Beyond Beta's Rejection

Harper

We headed towards the location of the safe house in four separate cars. We stopped about ten minutes out in a grove in the woods. The decision had been made that Tommy would head up the second team while I was outside with Elias. Elias seemed relieved when Tommy told him. We separated into the two main teams. Marcus, Alex and a couple of pack warriors on my team, and then Tommy, Drake, Elias and another couple of pack warriors on the other team. The final back up comprised Pack warriors led by Jamie, Alex’s little brother, who I had since found out had been given the Gamma rank of the pack. My grandfather had decided to stay behind with his men, stating his only concern was the detainment of Colton, and Brin had used the divine guard that he brought to surround the pack and monitor the growing demon bloods on the south border.

We suited up in silence before heading out in our respective directions in accordance to the plan. Elias wanted to come with me but I reasoned that I needed him on the other team so that we could mind link. The pack’s mind link still worked outside the territory, but was weaker and less reliable, while our own little nomad pack had developed quite the strong link. Despite being so far out I could hear Aaron as he co-ordinated from Tommy’s office.

We made our way on foot, circling around to the south end of the safe house, keeping in the woods for cover. Tommy’s group would go in the north side head on. It made sense that Tommy would be on the first strike team. He was, after all, the most invested in getting his mate back. The house looked more like a shack. The outside was battered by years of weather and looked like a stiff breeze could knock it down. Colton had told me that the top level was mostly for transport and if there was anyone held captive there, then they would most likely be held in the underground rooms. He had given me a pretty detailed description, including a hidden basement entrance around the back. It was meant as an escape route, but it would be our point of entry today.

“We are in position,” Elias said over the mind link.

“Is there any movement on that side?” I asked. It was all dark on our side, and I was rather concerned about the apparent lack of security. I mean it worked well for us, but it seemed like an organisation such as the Circle would be better at protecting their assets.

“No, it’s all dark here,” Elias responded.

“I don’t like this,” I said aloud and in the link. Alex looked at me and nodded.

“Yeah seems a little too easy,” he said and Elias agreed over the link.

“Tommy agrees too,” he said. “He wants to know if we should change the plan?”

“No, keep it as is, if anything we have a good show of force and worse case is the intel was wrong and we find it abandoned,” I said.

“There is someone in there,” Marcus said. “I can smell the fire.” I looked over at him with a raised eyebrow. I sniffed the air but didn’t get anything resembling a fire. I glanced at Alex and he shook his head. He couldn’t smell it either. I was getting concerned about Marcus, which I really didn’t have time for while being too busy being worried about Elias.

“Fire, again?” Elias asked through a private link. I mentally shook my head.

“We’ll deal with that another day,” I said, and we closed the private link. There was a moment’s pause before I heard anything again.

“Okay then, we are going in,” Elias said and then cut off the link. Seconds later we heard shouting around the other side of the building. I could hear Tommy over everyone else and grinned at the boys.

“That’s our cue,” I said and nodded towards what looked like a set of thick bushes at the south-east corner of the house. Sure enough, the bushes were cover for a hatch set into the floor. We stood guard while Marcus cleared them away and opened the hatch. I could hear a commotion around the front, along with some gunfire. I tried not to allow the worry for my mate and friends to take over. We needed their noise to cover our entry. Marcus nodded to confirm the coast was clear, and we dropped into the hatch, one at a time. It wasn’t a big drop, but I could see once I was down there that we were in a room filled with wooden crates. I quickly manoeuvred around the crates and saw a door to one side. I nodded to Marcus again, and he led the way out through the door. I could hear noises above us in a mix of shouting and fighting and by the looks of the hallway that we came out into, most of the guards who were at this place seemed to be upstairs dealing with our distraction.

I tried to take point as we headed down the hallway but Marcus shot me an annoyed look. We had already agreed that he would take point. He argued it was his role as my Gamma, and if he couldn’t convince me to stay behind, then he was going to ensure he took the risks. There was a lot of eye rolling on my part, but I let him take this one.

“Get away from me you lecherous bastard.” I grinned as I heard shouting coming from down the hall. “I swear to the Goddess that if you come anywhere near me, I will cut off your d**k and feed it to you.” I could recognise Louise anywhere. I knew she would give as good as she got. I nodded to a grinning Alex, and we set off down towards the sound of the angry pregnant woman. We surrounded the wooden door. The two warriors flanked Alex and me, while Marcus ran point.

“Louise, baby you are being unreasonable.” I screwed my face up at the snivelling sound of Damien Chambers, former Alpha heir of the pack. The guy was already creepy. I remembered before I left the pack, he and Colton were set on sharing me, even though the very touch of him repulsed me.

“Call me baby again and I’ll rip out your tongue to make room for your balls too,” Louise screamed back.

I nodded at Marcus and with one swift kick to the lock on the door, sent it inwards to the room. It banged against the wall as we rushed in and both the occupants jumped in shock. I could see from a quick scan of the room that they were the only two. Louise was in a corner by a bed, with a pissed off look on her face. Damien was standing in front of her, shirtless and from what I could tell his pants unbuttoned.

“Oh thank Goddess,” Louise said as Marcus tackled Damien to the ground. Louise ran to me and threw her arms around me.

“Goddess, Harper, I am so happy to see you,” she cried, and I hugged my friend back. She was shaking like a leaf and her face was tear stained. I pulled away from the hug and tried to look her over. She was dirty and looked exhausted but I couldn’t see any signs of injury.

“I have Louise,” I sent through a mind link, hoping I wouldn’t distract Elias while he was fighting.

“We are on our way down,” he replied almost instantly.

“Tommy is coming now,” I said to Louise and her face crumpled into tears. I hugged her again, and she clung to me for a moment before pulling away.

“And you, you rat bastard,” she turned towards Damien, who was face first on the ground, where Marcus held him with one knee on his back. Louise kicked him in the side, causing him to grunt.

“You come near me and my baby ever again and I will rip you apart,” she snarled and kicked him again.

A low growl came from the door and then Tommy flew past me before I had a chance to even turn towards it. He went flying straight for Damien, knocking Marcus to one side. He began punching Damien repeatedly in the face. As much as I wanted to let him carry on, I knew he would end up killing him. Which couldn’t happen while Louise was still bonded to him. His death would most likely cause her serious trauma and in turn be dangerous for the baby.

“Tommy,” I shouted and ran to join Marcus and Alex who were trying to drag him off. We managed to get a hold of a furious Tommy between us, but Damien used it as an opportunity and was up and out the door before we moved. He ran straight into Elias knocking him into the wall and down the hallway. Elias looked dazed for a second but then nodded.

“I got him,” he said and set off after him.

“Let me go, that’s an order,” Tommy shouted. I could hear the Alpha tone in his voice and saw the two warriors bared their throats almost instantly.

“Thomas Kirby,” Louise shouted and Tommy stopped dead in his struggles. He looked up at Louise and I saw the recognition flash through his eyes. He went limp and all the fury drained out of him. I let go of him and nodded for Alex and Marcus to do the same. As they did Louise threw herself in his arms and began crying again. Tommy wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in tight. I saw him bury his head in her neck and take a deep breath.

“I got you baby,” he said as he cradled his tearful mate.