A Beta's Half-Blood

Chapter 3: A Plan

-Archer-

I stood in the doorway to Phoenix’s hospital room. He was on the bed with all the machines hooked to him, keeping him breathing. The little wolf beside him had not left his side since he got here. She was sleeping at the moment too, in that same chair she was always in. I wasn’t sure why she had requested our alpha for more time, but he had granted it. It wasn’t going to change anything. It was quite clear Phoenix wasn’t coming back to us, and I hated that we had to let him go.

“I wasn’t sleeping!”

I turned my gaze to the Spiritual, whose head had accidentally fallen from her hand, waking her up.

“It’s fine, little one. Get some sleep,” I reassured her.

She looked guilty about me catching her sleeping, and she quickly shook her head before getting up.

“I think I will go get some coffee,” she said.

I nodded and moved to the side as she walked out. She had already gotten very comfortable here and learned more about our world. It was strange to think that she had, for almost two hundred years, lived in a world so unlike ours. She didn’t know what coffee was. She didn’t know what a shower was. She had no idea what a phone was. But our luna had made it her mission to teach Hope everything, and she was a quick learner.

I, on the other hand, was very distracted. I hadn’t been home a lot, for a good reason. I was going insane knowing Harper was walking around out there unclaimed. I know that I said I would get her after a month, but things had changed a little. I had to prepare some things before I went to get her because my plan of making her mine had evolved over that month I had been going insane.

I had realized that just bringing her into this world was not enough to make her stay. Harper was even more stubborn than her cousin, and therefore, I knew I had to up my game. I might have tried being a little nicer for Harper’s sake, but after she told me she did not care about me and she didn’t want anything to do with me, I knew nice wasn’t the way to approach her. She would come to see a whole other me, and he would be the one to get her and claim her.

“He will wake up.” I had not noticed Hope had come back. She was clutching the coffee mug in her hands and looked at it with a strange sadness. One I almost recognized in my own eyes. I glanced at Phoenix on the bed and then at her.

“Is there something you want to tell me?” I inquired.

She glanced up at me, then adopted an innocent look. “No,” she replied.

“Are you sure?”

Something told me she was withholding something from us, but I wasn’t about to jump to conclusions. Lately, my mind had not been as clear as it used to be. I might just be reading into this.

“Yes,” she insisted.

I simply nodded slowly, then tilted my head slightly to the side. “Go in,” I directed.

She certainly was an obedient little one, walking right in. I closed the door behind her, then turned around and headed to the entrance hall.

“Going somewhere?” I glanced behind me, seeing Hunter descending the stairs. He had a pleased smile on his lips, indicating he had just been with his mate, who had recently gone through her heat and was now expecting. It was strange to see this calm and happy side of him, but that was what a mate brought out in you, or it should. Harper was just making me go mad. I was more irritated and frustrated. I was close to tearing someone apart if I couldn’t have her soon, but I wasn’t completely ready yet.

“Out,” I replied shortly.

“You’ve been going out a lot lately.”

“Well, I am a bit on edge, Alpha,” I stated. “I need something to take my mind off.”

He stopped just at the end of the stairs and crossed his arms.

“You won’t win her over like that,” he remarked.

“No?” I retorted.

He shook his head. “I understand you need someone to distract you, so you can respect her wishes.”

Oh, he had no idea. I had no plan of respecting her wishes. I never had to begin with. The moment I set my eyes on her, she was mine.

“But maybe you should go for it,” he suggested. “Fight for her.”

“Harper doesn’t want me,” I stated.

And that was not a lie. Everyone knew she had gone back home, but no one knew of my vow to her.

“Change her mind,” he urged. “I hear her father is already trying to convince her.”

“Ryan isn’t trying to make her leave her life behind.”

“No. He is too kind for that. He will settle for just being a part of it.”

“Exactly,” I replied and started to walk away.

“But you need her!” he insisted. “Why not try to convince her to come here?”

I didn’t answer him because I was going to convince her, but I couldn’t risk anyone interfering in my plans for her. So, I just left him there, walked outside, and got in my car, driving out of there. I didn’t drive that far, just a little beyond Hunter’s territory, where I turned the wheel and drove down a lonely little road until I reached a small house that had been pretty run-down when I had first found it. I had gotten it fixed in record time and added a special and high-tech security system I could control with my phone, locking everyone out... or someone in.

No, I was not a good person, and someone might think my plan was bordering on madness. Maybe they even thought I was just crazy, but Harper was stubborn, protective of herself, and pure fire. She needed to be broken in order to become mine because when she broke, she would finally see how wrong she was. How miserable she was.

I walked over to the door, unlocking it before going inside. It only had one floor, and about five rooms: a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, living room, and a very tiny dining room. The place hadn’t had any furniture when I had started to renovate it, but I had changed it, making it almost like a home.

I walked down the small hallway until I reached the bedroom. Against the furthest wall stood a four-poster bed, but other than that, there were only chains connected to the wall in front of me. I walked over there, grabbed hold of one of them, and pulled. The wall made a small creaking sound, but other than that, did not give any indication that it would break. Harper wasn’t very strong. Even if she was a half-blood, it was clear she wasn’t spending her time trying to reach her full potential when it came to strength.

I stood again, smiling at my little handiwork. Everything was pretty much prepared. All I needed now was to buy some food to put in the fridge, and I could go get my little mate.