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, of course, 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 asked our alpha for more time, but he had given her it. It wasn’t going to change anything. It was quite clear, Phoenix wasn’t coming back to us, and I hated we had to let him go. He was a strong fighter. A bit of a loner, but he was there when he was needed.

“I wasn’t sleeping!”

I turned my eyes to the Spiritual, whose head had accidently fallen from her hand, and it had woken her up. She did that a lot, as if we would accuse her of taking a break or closing her eyes. She must have noticed I was watching Phoenix, and felt like she had to explain herself.

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

She looked guilty of 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. Though 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 good reason. I was going insane knowing Harper was walking around out there unclaimed. I know, 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 getting her to be mine had changed over the month that 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 knew my plan might be a little over the top, but I never claimed to be a saint. Really, I had blood on my hands. A lot of it, and I was not sorry about it.

At least I wasn’t trying to act like something I wasn’t. I didn’t put on this act just to ‘fit in’ or make people like me. I didn’t have to. Not after meeting Hunter. It took one monster to know another, and there was no reason to hide our darkness here.

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. I wouldn’t force my mark on her. No, that wasn’t the way to go, no matter how much I had been tempted to do it, while the month had passed by, and I mean I had been really tempted. I sometimes found myself sitting in the car without remembering how I had gotten inside. I had even turned it on, before I found my control and was able to calm myself down.

I had a plan, and I was going to stick to it.

I would give Harper one more chance to come to me willingly, and if she didn’t, she would see just how not nice I could be.

“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 asked.

She glanced up at me, but then put on an innocent look.

“No,” she said.

“Are you sure?”

Something told me she was keeping something hidden from us, but I was not 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.”

I just nodded slowly, before making a small tilt with my head to the side.

“Go in,” I said.

She certainly was an obedient little one, as she just walked right in. I closed the door behind her, before turning around and went to the entrance hall.

“Going somewhere?”

I looked behind me, seeing Hunter coming down the stairs. He had a pleased smile on his lips, which could only mean he had just f*cked his mate, who had gone through her heat not long ago, and was now expecting. It was strange now to see this calm and happy side of him, but that was just what a mate brought out in you, or it should. Harper was making me go mad. I was more irritated and frustrated. I was close to ripping someone apart if I couldn’t have her soon, but I wasn’t completely ready yet.

“Out,” I just said.

“You have been going out a lot lately.”

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

He stopped at the end of the stairs and crossed his arms. I knew how I had made it sound, when I said I needed something to take my mind off Harper, but he couldn’t know the truth. No one could. This was between Harper and me, and I didn’t want anyone to interfere.

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

“No?”

He shook his head.

“I understand you need someone to distract you, so you can respect her wishes,” he said.

Oh, he had no idea. I had no plans to respect her wishes. I never had to begin with. The moment I put my eyes on her, she was mine. There was no doubt, and I was not about to let some other f*cker put his hands on her. She would only be touched by me, and if anyone tried taking her from me or keeping me from her, I would just kill them.

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

I was going to fight, but probably not in the way he thought.

“Harper doesn’t want me,” I said.

And that was not a lie. Everyone knew she had gone back home, but no one knew of my vow to her. One month, which had been a little more than that, but as long as she became mine in the end, what did a week or two extra mean?

“Change her mind,” he said. “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 said and started to walk away.

“But you need her!” he said. “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, got in my car, and drove out of there. I didn’t drive that far, just a little beyond Hunter’s territory, where I turned the car 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. But 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 borderline to madness. Maybe they even thought I was just mad, but Harper was stubborn, protective of herself and pure f*cking 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. She would realize her place wasn’t in the human world. It had never been. It was in this world, with me. She just needed to see that.

I walked over to the door, unlocking it, before going inside. It only had one floor, and about five rooms. Bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, living room, and a very tiny little 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 fourposter bed, but other than that, there were only chains connected to the wall in front of me. I walked over there, grabbing ahold of one of them and pulling on it. The wall made this 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. Her days were spent helping others, not working out. I knew if I really pulled, I could break this, but she wouldn’t be able to.

I stood again, smiling at my little handy work. 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.

This was definitely going to be a trial for both of us, but I knew we would get through it in the end, and she would be mine. Harper was smart. She would learn in the end, that escaping wasn’t an option. All the windows and doors were locked. The glass had been changed, so it wouldn’t break, should she somehow get loose and throw something at it. I would be alerted if somehow the door or windows were opened, and I, of course, had cameras in every room and outside.

Yeah, I had upped my game, and now I was curious to see if this month had had any influence on my mate, and if she might just choose to come with me willingly. If she did, I would not bring her here, but something told me, I really did have to take her with me kicking and screaming. I gladly did. Harper would learn that running was futile, and then she would finally give in to me.

I smiled, as I took one more look around the rooms, and then walked out, ready to prepare the last things, so I could go get her.