The Beta's Arrival

Chapter 6

James’ POV

I’ve been cut off from her. I couldn’t help the rage that built up inside me. I wanted to destroy everything around me to get to her. I needed her. Why didn’t my father understand? He had a mate. He had to understand the need and desire that consumed you.

“Sweetheart, dinner is ready. You have been locked up in your room all day,” I heard my mother say sweetly through the door. When I didn’t respond right away, she continued. “Please, sweetheart. You need to eat.”

I pushed myself off the bed and strode over to the door. “Mom, I’m really not hungry,” I told her back through the door.

“I know you may not feel hungry now, but I’m sure you will once you sit down at the table,” she tried to coax me out.

When she started like this, I knew she wouldn't give up until she got what she wanted. I opened the door to see her standing there holding a tray with a snack and drink. “If you eat this, I’ll go away,” she smiled sweetly at me.

“No, I’ll have a meal with you,” I muttered. The snack was a trick. She would still ask me to come down for dinner.

“Oh really, well then, you can have these as a late-night snack then,” she grinned from ear to ear. She entered my room and placed the tray on my desk before coming around to grab my arm and drag me out of my room and down the hallway.

I didn’t fight her but followed her. We entered the dining room to find that my father had already eaten and gone. I figured he didn’t want to look at me. I sat down with my mother and our dinners were served. We ate mostly in silence, but I knew she was happy. At least she was happy. Soon we finished, and she let me go back to my room where I was alone again in my feelings.

Helen’s POV

Two weeks later...

Finally, my wolf and I will meet tonight! It has been quiet at school since James was practically put under house arrest. However, it’s given me time to figure out Liam, Olivier, Asher, Dylan, and Evan’s regular schedules. The more I know, the easier for me to corner them. They’ll never suspect it.

It’s always when you are eagerly waiting for something that time moves at a snail’s pace. First period hadn’t even begun yet and here I was wishing night would already fall. I needed my wolf.

“Helen? Helen Miller!” I heard the teacher call my name.

“Yes?” I asked, confused.

“I’ve been calling your name a few times, but you’re not listening,” she answered, glaring at me.

“I’m sorry,” I responded, trying to sound truly apologetic.

“Now will you tell the class the answer to the question on the board?” she asked as she motioned to the board.

I looked up at the board, trying to figure out how to solve the math problem. A problem that I was unable to solve because math was not my strong suit. I stared at it for far too long. “You have not been practicing,” she muttered, disappointed.

"I'm sorry," I whispered and then hoped she would move on to someone else. Luckily, she chose not to torture me anymore with math problems.

The class ended, and I slipped out into the hallway. Diane used to meet me after every class by my locker, but now, she would stay close to her classrooms. At least, she was back at school. I just needed to wait until tonight, then I could start putting my plan into action. They would all pay for what they put her through. Every last one of them.

"Helen," I heard someone say as I felt a hand on my shoulder.

I turned to see Mel standing behind me with her arms crossed across her chest. "I've been calling you for like ten minutes." She exaggerated since class has only been out for a few minutes.

"What's up?" I ask, choosing to ignore the agitation in her voice.

"I wanted to tell you that your sister is being harassed," she informed me. It was only now that I noticed the sweat beading down her forward and the fact that she was out of breath.

"Where?" I tried to look around, but I knew they wouldn't be so bold as to harass her where I could see them.

"They dragged her outside. I tried to stop them," she said, and when she turned to point in the direction I should go, I saw a bruise beginning to form on her arm.

I didn't need to be told twice. I quickly raced down the hallway in the direction Mel had pointed. In a matter of moments, I was out the door at the end and standing behind three of the wolves picking on my sister.

"Come on, you gave out to the other guys. What's wrong with us?" they asked as they pushed her further from the school and toward the trees.

"STOP!" I growled at them as I rushed to step between them and my sister.

"Two are better than one," one of the guys snickered as he stepped toward me.

"Keep coming and find out what happens," I hissed at him.

