Beyond Beta's Rejection

Harper

I smiled at Caroline, although I was more uncertain now.

“You were expecting me?” I asked, and she nodded.

“Yes, yes,” she said excitedly. She patted the seat next to her. “Come and sit for a while. Would you like some tea?” She started to get up, but I held my hand out to stop her.

“No thank you,” I said. I had eaten and drank enough with Louise. I walked over to the table and sat down in the seat that she had told me too.

I could see the cards that she was playing with clearer now. They looked like playing cards, only they had different pictures. They were bright colours with gold on a dark purple background. Caroline smiled as I looked at the cards with interest.

“Oracle cards dear,” she said with a smile. “These are known as the weaver deck, and are very powerful.”

“Oh,” I said. I wasn’t sure what else to say. “I didn’t know you played with these.” Caroline smiled and turned over a card.

“Oh, I work with all sorts of instruments,” she said. She looked at the card she had just turned over. It had an outline of a globe on it but there were symbols around it.

“Did you know that there are many worlds?” Caroline asked without looking up at me. “Each world is similar, but has slightly different circumstances. Some created by choices of the people of that world, and some by the gods themselves.” I wasn’t sure if she was still talking to me at this point, and I was beginning to wonder if I should find someone. Caroline had been known to talk about things that others didn’t see, and had the reputation for being crazy. I didn’t like that people said that about her. Sure she may have some issues with her mental health, but calling her crazy was such an awful term and so dismissive. Caroline looked up at me with glee in her eyes.

“You know that in some of the worlds you and my Colton are happily married,” she said. I opened my mouth to answer, but I honestly couldn’t think of anything to say.

“Oh, I know what people think of me dear,” she said with a chuckle. “Crazy Mrs Stokes, who went mad from the abuse.” She chuckled again. I was starting to feel uncomfortable. I knew what had been going on in the pack house with the former ranked members. But I didn’t know that it was common knowledge.

“You see dear,” Caroline said, “I’m not crazy, I just get the worlds mixed up every now and again.” Colton had told me once how she talked about us as a family. He said he would listen to her all day as she talked about our lives and our children. I found it hard to imagine what that would have looked like. I saw a sad smile on Caroline’s face as she stared at the cards. I reached out to comfort her. I couldn’t imagine how she must feel, with her husband and mate dead and her son locked up. She looked up at me and smiled again. She patted my hand.

“In some of the worlds we don’t have this demon tainted b***d,” she smiled again. “I sometimes wish that I was living in those worlds.” She seemed to stare off into her own world again.

I went to stand up, maybe to find Alice or my mum.

“Oh dear I am so sorry,” Caroline said, stopping me in my tracks. “I am here babbling and you haven’t even had a chance to ask your question yet.”

“How do you know I have a question at all?” I asked, and she grinned.

“Oh, this old lady knows things,” she said and tapped her head. “Go ahead, ask what you want.” I took a deep breath, suddenly feeling nervous.

“I overheard something earlier,” I said, “Between Samual and Brighid.”

“That’s the faerie lady?” Caroline asked, and I nodded.

“Yes, that’s right,” I said, “She is the Divine Warrior for the fae.” Caroline frowned.

“She is old, that one,” she said, “I think she is tired too.” I frowned at her words but carried on.

“They seemed to be arguing about someone who saw something, a seer. Is that you?” I asked and Caroline nodded.

“Oh, it is very likely me,” she said, “I am not sure that Samual is fond of the seers, but me he hates most of all.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Because of what I told him,” she said. “All those years ago I saw a vision, and I thought I could confide in our beloved Alpha.” I knew that my grandfather used to be Alpha of Midnight Moon, before he was overthrown. “He knew of us, the demon tainted, and knew that we didn’t mean any harm.” She frowned, “Or most of us didn’t, anyway. We just wanted to live our lives, and didn’t want to get messed up in all this opening the seals nonsense.”

“I met someone earlier, a woman. She said the same thing,” I said and Caroline smiled.

“Yes, Andrea said she had met you,” she said.

“You talk to them?” I asked and Caroline nodded.

“I go down to the camp and make sure they have everything they need.” She then looked at me with wide eyes. “But only that camp, not the others. They are not good people.” I frowned.

