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The Beta's Rebound SEVENTEEN
ALICE "What was that?" Declan demanded the moment I waltzed over. He had been unhinged since Matthan's arrival. Some might call it guilt. But I was beginning to think it was something more. He had been more than happy whilst preparing for Matthan's return. All that happiness seemed to fade with the arrival of that girl. Eloise."I was having a simple discussion with Matt and his new girl. What's gotten under your ass?""That was not a conversation. You were clearly trying to irk him and I do not appreciate that."That made me chuckle. "Matthan is irked. Why else would he hook himself up with some disposable human? Plus I am worried about him. He did not deserve what I did to him. If you are feeling guilty about your betrayal, you should know there is no going back now. Matt will heal. Your bond with your Beta cannot be broken. Know that." I notice Declan's gaze travel over to their table. His frown deepened even more. "I am not worried about our bond. I'm not just concerned about him
The Beta's Rebound EIGHTEEN
ELOISE The date was going relatively well. I hated to admit it but Matthan could be quite the gentleman when he was not being a prick. It was clear that he was loved by his pack. It was enviable. But the more time I spent in the Gardenia Pack house, the more crystal clear that this couldn't be referred to as a date. Each time Matthan tried to strike up a meaningful conversation, someone or something would drag him away from the table and Matthan found it difficult to decline them. I wondered why it hurt just a tiny bit. My mind wandered to plausible reason but I refused to acknowledge it. The mate bond. It was then the sudden arrival of a middle-aged woman disrupted my train of thoughts. "You are Eloise, right?" She asked. I looked at her from head to toe. Her hair was grey and styled into a stylish bob that accentuated her sharp chin and angular features, making them all the more striking. I nodded my head. "And you are…?"She held out a hand to introduce herself. "Catherine." Sh
The Beta's Rebound NINETEEN
MATTHAN(EARLIER THAT DAY)I turned to her after her mother returned inside. "Your family seems lovely." I meant it. It checked one of the questions that plagued me. Eloise Carter's new family was plain odd boring and cherry. It was no wonder she was not reaching out to her pack. But there were still a lot of questions that remained unanswered. Like how the Carnation pack could willingly abandon one of their own and ensure her existence simply disappeared. It was a tempting invitation I couldn't break.Eloise growled and glared in response.I was still very glad to irk her so I asked, "Where is your bathroom?""Down the hall first room on the right. Make yourself at home." She replied after a scrutinizing stillness. There was nothing but spite and anger in her eyes.I flashed her a smile before entering her house. I followed her directions. Well, half of it. I was not pressed. Another room was heavy on my mind. It was not hard to find with my keen sense of smell. I stopped in front o
The Beta's Rebound TWENTY
MATTHAN "Well, your threats are practically useless now. Maybe you'll finally put some effort if you want a relationship with Eloise instead of relying on cheap tricks." My wolf mocked the second the door slammed shut and as much as I hated to admit it, it was right. Eloise was completely done with the singular threat I had up my sleeve. But it stung nonetheless. Because I knew there was no effort I could put in to get what I wanted with Eloise. She had explicitly told me. She was afraid of a relationship with me. I was a werewolf. As much as Eloise tried to deny her heritage, I couldn't. I was a Beta. There was no changing that. Eloise Carter however didn't do werewolves because her father's depravity had warped her perception of what a healthy relationship with her kind was like. I fitted in my keys in the ignition and slowly backed up before putting it into drive and backing out of the driveway. I was beginning to realize how empty my threat had been. I could not see myself exposin
The Beta's Rebound TWENTY ONE
MATTHANCatherine made good on her promise and as early as dawn, I was summoned to the round table to speak my cause. The werewolf elders didn't gather around much. They consisted of politicians, royal families, and even former Alphas of diverse packs. That said, they were pretentious bastards who called the shots regionally. I was not wrong because even after being summoned, I had to wait outside the room till I was required to enter. My sharp senses could hear the conversing and throwing their theories about what I needed their help for. The exhilaration in their tone was the worst part of it. The thrill of doing absolutely nothing but listen to me talk and then form a circle to decide the most interesting reaction they would give. I would be foolish if I did not acknowledge that the elder's table was not a cruel place filled with old farts who had nothing to do but latch on to whatever minor glory that remained for them. But not Catherine. Catherine was the only black sheep in th
The Beta's Rebound TWENTY TWO
ELOISE "Good night Matthan," I managed a whisper before shutting the door behind me. What happened next was unsightly and I hoped to God that my mom was not around the corner, waiting to hear how the date went. I sank against the door and cried. I didn't know why he had to make everything so much harder than it needed to be. It wasn’t like it was going to get any better if I just kept avoiding him. At least, I hoped that it wouldn't. But who was I kidding? Matthan was hurt. I had broken the truce. A reprieve I had not quite agreed to but a truce nonetheless.I wiped away the tears from my face and took a deep breath. I couldn't keep doing this. I genuinely wanted to get better but maybe destiny hadn't placed that character development in my books. I thought about it long and hard. Would I ever get better or was I just another lost cause? Perhaps my birth father had damaged me beyond repair."You are wrong Eloise. Judas did not damage us. But you will never get better if you don't try
