Beyond Beta's Rejection

(Elias’ POV)

My head was pounding as I woke up to the buzz of activity. I sat up, looking around to see that I was laid in one of the booths at Howlers. The room was filled with council warriors, as well as some of my own. I looked around for the centre of the activity and saw the vampire that had tried to take Harper from me.

Then it hit me again. Harper. My beautiful mate was dead. I felt like I couldn’t breathe all over again as a single tear slipped down my cheek. The rage followed, and with it, the stirring of the demon inside me.

“Kill,” it said. The guttural voice felt raw with hatred. I agreed with what he said. I had to find Nathaniel and rip him apart limb from limb. I would scatter his remains across the town, and the ground would be soaked with his b***d. I would make him scream for her forgiveness before finally putting him out of his misery. I felt my mind slip into the hate-fuelled rage when I was pulled back out by a loud slam. I looked over to see Tommy growling at the vampire.

“I don’t want to wait. You don’t know what they are doing to her,” he snarled.

“I told you they won’t do anything to her, not yet,” the vampire responded, unfazed by Tommy’s threatening stance, “Now calm down and start thinking straight young Thomas, or you will be useless to us all. Your mate included.” I got out of the booth, walked over towards them, and saw Tommy looking up at me. The rage drained from his face and was replaced with a mix of sympathy and grief. I shook my head. The vampire was right. We needed to be clear-headed if we were to exact our revenge and take down the bastard responsible for killing my sister and my mate.

“Finally awake, I see,” the vampire said as I got close. I knew that even though he never once turned around, it was me that he was talking to.

“Well, if you hadn’t dosed me with what the hell you used on me, I might have been awake longer,” I snapped, and his shoulders moved as I heard a chuckle.

“Ah yes, but then you would have also been useless in your grief,” he said, finally turning around. He held out a hand towards me, and I eyed it cautiously.

“Drake Valcoin,” he said. “High Council Elder.”

“High Council, huh?” I scoffed. “So were you aware you had the Circle in your walls, or were you all idiots?”

“Elias!” I heard Marcus exclaim from behind me. “Don’t be a d**k.” He came up beside me and placed his hand on my shoulder. “We are gonna need them right now, so hold off on the insults until we’ve run the filth out of town.” Valcoin just smiled.

“No, you are quite right to question the integrity of the Council Alpha Owens,” he said. “I am not happy to find we had high-ranking members of the Circle in such positions in the Council. They have poisoned the minds of several promising young warriors.”

“And betrayed some of us in the process too.” I looked up to see Aaron walking up. He was holding hands with Katie, and I looked down, confused. Katie squirmed in my gaze for a moment until Aaron squeezed her hand, and then she looked up at him before meeting my eyes. For a brief second, I saw the flash of gold, and I realised. They were fated mates. I nodded and offered a brief smile her way,

“Congratulations to both of you,” I said, and Aaron nodded in response.

The door opened, and people walked in, led by Alex. I immediately recognised some of my own men from other packs, including a few that had been relocated from this pack: Greg Henderson and Richard Tobbins among them. I had worked hard to pull the pack members who showed loyalty to me out of harm’s way, but I could see that they were here willingly and ready to fight by the determined look on their faces. I nodded to the table in front of me and glanced up at Valcoin.

“What’s the plan?” I asked.

“We have two objectives for this, rescue young Mrs. Chambers-”

“Bennet,” both Alex and Tommy said in unison, and Valcoin nodded.

“Apologies, Miss Bennet,” he said, and Tommy nodded. “The second objective is to detain Nathaniel Bethrinton,” I growled at the name.

“I plan on killing the bastard,” I growled, and Valcoin rolled his eyes.

“I would rather you hold off from that, Alpha. I wish to extract any further possible Circle members in my Council,” Valcoin said.

“No, get the information from someone else. Either he dies, or I do tonight,” I said. I looked Valcoin squarely in the eye and waited for him to argue with me. He held my gaze for a moment and then sighed.

“Fine,” he said. “Do what you must.”