"I'm so scared," he cackled. They were all seniors just as I was. They were all also on the football team so they thought they were untouchable. And usually, they would be. But not today.

"You should be," I snapped at him.

"I do love it when they have a bit of fight in them. It's more fun to break them." He smirked, not an ounce of fear. He knew very well that we hailed from a pure Beta bloodline, but it didn't seem to give him second thoughts about what he was planning today.

I felt an overwhelming urge to rip his throat out, but what more was the pain and strength emanating from my hands? I glanced down to see my nails were extending. He went to grab me and I slashed at him. My nails made contact with his chest, tearing through his shirt and just barely grazing his skin.

"What the...?" he said in shock as he stepped back to look down at what I had done. "I thought you didn't have your wolf yet."

"Guess she decided to come early," I said with a shrug. "Now, you choose, go back to school or I take you here and now." I raised my hands and to my relief, my nails had changed to claws.

"You'll regret this," he muttered as he turned back to his friends. "Let's go."

"She's just one she-wolf," one of the other two protested.

"Fine, you stay, but I'm going," he huffed as he walked away.

"Chicken!" one yelled at his back.

In the blink of an eye, he had pinned the one who mocked him to the side of the school. "Say it again," he hissed at him.

"You know I didn't mean it like that," the guy tried to laugh it off and slip out of the other guy's grasp.

He shoved him once more against the school wall, hard, and then went inside. "What's up his butt?" the guy asked as he shook off the dust from his clothes. "Now where were we?"

He turned back to face my sister and I. "Oh, I remember. You two were about to give us a good time," he said with a devilish smirk.

With one look at his demented face, there was no reasoning with him. So, I decided to just kick his ass instead. Talking now was overrated. He launched himself at me and, in one swift motion, I stepped to the side taking my sister with me. We watched as he lost his balance and his face hit the dirt. He started to push himself up and pounded his fist in the dirt angrily. He spun quickly around, his fist raised in the air to strike me. Without blinking, I raised my hand and stopped his fist from striking me. I knew he had thrown all his weight behind the punch, but it felt like catching a soft ball. I then began to crush his fist. With a quick motion, I twisted his wrist enough that if I were to add just a bit more pressure it would break. He tried swinging at me with his free hand, but I caught that one as well with my free hand.

“You have a choice. Leave or continue,” I warned him.

His expression hardened as he tried to struggle against me. “Never,” he grunted out.

“Helen!” I heard Diane shriek from behind me.

I looked over my shoulder to see that the other guy was behind her with one arm around her waist and a hand around her neck. “Let him go,” he ordered me.

I shoved the i***t's hands away from me and he pulled them into his chest, cradling them. “Now let her go,” I hissed at him as I turned to face him head-on.

“I think I prefer our current positions,” he said as he raised his hand up from my sister’s waist.

All I could see was red and before I knew it, Diane was standing safely away from the guy and he was up in a tree. “You’re a monster!” he hollowed at me.

“I suppose only a monster would know a monster,” I smirked. “Good luck coming down.”

I turned to see the one with nearly broken wrists running at us with a large piece of wood seeming too heavy for his now weak wrists. I grabbed the wood from him and thrust it amongst the trees and then he was following the wood, screaming.

“Diane, let’s go,” I said as I took her hand and walked back to the school.

“Helen, you’re going to get in trouble,” she muttered nervously.

“So will they,” I responded. “But don’t worry about it.”

“I’m so sorry,” she said, nearly to tears.

I stopped and turned to face her. “No, you did nothing wrong!” I told her strongly. “Nothing.”

“But if it wasn’t for me, then you wouldn’t have had to do anything that could and probably will get you in trouble,” she nearly sobbed.

I wrapped my arms around her. “No, this isn’t your fault. This is their fault. They should have left you alone. But they’re too stupid,” I tried to calm her.

“No... I’m... so... sorry,” she hiccuped as she cried into my shoulder.

“Shh...” I cooed hoping she would calm down soon. “Do you want to go to the guidance counsellor?”