The Beta's Rebound TWENTY THREE
MATTHAN There was more murmur but the delay in their response meant at least some of them had an interest in my cause. I had even the blasted attention of the Marigold elder. It was fun to watch because I already knew where this was going. I had gotten my cause imprinted in their minds. It wasn't like they had any other important matters to attend to.They finally stopped to give me a unison answer. "Matthan Gardenia, you excuse the table. The circle would like to come to a conclusion in regards to your request."I put up with a ceremonial bow before being escorted out by a sentinel. The alone time prancing to and fro outside gave me the time I needed to work on the twinges of my master plan. The way I saw it, Eloise would eventually have to reach out to me for help out of the dilemma I was about to put her in and I would gladly help. Whatever solution I was going to offer was going to be a far cry from what the several packs that would solicit her allegiance would demand. I was stil
The Beta's Rebound TWENTY FOUR
ELOISEI woke up to the noise of people arguing. Or maybe arguing wasn't right; it was more like an angry and aggressive shouting match. The voices were muffled through the walls of my room, but I could still hear them.“How did she get exposed?” A male voice shouted. It was my father and I knew the man to be a man of few words. If he was pissed, it had to be something unforgivable. "Eloise is still a child! She's not ready for this sort of meeting. She still has nightmares and now you want to open all those wounds that have barely healed?”"I know but it is not like I have a choice. She is in potential danger and she deserves to know. We've kept up this act of fragile little human for far too long. She is no weakling. Now, where is she?"The other voice sounded familiar. It sounded like a man. From the baritone laced in his voice, I could tell he was old but I could not shake the feeling that I had heard the voice somewhere. But that was not the only thing that caught my attention. T
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The Beta's Rebound SIXTY FIVE
ELOISE(A few days later)The full moon did come and when it did. Matthan decided it was time to perfect our bond. He took me somewhere. I wouldn't miss that narrow and crooked road. It was the same path we had taken when he lead me to the tree with a door. This time around, Matthan took another turn and we arrived at a clearing in the middle of the forest."We aren't using the tree door?" I asked getting down. "I thought the mating ritual was supposed to take place in the Gardenia pack house?"Matthan pocketed his car keys and joined me. "Yes. But I don't want us to have a sex orgy. This is special for me. Sacred. I want us to remember tonight sometime in the future."I smiled at him. "You are very romantic, Matthan Gardenia." I teased but my face fell when I saw how serious he looked. I quickly looked away, blushing.We stood facing each other, silent. Matthan looked down at me and then stepped closer until the two of us were touching. He gently placed his hand under my chin and rai
The Beta's Rebound SIXTY FOUR
ELOISE"We are here today to honor..." I tried to listen to the priest as he droned on about his mother but I was distracted. My mind was elsewhere. The words of the priest barely registered as I focused on what lay ahead. It was hard for me to accept mom had died. In fact, it felt so unreal it scared me. I didn't want to let go. But it wasn't like I had any say in the matter. I couldn't bring back the dead. I played with my fingernails as the priest went on to list all the good deeds she did for the church and the people around her. It made it hard to even breathe. She was a good person. She didn't deserve what fate she got.Matthan squeezed my hand in comfort. A gesture I appreciated in ways he wouldn't even understand. He looked over at me and said in a gentle voice, "You ok?"I nodded but didn't feel much better. The only difference was I could stomach it better. Clay stepped out to give his speech. It was long. It was also difficult for him to go through it all without bursting i
The Beta's Rebound SIXTY THREE
ALICE Since I made the call, I hadn't known peace. It wasn't guilt. I very much knew what was going to happen to Eloise and her brother when I informed Judas Carnation about his daughter. The trouble that I faced was when I would hear some tragic news. Judas' main target was his daughter but there was a big fat chance that others would be caught in the crossfire. Some days later, the effort of my hard work came to fruition, the day strings of murders came ringing into the Gardenia house. Someone had murdered some individuals working in a diner at Ashlake. The supposed unfortunate news was followed by another mother. A woman with the surname Carter had been brutally murdered. This time she hadn't been killed with the typical weapon. The stories they spun made me remember who else had died like that. Fadia Carnation. Eloise's biological mother. Joy could not describe the feelings I experienced. My heart was wrung and I couldn't stop smiling throughout that day. An added bonus was Dec
The Beta's Rebound SIXTY TWO
