Beyond Beta's Rejection

(Harper’s POV)

“I’m sorry. What now?” I stared at Harry, dumbfounded. He flicked through some more pages of the book and then turned it to face me. I apprehensively looked down at the book. The page was titled “Bloodline,” and there was a picture of a wicked-looking blade down one side. The writing was a little faded and handwritten, but despite all that, it felt so familiar. I could read it like it was something I had read a thousand times before.

“The Divine Order is made up of four bloodlines. One each governs one of the four base elements, earth, air, fire, and water. Each bloodline is made up of guardians, one in each generation. The duty of the guardian is to protect the seal from demon interference, in addition to preparing and training the divine warrior.” I looked up at Aaron. I was starting to feel a headache coming on again. This, on top of everything, was too much. He smiled and turned the book around, scanning the page.

“The divine warrior will lead an army to counter the demon influence on earth. He will be recognised for his advanced and accelerated abilities in combat and keen alternative reasoning skills.” Aaron glanced up at me and then back at the page. “While the number of guardians can be many, only one divine warrior from each bloodline can inhabit the earth at any one time. It is due to his containment of the spirit of angelic presence at his core.”

“So, this divine warrior dude,” Alex said, looking over Aaron’s shoulder. “He is part-angel? Like the demon in Nathaniel?”

Aaron shrugged. “Looks like,” he said. “I know some about the lore, but until today I thought the Divine Order was little more than a myth. Something to make the people feel safe and protected against evil. I need my books to be able to know more.”

“So if Harper’s family is this bloodline, does that make her a guardian?” Louise asked, and I scowled at her.

“Erm, nope,” I said, shaking my head. “This is the first I’m hearing about this. Don’t you think if I were some guardian thing, I would have known by now?”

I stood up, suddenly feeling restless. My head was pounding, and I felt like I could rip my skin off. Maybe I needed a shift. I felt inside for Maia, but the effects of the silver must still have been wearing off because I got no response.

“This is great and all,” I said. “But we have a more pressing matter at hand right now.” I looked at the blank faces and could feel the irritation setting in.

“You know the apparent demon wolf and his crazy nephew currently in charge in the pack house,” I snapped. “Oh, and half of our people are in the cells. Shouldn’t we try to break them out and find a way to take them down?” I was starting to feel sick, the headache made it hard to think, and my eyesight was beginning to blur.

“Harper, are you okay?” Louise came towards me, but her voice felt tinny. “You’ve gone really pale. Maybe you should sit down.” I shook my head and instantly regretted it. I bent over and threw up everywhere.

“Oh crap.” I heard someone exclaim, but I couldn’t make out who it was as I felt cool hands on me, pulling me somewhere. I didn’t have the strength to fight them as I was lifted off my feet.

“She’s burning up,” someone said, and I felt as I was laid down on something soft and cool. I could feel myself slipping. I realised that I was feeling the familiar signs of a panic attack and tried to move my arm to hit the pressure spot on my hand to control it, but I was already too far gone, and everything was heavy. I quickly slipped into a heavy unconsciousness, unable to stop the freefall into the black.

***

I woke up to the sound of raised voices. I was laid in one of the booths and could feel someone stroking my hair.

“I don’t care what the book says,” Aaron shouted. “I’m not having her in danger,”

“It’s her choice,” Alex shouted back.

“It’s not a choice. If she is, then she is,” Harry said, his voice ringing calmly compared to the other two. “She will need to learn to contain and control it, it’s not pretty, but it can be done.”NôvelDrama.Org exclusive content.

“No, I want to know how to stop it! And I refuse to let her put herself in harm’s way.” Aaron slammed his hands down on something, and I g*****d.

“Seriously, guys,” I called. “Can you keep the bickering down over there?” Everyone went silent. “Thank you,” I said, feeling strangely amused by the instant compliance. I heard Louise chuckle and opened my eyes to see her smiling down at me.

“She might be half-conscious, but she still commands with ease,” she said, and I shrugged while attempting to sit up. I was hit by nausea and froze in place until it passed before, with Louise’s help, making it all the way up to a sitting position. Yea me.

“How are you feeling?” Harry said as he handed me a glass of water.

“Like a herd of elephants has run over me,” I said, taking a sip. “Twice!”

“You’ve cooled down for now,” Harry said, feeling my head. “I don’t know for how long, but you are going to have to stop fighting it.”

“Fighting what?” I asked. “It was just a panic attack.”

Harry grunted. “Get those panic attacks a lot, do you?” he asked, clearly amused at something.

“Most of my life,” I shrugged. “But I can control them easily enough with pressure points.”

“Sure,” he said. “Pressure points and panic attacks.” He walked away muttering something to himself, and I looked at Louise, confused. She smiled weakly, but I could tell that something was wrong.

“What?” I asked. “What is it?” I looked between her and Aaron, who had slid in on the opposite side of the booth.

“Harper, there’s something you should know,” he said, and Alex slid in next to him.

“Harper, do you remember me telling you about Nathaniel and how he burnt out his humanity?” Alex asked, and I nodded.

“Well, the reason for that is that both the demon and the human fight for the control of the vessel, or the body. But both are dominant, and the vessel can’t take the pressure of the two dominant forms. So either one form burns out or the vessel, the person starts to see signs of mental health decline.”