She shook her head. “No, she doesn’t even think I was tortured by the Alpha and his friends. She thinks I made it all up. Why would I do that?” she sobbed even harder.

Quickly, I took her to the nearest bathroom. “What did she say to you?”

“She said that I just wanted attention and should focus on my studies and not try to get the attention of others playing the victim to something I made up,” she responded through her tears.

“I see,” I mumbled. I was going to have a word with her as soon as I got my sister calm and back to class.

It took a few more minutes, but she finally calmed down, cleaned her face and I got her to her classroom. The teacher was very understanding when I dropped her off and didn’t ask any more than what I had quickly explained. Then I turned on my heels and headed straight for the counsellor’s office.

I knocked on the door. She opened it, appearing confused. “Did we have an appointment?”

“No, but I really need to talk with someone,” I feigned a pained expression.

“I see. I have a few minutes. Please come in,” she said as she stepped to the side to let me walk into the office.

She closed the door and went around her desk to take a seat. “Tell me what’s bothering you,” she said with a sweet fake smile.

“Well, it bothers me that someone is trying to diminish what happened to my sister. Hearing that someone was not only trying to tell her she was only playing the victim but proceeding to say none of what she went through really happened, makes me want to rip them to pieces,” I said as I plopped down on the chair in front of her.

I carefully watched her expression. She appeared unfazed, but I could see there was a hint of fear in her gaze. “It’s appalling that someone would try to belittle what happened to your sweet younger sister,” she responded, trying to sound as though she were not the one who said it.

“I’m glad we can both agree. Now, I would like you to apologize to her the next time you see her. And the next time she comes through these doors, don’t try to gaslight her into thinking that what she went through didn’t really happen,” I snapped at her. “Am I understood?”

“You can’t threaten a faculty member,” she hissed back at me.

“It’s not a threat. I’m promising you that you will regret it,” I smirked at her.

“You think because you are of Beta decent that you can order an older she-wolf around,” she huffed.

“I’m not ordering. I’m merely suggesting that you should do something with the thought of your own health on the line,” I retorted.

She wanted to say something more but decided against it. “Fine,” she muttered, agitated. “Now get out of my office.”

“Gladly, but if I hear another word of you mistreating my sister or any other wolf, I’ll be back with a vengeance,” I informed her as I left the office not giving her a chance to respond.

Then I went to my classroom. My teacher was a little less understanding than my sister’s. “Helen Miller where have you been? Class started twenty minutes ago,” the teacher yelled at me.

“I had a few things to take care of. I am truly sorry,” I said with a slight bow of respect. I knew this teacher well enough that if you show some form of submission then she will more than likely let it go.

“Just take your seat,” she huffed and motioned me away.

I quickly sat down and luckily the rest of the day finished without any more drama. Diane climbed into the passenger seat of my car. “Did you speak with the counsellor?” she asked as she closed her door.

“Why? Did something happen?” I asked, avoiding answering because I knew she would be upset. She hated it when I stood up for her. She hated causing any trouble for anyone.

“No, she just apologized for not believing me and told me I could come by any time if I needed to talk about what happened,” she informed.

“That’s good.” I smiled as I pulled the car out of the parking lot.

“Oh, are you heading home now?” she asked suddenly.

“Yes, because we always go straight home after school,” I laughed, slightly confused.

“Well I was thinking I could treat you to something since it is your birthday after all,” she offered. I knew she didn’t have a lot of money and I didn’t want her to use it on me.

“That’s sweet, but it’s okay. We can just eat something good at home.”

“Oh, but how about ice cream?” she pressed.

I glanced over to see her looking down nervously at her phone. There was a message from someone, but I couldn’t see what it said or who it was from. “Are you planning something?” I asked, trying hard not to laugh at her shocked expression.

I pulled the car to a stop as the light turned red. “How did you... No, nothing!” she tried to cover for herself.

“Ice cream it is then,” I responded, trying hard to keep a straight face. She was trying so hard not to give away whatever was being prepared.

“Yes, ice cream,” she agreed and then quickly sent off a message to someone.