is a hereditary thing, not that I would know.” He frowned a little before his grin reappeared. I knew that family was a tough subject for Aaron since his mum sent him to the Council when he was young. She was human and was scared about dealing with his shifting since his father disappeared and they had no pack. She did little to maintain any contact with him and had since married and started a new family.

“It is kind of like a scholar thing,” Aaron said.

“And it’s specific to the Order?” I asked. Both Aaron and Drake nodded.

“Very little is known about that part,” Drake said, “But a few of the other angels tried to help in Rachel’s cause and were able to give a little of their grace to create the Specialists and the Guard. They are no way close to the level of Rachel’s grace but they did enough in small bits to aid us in protecting the world against the demon bloods.”

“Guard?” I asked. Having backup sounded great to me. “Why were they not in the Council?”

“Because our loyalty lies with the Order and the Order only.” A new voice floated in from the other side of the room.

I looked up to see a broad chested man heading toward us. I was thinking that he looked familiar when Marcus swore.

“Seriously?” he asked with a frown. “You? Loyalty? That is about the funniest thing I have ever heard.” I looked between the two men as they exchanged glares.

“Good to see you too Marcus,” the man said, although his tone said otherwise. He turned and looked at me with a smile.

“Miss Kirby, it is a pleasure to finally meet you. Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Brin Farwell, and I am the Commander of the Guard of the Order.” He finished with a small bow and Marcus scoffed.

“Farwell?” I looked between the two of them. “I am guessing that it is an unhappy connection.”

“You can say that again,” Marcus said. “Brin was my father’s brother.”

“Was?” Elias glanced between the two. I could see he was on alert. His Gamma, and best friend, was obviously uncomfortable.

“Well, I don’t see it as reasonable to call someone your brother when you got them killed and then stole their mate,” Marcus said as he glared at Brin. Brin sighed like it wasn’t the first time that he had heard this.

“For the last time, I wasn’t responsible for his death. He did that all by himself.” Brin growled. He turned back to me and forced a smile on his face. “I apologise, Miss Kirby. Please let me assure you that I am not only competent at my much deserved role, but it would be my pleasure to head up the Guard for your protection.” He stepped towards me and both Elias and Marcus growled. Elias grabbed my hand and pulled me into his body. Marcus stepped in front of me, almost blocking my view of Brin.

“I don’t give a s**t what you say happened, you are in no way being involved in protecting my Luna,” Marcus hissed. I had never seen such tension in his body or his voice. I could tell by the look on Brin’s face there was clearly a lot more to the story between the two men.

“That won’t be necessary, Brin,” Brighid said. She had stood up and looked to be on alert herself. “I believe that Marcus here will be an adequate general to oversee Harper’s Guard, especially with their already established connection.”

“But he isn’t the Guard,” Brin protested.

“Actually he is,” Drake said. “By natural b***d, his father was Guard and so is he. He just needs to swear his loyalty.” Marcus turned towards Drake.

“My dad?” he asked, “I would have known if my dad was a part of all this, especially since Elias and I have been working with you for several years.”

“Your father was the Commander before your uncle,” Brighid said, and Marcus scoffed again.

“What, did you kill him for the position?” he muttered and Brin sighed again.

“You knew he wouldn’t have the most positive reaction, Brin.” Julia walked into the room followed by Alex.

I nodded to Alex to check he was okay, and he smiled in response. I then smiled at Julia as she walked over to us.

“Harper, dear,” she said, taking my hands, “Look at you all grown up. You look so beautiful.”

“Erm… It’s nice to see you, Julia,” I said, feeling a little uncomfortable. “You look well.” Her smile widened and then she reached out to Brin.

“I have this one to thank for that,” she said as she looked at him with obvious love in her eyes. Brin looked back at her and the stern glare that he had been throwing Marcus melted from his face.

“You two are together?” Elias asked and Marcus stiffened. Julia nodded with a smile.

“Brin saved my life,” she said and then looked at Marcus. “Although it was a while after your mother passed that he allowed himself to love again. I am sorry for your loss. Your mother was a wonderful person and an amazing warrior.” Marcus relaxed, and I saw something like grief pass over his features. He had never really spoken of his family and I hadn’t pried. I guess I assumed we all had some sort of f****d up family issues. That’s why I was so grateful for the ones I had and the ones I chose.

“It seems like a big coincidence that both Marcus and Aaron are descendants from the Order,” Katie said and Drake smiled.

“Not really,” he said. “It is quite common for those of us in the same fight to migrate towards each other. Some say that our souls recognise each other. That was likely why Harper here felt compelled to be around me when she first joined us at the Council.” He smiled at me and Elias growled and gripped me closer. Drake chuckled before he carried on.

“It was also likely why Tommy and Aaron became friends, as well as Marcus and Elias here. Elias’ own father is still a Guard of the Order.” Elias drew in a breath.

“Really?” he asked and Drake laughed.

“Why do you think he had that necklace that I see around our girl’s throat?” he said and Elias growled again.

“My girl,” he growled, which only made Drake chuckle again. I shook my head and rolled my eyes.

“So,” Aaron started, “We are all connected by the Order. This is great but how does this help with our current predicament?”

“Well, I think the first thing we need to do is figure out how to fix the seal,” I shrugged. “Before anything tries coming out to stake some stupid claim on me would be great.” Aaron began looking through the books again.

“I can look, but I am not sure how we are going to be able to do that,” he said.

“Actually,” Drake said, “I already know how to fix that problem.”

“That’s no good Drake,” Brighid said a little too quickly and a little too harshly. “I already said this.” Drake sighed and glanced over at her.