I nodded, and we launched into the plan of action for tonight’s battle. It was already late, but Valcoin said he wanted to strike quickly. They had already captured many of Bethrinton’s warriors on the way in, so he wanted to strike while their numbers were down. The more we talked about the plans for the battle, the more alive I felt. My body came awake at the thought that I would soon be on the battlefield, so to speak. And that I would be fighting against the people who had wronged me. It was like I was built for this, and the anticipation was a drug in my veins.

I was equipping myself when I felt the demon stirring inside me in excitement.

“Let me take control,” he whispered. “I will ensure the b***d of that bastard flows through our hands tonight.”

“No,” I said. “I want to kill him.”

“Ha!” he scoffed. “You are too weak to go up against a demon of his status, I am equal to him, and I will end him for what he did to our mate.” The sting of tears hit my eyes as I remembered the pain of losing her again. It came in flashes, and for a second, I would be right back there, cradling my mate’s cooling body. I shook myself. I didn’t have time to allow myself to be distracted. I could fall apart after he was dead.

“What’s happening in your head?” I jumped slightly at the voice behind me. I had been so lost in thought and argument with the demon that I hadn’t seen Marcus coming up.

“What do you mean?” I asked, and he scoffed.

“Elias, I have been with you for more years than I care to remember,” he said. “Don’t try to tell me that you aren’t in deep conversation with your other self.” I smiled weakly. I guess there were things that I couldn’t hide from my best friend.”

“He wants me to let him have control,” I said. “He wants to take over for the battle. It’s like he is caged, and all this talk of fighting is exciting him and me, more than I can handle.”

“Are you going to let him out?” Marcus asked, and I shrugged.

“Honestly, I don’t know,” I said, and he nodded,

“Wanna hear my opinion?” Marcus asked, and I grinned.

“Do I have a choice?” I asked in return.

“I guess not,” he chuckled. “I think that you only let him out if needed, but if you want closure, it has to be you who has to do this.” I nodded in acknowledgement.

“Also,” I said. “I can’t help but think that Harper fought her angel to the end.” I had to stop and breathe as the pain hit again. “How would she feel if I gave in and allowed the demon to consume me to exact her revenge.”

“It’s not like that,” the demon piped up.

“I don’t think we know enough about all this to be able to accurately say for sure what would happen,” Marcus said.

“I said it better,” the demon said, and I let out a small laugh under my breath.

“What?” Marcus asked, confused.

“The demon thinks you talk too much,” I said and shrugged.

“Well, he’s a d**k,” he retorted, and I laughed again.

Marcus got serious all of a sudden.

“How are you doing, man?” he asked, and I shrugged again.

“Fits and bouts,” I answered. “When it happened, I felt her being ripped away. There was a place inside me that was empty. But now I am searching for that place, and I can’t find it. It’s strange.” I could tell that he was struggling, too.

“What about you?” I asked, and he laughed nervously.

“Honestly, I feel like I failed,” he said. “My whole life, I was told that when I met my Luna, I should devote my life to protecting her at all costs, and here we are a week after meeting her, and she’s no longer here.” I nodded. Marcus came from a long line of Gamma warriors. Their particular line was one of the most dedicated I had ever seen.

I saw Valcoin walking towards us. He was dressed in all black like the rest of us, although he carried only one weapon. I overheard him saying that he didn’t need anything other than that. Vampires thought so much of themselves but hit them in the right spot, and they could die as easily as the rest of us.

“We are setting out,” he said, and I nodded. I picked up the last of my weapons and slid them into the loop in my vest. I could hear some of our people already shifting into their wolves. We had decided that we would fight in human form but have wolves in the woods ready to attack at the right time. I was itching to shift, but Jax was still in mourning at the loss of his mate and was strangely quiet. I nodded to Valcoin and set off for the door, with Marcus following close behind.

“Ah, Mr. Farwell,” Valcoin called, and we both turned. “Could I have a word please before we set out,” Marcus looked at me, and I shrugged.

“See you out there,” I said, and he nodded. I headed over to Tommy and Aaron, and with barely an acknowledgement, we set off out of the bar and headed to the SUVs that were waiting for us. I got in the front seat and watched as the wolves disappeared into the woods as if they were never there. I had been in many showdown fights, but this felt strangely different like electricity was in the air.

