Chapter 2

(Harper’s POV)

“Nope,” I said, and turned and walked back towards the house. 

“Harps,” Tommy called after me, but I continued to ignore him. I had no plans to step foot inside one of the Council offices anytime soon. Tommy ran around me, blocking my path. He had a determined look on his face, which I returned with my own.

“I told you Tommy,” I said, “I don’t work for the council anymore. They can’t summon me.” 

“Actually Harps, they can,” he said, shaking his head. “They are still the authority for all supernatural matters, and we all have to answer to them.” I sighed and attempted to move past him. 

“Harper,” he said, “Please don’t make this difficult. This is important.” 

“Harper,” I looked over at Elias, “I think it’s time. We’ve avoided them this long. But Drake has been calling your phone daily. It must be something if Tommy is here.” He nodded to Tommy, who grimaced. 

My Uncle Tommy wasn’t just the Alpha of the Midnight Moon pack, he was also a Divine Order guardian. One of his roles as guardian was to prepare and train the divine warrior and educate future guardians. This was made difficult since I, as the divine warrior, hadn’t set foot back in Midnight Moon territory since we left six months ago, and he decided to hold off on teaching anything to James, my nephew, until he was older. But his other duty as guardian was to protect, manage and report any changes to the hell gateway that was under the pack territory. As such, guardians rarely left the immediate area. Tommy had only left pack territory once before in the last fifteen years and that was two months ago when our friends Aaron and Katie had got married and Tommy’s very pregnant girlfriend, and my best friend Louise, had insisted they attend. So for him to be here, now, showed the urgency of the matter. 

But I had done a good job of avoiding not just the council, and my hometown these past six months. But I had also been avoiding Drake, the hot as fuck Greek god like three-thousand-year-old vampire and fellow divine warrior, and his requests for me to visit the Divine Order headquarters. I knew I was still fighting this divine thing; I mean, it’s not easy to learn that you are the most recent in a long line of shifters with angel blood infused, and one of only four warriors with the task of stopping demons from bringing hell to earth. Yeah, could I really be blamed for that, taking a little bit of time to work through? So I focused on the Circle, seeking out and taking down their little corrupt units within the packs, clans and such that they were taking over. Each one was chosen to make their movement of products easier. So, by taking one down, we threw many spanners into the works for them. 

I didn’t know what this had to do with bringing on the apocalypse, but Aaron seemed to think that the strategy was spreading the corruption out further, and something about tipping the balance. I trusted what he said. He was one of the most educated professors in parapsychology at the Council before he left.

I sighed again and looked at Tommy. 

“Fine,” I said grudgingly. “I will go see what they want, happy now?” Tommy responded with a strained smile, and then nodded to Greg. 

“Ensure this place is cleaned up and then gather the remaining inhabitants,” he said, and Greg nodded and then grinned at me before heading back into the mansion. Normally, we would get Tommy to run background checks on the remains of the units we took down. It was rare for a full unit to be part of the Circle. Most of them were just regular supernaturals who had got caught in the mess by their authority figures.

***

It was a three-hour drive to the UK Council headquarters, where I had spent ten years of my life. First hiding from my psycho ex mate and former Beta of the Midnight Moon pack, and then training to become one of the most accomplished elite warriors they had. I had excelled under the mentorship of Nathanial Bethrinton, unaware that he was using my skills to further the spread of the Circle’s impact. It was him that had sent me back home to where my former abusive mate, and I later found out his nephew, Colton, was waiting to try and pull me back under his control. Thankfully, that was more difficult when I found out that the moon goddess had a funny sense of humour and Elias, the man I was sent to take down, was my second chance mate. 

All of this was a plot by the Circle. They had taken control of the midnight Moon pack before I was born and had run the then Alpha, my own grandfather, out of town and taken it for themselves. Elias had stormed and taken control of the town and was in the middle of cleaning it up when I had turned up. He had been working against the Circle ever since they had kidnapped and killed his sister. And that was what brought him to Midnight Moon. The Beta had manoeuvred control using the Alpha as a pawn when my grandfather had been responsible for the death of the increasing number of demon bloods in the town. Leaving only his mate and son as the last remaining demon bloods. 

I knew from what I had been told that it was no coincidence that I had been fated mates to not one, but two demon bloods. As a divine warrior, apparently that was all I could be compatible with or something. Although I didn’t know why, just that the books said that my blood “appeased” them. I was never one for being told what to do, though, and I certainly wasn’t going to allow some old dusty books to change that.

Tommy ended up driving to the Council with Elias and I. With Marcus and Alex following in the rear.

“So where did they go, then?” Tommy asked. We had been chatting about Aaron and Katie’s wedding and their sudden desire to take a honeymoon. 

