Beyond Beta's Rejection
The Alpha’s Tainted B***d Chapter 4

(Elias’ POV)

“Oh my goddess,” Harper squealed with excitement and came running out of a room holding a pair of boots. “I have missed these so much.” She had the biggest grin on her face. I never knew footwear was so exciting.

We were sitting in the former living room of Harper and Aaron’s apartment at the Council. It was the first time I had ever been here. I was sitting in the one chair. Drake was lounging on one end of the sofa. Marcus and Alex were sitting at the breakfast bar while Tommy paced the room on the phone.

“I know baby,” he said into the phone with a frustrated tone, “She’s just trying to help… I know… I don’t think she means any harm… Okay okay, I’ll talk to her when I get home… I love you too… I will, I promise.” He ended the call and rubbed his temple with his other hand.

“My sister giving you s**t?” Alex asked with a grin and Tommy shot him a dark look, which made both Alex and Marcus laugh.

“Linda is being very attentive,” Tommy said with a grimace. “But it’s not just her. Since I moved her into the pack house, she, Caroline and Alice are like a set of mothering hens.” He shrugged and took a drink from the bottle of beer he was holding. “They can be rather unbearable at times.”

I chuckled at his comment. I remembered all too well what the former Luna and former Beta’s wife were like. Especially since Caroline Stokes was very much in a state of mental decline. Adding Harper’s mother to the mix must be hell. All three women lost their mates too, which can be a strain on the mental health at best. Granted, I was responsible for two of the deaths, although Alice Chambers, the former Alpha’s wife, seemed to be doing very well despite the trauma of the shattered mate bond.

Harper came out of her bedroom and headed to the fridge. I watched as she bent over to pull out a bottle of beer. The curves of her body accentuated in the position and served to awaken a spark of l**t in me. Harper stood up and looked around at me. She was well aware of her effects on me, and to prove it, she added an extra sway into her step as she headed slowly over to me. She smiled as she sat in my lap and leaned into me.

“I found my fluffy handcuffs,” she whispered in my ear and I g*****d as images forced their way into my head and sent fire straight to my quickly hardening d**k. Harper grinned mischievously as she took a drink from her bottle.

“Well, I suppose you have questions,” Drake said with a pointed look at Harper that said he, and probably everyone in the room, were very much aware of her teasing. Harper just smiled, although I could tell by the stiffening of her body and the edge to the smile that she wasn’t as happy as she was putting on.

“Yeah one or two,” she said, taking another drink, “Thousand,” she muttered under her breath and I chuckled. I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her into my body. She relaxed against me and took a visible breath.

“Let’s start with how long you have known about the seal,” she glared at Tommy, before looking back at Drake. She hadn’t been happy when we found out that the seal was not only cracked, but it was because of the pair of us, too.

She wasn’t the only one that wasn’t happy. It was bad enough that her grandfather had a very obvious bias against me because of this damn demon in my b***d. He made it clear that he didn’t approve of Harper and me being together. But for him to then be able to show such destructive evidence of our union only made things so much worse. I had spent the last six months trying to come to terms with knowing what the monster in my head was. I felt so conflicted about him. On one hand, he obviously extended my natural werewolf abilities so I could become the Alpha that I have, and so I could take down the bastards that killed my sister and destroyed the pack I was born into. But on the other hand, he was a part of the very disease that I was trying to take down. The vast majority of the demon bloods were extensions of The Circle, and sought to feed the purpose of corrupting humanity and releasing hell on earth. My only saving grace in all this was that this poison running through my veins was what brought me to my beautiful Harper, and her angel side acted as a soothing balm to the monster in my head. Or I thought that until this afternoon. Now even our bond was corrupted with the knowledge that being together only helped The Circle on their mission.

“Harper, you have to understand that this is new to us, too,” Drake said, drawing me out of my thoughts. “We are still figuring things out.”

“Yeah, I didn’t even notice the damage to the seal until we started getting an influx of demon bloods on our border,” Tommy said, and Harper’s eyes widened.

“Have they been causing trouble?” she asked and Tommy shook his head.

“No, they just seem to camp out on the edges.” He didn’t look too convinced himself. I could understand that. If they were coming in small, but increasing, groups, then there was a risk that they could attack on mass. Tommy had mentioned that he had some issues with his borders, so I had sent warriors from different packs to give him some backup.

“It’s the pull,” the demon muttered in my head. I squeezed my eyes shut, and kind of hoped that he would stop talking.

“I’m not going away,” he scoffed. “You ask for answers and when I give them, you ignore me.”

“What answers?” I asked, making sure to keep to my in my head voice and not out loud.

“The demons on the border,” he grunted, “It’s the pull of the energy from the hell gate. You feel it too, and you know you do.” He was right. I had noticed the increasing urge to go back to Midnight Moon over the last few months. I had assumed that it was just my Alpha brain, wanting to check that everything was okay.

