Beyond Beta's Rejection

(Elias’ POV)

“Fine, we’ll do it the hard way,” I said as I handled the rough handle of the scalpel. This was no ordinary scalpel, though. The blade was coated in silver and soaked in wolfsbane to maximise pain. It was one of the most effective tools I owned and required the least effort. I wanted so desperately to get this over with. The last thing I wanted to do was torture the love of my life. But she betrayed me. Not only had she managed to open my safe, thanks to my stupid sentimentality. But a quick hack into her phone saw that she had sent images of the contents, contents that I didn’t want anyone seeing, to some contact of hers called Nathaniel. I had no idea why, but that name sounded so familiar.

It hurt so much that she had betrayed me, but I just needed her to admit that she was The Circle. Then I would finish this once and for all and-

“What?” the guttural growl inside my head asked. “You will kill her? You couldn’t do it. I would make your pitiful life a misery if you did.” I sighed silently and looked at my mate tied to the chair in front of me. Why did it have to be her? Why did she have to be the one working for that damn poisonous organisation? It didn’t matter. I couldn’t let them stop me. I had to take them down.

I moved towards my beautiful mate, barely an inch, when there was a commotion outside, and then Tommy Kirby burst into the room and shouted at me.

“Elias, Stop! She’s not the Circle.” My eyes widened as I looked at Harper and saw the shock on her face too before I turned to Tommy.

“What!” I exclaimed and was shocked again that Harper echoed my sentiment.

“Tommy!” I exclaimed, “What are you talking about?”

“Circle!” I heard Harper exclaim at the same time, “Damn right, I’m not the bloody Circle. He is the evil bastard.” I turned and looked at Harper again.

“What?” I asked in confusion, and then Marcus started to laugh. I looked over at him as his full-on belly laugh filled the room like he had just heard the funniest joke in the world. He was bent over with tears streaming down his face, and I glared at him while wondering if he had gone mad.

“Marcus, what the hell?” I shouted, and he looked up at me and laughed again.

“Seriously, we are all idiots,” he said while he calmed down from his temporary insanity. “Don’t you see?” I looked from Tommy to him and then to Harper. We were all as confused as each other.

Marcus in between Harper and me. He bent down on his knees in front of her.

“Darling, just do us a favour and tell us in whose authority you are working?” he said, and Harper glared at him but stayed silent.

“She’s with the Council,” another voice sounded, and I looked around to see a very worried Louise standing behind Tommy. Tommy glanced back at her before nodding to me.

“Louise!” Harper exclaimed, and I looked around at her in horror. I was about to torture and potentially kill my own mate for no reason.

“Darling, who do you think we are working for?” Marcus asked Harper, who was still glaring at Tommy. She looked at Marcus with disgust on her face.

“I know who you work for,” she said. “I wanted to be wrong, but if you are The Circle, then you deserve to burn in hell.” I couldn’t contain my shock.

“Harper, darling, we aren’t working for The Circle,” Marcus said, and her eyes widened a bit as he said it.

“But, I found the evidence in the safe. It’s all the Circle information, shipping times, and people you have killed!” I sighed as she spoke. I couldn’t believe how messed up this had got.

I moved towards the chair to undo the ropes holding her there, and she flinched and looked up at me, the fear clear in her eyes. I stopped, slightly taken aback at her reaction. I felt the hurt slice through my heart. The hurt that my own mate was somehow terrified of me. I shook my head.

“Marcus, untie her and let’s move this upstairs. I think there is some serious explaining to do here.” I walked out of my office and nodded to Tommy to follow me.

We got to the third floor before I said anything.

“Did you know she was Council before she came back?” I asked.

“Yes,” he said. “She never left there. She trained as an Elite warrior.” I nodded as he spoke, suddenly making so much sense. Her fighting abilities, her keen sense of awareness, hell, even back a few days ago when she was trying to break into the cells. I should have known that there was more to her.Property of Nô)(velDr(a)ma.Org.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked.

“Would you have granted her entry?” he retorted, and I nodded. He and I both knew I wouldn’t. I was paranoid enough about the people in the town. Having a trained Council warrior would have been too much.

“Did you know why she was coming?”

“No,” Tommy answered. “Aaron phoned me last week, saying that they needed a man on the inside and that it was to do with the Circle. I just assumed…” he trailed off, and I nodded again.

“Aaron?” I asked, “The boyfriend?” and Tommy nodded,

“Yeah, Aaron Jacen, although he technically isn’t her boyfriend,” he said. “Or not anymore.” I couldn’t help but stiffen at that comment. Of course not. She’s mine, I thought to myself.

We headed into my room, and I sat down on the sofa and looked up at Tommy.

“Last question,” I asked. “How the hell did you know to come down and stop me? I mean, how did you know what we were even doing?” I asked.

Tommy looked towards the door and then lowered his voice.

“Because of who she is,” he said, and I was back to being confused.

“I don’t understand.”

“Harper doesn’t know, and personally, I’d rather she didn’t know. It’s bad enough that she had that bloody vamp Drake chasing her around,” he said and then looked at me. “Harper is the Order.”