“I’m not sure,” I said. “Aaron said it was a surprise, but I don’t think Katie was too excited. She didn’t look happy about it.” Tommy nodded at that.

“I would have assumed she would be happy to go to a new place. Poor kid was desperate to get out of town her whole life.” he said and I nodded. Katie had grown up in the pack and was one of my closest friends. But she had been born into an omega rank and it was pack law that omegas couldn’t leave pack territory without express permission. Alpha Daniel, the former Alpha of the pack, was a dick and refused all requests. Some said he was scared that the omegas would leave and never return, and he kept the pack very secluded away from other packs. 

Even when other packs had to visit, he was very strict about the number of werewolves that were allowed into our territory, especially after his son had found his fated mate in a visiting pack. He had rejected her because she was of omega rank and he was an elitist prick, but I had recently found out that she had also turned up dead some days later. Her Alpha had blamed Damien, the future Alpha, and there had almost been a pack war because of it. Knowing Damien, if it had been him, he wouldn’t have done it himself. Not only was he a prick, but he was a snivelling coward as well. 

When Elias had taken over the pack and killed his father, Damien ran. He was still missing. A fact that Tommy hated, especially since Damien had forced Louise into a mate bond with him and then shared her with Colton for years. All just to get back at Tommy for helping me to escape. This was the reason why Tommy and Louise, despite being fated mates, hadn’t completed their bond. Technically, she was still bonded to Damien. Although at this point, breaking their bond would put both her life and the life of her child in danger. A broken bond was no joke, even with a non-fated mate, and it could damn well near kill you if you weren’t careful. 

Our conversation had moved on to the very pregnant she-wolf, and Tommy was telling me about how moody and foul tempered Louise was. I couldn’t help but laugh. Louise was a very opinionated woman and I could only imagine what the extra hormones would do to her. When I saw her at Katie’s wedding, she had cried for ten minutes straight, telling me how much she missed me. 

“So, taking this trip is probably a good rest,” Tommy said. “Between my not so glowy mate, the twins and Jamie all acting up and James bugging me to start training, I could do with a rest bite.” 

“What’s wrong with the twins and Jamie?” I asked, and I saw Tommy glance at Elias before looking back at me.

“They are all asking to leave the pack,” he said, and I shrugged. 

“Why wouldn’t you let them?” Tommy looked at Elias again, who was busying himself with driving. I narrowed my eyes at Elias, and he glanced sideways at me. He sighed and looked in the rearview mirror, probably at Tommy.

“I said no transfers out,” he said, and my eyes widened. Even though Tommy was the pack Alpha, he was under Elias. Elias was the true pack Alpha, along with the other seven or so packs that he had formal control of.

“Why would you do that?” I asked sharply. 

“Because while Damien is still out there we have to be careful,” he said, “I mean do you really think that if we let his sisters, or his mother for that matter, outside the territory that he wouldn’t find some way to take advantage?” The twins were the two remaining children of the former Alpha and Luna. They had publicly sided with Elias when their mother had. She had revealed that things had been bad at the pack house, and that she was more than grateful for Elias ending her husband’s hold on her life. Elias had told me that there had been negotiations for Lisa and Lily, the alpha twins, to be married off to some rich men. He was willing to sell his own daughters to get a little money. That was how Elias had found out Midnight Moon was a part of the Circle’s operations. He had been monitoring communications and found the ones about the arrangements for the girls. They still didn’t know, because Alice had asked Elias not to tell them, but if he hadn’t had gone in when he did, both girls would have been shipped off within the month. 

“But you can’t keep them trapped,” I protested. 

“Harper, it’s keeping them safe,” Tommy said. “Once we have made sure that Damien isn’t plotting something, or I have his head in my hands, then we will lift the travel ban.” I sighed at that, but let it go. I knew they were being smart. I just didn’t like it. 

It wasn’t much longer before we were pulling up to the security house of the Council headquarters. Tommy handed over some papers to the guard who was on duty. He looked through the papers and then looked up quickly. He looked at me with a big grin.

“Oh hey Harper,” he said cheerfully. I smiled politely but couldn’t place the guy.

“Hey… Erm,” I said with an apologetic smile. His grin grew.

“It’s okay,” he said “It’s Sam. We were in training together. And we hooked up one or twice.” He winked at me, and Elias growled. Sam, who was now starting to look a little familiar, gave Elias an uncertain look before carefully handing back the papers to an amused Tommy. I placed my hand on Elias’ shoulder and smiled at Sam again.

“Nice to see you again,” I said. Elias growled again, and I rolled my eyes. 

“Maybe I’ll see you around on your visit,” Sam said. 

