Beyond Beta's Rejection

(Harper’s POV)

The sound of kids’ cartoons and banging pots and pans invaded my sleep. I opened my eyes to see two small faces watching me with open curiosity. I g*****d, pulled my blanket over my head, and tried to turn over on the uncomfortable sofa.

My mum had been so excited to see me yesterday when Tommy had brought me home. She began crying and was hugging me in a death grip. I had hoped I could grab a room at the motel in town, but my mum had insisted that I stay at the house. It might have been ok, but it turned out that my sister Susie had moved back home three years ago. Her mate had been cheating on her, and when she finally confronted him, he had gotten abusive. I was told in great detail how caring Alpha Daniel had been. He had arranged with her Alpha to have her and her three pups transfer back to Midnight Moon, and the Alpha of Star Dawn had banished her mate as punishment for what he had done.

This meant my old room had been turned into a kids’ room for the nine-year-old and the six-year-old boys, and Susie had taken her old room that she shared with the four-year-old little girl. This made for a very busy house, and the only space for me was on the lumpy sofa that had been here since before I had left.

“There’s no point trying to sleep now.” I heard my sister’s voice and g*****d again. “You might as well get up before they start jumping on you,” I heard giggled before I felt the weight of two small children hit me, one over my head and the other on my stomach, knocking the wind out of me.

“f**k!” I exclaimed as I did my best to untrap myself from the covers.

“Harper, watch your language!” Susie scolded, and I rolled my eyes.

“Auntie Harper said a bad word, mummy!” One of the pups sang while the other one ran off shouting, “F**k.”

“Great, just great,” my sister g*****d. “Jackson, you are not to repeat that word.” My sister’s voice faded as she chased the younger boy around. I finally managed to get free of the covers and sit up on the sofa. I looked for my phone, which I had left on the table, and saw it was halfway across the room on the floor.

I retrieved my phone and g*****d again as I saw that it was barely 7 am.

“Seriously,” I said to myself. “I need to stay somewhere else,”

“You’re leaving again,” my mum’s voice startled me from behind, and I turned to see the hurt expression on her face. She had changed so much. She was thinner and looked tired. Susie had told me after mum had gone to bed last night that the effect of dad’s death had really messed her up. She had been with mum when he died. They had been out shopping, and suddenly mum screamed in pain and fell to the floor crying uncontrollably. She knew instantly, and by the time they got to the pack house where dad had been in a meeting, he was being rolled away in an ambulance. Mum had gone into a catatonic state for about a week after, and when she came to, it was never really the same.

The death of a mate was known to drive the surviving mate to insanity or death due to breaking the bond. It was like losing a piece of your own soul. I knew the feeling. When I had accepted Colton’s rejection, I had felt like my world was ending, and I didn’t know who I was. I had cried in despair for weeks after. I knew that what I went through was nothing compared to what my mum had gone through, not even close.

“Mum,” I said. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m just thinking that the house is overcrowded. I could stay in town and still be here every day.” Well, apart from when I was trying to get the information on this Owens guy, I added silently to myself. My mum looked like she was visibly relaxed, and she smiled sadly.

“I have just missed you, Harper dear,” she said. “And you look so different. I feel like I don’t know anything about you now.” She headed off into the kitchen, and I sighed and followed her. The third kid, and the eldest, was sitting on a mobile phone at the breakfast counter, ignoring everyone.

“James, you know the rule about phones at the table,” my mum said and pulled the phone out of his hand.

“Hey!” he exclaimed and stood up to say something, stopping when he saw me glaring at him. He tried to hold my stare before losing eye contact and huffing before storming out of the kitchen.

I shook my head and grinned. I turned back to watch my mum as she emptied and loaded the dishwasher. I was going to ask if I could help when the back door opened, and Tommy walked in.© 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

“Hey Linda,” he said, kissing her cheek and then looking at me, “Hey Harper, how was your first night back home?” I shook my head and grimaced.

“I was ready to give that damn sofa all my secrets by 2 am,” I said, rubbing my still aching back, and he laughed.

“Yeah, I feel you, kid,” he said. “The odd night I stay over, I get the torture treatment from that old thing, too” I looked at him in surprise.

“You stay over?” I asked, and he nodded.

“I help out around the house, you know, since…” his voice trailed off, and he glanced at my mum, who was now pulling an armful of food out of the fridge.

“More like hinder,” my sister said as she walked in carrying her daughter on her h*p, who, as soon as she saw Tommy started bouncing and holding her arms out to him.

“Uncle Tommy!” she exclaimed in her sweet little voice, and Tommy’s face lit up as he took her from her mum’s arms.

