Beyond Beta's Rejection

(Harper’s POV)

The next few days seemed filled with so much activity. Elias and I announced that we had completed the mate bond, and for the most part, people seemed happy. But I noticed both Drake and Tommy sharing a look that I tried to question later with Tommy. He continued to be evasive with me the whole time but insisted that he was happy for us. Elias said that maybe I imagined it, but I was sure there was something that they weren’t telling me.

The Council swept into town for debriefing everyone after the battle. Elias was cleared of any suspicion, and we heard that the sovereign had ordered a full sweep of every member of the Council to weed out any more Circle members. In private, Drake confirmed that he was, in fact, the Divine Warrior for the Immortal line, and he, Harry, and Aaron spent many hours pouring over texts about the two bloodlines to see similarities. Drake showed us the seal for the Immortal line, which was a cross, like one on a compass, within a circle. Again, it had two smaller points where there would be stones. He said he had never seen a physical representation of the seal, so he wasn’t aware of what the stones were, but he knew that they represented the balance of dark and light. I felt like I understood this better after Elias’ and mine mate bond. I had felt such a balance since we had bonded, and Elias even said he hadn’t heard from his demon since either.

Drake informed me that the Council wished for me to continue working with them in hunting down and eliminating the Circle. After talking it over with Elias, we agreed that we would accept the offer. We planned to do it anyway, and having the resources of the Council behind us would only help matters. We were given permission to choose our own team members for the missions, and it was an easy choice, really. Elias and Marcus would rejoin the Council, as Marcus made it clear that he would not leave my side, and despite seeing evidence that I could look after myself, he still felt the strong urge to act as my official Gamma guard. I didn’t mind so much and loved Marcus and was happy he wanted to come along. I asked Aaron to join us, too; he was one of the best researchers and supernatural historians I knew, and I knew he would be an asset to our group. Plus, a small side of me wasn’t quite ready to part ways, even temporarily with the best friend I had in the last ten years. I wasn’t sure if he would agree as I knew he loved to teach, but he claimed that learning was his main passion and he could always teach when we had won. Katie automatically agreed to come with us since she was Aaron’s mate. She was terrified of leaving the town for the first time in her life but was excited to be able to finally go on some of the adventures she had dreamed of. Finally, Alex asked if he could tag along. He said he had spent too much time in the pack and wanted to stretch his proverbial legs.

Louise got confirmation that she was, in fact, pregnant and was actually just over three months along. She has confessed that she was scared that the pup was Damien’s, but with what Susie had seen, we could only see that as confirmation that Tommy was the father. Tommy and Louise would have to wait until the pup was born before they could break her bond with Damien and complete their own bond. The act and resulting pain of the breaking bond were too great of a risk for the pup, which no one wanted to take. Louise also told us about what Susie and Nathaniel had been talking about, and Drake found the passage they were referring to. He seemed conflicted about the new information and announced that he would have to follow up with other members of the Order.

I had asked about the Order, and Drake said that it would be a good idea for me to come along to meet the other Divine Warrior, as well as the team of trusted individuals that made up the Order. He confirmed that there was one other Divine Warrior, an Unseelie faerie by the name of Brighid. He said she was a pleasant faerie but quite reserved in her manners and liked to keep to herself. I promised that I would visit the headquarters so I could meet the other people. Tommy had warned me that they would probably not be so keen to be around Elias, but I shrugged it off and told Drake that where I went, so did Elias. Elias had tried to reason with me, knowing that I was still figuring out what being a Divine Warrior actually meant and what powers it came with.

Tommy explained that one of his duties as the guardian was to protect the seal from demon interference. This meant that he was tied to the town and could never spend any significant time away. Add in Louise’s pregnancy, and the two of them were not going anywhere. So it made sense for Elias to announce Tommy as his successor and new Alpha of the Midnight Moon pack. He had already given his life to protect them. Now he got the title with it too.

Plus, Tommy reasoned that with a new Divine Warrior on the way and the confirmation that Susie’s eldest son James was also a Guardian, he would have a lot of family training to do. He told me that he felt intimidated; he had never been formally trained himself after his father ran away when he was young, and my dad had turned his back on the Order. But my mum, who had moved into the pack house and taken custody of Susie’s kids, said that she would help him figure it all out.

It was the morning of our intended departure from the pack, and the guys were making sure our things were packed into the cars. While they did that, Katie, Louise, and I were finally spending some much-needed quality time together.

“Do you know what’s funny?” Katie said as she looked through Louise’s closet in her bedroom. I looked up from my place laid on the bed, and Louise was sitting in the window seat staring out the window.All content is © N0velDrama.Org.

“What?” Louise asked

“We are all Alpha rank,” Katie said, and I laughed.

“Yeah,” I said. “I didn’t realise that. Go figure.”