ELOISEMatthan took my hand and led me out into the cool air and towards the woods behind the house where his car was. I looked back and watched as the fire swallowed the house, the last remnants of it fading into a cloud of red smoke. I couldn't help but smile seeing it burn to the ground. I truly hoped no one decided to make this double tragedy another social experiment. The horrors that had occurred in this ground deserved to remain just ash and cinders forevermore.I could hear faint sounds of a siren coming from town; someone must have called an ambulance, but I doubted they'd get here before it was too late. Matthan opened the car door and helped me in, then buckled me in. He sat down on the opposite side of the car, putting on his seatbelt. The moment he clicked in his keys and started up the engine, I looked at the house one last time. I had wanted to stay but Matthan had been against it. Even with many in high places acknowledging the existence of shifters, most still didn't
The Beta's Rebound SIXTY ONE
ELOISE Judas seemed to become smaller in my eyes. My bones cracked and twisted. I expected pain. True undiluted pain but there was nothing. Only rage. There was something else too. The shock in his eyes was almost liberating. As if on instinct, I grabbed him by the throat and threw him against the wall. He dropped like a broken toy. The air felt strangely stale around us. I felt different. The air I was taking in didn't feel like fire anymore. The choking had stopped and even though the fire that now engulfed the room singed my body, I was strangely unaffected. My attention wasn't focused on the burning wood that collapsed here and there or the exploding window frames. I had my eyes only on the cowering man."You will never hurt anyone again," I told him. "Tonight will be the last day you terrorize my life and all those innocent people."Judas must have seen an opportunity because the color of his eyes shifted into gold and claws grew from his hands and feet. His skin became grey, cov
The Beta's Rebound SIXTY
ELOISEMy body hurt all over. He had broken something. The sting surging to my brain like a radio signal was a dead giveaway. I also could barely move. I wanted to run. I just couldn't do it. No matter what I did, I couldn't move a single muscle. It felt as if someone had stuck needles into all my muscles with a blunt object and twisted them around until they were stretched tightly and painful beyond description."Let's go back to your mother's room," Judas said, seizing me by the hair and dragging me up the stairs. I cried out in pain but it didn't make him stop. As we ascended the steps, I screamed at him, and tried kicking him but nothing worked. I couldn't fight him because every movement sent pain shooting across my body. "Do not be difficult Eloise. I do not want to hurt you now." He didn't stop until I was back in the room. I obeyed him. I stopped being difficult. Not because he had asked and it definitely wasn't because of the pain that assaulted my body with every movement tha
The Beta's Rebound FIFTY NINE
ELOISE I walked through the streets of Marblefay with nothing but questions in my head. I wondered if Judas would even be there considering I might now have the upper hand with the help of teleportation. I could also be wrong. Maybe Judas wasn't working alone. Maybe he had people on his side who were just as sick as him. A man like him couldn't have survived all by himself, right? When I left Matthan's house, the sun was out. When I reached the house I was born in, the house my father burned to the ground, the sun had become a pretty orange hue, and the birds sang. I could smell flowers blooming in the gardens of the home I grew up at, hear cars passing by on the highway, and feel the wind that brushed against me. This was not how it happened. The house I stood in front of looked exactly the same, though. That renovator kept to her word. The house looked nothing like it should be. It looked beautiful. I stayed outside, wondering if people had already moved in. A quick g****e search to
The Beta's Rebound FIFTY EIGHT
ELOISELike clockwork, the door unlocked and out of it appeared Matthan. It was a strange thing to admit but seeing him made things a bit easier."Your place or my place?" He asked."No one will be barging your place anytime soon," I replied. At least, that wasn't a lie.True." Matthan took my hand and led me towards the door. I looked back at my room one last time. There was a possibility this was the last time I was going to see it. I had been afraid of telling myself that since I had made the Carter home my home but now that it was happening, I wasn't so scared anymore. I looked forward, trying not to think about what could go wrong. We both walked through the door and I shut it. Now wasn't the time to think. I needed to act. I knew Matt would ask questions. Many I wouldn't want to answer and the last thing I wanted was to recruit him to die along with me so before those questions could leave his pretty mouth, I grabbed him by the shirt and kissed him hard on the lips.He was taken
The Beta's Rebound FIFTY SEVEN
ELOISEI don't think I was able to cry. The numbness overpowered all my other senses. It was like an out-of-body experience where you could see it all happening but there wasn't much you could do about it. I dreaded what was to come. I dreaded passing by the sign welcome to Ashlake and eventually getting home. By the time we arrived, I could already hear the wails of sirens and the chatters of passersby. No miracle was happening. I looked outside the car window and that was when the numb feeling exploded into something I knew like the back of my hand. Men dressed like paramedics carried a big black bag from the house as they loaded the body inside the ambulance."It's not real," I told myself, and how I wished that were true. What I would have done to let that be my truth."Miss, there is–" I didn't even let the butler finish before I opened the car door and stepped outside."Tell Orla that I am grateful for everything she has done for me." I managed to say while holding my tears. Tha