“Oh, like Caroline Stokes? That makes sense.” I thought back to my last conversation with Elias. “Or in a werewolf’s case three dominant forms?” I asked, and Alex looked confused.

“Harper, our wolves aren’t dominant,” Aaron said. “They can sometimes take over, but in essence, it is the human form that controls if and when they come out.”

“Oh,” I mused, “So Elias was wrong then.”

“What do you mean?” Aaron asked.

“Elias,” I said, suddenly realising that not everyone knew, although, by the sudden fidgeting from the next booth where the two warriors had been silent, some knew. “Elias had the same eyes that Nathaniel had, and he said that the other thing was destructive. He’s got this demon thing as well, then?”

Aaron shrugged. “I did hear Nathaniel say something to Owens before rendering him unconscious,” he said. “It would make sense given the new information.” He looked at Alex, and I could see the worry in his eyes.

“Aaron,” I said, and he looked at me.

“Harper, Nathaniel had been in contact with me,” he rubbed his temple, “Actually, he’s being rather persistent.”

“Mind link?” I asked, and he nodded.

“I’m trying to block it, but he isn’t letting up.” He sighed. “Harper, he is demanding that you return to the pack house.”

“Ha!” I exclaimed. “Let the bastard demand.” But I had the feeling that it wasn’t so simple. “What?” I asked, feeling a sense of dread.

“Harps, the panic attacks,” Aaron said, and I nodded. “We don’t think they are panic attacks.”

“Well then, what else would they be?” I scoffed. I had been having panic attacks since I was around fourteen years old. They were infrequent at first but got worse. It wasn’t until I learned about the pressure points that I could manage them.

“Harper, are you being intentionally dumb?” Louise scoffed, and I glared at her. I looked around at everyone who was looking at me expectantly.

“The divine warrior will be recognised by his advanced and accelerated abilities in combat and keen alternative reasoning skills,” Harry called over, and I looked up, the penny suddenly dropping.

“Whoa!” I exclaimed, “You aren’t thinking I’m this divine warrior dude, are you?”

“Kind of fits,” Alex said, and I shook my head.

“No, nope, not happening,” I said. “I’m just a werewolf, nothing special about me.”

“Apart from the fact that you are from the bloodline,” Alex said.

“And was one of the quickest rising Elite warriors in the history of the Council,” Aaron added.

“No!” I exclaimed, “I don’t agree. Don’t you think I would have seen some angel sign by now?”

“Because of the danger to the human, the angel only activates it in the presence of demons,” Harry called from the bar.

“But Nathaniel is a demon,” I said, and he nodded.

“Exactly, so now you are feeling the effects of the angel trying to come through.”

“But I have been around Nathaniel pretty much constantly for the last eight years. He was my mentor,” and Harry stopped what he was doing.

“Plus, this pack has had the demon bloodline in the pack house for years,” Alex said. “Both Colton and Caroline are from the same bloodline as Nathaniel.”

“Huh,” Harry mused, “Show me that pressure point thing,” he said, coming around the bar and to the table. I shrugged but complied. I lifted my hand, pressed my thumb on the point just below my other thumb, and rubbed in a circular motion. Harry barked a short laugh.

“And who showed you how to do this?” he asked. I thought back to when I started using the pressure points to stop panic attacks.

“Well, Colton was the first to use it on me, but then it was Nathaniel that explained in detail about the different points.”

“Sneaky bastards,” Harry laughed again. “They’ve been suppressing your angel side on purpose.”

“What?” I exclaimed.

“That works by reducing the circulation of your energies,” he said. “You can use it to suppress the energy that is used to shift too.”

“So Nathaniel knows about Harper?” Aaron asked.

“Oh, my goddess!” Louise exclaimed, and we all looked around at her. “That’s the reason why Colton went back on the rejection. He knew.” Alex’s eyes widened, and he let out a breath.

“Geez, I knew it was funny that Eric Stokes was so annoyed at Colton for rejecting you.” He looked sheepish. “I mean, I was annoyed because he had warned me away from you a couple of years before and then rejected you, but I didn’t understand why it mattered so much to the Beta and the Alpha. They must have known who you are.”

I leaned back in my seat and tried to process everything. I could see the logic behind what they were saying but didn’t want to even consider that I was this special half-angel thing.

“Wait, so if I am part angel, then why did the goddess see fit to pair me with not one but two wolves with demon bloodlines?” It seemed like a cruel joke to me.

“I don’t know,” Aaron said. “But Nathaniel is pretty insistent that it’s for your own good that you go back. He even said before you burn up.”

“Well, screw that dude,” I said. The thought of Nathaniel made me feel sick. He had been my mentor for eight years and had betrayed me and lied to me. I didn’t want to see him again.

“But…” Louise trailed off as Alex shot her a glare.

“What?” I asked and looked around at all the silent faces. “But what?” Louise looked down at the table and Alex and Aaron but avoided my eyes too.

“Aaron!” I exclaimed, and he cursed under his breath.

“Nathaniel said that if you and Louise don’t return to the pack house,” he said quietly. “That he will have Elias and Tommy and all the other traitors executed.”