“What’s the difference,” I asked and Caroline smiled and tapped her head again.

“Oh, I am sure you will find out soon enough,” she said, and I frowned again. I didn’t like secrets.

“Is it something to do with what you saw years ago?” I asked and Caroline nodded.

“Oh yes,” she said, “it has everything to do with that.”

She looked down at the table again. I watched as she ran her finger over the world card again. She sighed and looked back up at me.

“It was my fault, you know,” she said. I must have looked confused because she smiled sadly again.

“The attack,” she said. “When Samual heard what I had seen he got angry at me. He told me that I was wrong and that he wouldn’t allow it to happen.” I shook my head. I knew that Samual had made it his mission to clean out the demon bloods from town. He had wiped out most of them including Caroline’s family. From what I had been told there was only Caroline and Colton left.

“Of course Nathaniel didn’t help matters,” Caroline said with a sigh. Nathaniel, my former mentor at the Council, was also a Circle member. He had been manipulating me the whole time I was with him, and I had no idea that he was Colton’s uncle.

Thinking of Nathaniel made me think of the other things he had been responsible for. One of them included apparently killing Elias’ sister Lily. Elias had gone on a vendetta to find him after he had all but wiped out his pack. But now Lily wasn’t dead, she was very much alive. Then I remembered something from the other day. I quirked my head at Caroline.

“The other day you mentioned that you didn’t know Lily was coming,” I noticed that Caroline started to look uncomfortable. “How do you know Lily?” I asked, and she looked back down at the table.

“Oh, I must have been mistaken,” she said. “I thought I did know her, but she has refused to speak to me at all.” She pulled a funny face. “In fact, she acts like we have never met.” I looked down at the world card again.

“Did you know her in another world?” I asked. I couldn’t imagine how their paths would have crossed, but I guess if there were other worlds then there was always a possibility. Caroline looked at me like I was being stupid or something.

“Of course dear, Lily is-” she stopped as the door to the room opened.

Alice walked in.

“Caroline are you home?” she asked before turning around and seeing me.

“Oh Harper,” she said, looking shocked. “I didn’t know you were here.” I smiled.

“I came to see Caroline,” I said, and she nodded.

“She told you then?” she asked and then spoke to Caroline “I told you not to bother the girl with his nonsense.” Caroline stuck her tongue out at Alice and Alice shook her head.

“His nonsense?” I asked and Caroline smiled.

“Colton, dear,” she said. “He asked me to ask you to come and see him.”

“Oh,” I said and Alice tutted. Caroline glared at her and Carried on.

“I told him that your Alpha mate had gone away, and he asked me to ask you to come alone,” she said.

“Alone?” I asked. “Why does he want me to come alone?”

“Oh, don’t listen sweetie,” Alice said. “I have told Caroline that those boys are more trouble than they are worth.” Caroline frowned at Alice.

“Now you know Colton had circumstances,” she said, “which is a lot more than what your Damien can say.”

“Oh pish,” Alice said. “I told you, he isn’t my Damien any more. I’ll be glad when me and the girls can get out of this place.” Alice turned to me and smiled sadly.

“I have refused to see the boy,” she said. “He has asked repeatedly, but I don’t want anything to do with him. Too much like his father.” Caroline huffed as Alice spoke and Alice glared at her.

“I told you,” Caroline said, “Colton wasn’t fully in charge of what he did. Now that his tainted b***d is coming around he is trying to do the right thing.”

“Well, it can start by leaving the poor girl alone,” Alice snapped. “He did right by rejecting her in the first place.” My eyes widened.

“You were happy Colton rejected me?” I asked, shocked. That day and the subsequent week was one of the most painful times of my life. I was still dealing with the trauma that I developed from it. Alice looked at me with sympathy in her eyes.

“Oh sweetie,” she said, “I didn’t mean it like that. Colton rejected you to save you from the hell that we were going through. I don’t like the boy, but I know one thing. He loved you enough to push you away for your protection.” I looked at Caroline who nodded sadly.

“I don’t understand,” I said, “Then why did we end up engaged?”

“That wasn’t Colton, dear,” Caroline said, and my eyes widened further. “That was his demon.”