“But you can’t give in to it,” the demon grunted again. “You need to stay away from there.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Because our girl will be in massive danger if we cross that line, and we must protect the angel at all costs.”

“What danger?” I asked, “What are you talking about?”

“Elias?” I looked up to see everyone looking at me. Harper’s eyes shone with concern, while Tommy and Drake just looked confused.

“Are you okay, man?” Tommy asked.

“You said something about danger,” Drake said and I realised what had happened. I had responded to the demon out loud again. I found myself doing that when I got frustrated with him, and it was getting increasingly worse.

“It was the demon,” I said, and Drake tilted his head.

“The demon?” he asked. “You talk to it?” I nodded.

“Yeah, I have done most of my life,” I shrugged.

“And your conversations are beyond the limitations of him trying to take control?” I was suddenly feeling like a lab experiment with the way Drake was looking at me.

“To be honest, he doesn’t try to take control,” I said. “Sometimes if I lose my emotions, then he takes over, but in general he seems content with where he is.”

“How very fascinating,” Drake said, “And he is telling you of some danger now?” I nodded in response.

“Yeah, he said that the demon bloods along the border of Midnight Moon is because of the leak of energy from the hell gate.” I looked out at Harper and smiled weakly. “It’s like a pull, or a need to get close.”

“And you feel this pull?” Tommy asked, and I nodded again.

“Well, what’s the danger?” Harper asked.

“Actually, the demon seems to think that you will be in danger,” I said, and her eyes widened.

“Like what?” Tommy asked, suddenly alert. I also saw, out of the corner of my eye, Marcus straighten up and pay attention. As for my Gamma, his purpose was to protect Harper. He took to it straight away, even before our destructive mate bond. He took it very seriously, despite Harper being very much capable of protecting herself.

“He didn’t say,” I said to Tommy and nodded to Marcus. He visibly relaxed again, but I knew he was now on alert.

“Well, can you ask him?” Tommy asked, irritation on the edge of his voice.

“I can, but he probably would just not answer,” I said and took a drink. “He’s a bit of a d**k like that.” I sighed and leaned my head on Harper’s shoulder.

“I feel we would replace out more information at The Order,” Drake said and Harper stiffened. Drake had been trying to get her to visit there pretty constantly for the last six months, but she had resisted. I had a feeling that she felt if she went to the Order, she would have to fully admit that part of herself.

“Maybe we could sort something out,” Harper said, “After we have checked out that warehouse.” She looked pointedly at me. There was no warehouse. But if we had an excuse, even fabricated, then Harper was going to take it.

“That warehouse can wait,” Marcus grunted, and Harper shot him a glare. “Don’t look at me like that,” he said. “If your life is in some sort of danger, then it takes priority.” If looks could kill, then we would be down a Gamma, right now. But Marcus held his own against the death stare that Harper was throwing at him.

Finally, Harper huffed in defeat.

“Fine,” she sulked.

“Excellent,” Drake said with a grin. “We can set out tomorrow. Brighid is looking forward to finally meeting you.” Harper huffed again. From the little I knew Brighid was the Divine Warrior for the faeries, I knew little about her except that she was an unseelie faerie and apparently didn’t want to f**k Drake. That made me like her already. I was very much aware of Drake’s history with my mate, and despite their now less intimate relationship, I saw the l**t in his eyes when she was around.

“Whatever,” Harper said, “I’m going to bed.” She stood up from my knee and turned and looked at me expectantly. I nodded and downed the rest of my drink. I stood up, and Alex and Marcus g*****d in unison.

“Where are my earphones?” Marcus called out.

“I need another drink,” Alex said. I rolled my eyes at them both.

“Maybe if you both actually got laid, you wouldn’t have to be so excited about listening to us, you perverts,” Harper shot at them.

“It’s not listening in, darling,” Marcus said, “Not when the entire block will be able to hear.” I grinned. And Harper winked at me.

“Hear that?” she said. “Clearly you know how to do your job.” I grinned again.

“Yes ma’am,” I replied and pulled her into my body and nuzzled into her neck. It felt amazing to feel her respond to my touch so easily.

“Erm, Harper. One more thing,” Drake said just as we were getting to the door, “About Mr Stokes?” Harper stiffened and I involuntarily growled. Colton Stokes, former Beta for the Midnight Moon pack and Harper’s former abusive mate, was currently locked in the cells at the Council. He had given himself in after the battle with Nathaniel and had received a more lenient life sentence because of his help with Louise, Tommy’s mate. We had been told that he had asked for Harper to visit him. I didn’t know, or like, that he knew she was here and certainly didn’t want Harper to see him, but I knew she felt some sort of responsibility for him. Harper sighed and nodded.

“I’ll go down before we leave tomorrow,” she said, and I saw Drake nod. Harper took a deep breath and pulled on my hand, and led me into the bedroom.