“Why don’t you share with the room,” I said. “That way maybe we can figure out a workaround.”

“I think that is a great idea,” Drake said and Brighid huffed.

“Well, you can be the one to tell her then,” she said before standing up and stalking out of the room. I arched my eyebrow as I watched her go. I got the distinct impression that she wasn’t in any sort of rush to get the seal fixed. But that would be silly, we all wanted the seal fixed. Nobody wanted to have to deal with even more of demon kind. Maybe she was just having an off day. There was definitely some history between her and Drake.

I turned back to Drake.

“Okay, what is this solution to our problem?” I asked, and he grinned.

“Easy,” he said, “We fix the seals the way they were made.”

“I thought God, or whatever, made them. Do you have a direct line to him or something?” I asked and Drake chuckled.

“You would think, wouldn’t you?” he said, “But alas no, the beings upon high don’t seem to be too keen on conversing with us. But the seals as they currently stand were created, or recreated by us. Or at least the former us, the first Divine Warriors.”

“Oh?” I quirked an eyebrow. “Well, why is it such an issue then? Why did Brighid say it wouldn’t work?”

“More importantly,” Elias said, “Why haven’t you already fixed it?”

“Because it takes a significant amount of our grace to do so, and while the Divine collective is incomplete, it puts more pressure on those of us who are working the ritual.” Drake said with a grimace. “Brighid is concerned that with just two Divine Warriors in the collective then it would drain our grace too quickly and we wouldn’t be able to complete the seal without risking our own lives.”

“Three,” I said. Drake looked at me in confusion.

“What?”

“Three Divine Warriors,” I said, “You said that there were only two, but there are three of us.” Something passed over Drake’s face. It was too quick for me to get a proper read.

“What?” I asked. I knew there was something that he wasn’t telling me.

“Well, technically you aren’t actually part of the collective,” Drake said, “or not yet at least.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked. “I’m not a Divine Warrior? I mean the angel blade glows for me and everything.”

“Oh, no dear you are indeed an angel, but for you to be a part of the collective then you need to fully accept your role as a Warrior of the Divine Order. That is something I am not sure you are ready for. The commitment is significant and I know you well enough that you are resistant and don’t play well with others.” I screwed my face up. I wasn’t sure how to take that. I always thought I was pretty compliant. Well not compliant, but I didn’t think I was that difficult to work with.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked and Elias chuckled. I pulled away from him and turned and glared at him. “What?”

“Well, maybe you are a little impulsive,” he said. Marcus snorted a laugh.

“A little?” he said, and I turned and glared at him too. He held up his hands in a defensive gesture, but I could tell that he was trying not to laugh.

“What I am saying little angel,” Drake said, and I turned my scowl on him, “The collective connection is more than just us working together. It is such an intimate connection that binds us all, and our grace, together. It allows us to share the grace between us, recharge each other and work as a renewable force. When there are four Divine Warriors in the collective and the connection is complete, we are practically impossible. Between us we have the power of a full angel.”

“Okay, but that’s a good thing right?” I asked, “Why wouldn’t I be ready for that?”

“Because it also has almost complete control over us. And it is hierarchical based on time. Meaning that as the third in the connection, you would be under the control of both Brighid and myself. It is not dissimilar, but far more powerful, than the compulsion that your Alphas have over their pack. Or…” I felt a drop in my stomach as he trailed off. I now knew what he was getting too.

“Or the hold that Colton had over me with the ring,” I said, and Drake smiled although it was a sad smile.

“I remember those days very clearly. When you first came to the Council, and I had you to myself. I remember the torment that you felt over that imposed control over you. The nights that you passed out trying to pull the ring from your finger, and the meltdown and tears that followed. I remember having to stop you from trying to cut your own finger off.” Aaron gasped, and I looked over at him with tears in my eyes.

“I never knew that,” he said. He then glared at Drake, “I knew she was struggling, but not to that level. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I made him swear not to,” I said, “I felt embarrassed that I had been so stupid.”

“But it wasn’t Colton that held the power with the ring,” Elias said as he moved closer to me again. I shook my head.

“It doesn’t matter,” I said. “As far as I was concerned I was weak and Colton held suffocating control over me.” I shrugged. “I swore to myself that if I ever got that ring off my finger then I would never allow anyone to hold any sort of control like that over me ever again.”

“But our mate bond,” Elias said. He was right, by completing the bond with Elias meant that he would have some control over me as my mate. I smiled and took his hand.

“But I love you,” I said, “I love you more than anything in this world. I would walk through the fires of hell for you. More importantly, I trust you. I know you would do the same for me. Being mated to you is the best thing I have ever done.” Elias smiled and pulled me into him.

“I couldn’t agree more,” he said. “You are my life, I could never hurt you.” Then he stiffened. “Or at least, I thought that I couldn’t hurt you.” He pulled away slightly, and I looked up into his eyes and smiled.

“And you aren’t hurting me.” I said.

“No, just this monster inside of me, and the much scarier monster that is waiting to pull us apart.” He tried to pull away further but I wouldn’t let go.

“Listen to me right now.” I said with a stern tone. “You are not now and not ever responsible for what is happening. Neither of us are. We did nothing wrong by completing our bond, okay?” Elias forced a smile on to his face and nodded his head. I smiled and leaned in to k**s him. He responded and pulled me deeper into the k**s, like the very act was there to reassure him and dispel the guilt that I knew he was feeling.

Finally, I pulled away from the k**s. I smiled at him and turned to Drake and grimaced.

“But I am responsible for fixing it,” I said. “So what do I need to do?”