“How could she not know that she works for the Order?” I asked, and then it hit me. “Wait!” I exclaimed. “Are you saying my mate is…” Tommy nodded.

“Are you sure?” I asked, and he laughed.

“I have been sure since the day she was born,” he said. “Plus, it was her fear I felt, and then I found out from Louise what her mission was, and I put it all together.”

“So my mate is The Order,” I said in disbelief. This was a lot to handle all at once. “Why doesn’t she know?”

“Why doesn’t she know what?” I looked towards the door and saw Harper, Louise, and Marcus all standing there. Harper was still looking at me with an uneasy look in her eyes.

“Why doesn’t she know the full story,” Tommy said and smiled at his niece, “Come in, let’s get this cleared up,” he said, and the three moved into the room. I stood to give space on the sofa, and Harper stepped back, her eyes on me. I had really screwed up. I had hit her in anger and threatened to torture and kill her, but there was something else that was causing this reaction. I could feel it. I just didn’t know what. I stepped away from the sofa and gestured to it, and she moved and sat down, her eyes never leaving mine.

“Okay,” Tommy said. “Let’s start with the most obvious thing right now. No one in this room works for The Circle,” he said, and Harper looked down at her hands and then back up at her uncle.

“But the evidence in the safe, it’s all Circle paperwork,” she said.

“You’re right,” I said, and she looked at me. “The shipping information, the cargo stuff, all of it. It’s the Circle. But I have it to take them down, not as a part of them,” Harper continued to watch me as I spoke.

“I have been systematically taking down cells of the Circle for the last six or so years.”

“We have been,” Marcus said, pride showing clearly on his face. Harper looked at him and smiled before looking back at me.

“The attack on my pack, the one that took my sister,” I said, and Harper nodded. “That was The Circle, and I have been hellbent on taking them down ever since. It just took me a while to build my army.”

“So that is why you have been taking over the packs?” Harper asked, and I nodded.

“My information led me to the fact that the Circle was using isolated packs to move their shipments, hiding in the packs. I was invading and taking over, clearing out the corrupt element and rebuilding the packs myself, something I couldn’t do for my own pack,” I said, looking down. I hated that my father had let go of our pack. I understood it but still hated that we couldn’t rebuild it.

“I always kept one of the corrupted ones so I could get as much information about the Circle before deciding what to do with them,” I said. I could see that Harper was thinking through everything that I was saying. She looked up at me, uncertainty on her face.

“But this pack, do you mean to say that the Circle operated here?” she asked, the upset clear on her face.

“Harps, this pack has been one of the central points for the Circle ever since Alfred Chambers stole the Alpha title from my father.” and Harper looked at Tommy in shock.

“Grandad Samuel was the Alpha?” she asked, and Tommy nodded.

“Yeah, that’s partly why Daniel brought your dad on as pack financial advisor,” he said, and Harper shook her head.

“No,” she said defiantly. “You are not saying that my dad was working for the Circle.”

Tommy went over and kneeled down in front of her. “Sorry, Kid,” he said. “I hated it, but he was angry after our dad left. He said he abandoned his family.” Harper shook her head again, and I could see tears on the brim of her eyes. Tommy pulled her into a hug, and she muttered something that I didn’t quite hear. I was so desperate to go over and comfort her but kept my distance. She pulled away from her uncle and looked at me.

“So Colton?” she asked, and I nodded, “Yeah, he’s the Circle, or the last ranked member, well, him and the scared little s**t Damien.”

Harper nodded. “So if this pack is such a major pack for the Circle, why did you only just come now?”

“Because I only just called them in,” Tommy said, “After Darren was killed-”

“Wait, what!” Harper exclaimed, “My dad was killed?” and Tommy nodded.

“Yeah, there was some altercation, and Darren said that he wouldn’t do what Daniel wanted, and Daniel killed him for it.” Harper watched her uncle in horror, and I couldn’t stand any more of the pain she was feeling, I could feel it through the bond.

“Okay, that’s enough for tonight.” I looked down at my watch. “Or today rather, as it’s almost 6 am. We can talk more later when we have all rested.” I looked around the room at everyone and saw nods from almost everyone. Everyone but Harper. She was simply staring into space. I moved towards her, and she jumped up from the sofa and moved away.

“Okay, well then, I guess I should go to my room,” she said and headed for the door.

“I don’t want you alone right now,” I said, and she stopped but didn’t turn around.

“I need to be away from you right now,” she said quietly. But it still hit me like a train. It was me she was avoiding.

“It’s okay,” Louise said with a nervous smile. “I’ll stay with Harper.” Harper nodded.

“And I’ll set up guard outside her room,” Marcus said. Harper sighed in response.

“Fine, whatever,” she huffed and headed out the door without looking back. Louise followed quickly, and Marcus shrugged and followed them. I glanced at Tommy, and he shook his head.

“It’s a lot for her,” he said. “Give her time.” He then followed the others out the door. But I knew this wasn’t anything to do with all the revelations. This was something else. There was a reason why my mate was scared of me, and I needed to find out.