Beyond Beta's Rejection

(Elias’ POV)

My nerves got stronger as we drove closer to the location. There was every chance that this would go wrong. I tried to draw Harper out by making small talk. I mentioned that I had made sure Stokes wasn’t ruining her birthday by bugging her, and she smiled and thanked me. She kept looking out the window, and I readied myself in case she realised where we were heading and reacted badly.

I pulled to the side of the road where I was directed and saw the pathway we were to take. I glanced over at Harper, who was looking out the window. She seemed uneasy in herself, but when I helped her out of the car, she smiled at me. We began down the path, and just as I saw the lights decorating the gazebo come into view, I felt Harper stiffen and then gasp behind me. I turned quickly, and she was staring at me with terror in her eyes. I felt like such a bastard at that moment, and there was a din in my head as both the monster and Jax chastised me for what I was doing.

I reached out to Harper, and she began to back away, shaking her head.

“No!” she whispered, and she turned around to go back down the path. I reached out again and grabbed her arm, trying to stop her so I could explain. She whirled around on me, and I felt her fist slamming into my face before I even saw it coming. And she packed one hell of a punch. She immediately gasped and covered her mouth with her hands.

“Oh my goddess, Elias,” she exclaimed. “I am so sorry, but you don’t understand this place-”Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!

I grabbed her arms as I felt her panic setting in. “Harper, I know,” I said, stopping her mid-sentence, and she looked at me, shocked. Then the fear in her eyes turned to anger.

“You know?” she asked slowly. “What do you know?”

“Alex and Tommy told me everything,” I said. “That’s why I brought you here.”

“Why?” she asked. “Why would you make me relive this? They were right. You are not a good person at all,” she hissed at me, and I was taken aback by the viciousness in her words. I wanted to ask who was saying this, but I knew it had to wait.

“You’re right. I am a bad man,” I said. “But right now, I am trying to help you.” I gripped her arms firmly and made eye contact. “Please, Harper, I am begging you to trust me just this once.” She glanced behind me and then back to me.

“You don’t have Colton in there waiting?” she asked, and I shook my head.

“Absolutely not,” I growled. “Not unless the bastard is buried under the thing.” Harper’s eyes widened. “When I heard what he and that spineless piece of s**t had almost done, I wanted to hunt them both do and eradicate them from the surface of the earth.”

“So why bring me here?” she asked.

I pushed a stray hair from her face.“Please trust me?” I asked again. She looked into my eyes for what could have been forever before finally nodding her head. I breathed out a relieved sigh.

I took her hand and slowly guided her towards the small building. She gripped my hand like it was her only lifeline as we got closer. I walked her to the entrance of the gazebo, and I felt her resistance again. I looked around at her, and she took a deep breath. Her body was shaking slightly, and I saw the woman I had met just a few days ago crumble in her eyes.

The gazebo was set out almost exactly like it was that night almost ten years ago. I had gotten help from Alex, who, after I heard he was there that night, was lucky that he was still alive. I wanted to create as much as possible the same scene. In humans, this could be dangerous, but for fated mates, we were able to pull from the bond, share our hearts and minds, and heal the damage that had been caused. That is why when we lose our mate, we lose a part of ourselves that is no longer able to heal. And it is why even when we reject the bond, we still crave to connect and rebond with that one person. I may hate Colton Stokes, but I understood why he had the desperate need to go after my mate.

“Harper,” I said, drawing her attention as she looked around the gazebo like a wide animal looking for its way out. “I want you to understand that I am doing this to help you. You are avoiding this town, and our bond is because of the trauma you have received in this town and this place.”

She looked up at me, and her eyes were laced with unshed tears.

I walked into the gazebo and picked up the only thing that wasn’t there that night. “But the thing is, that pain you feel is inside you, not here. And I know that you are a strong, amazing woman, so maybe it’s time you showed you the same thing.” I opened her hand and placed the sledgehammer into it.

She looked down at the sledgehammer in her hand and then back at me. “I don’t understand,” she said, her voice trembling a little. “How is this meant to help?”

“Because by smashing this place to pieces, you will see that it can’t help you and that the memory of it can’t hurt you either,” I said, and then I grinned a little. “And if that doesn’t work, then at least you’ll get a workout.” I shrugged, and she laughed. It was only a small laugh, but it was enough.