“No,” Elias growled and pressed the window button to wind it up. Poor Sam got the hint and opened the barrier. I sent another apologetic smile as Elias drove through. 

“That was rude,” I said, and he glared at me.

“He wanted to fuck you,” he snapped. “I could smell it on him.”

“By the sounds of it, he already did,” Tommy said from the back, and I tried to hide the chuckle, which earned me another glare from Elias.

“Oh get over it,” I sighed, “I have a past. You know I only have eyes for you now.” I grinned at him and he sighed. 

“I’m gonna fucking hate this visit,” he mumbled, but let the matter drop.

The unfortunate truth was that we would probably bump into more of my past conquests. I was dealing with trauma, not that I knew it at the time. But my way to deal was to fuck who I wanted and when I wanted. It worked until it didn’t. But it was nothing but physical. Elias was the one who taught me it was safe to love again. That was worth every single one of the others I had been with. 

Speaking of people I had slept with. I noticed a figure waiting for us as Elias pulled the car into an empty space. I took a deep breath as he shut off the engine and undid my seatbelt. I glanced over at Elias and he tried to send me an encouraging smile. But I didn’t quite buy it. I opened the door and climbed out of the car..

“Hi Drake,” I said with a forced smile. 

“Harper dear,” he reached forward and pulled me into an uncomfortable embrace, “You look stunning, going rogue clearly suits you.” Elias growled again at the close contact, and Drake chuckled as I pulled away from his embrace.

Drake was the Divine Warrior for the immortal line, just as I was the Divine Warrior for the shifter line. There was also a faerie line and a magic worker line. Always one Divine Warrior at a time only, although there could be many guardians. Of course, this was potentially proving to be untrue, as according to my traitorous bitch sister, the child that Louise was carrying could also be a Divine Warrior. But we couldn’t know for sure until the baby was older, and started showing signs.

There were certain tells of a Divine Warrior, such as a shimmer around them. This wasn’t consciously seen by most people, although for us Divine Warriors, it was more apparent. I had always seen the shimmer around Drake, but never gave it much thought. I mean, at over three thousand years old, you were allowed to develop a glow, surely. Drake had suspicions I was a Divine Warrior when he first met me. Apparently my missing wolf because of trauma had made my shimmer less, well, shimmery. But Drake had coerced me into his company to confirm his suspicions. This had ended up with me spending three months at the Castle, Drake’s personal mansion just off Council land, that would give most sex clubs a run for their money. 

At the time, Aaron had been convinced by Nathaniel that Drake was trying to turn me into one of his blood groupies, when, in fact, he was trying to keep me away from Nathaniel, who Drake was suspicious of. The rescue attempt that Aaron had been manipulated into pulling had only further put me into the pit of snakes. I felt grateful and indebted to Nathaniel for it. Drake had spent the next eight years trying to get me back out from under Nathaniel, but the damage was done, and I had done my best to avoid him. 

Now I avoided him for a different reason. He had been on at me to go to the Divine Order headquarters so he could teach me all about my heritage or something. I was still coming to terms with the whole angel and demon thing. I didn’t need more to blow my mind just yet. 

Drake shook Elias’ and Tommy’s hands and then grinned at Tommy. 

“Thank you for getting her here,” he said, and Tommy nodded as I glared at them both. Drake chuckled in response and then clapped his hands. 

“I would love to allow you to settle in from your journey, but I am afraid that I must call you straight into the meeting,” he said, and I sighed. 

“What’s this about Drake?” I asked as he turned and began walking towards the main building. I rushed to keep up with his long, determined strides. 

“You can ask all the questions you want once we are with the Sovereign,” he replied.

“What?” I asked, my eyes widening. The Sovereign was the head of the whole Council. He had never been seen by anyone other than the high councilmen. The story was that he created the Council and picked the best of the different supernatural lines to create order in the supernatural world. The council itself was only around thirty years old, but it had made a difference in governing the supernaturals. But for us to actually have a meeting with the Sovereign was a big thing. Suddenly, I was feeling very nervous. I glanced at Tommy and Elias, who both looked as shocked as I felt.

“That’s right,” Drake said as he knocked on a door. “He requested the meeting himself.” 

A voice from inside called for us to come in and Drake opened the door and allowed me to walk through. Sitting behind the large, heavy wooden desk was an older man. I could tell immediately that he was a werewolf from his scent. His hair was grey and his eyes were a steel blue grey, not unlike my own, and there was something very familiar about him. He smiled at me as I walked through the door and waved for me to sit down. I glanced over at Elias as he followed me in, and then Tommy. Tommy looked up, and his eyes widened in disbelief. I glanced quickly to see the Sovereign watching Tommy carefully. Tommy looked like he was struggling to find words. He finally managed one word.

“Dad?”