Beyond Beta's Rejection

Chapter 5

(Tommy’s POV)

My car screeched into the parking lot of the pack house, and I jumped out. I was furious; I wanted to find that little s**t and rip him apart. I could hear the music of the party still going. These things normally lasted till past daylight. I was normally one of the last ones left standing, or if I was in bed, certainly wasn’t sleeping.

But not this time. Katie had come looking for me, telling me she couldn’t find Harper, and she was worried. I played it down and told her I would look for Harper and to go have fun. That was when she pouted and mentioned something about Damien. She said he was flirting with her until one of his friends came over and mentioned Colton had bagged that girl, and then he suddenly wasn’t interested. She was very upset about it, but I told her she had a lucky escape.

It was niggling me, though, Damien showing Katie attention, and then Colton and some girl. My wolf Brun was grunting at me to find Harper. I trusted his judgment. I had found Darren, my brother, and asked if they had seen her, but nothing. In the end, I had gone home to see if Harper was there. And the first I saw was Colton f*****g Stokes, leaving my house.

And now, knowing what he did to my poor sweet niece. To humiliate her in such a way was bad enough, but to take her innocence under the cover of the fated bond was beyond words. I stormed into the hall, looking for Colton, when Darren saw me.

“Tommy,” he called. I could tell both he and Linda, my sister-in-law, had drunk a fair amount. I guess the deal went well, and he had gotten his raise.

“Tommy, my little brother.” He clapped me on the back. “Where have you been? Did you find Harper?”

“Yeah, she’s at home with a headache,” I lied. It wouldn’t do to have them worry, and I knew Harper didn’t want people knowing what had happened.

“Oh, no!” Linda said sadly. “And on her birthday, well, we’ll make it up to her tomorrow with cake.”

“Erm... yeah, sure,” I grimaced. “Anyway, I have something to do. I’ll see you at home.” I needed to find that snake and smash his face in.

I left my brother and sister-in-law and went searching. It wasn’t long before I heard the voices of the ranked elite. The jumped up little shits thought they were the kings in this town. I didn’t care if Damien was meant to be the Alpha. The boy was as corrupt as his own father. I didn’t care what they got up to, but bringing my family into their dealings was over the line.

I had gone out in the back gardens where it was mostly the younger crowd when I saw the usual gaggle of girls, and of course, at the centre were Damien and Colton, along with some other jock douches that hung off them hoping for praise. Seeing Colton’s smirking face as he laughed and joked was enough for me to see red, and with a growl, I headed straight for him.

I had gotten close when I heard snippets of the conversation.

“Yeah, man, it was f*****g amazing. The way she wriggled against me as I made her c*m against the pain was one of the best-” I’d had enough knowing he was talking about my niece.

“You f*****g bastard!” I snarled as I lunged at him, knocking him to the floor. I had surprised him and started pummeling into his grinning face over and over. I was dragged off by two of the guys, and they held me as I tried to get back to the smarmy little s**t. He jumped to his feet, his face a mass of blood and his eyes shining gold.

“Tommy, Tommy Tommy,” he gloated before delivering a punch to my stomach, sending me gasping to the floor. “It’s all very chivalrous of you to stand up for the little slut niece of yours.” I felt a kick to my stomach, and pain radiated. “But she really wasn’t complaining when she screamed my name as I f****d her tight little pussy.” He bent down and whispered, “And if I want to do it again.” Colton grabbed my hair, yanking back, and punched me in the face as someone else kicked my side. I grunted against the pain, knowing I was not only outnumbered but outranked. “If I want to f**k her again, I know I will make the slut scream again.”

All the fury hit me at once, and I could feel Brun forcing his way out. I felt the shift before they had noticed, and within seconds, I had shifted in my snarling and very pissed-off wolf. I saw everyone take a step back as I narrowed my sight in on the little s**t’s throat and pounced. He shifted in time, and his dirty brown wolf rolled away from my attack before counter-attacking. I knew his wolf was bigger, faster, and stronger than mine, and he had me by the scruff before I could get out of the way. I rolled, knocking him off me, and launched at him again. I knocked him to the floor and was about to set my teeth around his throat when I felt the unmistakable power of the Alpha.

“WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?” Everyone froze at the power radiating through the gardens.

“Colton, Thomas, STOP!”

We stopped at the Alpha command, unable to move. “Now shift.” Pain ripped through me at the forced shift, and I was left panting, nake,d and in pain.

Colton smirked at me as I heard the sound of his father on the approach. He knew very well that attacking a ranked member was punishable by exile or death and that I didn’t stand a chance against the son of the pack Beta.

“Now, does someone want to tell me why my son is naked in the gardens?” he bellowed in his always too loud voice. Damien leaned over and said something to his father, who then turned his glare on me.

“Do you want to explain why you attacked the future Beta of this pack?” I glared over at Colton, who had sat up and was comfortable in all his naked glory.

“Might want to ask him what he did to my niece,” I snarled. I remembered then that Harper had said that she didn’t want anyone knowing they were fated mates. I had the feeling that it was more Colton that didn’t want people to know. I grinned at him before I added, “Or should I say what he did to his fated mate.” Colton growled at me as a collective gasp went through the crowd.

There was a growl from Beta Eric, and I looked up and saw him glowering at his son. I looked at Colton and grinned again as he glared back at me.

