Beta Bully (F/F) - Chapter 15 (Early Access) (Patreon)

Lead

Darcy weaved her way through the Friday morning crowds, weaponising her elbows when necessary - and when certain she couldn’t be identified by the far bigger people all around her. With a dramatic inhale, she peeled away from the main horde. The corridor leading to her class was far clearer. Luna popped up at her side, seemingly out of nowhere. For the first time, Darcy didn’t jump out of her skin at the sudden sight of her.

“Wanna go for a run?” she asked before Darcy could think of a greeting. Probably for the best, she would have ended up with a squeaky and awkward ‘hi’ anyway.

“I spend plenty of time running from you, thank you very much,” Darcy replied, snippier in tone than she had expected to sound. She fought the reflex to apologise immediately. Being rude was not in the omega nature, but being rude to a beta was an offence against wolf nature itself.

Luna laughed quietly to herself. It filled her with annoyance instead of relief.

“It’s not funny,” Darcy whispered. “You don’t know what it’s like to have someone as big as you stalking someone as small as me.”

Luna’s expression turned uncomfortable and she looked away, but still kept pace with her. Either she didn’t catch the hint or decided to ignore it. “You told me once that you liked running,” she said.

It almost caused Darcy to stumble that she remembered such a small comment from such a long time ago. “I lied,” she replied.

Luna was not put off by her blunt response. “Let’s go back to the woods where they held the scavenger hunt. It’s protected land; we can shift there without worrying about humans.”

“Remember when you said I could tell you to fuck off?” Darcy asked cheerfully, expression heavy with insinuation. Darcy didn’t want to actually tell her to fuck off, at least not in public. They were still taking baby steps, at least as far as Darcy was concerned.

“You won’t even consider it? A fun afternoon out?”

Darcy gave her a withering look.

They reached her class, not one that Luna shared, and stopped at the back of the queue to enter the classroom. Luna dropped her back against the wall, leaning over Darcy at a sharp angle that made her t-shirt ride up. The skin of her hip was as golden as her face, with a sprinkling of brown freckles. Darcy’s mouth watered. She managed to drag her eyes from the exposed sliver and caught Luna grinning down at her. She flushed and wrapped her arms over her chest, hoping to look sulky and grouchy.

Luna watched her for a few moments before announcing, “I packed food for a picnic.”

Darcy perked up. “What kind of food?”

Her face broke out in a beam. “You’ll have to come with me to find out, won’t you?”

“I need some details first.”

“I’ll text you.” Luna pushed off the wall and joined the stream of students heading towards the science block.

“I’ll be changing my number any day now!” Darcy called after her.

As soon as Luna was out of sight she couldn’t keep from laughing at herself. Darcy was in way too deep, it was embarrassing. Perhaps struggling against the quicksand was only prolonging her demise, though. Would a few weeks of fun with her mate cause her any more hurt than she was already expecting? Darcy would have to pry herself from her either way come June 14th. Luna had already entangled her to the point of heartache.

A few of her classmates gave her cautious looks from the queue and it set off another wave of giggles. Darcy was a fool. An absolute love-soaked moron. But at least now she could accept it.

They arranged to meet at the front gate of the school; Luna would drive them to the reserve. Only alphas and betas usually had their own cars, it was a luxury reserved for the top point of their diamond structure. Darcy felt a little awkward walking the opposite way to the rest of her pack-mates  making their way to the bus queue.

Thankfully, Luna was quick to pull up in front of her. Before she had cleared the handful of steps to the passenger door, Luna was out and striding around to beat her there. She grabbed the handle and pulled it open for her with a mock bow. Darcy smiled gratefully and climbed into the car. Nerves barely contained. Luna shut the door for her gently and returned to her own side. When she dropped back into the driver’s seat, her attention was on pulling away, but Darcy’s was on her proximity. Her body heat radiating so close to her, soaking into her skin. A warmth transfer from one soul-mate to the other. Her scent was everywhere inside the car, and the warm day exacerbated its cling.

The small talk during the journey was maintained almost entirely by Luna. Darcy would like to say she was trying to protect her heart by being aloof, but the truth would be nerves and social awkwardness. That feeling of having a crush on someone and miraculously losing the ability to speak coherently near them. So near. Close enough to touch unintentionally.

After parking up and assisting Darcy out of the car, she plucked a backpack from the back seat and slung it over her shoulder with a grin.

“Picnic,” she explained helpfully.

As they passed through the gate into the forest, she slipped her fingers through Darcy’s. The skin between Darcy’s skinny fingers was stretched a little trying to accommodate her large hand, but the explosion of ecstasy that ran from her palm to the rest of her body made it more than worth it. Luna’s touch comforted her in gentle pulses through her bloodstream.

They plodded through the undergrowth for a while, Darcy couldn’t even take a guess at how long. Luna’s hand in hers had all of her attention. Darcy was mildly dazed by her scent brushing against her as they walked side-by-side.

“This looks like a good spot.”

Darcy blinked. “Hmm?” She glanced around the small clearing that they had stumbled across. It looked like all the others they had wandered through so far.

“Picnic spot!” Luna peeled their hands apart to unpack her bag.

Darcy’s mouth slipped reflexively into a pathetic pout. The breeze tickling her now-empty palm brought a sting to her skin. Luna didn’t notice her slouched, lost demeanour. She flapped out a blue blanket in front of them and laid out a collection of plastic containers.

After sulking silently by herself for a few minutes, Darcy relented. Luna was not paying her any mind anyway. She was chattering about the snacks she had brought as she popped open the lids. Darcy dropped to the blanket cross-legged. The space around her quickly filled with food. A lot of food. Luna urged her to start picking at the selection.

As soon as she’d partaken in some sugar, she felt herself pepping back up. Darcy’s mood and energy rose with every bite. Luna took from every container, eating a piece of everything, one after the other. When a snack was down to its last piece or portion, she would slide the container to Darcy’s knee and encourage her to eat more. Darcy fought as valiantly as she could, but there was still food in front of her when she tapped out.

Luna took the last orange slice that Darcy had insisted couldn’t fit inside of her. “I want to explore,” she said, and popped it into her mouth.

“We didn’t explore enough last time?” Darcy teased, poking fun at her own lack of direction during the scavenger hunt. Darcy wanted very much to lie still and allow her body to digest the biggest meal she had eaten in weeks.

“I think we should explore my way. Your style is…” Luna scrunched her nose as she thought for whatever word she was looking for. In the pause, she slipped the last cheese sandwich into her mouth.

“Slow?” Darcy suggested. “Boring? Tiring? Time-consuming?”

Luna swallowed. “I just think that forests are made to be run around in.”

“Luna,” Darcy said with a soft sigh. Saying her name was addictive, it stroked her throat. “You should know better than anyone that I can’t run without tripping or slamming into something.” Darcy hummed a quiet laugh, adding, “and that’s only if you didn’t catch me first.”

Luna chuckled through a mouthful of pastry. It was adorable. “The only times I didn’t catch you first were when I wanted to see how long it would take for you to crash into something.”

Darcy gave her best attempt at an irritated look, although she could feel the corner of her mouth fighting to smile. As embarrassing as it was at the time, it was a little funny to her now.

Luna dusted off her hands and hopped up. Darcy followed at a much slower and less enthusiastic pace. They ambled to the edge of their clearing, leaving the bag and blanket behind.

Luna suddenly halted right before the tree trunks tightened together again.

“Climb on,” she said, squatting onto her heels in front of her.

“Excuse me?” Darcy squeaked.

“Get on my back.”