Harper lifted the sledgehammer, swinging it above her head before bringing it down right smack in the middle of the gazebo, smashing the picnic plates and three champagne glasses. She seemed uneasy until that first hit, and something snapped inside her. I saw the light turn back on inside her eyes as she swung the hammer again against one wall. Slowly but surely, each hit became rawer than the last. It was like every one of the hits broke an additional link in the chain that had been holding her to this trauma. I stood back and watched as she laid waste to the little building that led to her leaving this place. She administered hit after hit and reduced the building to a crumbling mess for two solid hours and then some. By the time the building was a pile of broken bricks on the floor, Harper was screaming into each hit, and her face was streaming with tears. She was covered head to toe in dirt and ran herself to exhaustion. I moved in after the last hit and placed my hand on her arm. She flung me off and went for another hit.

I wrapped my arms around her waist and trapped her arms at her side. She struggled to get away from me for a bit until I whispered into her ear. “You can stop now!” I whispered, and she stopped fighting and leaned into my body, the tears streaming still. “You see, I have you. I will always have you.” I felt her knees give way, and she collapsed to the ground. I followed her down and pulled her into my lap, and she clung to me, sobbing. We stayed like that for another hour until her sobbing quieted, and she finally settled apart from the occasional sniffle here and there. Her fingers curled around my T-Shirt, and I rocked her gently, whispering in her ear that everything was going to be ok. I could feel the bond strengthening and feel its tendrils molding us together.

I picked up a sound in the trees and saw Marcus head down the path. He walked slowly up to us and smiled down at Harper.

“Next time I want a demolition man, then I’ll just hire you, darling,” he said, and I looked down to see her rewarding his foolishness with a small smile. Marcus leaned down to take Harper from my arms, and I actually growled at him.

“Easy there, boss, You can have her back once you have gotten yourself up off the floor,” he said, and I jumped off the floor and dusted the dirt from my clothes long. I reached out for my mate, and Marcus passed her back to me. She slipped her arms around my neck and nuzzled into me, and I could feel as her breath tickled my neck. We walked away from the demolished building while Marcus muttered something about sending some omega’s out to clean the place up.

By the time we had reached the car, Harper had already fallen asleep. I climbed into the back of the SUV that Marcus had driven up, and Marcus closed the door behind me. I was fine with leaving my car there and would have someone come to pick it up in the morning. Marcus drove us up to the packhouse, and I walked in, still holding my sleeping mate in my arms. I glanced briefly to the side and saw Tommy and Alex standing talking to Jamie Bennet, Alex and Louise’s little brother. Tommy nodded to me as I walked past, and I nodded an acknowledgement back.

“What the hell?” Stokes shouted from the other direction, and I moved on, trying to ignore him and getting Harper away from him as soon as possible. Marcus intercepted and told him to stand down, I saw a vague movement as if he was going to continue, but both Alex and Tommy moved around me and blocked him.

I made my way up the stairs to my room, where Louise had run a bath ready for us. She smiled at me as I carried Harper into the bathroom. It was the first genuine smile I had ever received from her. Harper had woken up on the way up the stairs, and I placed her gently on her feet and headed out of the room while Louise helped her undress and cleaned up. I went into Marcus’ room and jumped into his shower, quickly washing myself. My mind was full of everything and also full of nothing. I knew that things would be different tomorrow, and the same would happen with Harper. The numbness would wear off, but hopefully, it would have a healed heart or part healed in its place.

I headed back into my room to see Louise helping Harper into my bed. She smiled at me again and nodded before she left the room, leaving Harper and me alone. I smiled at her and stroked her hair as her eyes closed again. I leaned down and kissed her forehead before I moved towards the sofa. I had already decided that I wouldn’t be leaving the room tonight.

“Elias?” Harper’s voice floated over, a little more than a whisper. I turned and looked at her, “Please stay with me.” I nodded my head and smiled. I quickly turned off the lights, slipped into the covers behind her, and gently pulled, and she shuffled back into me. I wrapped my arms around her, and she murmured something I didn’t quite understand before her breathing steady as she had fallen fast asleep again. I thought I would be wide awake, but it wasn’t long before I joined her in a deep slumber.