Valcoin joined us in the car, and I looked out for Marcus but couldn’t see him. I inclined my head in question to Valcoin, but he just smiled. I shook my head as the car started moving. I had to get myself in the game here, so I spent the journey centering myself and ignoring the constant babble from my demon. It wasn’t long before we made it to the drop point. We would be on foot from here. And we headed in silence up towards the pack house. Our sources told us that Bethrinton and Stokes were there, and that was where they held Louise as well. We formed a box around the pack house, taking out the few warriors we came across in the woods. I ensured I was standing on the front line alongside Tommy, Aaron, Alex, and Valcoin.

Alex called to one of the nervous-looking warriors.Còntens bel0ngs to Nô(v)elDr/a/ma.Org

“Get your boss out here. We have a message for him,” he said, his face set in determination. In all this, he seemed level-headed to the point that I was very impressed, especially to say it was his sister in there. But now, I could see the hunger in his eyes and the thirst for b***d as he stared at the entrance in anticipation. The door opened, and I saw Bethrinton stalk out, followed closely by Stokes. I had my war face on. No emotions. Just the fight. My body was wired with energy, and all I wanted to do was attack.

“Good evening Valcoin, Owens,” Bethrinton called. “To what do we owe this pleasure?” I growled in response, and he chuckled.

“Curious Owens, do you feel it?” he asked. “The tension in the air? I can imagine that someone of your bloodline is thriving on the scent of war.” My bloodline? What was he talking about?

“He’s trying to disarm you,” the demon said. “Don’t fall for it.” I nodded and centred my sight on Bethrinton. I didn’t care about anyone else. All I wanted was him.

Bethrinton inclined his head to one of the warriors, and the warrior turned to face us, rage on his face.

“Attack!” he called. The battle cry was heard through the woods, and I glanced at Tommy, who nodded.

“Attack!” He called in return, and the fight began as the two sides rushed together in the courtyard of the pack house. I easily dispatched the occasional warrior who came across my path, barely even acknowledging their existence. But my sights were on one figure that had moved towards the wood line, and it wasn’t long before I found myself face to face with Bethrinton.

“So think you can take me, boy?” he asked as we circled each other. I growled and lunged at him, hitting him in the stomach and taking us both crashing into the woods. Bethrinton laughed as we rolled and quickly moved back to his feet. I jumped up, but he launched at me at lightning speed, and I grunted as he hit me. I flew back into a trunk and slid down, the breath knocked out of me.

“Do you really think you can defeat me without your demon boy?” Bethrinton called as he stalked after me. He picked me up like I weighed nothing and threw me into another tree. I felt bones crack and cried out in pain as the demon screamed to be let out. Bethrinton was on me again. And his hands closed around my throat. I tried to struggle, but all the energy had gone out of me. I looked into the soulless black eyes of the man that killed the woman I loved and realised why Jax had been quiet. He already knew what I was avoiding admitting. He had already accepted that I had no plans to survive this battle.

I wanted nothing more than to join my beautiful mate in death. I couldn’t live in a world that she simply was not in. The demon howled in my head as the realisation hit, and he thought for control. But I was already beginning to suffocate at the hands of Bethrinton.

“You mean to die?” Bethrinton said as he looked into my eyes. “Interesting, maybe I don’t know love, after all. Well, boy, I am more than happy to accommodate that desire.” I had long since stopped struggling, and I closed my eyes, knowing that soon it would be over. The darkness clouded in as my body was starved of oxygen.

And then I saw a light, dim at first. But it grew brighter. Suddenly, the pressure on my neck disappeared, and my lungs burned as oxygen rushed in through my now unobstructed windpipe. I opened my eyes to see Bethrinton on the ground, looking up at a figure. She held something in her hand that glowed an incredible light. I could feel my body going into shock from the injuries, and I was fading fast into unconsciousness. The figure turned and looked at me, and I knew then that I must be in heaven because I was in the presence of an angel.

“Harper!” I exclaimed before the darkness took me, and I passed out.