“Not that it really matters anymore to me,” Katie walked over to the sofa and dropped down onto it. “I wouldn’t care what rank Aaron was. He’s perfect the way he is.’’ She smiled that sickly sweet, all-in-love smile and I fake gagged. Katie threw a cushion at me, and Louise laughed.

“You know we haven’t all been together like this since that night,” Louise said. And I thought back to that night over ten years ago. I was so excited to meet my mate, unknowing what a chain reaction it would set off.

“Harper?” Louise asked as she moved to the sofa, pulling me from my thoughts. “Can I ask you something?” and I nodded.

“Sure, what’s up?” I said. She seemed to hesitate as she looked down at her stomach and took a deep breath.

“How did you manage to control the angel in the end?” she asked. “I only ask because I may need to know for my own little angel.” I smiled. I hadn’t really talked about my time in the Neverplain to anyone, not even to Elias.

“I didn’t,” I said, and both girls looked shocked.

“What?” Katie asked, “So how did you, well, not stay dead?” Louise rolled her eyes at Katie’s choice of words.

“It’s all getting foggy, to be honest, but I remember hiding in the Neverplain screaming at my angel side. I was terrified of her. I mean, I had just died painfully because she had burned up my body. But it took Drake talking to me to explain that it wasn’t her that had caused my death, but the fact that I was resisting her, or me,” I explained. “Once I realised that she wasn’t some outside destructive force trying to cancel me out but was actually a part of me that I was denying, I stopped fighting. That shift in mindset was enough for us to come together as one much stronger whole rather than two opposing weaker sides.”

“But if she was always just a part of you, why did you burn up?” Louise asked.

“Imagine two magnets,” I said and was rewarded by two confused faces. “You hold a magnet in each hand. You hold them one way, and they actively push against each other. To get them together, you have to physically push them together. It takes effort to hold them there. That was what my body was going through, trying to push together two seemingly opposing forces. It was no wonder that my body suffered when it was constantly having to work in such a way.”

“Oh!” Louise said. “But flip one of the magnets, and they snap together with ease and hold themselves together.” I nodded.

“And in fact, they become like one stronger magnet, their combined force making them that much more,” I said. “I think it’s the same with the demon bloodlines, remember the book said that the angel was sent to appease the demon bloodlines, right?” Louise nodded.

“Well, Elias hasn’t heard from his demon since we completed our mate bond,” I said. “Part of me thinks that is what that sentence meant, that the angel in me and the demon in him actually compliment each other and appease each other.”

“Like the yin yang thing,” Katie said excitedly, and I nodded.

“And now that he accepted himself or our connection did, he no longer needs to hear that side because he is that side.” I frowned. “I dunno. I’m still trying to figure out all this stuff.” I shrugged and smiled.

There was a knock at the door at that point, and I looked up to see Alice Chambers and smiled. Tommy had asked the former Luna to stay at the pack house with her two daughters so that she could help Louise with her own Luna duties.

“Ladies, the young men asked me to let you know that they are ready to set off,” she said.

“Thank you, Alice,” Louise said, and we all got up and began heading down to the entrance of the pack house.

We walked in silence the whole way, and it wasn’t until we got to the main entrance that Louise grabbed my hand. I looked down to see she had Katie’s hand, too.

“Goddess, I am going to miss you both so much,” she said, tears falling down her cheeks, “I feel like I have just got you both back, and now I’m losing you all over again,” I pulled her into a hug and Katie joined us.

“We will be back,” I said. “I promise.”

“Yeah, we have a beautiful little pup to celebrate real soon,” Katie said, and Louise squeezed us both.

“You better do,” she said, and we all just stood there in our group hug for a bit.

“Ladies, could you not squash my mate, please?” I heard Tommy say and pulled away, smiling. I wiped Louise’s tears from her face and kissed her cheek.

“See you soon, I promise,” I said. I then hugged Tommy while Katie and Louise said goodbye.

“Take care of my best friend. You,” I said, and he smiled.

“With my life,” he said. “Take care of yourself, kid.” I rolled my eyes, causing him to laugh.

I headed outside to see Elias leaning against one of the cars talking to Marcus.

“You do not need to ride with us. I think we can manage to drive safely,” Elias was saying, but Marcus was arguing with him.

“No, it’s safer if I stay with you guys,” he said.

“It’s okay, Elias,” I said as I wrapped my arms around him and kissed his cheek, “Marcus can drive, and we can entertain ourselves in the back seat.” I winked at Marcus. Marcus looked horrified and then turned away.

“Alex,” he called. “I’m riding with you,” he said, and I laughed.

“Harper played you, did she?” I heard Alex laugh, and Marcus uttered something under his breath. I laughed again and jumped into the passenger seat of the car. Elias headed around the car and jumped into the driver’s seat. He smiled at me and held my hand for a minute before starting the car.

“Ready to take on the world, angel?” he asked as he began driving down the pack house driveway, followed by two cars. I smiled and nodded.

“I’m ready,” I said. “And Heaven and Hell, and everything in between.”

THE END OF BOOK ONE