Beyond Beta's Rejection

Harper

We ended up talking late into the night and I was exhausted by the time I got to bed. I wasn’t sure if it was the empty space next to me or if there was so much going on in my mind, but I couldn’t rest. I felt like I was tossing and turning most of the night. When I did get bits of sleep, I dreamed about a red wasteland and a bloody battle. I woke up tangled in my sheets, covered in sweat and feeling worse than I did before going to sleep. Looking at the clock on the bedside table I saw it was only five in the morning. I hadn’t even had a full hour’s sleep. I g*****d and pulled myself out of bed. I pulled on some shorts, a strappy top and my trainers and decided to go for a run.

The morning was a cold one and I could see frost on the grass outside the pack house. It looked pretty and untouched, and kind of magical. I warmed up briefly before setting off into the woods at a slow jog. I made my way through the woods to the south border where the demon bloods seemed to be the thickest. I stopped at the border and looked out at them. There wasn’t any sort of barrier but not one of them seemed to cross the invisible line onto the pack territory. I found it fascinating to see almost a perfect line of tents that mimicked the border of the pack. I was about to start heading back when I saw a little girl wandering towards the edge. She smiled and waved at me.

“Hi there,” I said with a smile. Her face lit up as I did.

“Hi,” she replied.

“Where’s your mummy?” I asked. I looked around, but didn’t see any adults close by.

“She’s still sleeping,” the girl answered. “But I woke up and didn’t want to disturb her.” The girl was extremely well spoken, and whilst she was slightly dirty I could see that the clothes she wore were pretty high end.

“Do you know why you are here?” I asked, and she nodded and smiled. “Mummy said that we are here for the crowning.” She seemed genuinely excited about this crowning event.

“Crowning?” I asked, and she giggled and nodded her head.

“Mummy said that things will change and we won’t all be bad people, and my mummy is smart too. Her job is to make bad people go away.” I saw movement in one of the tents and saw a woman poke her head out. She looked around until she saw me and the girl. Her expression cleared straight away, and I saw fear in her eyes.

“Abigail,” she called and came running over. “Abigail, come here.” The girl looked around at her and waved.

“Mummy,” she called back. “I met an angel.” I smiled at her words.

“It’s okay,” I called. “She’s not in any danger.” The woman hesitated before she slowly walked over. I noticed that just like the girl she seemed very out of place for someone camping along a border.

“I’m really sorry miss,” she said. “Abigail doesn’t understand everything yet, she is only six years old.” She reached for her daughter and pulled her back.

“I’m almost thirty and I’m not sure I understand everything,” I said with a chuckle. The woman smiled at my joke but I could tell that she was uncomfortable.

“Could I ask you a question?” I asked, and she nodded her head.

“What brought you all here?” From what I had heard Tommy had tried to get some information but so far none of the demon bloods had been forthcoming with anything. He said that they all seemed to go quiet around him or the pack warriors.

“We are here for the coronation,” the woman replied. “We came when we got the signal.”

“The signal?” I asked, “Do you mean from the seal?” She nodded her head.

“My family and I have been here for around a month now,” she said, “I couldn’t hold off any longer.”

“Wow, you left your life for a month?” I asked, and she nodded.

“I know you don’t understand it, being who you are, but I am hopeful that this will be a change for us,” she said and hugged her daughter closer. “I don’t want my children growing up in fear of the Circle trying to recruit us in what they are doing. We aren’t all bad, or I try not to be.” I had never thought about what it would be like for the demon bloods that didn’t join the Circle. It was only just occurring that Elias might not have been as much of an anomaly as we had thought.

“Does your demon feel the same?” I asked, and she nodded.

“Yes, and I make sure I teach my children and their inner friends the same,” she said. “My friend helps me with my job. I’m a criminal lawyer, you see, and she can see the evil in people. She helps me with making sure the bad people go behind bars.”

“Oh my goddess,” I said. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. There really was so much we didn’t know.

“I hope you make it better,” the lady said, “And we will help as much as we can.” She waved at the camp behind her. “But not everyone feels the same,” she whispered after looking around. “Some of them are with him, and they want to see the world burn. We stay away from them.” I looked behind her at the camp. I could see movement starting and a few people were standing back but watching us.

“How can I help you?” I asked, and the woman smiled.

“Don’t give in,” she said. “We know you are strong, don’t submit. And be who you are destined to be.” She smiled again and then turned towards the camp.

“Thank you,” I said as she started to leave, with the little girl waving back at me.

“No, thank you,” she called over her shoulder.

I watched as he headed back into the tent that she had come out of, pulling the reluctant girl with her. The people standing around slowly began to move away and get on with other things. I watched for a little while longer, but no one came near the border again. Eventually I turned and headed back towards the pack house. I had a lot of thoughts in my head, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about what I had just heard. These weren’t demon bloods preparing for battle, these were everyday people whose lives had been interrupted by something in their b***d that wasn’t their choice. I reached the pack house and smiled as I saw Alex and Brianna already out on the grass and training. I headed inside and back up to my room to get a shower.

I couldn’t get the woman and her little girl out of my head throughout my shower. I felt like I had a need to help them, and they clearly felt a connection to me too. There was so much that I needed to know about everything. I didn’t even know where to start. I got dressed and went looking for Drake. I wanted to tell him about what I had found out.

I was on the second floor of the pack house when I heard raised voices. I followed them to one of the unused offices.

“I told you that I didn’t want your kind near my family,” I recognised Samual’s voice.

“Well, you don’t get a say over what you want.” I was surprised to hear Brighid’s voice responding. “You abandoned your calling a long time ago Samual.”

“I wanted to keep my family safe, my own granddaughter is now on a path straight to Hell. This was exactly what I was trying to avoid,” he replied back.

“Is that why you went on the killing spree all those years ago? Did the seer tell you what you didn’t want to hear?” Brighid seemed like she was taunting Samual. Which seemed to be working, since I heard him growl.

“If I had got the child when I had the chance then we wouldn’t have had this happening right now,” he growled.

“But he wasn’t the one responsible,” Brighid said.

“You know he was, you know what is happening here. You heard the same words as I did,” Samual replied. I looked into the office and saw them both facing off against each other.

“Yes well we shall-” Brighid started but then she turned and looked directly at me. Her face cleared of the anger and she smiled at me.

“Harper dear,” she said. “I didn’t see you there.” Samual looked at me and then looked away, like he couldn’t meet my gaze.

“Clearly,” I said, “What were you arguing about?”

“Oh nothing important, dear,” Brighid said with a forced laugh. “Just old friends clearing the air.” I looked over at Samual as he glared at Brighid.

“Yes, well,” he said and then sighed. “I am going to see if Tommy has any more information.” He walked past me squeezing my shoulder as he went.

“We should sit down and catch up,” he said. “It would be nice to get to know my granddaughter.” I smiled and nodded, before he headed down the hallway.

“And I think it is time for my daily commune with nature,” Brighid said. I stepped aside so she could get past and watched as she walked down the hall too.

What in the hell were they talking about, and they mentioned a seer. I wondered if they meant Caroline. Maybe it was about time that I went to visit with her.