“Come here, Gracey,” he said and swung her around the room while she giggled manically. I smiled at the scene as my sister moved to help my mum with the breakfast preparations. It, at least, looked like they were a solidish family unit. I had missed my family a lot while I had been away, but I knew I couldn’t get in contact with them. Certainly not at the beginning, when Colton had still been looking for me. I knew he would probably have had them watched, just in case. Then, after he had stopped looking, it had just felt too hard to reach back out. The longer it got, the more difficult it was.

Tommy sat on the stool next to me with Gracey on his knee and smiled at me.

“Remember, Kid,” he said. “You have a meeting with Alpha Elias this afternoon.”

I nodded as I took a bite out of the slice of toast put in front of me. “Yup, I remember,” I said.

“What!” my mum exclaimed, looking between us in horror. “What do you mean you have a meeting with the Alpha?” I glanced at Tommy and then at Susie in confusion.

“It was a condition of her being able to come to visit Linda,” Tommy said, and my mum shook her head.

“No, nope, absolutely not,” she said. “My daughter cannot go see that monster. You what he’s like.” My confusion grew. I had obviously missed something.

“Mum, don’t worry,” my sister said. “Harper has nothing to hide, and maybe when this probation calms down, she could even stay,” I glanced at my sister and frowned. I had no intention of staying in this town any longer than I had to. I wanted to get back to the Council and planned to do so as soon as I had gotten enough evidence on this jackass.

“No, he killed your father,” my mum started hyperventilating as the obvious signs of a panic attack set in. “He killed Alpha Daniel and Beta Eric” she looked at me in fear and started crying.

“Harper, please don’t go. I don’t want him to kill you too. He can’t find out who you are,” I glanced at Tommy. Did my mum know why I was here? As far as I was aware, only Tommy knew I was here on council business. He shook his head as if he read my thoughts while my mum continued to cry and mutter something about crown and child and stuff. My sister was trying and failing to calm her down, so I rushed around the counter and grabbed her hand, finding a certain point between the thumb and forefinger and pressing down. I rubbed circles in a clockwise direction, and my mum’s breathing slowed down, and she became calm again, apart from the odd sniffles.

I guided her to a stool and helped her sit, smiling at her.

“Better?” I asked, and she smiled, her eyes still shiny with tears. I nodded and looked around for some tissue to wipe her eyes. Both Tommy and Susie were staring at me as I had just sprouted wings.

“What?” I asked, and Tommy laughed.

“What the hell did you just do?” Susie asked, and I threw her an amused look.

“She had a panic attack,” I said. “I just used a pressure point to relieve it. Remember I used to suffer from them,” and I showed her where the point was on her hand while she nodded.

“Where did you learn that?” she asked, looking at me in wonder. I grimaced at the question.

“Colton,” I said quietly, “He would do it when I started panicking. After I left, I wanted to know why it worked on me and found out that it was a common point on werewolves for anxiety” I didn’t add that I had also learned where the points were for rendering various species of the supernatural incapacitated too.

“Harper, honey,” my mum said, “You have to be careful with Alpha Elias. He’s dangerous.” I smiled at her.

“I’m sure I can handle one Alpha,” I said, and Susie scoffed.

“Oh yeah,” she laughed. “When was the last time you even saw an Alpha, especially while working as a receptionist for an insurance company” Oh yeah, that’s right, I thought—cover story. According to my records, I lived and worked in London for the last six years and in a diner before that. I smiled at my sister and shrugged.

“You wouldn’t believe the pig-headed alpha types that think they run things in corporate,” I said, and she laughed.

“I’ll bet, but just be careful. There is something different about this Alpha,” and I nodded. I looked over to Tommy, who was being quiet and nodded to him. He got the hint and followed me to the living room, putting Gracey down.

“What did mum mean about Owens killing my father?” I asked quietly and turned up the TV so my sister and mother couldn’t hear. Tommy shook his head and frowned.

“Elias had nothing to do with Darren’s death.” He looked at me. “He’s a decent Alpha and not as nastily as everyone thinks,” he said. “But he doesn’t know that you work for the Council so that I would keep that and whatever business you have to do here away from him” I nodded again just as my sister walked in the room.

“So, what do you plan to do while you wait for the meeting with the tyrant?” my sister asked and grinned. I smiled in return.

“Well, I thought I would catch up with Katie and Louise first. They are both still here, right?” I noticed Tommy’s face darken as I mentioned Louise’s name.

“Yeah, they are still here,” Susie said, glancing nervously at Tommy. “Katie lives in the same apartments as she did, although a different number. I can find out for you.”

I nodded. “And Louise?” I asked, and Tommy Growled.

“You won’t be able to talk to Louise,” he hissed. “She’s still locked in the cells until her spineless piece of s**t husband is found.”

“Wait! What?” I asked, confused. Louise and Tommy saw each other in secret after finding out they were fated mates. Did she reject him? “What do you mean by her husband?”

Susie glanced at Tommy again before looking at me again

“Harper, after you left the pack, Louise mated with Damien. They have been mated and married for nine years.”