Beyond Beta's Rejection

Harper

I smiled at Elias as he glared at the people over my shoulder, a low growl in his throat. We were back in the library after a quick shower and getting dressed. And now my top was sitting on one of the tables while the others were looking at the new glowy design on my back.

“It’s marvellous,” Aaron said as he prodded my back over and over. Elias growled again, and I squeezed his hand gently. I knew, due to me being his mate, that he was a tad possessive, but he really seemed to be caught up in it right now. He looked up at me and I saw the demon flash behind his eyes.

“Sorry,” he whispered and cleared his throat. Then he looked over my shoulder at Aaron.

“I watched it as it formed,” he said, “It was really dim at first, like barely an outline, a blink and you miss it. But then the shine got brighter.”

“Oh Harper, it’s so pretty,” Katie said, and I sighed.

“I wouldn’t know,” I said. “I can’t see it properly.” Elias had drawn my attention to the mark in the shower together and when we had got out I had spent a solid five minutes trying to get a good view of it in the mirror. I could see the glow, and make out that there was a design, but I couldn’t actually see it, and it didn’t show up in the mirror.

“What?” Katie asked, “Like at all?” I shrugged.

“I can see bits, but I am at the wrong angle. Elias even tried to take a picture on his phone, but nothing showed up.”

“And look.” Elias reached around my back, and I felt his hand brush my back. I immediately felt a warmth spread from his touch through me. But it felt more than that. It felt energised. I heard Aaron take in a sharp breath.

“Damn,” he said and looked over at Drake, who was sitting in one of the armchairs watching us all. “Does it react to the demon bloods?” he asked and Drake nodded.

“Indeed, it does,” he said. Elias looked back at me with a strange look on his face.

“That would explain it then,” he said with a dark look.

“Explain what?” Drake asked as I pulled away from everyone to pull my top back on. I was done with everyone prodding at me. I shrugged again.

“Oh nothing,” I said and glared at Elias.

“It’s not nothing, Harper,” he snapped. “It’s proof that it wasn’t just a dream.”

“I think proof is a strong word, don’t you?” I said and rolled my eyes. I knew he was concerned about the dream, but this was a little much.

“What dream?” Brighid walked into the room and towards us. I took a deep breath. I had told Elias that I didn’t really want to go into this, not until we knew there was even anything to go into.

“I had a dream where one of the horsemen came to see me,” I said, “But it was just a dream.” Drake stood up and walked over. He glanced over at Brighid and then back to me.

“Are you sure?” he asked.

“What else could it be? Like one of them actually came to visit me. Is that even possible?” I asked. He took a deep breath and nodded.

“Now that you are fully embracing your angel side you have free rein over the Neverplain.” he said and Brighid nodded.

“We can come and go as we please,” she said. She then gestured to me, “It will get easier for you as you get more practice.”

“But that explains that Harper could be in the Neverplain in her sleep, right?” Aaron asked, “But I thought the demons couldn’t leave Hell.” Drake shook his head.

“That was the general thought, but there is still so much that we don’t know about the demon bloods.”

“It’s me, isn’t it?” Elias said, “I am the connection, or at least the demon inside me, it’s connection to its master that allows him to visit Harper?” My eyes widened. Was this really a possibility? I didn’t like the idea of a demon a*****e being able to hijack my sleep time. Drake responded with a half shrug.

“That is possible,” he said. “I mean if the objective was to travel through his connection to Harper through you to the surface, then yes I can imagine that making it easier for him to visit. What was the proof that you mentioned?” Elias looked over at me and winced before looking back at Drake.

“At one point while Harper was asleep, the tattoo on her back grew brighter, like really bright, almost blinding,” he said and Drake nodded his head.

“Yes, I would consider that to be adequate evidence of a visit,” he said. I g*****d as I dropped into a chair. I buried my head in my hands. Great, just what I needed, demon dates in my dreams.

“What happened in the dream?” Brighid asked. I looked back up at her and saw a curious look on her face. I shrugged in response. I didn’t really want to go into what happened here. I hadn’t told Elias about how the demon had made me feel when he touched me, or the enticing power that I almost craved. But it was clear from the look on Brighid’s face, I wasn’t going to get away with being quiet.

“He told me that i belonged to him,” I said, “Something about the mate bond was with him, not Elias or his wolf. But it was through the demon b***d, which was an extension of him.” Elias muttered something under his breath and I could feel he wasn’t happy through the bond.

“Is that all?” Brighid asked, almost a little too eager. I glanced at Drake who was watching Brighid with a curious look. I shook my head and looked back at Brighid.

“No, it isn’t,” I said. “He said that I was destined to be his queen, and stand by him as he sits on the throne or some s**t like that. Then I wasn’t in the room anymore and I was standing at the base of some steps. I could see a throne at the top.” I left out the part about how much I felt pulled to it, and hoped no one would ask. I looked around the room and then back at Brighid. She didn’t look happy at all.

“He took you to the Throne,” she all but hissed. I raised an eyebrow at her tone, but she didn’t wait around for a response before she turned on her heel and stormed out of the library. I looked at Drake who was watching Brighid’s retreating back with narrowed eyes.

“What the f**k was that about?” I asked, and he looked back at me. He shook his head.

“I have absolutely no idea,” he said. He forced a weak smile onto his face. “These old types can be strange sometimes.” I could tell that he was trying to play it off as nothing but it didn’t reach his eyes and I could see concern shining from them.

“Okay,” I said and glanced around the room, “How do we stop demon guy from hijacking my dreams then, because I really don’t like my sleep being messed with.”

“Not to mention that I can’t protect you in there,” Marcus said, “I mean I don’t even know how I would be able to. It’s not like I can start sleeping with you now is it.” Elias growled again, and I shook my head with a smile.

“Calm down,” I said to him, taking his hand again, “It was a joke.”

Besides, I’m not saying that you can’t be involved, old fella,” Marcus added, “I’m open to sharing.” He threw me a wink with a grin and Elias growled again.

“Well, I don’t share,” he growled. Marcus just grinned wider. I sent him a pointed look before I squeezed Elias’ hand again. Elias looked at me and tightened his grip on my hand.

“I don’t like it Harper,” he said. “The idea that this bastard could visit your dreams. Marcus is right, I can’t protect you there.” I grimaced and bit back a comment about not bleeding to be protected. I looked over at Drake.

“So how do we deal with this?” I asked, and he shook his head.

“I’m guessing that it comes down to fixing the seal,” he said, “That is probably where the connection is getting through.” I nodded. Well, that seemed easy enough.

“So how do we fix the seal?” I asked. It was about time to get this sorted.

“Well, for that we need a certain missing piece of our puzzle. A witch. One that has been missing for several years.” Drake said.

“Why did I think this would be easy?” I asked, and he chuckled.

“Oh, come now sweet Harper,” he said, “Since when have you liked anything easy.” I grinned, I guess he did have a point.

“So who is this witch and how do we find her?”

“The witch in question is the Warrior of the Divine Order for the magic users,” he said, “And how we find her, sweet Harper, is through you.”