“Party’s over,” the Alpha called. “Everyone, go home.” The people immediately started moving to the exits like the compliant sheep they were. He then looked down at me. “Tommy, you can go home too,” I looked at him in shock, but I wasn’t the only one shocked.

“Wait! What the f**k?” Colton exclaimed. “He attacked me!”

“Colton, shut up,” the Beta reprimanded him. “And get in the office now.”

“But I haven’t done anything wrong!” Colton snapped.

“Are you arguing with me, boy?” the Beta growled, and Colton shrunk back

“No, sir,” he said quietly, and he pulled himself to his feet and stormed into the pack house. The Beta turned and stormed in after him, and the Alpha glanced at me.

“I trust you will say nothing of this, Tommy?” he phrased it as a question, but I knew the man enough to know it was a threat.

“Yes, Alpha,” I responded.

“Good, give my regards to your brother.” He nodded and turned and followed his Beta into the pack house. Damien was the only one left and went to say something, a sly smirk on his face.

“Damien, you too,” the Alpha called back without turning, and Damien rolled his eyes but followed his father into the house.

I picked myself up and limped through the house to my car, stopping briefly when I heard muffled shouting coming from the Alpha’s office. I grinned at the thought of the little s**t getting his ass handed to him as I got into my car. I knew as well that I wasn’t done with him either as I started the car up and headed home.

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(Harper’s POV)

We pulled back up to the house in Louise’s car, giggling about the movie. I sat in front, and Katie was in the back with our obscene amount of shopping. It was the day after my birthday and the worst night of my life, and Louise and Katie had declared it pamper Harper day. We went into town and had lunch and shopping, followed by a chick flick.

I looked up out of the window and was shocked to see the driveway full of cars, and despite knowing nothing about cars, I could tell that these were the luxury sort. I knew that my mum had planned a cake this evening since we couldn’t celebrate my birthday yesterday. My parents had no idea about what had happened last night, and quite frankly, I was happy for it to stay that way.

I glanced at Louise, and she looked concerned.

“That’s the Alpha’s car,” she said, pointing to a gold-coloured monstrosity. “And that’s the Beta’s?” pointing to a black sleek type one.

“What are the Alpha and Beta doing here?” Katie asked from the back seat.

I shrugged. “Maybe they are having a meeting,” I said. My dad’s office was here, so if they had to talk about finances, then maybe they called in.

I jumped out of the car and leaned against it as the girls grabbed the shopping. Since last night, I felt weak, and they were doing their best to make things easy for me. We headed into the house, and I walked into the living room to see my mum and Caroline Stokes, the Beta’s wife, sitting drinking tea. My mum saw me and squealed.

“Oh, Harper, you are home.” I glanced at the girls, and they shrugged. “Caroline, please meet Harper.” Mrs. Stokes stood up and took my hand.

“It’s very nice to meet you, Harper,” she smiled. “And happy belated birthday, dear.”

“Oh Harper, why didn’t you tell us!” my mum exclaimed, and I looked at her confused.

“Tell you what?” I asked. I could tell she was about to answer when I heard my dad’s voice.

“Harper?” he called. “Is that you?”

“Yes, daddy,” I called back.

“Can you come to my office for a moment, please?” he called back, and I headed down to his office, where he was standing in the doorway smiling.

“Hi pumpkin,” he said as I reached him. He then guided me into his office, which I was surprised to see was full.

The Alpha was sitting behind my dad’s desk in my dad’s chair, and the Beta was sitting in one of the other chairs, while Tommy was standing in the corner. He threw me a pained expression and then glared at something at the wall behind me. I suddenly had a bad feeling as I turned my head in the direction he was looking.

My heart dropped to my stomach, and my eyes fell on him. He was here, in my home. Colton leaned against the back wall, and I watched as he looked me up and down slowly, like he was undressing me with his eyes. His eyes met mine, and I couldn’t help my breathing become shallow as he slowly licked his lips and smirked at me. What the hell was he doing here now?

“Ah, Harper darling, please come in,” the Alpha’s voice pulled my attention to him, and I turned back to the room. “Please take a seat.” My dad guided me to the only empty chair across from the Alpha and next to the Beta, who was smiling at me too.

“As I was saying, Darren…” The Alpha turned to my dad. “I am sure you're beyond happy about the new development, and such a merge will be very beneficial to the pack operations,”

“Yes, absolutely, Alpha,” my dad said, and he smiled at me, too.

“And you agree, Eric?” the Alpha asked the Beta, who nodded

“Who am I to argue with fate?” he said, chuckling

“Well, then it is settled,” the Alpha said. “And let me be the first to congratulate the new couple!”

Wait! What? I looked around. Well, everywhere apart from the direction of the eyes that feel like they are drilling into my back. Everyone is smiling at me apart from Tommy, who has his eyes closed and looks really upset.

“Daddy?” I asked. “I don’t understand. What’s going on?” My dad smiled at me, but it was the Alpha who answered.

“Why, yours and Colton’s engagement, my dear,” he said with a big grin.

I suddenly felt like I was going to be sick, and I felt the sparks before I knew he was there. Colton took my left hand and slipped a gold diamond ring onto my finger, and he smirked at me as he lifted my hand and kissed its back. I shuddered as sparks ran through my body. Colton leaned into me and kissed my cheek, and then whispered.

“You’re all mine now, Strawberries.”