Beta Bully (M/M) - Chapter 38 (Early Access) (Patreon)

No Interview Needed

Beta Oli was leant against their door frame with a coy smile playing on his lips. Luca lowered Darcy until his feet were on the ground again and Darcy fussed with his clothes self-consciously, making sure everything was covered in front of the other beta. He kept his eyes on the carpet.

“Sorry, Beta,” said Luca with an awkward laugh. “I was just showing Darcy the new suite.” He turned back and Darcy peeked up at his face: peachy-pink all over with only his eyes remaining golden. He may have just found the perfect colour palette for their living room. “Darce, Beta Oli kindly offered to help with moving the big furniture items like our bed.”

“That’s so nice of you, Beta,” Darcy said, lowering his eyes to the ground again. It made sense, Beta Oli was one of the biggest people Darcy had ever seen with his own two eyes. Even alphas could hide in his shadow.

“I forgot that we had agreed to get started as soon as we got back, though,” Luca added. He took Darcy’s hand and walked them towards the door. “Sorry, again, Beta.”

“Don’t worry about it, Beta.” Beta Oli laughed quietly and stepped back from the door to let them through. “It’s an exciting day. I’m sorry I interrupted.”

“Thank you. Do you mind if I walk Darcy to Alpha Nico’s office first? They could get acquainted while we-”

“I wouldn’t recommend that,” Beta Oli interrupted hurriedly. His hands jerked up a little, too, as though in self-defence. “Nico will call for Omega Darcy when he’s ready, until then I think it would be smart to keep out of his way. He’s got a lot on his plate today.”

Luca nodded his understanding. “Thanks for the heads up,” he said.

“No problem.”

“I can help carry things!” Darcy suggested, popping his hands onto his hips in an attempt to enlarge himself.

Beta Oli’s mouth quirked at one side. “I don’t have much experience with omegas, so please tell me if this is an offensive thing to say,” he said carefully, eyes bouncing between Darcy and Luca. Darcy braced himself for a comment about his height, width or weight. “But would you be up for making some coffee while we lug the stuff around?”

“There’s really nothing you think I’m capable of lifting?” Darcy huffed.

“Well, the pillows are already on the bed,” Beta Oli replied, scratching his head and mussing up the small bun he had on top. “I don’t see a reason to take them off and carry them separately.”

Luca’s lips were pinched. Fighting a smirk. He refused to meet his eyes. Darcy knew if he did, Luca would burst into hysterics.

Darcy sighed. “Where’s the kitchen again?”

Luca took his hand again and lead him away. Beta Oli followed until they reached the floor with Luca’s old room. He split from them to get started on clearing a path for the large furniture items.

In the kitchen, Darcy filled the kettle and rested his hands on the cool counter while he waited for it to boil. Luca, hovering behind him, unclipped his hair and nuzzled his face into the top of Darcy’s head. Darcy laughed and let his back fall against Luca’s chest.

Luca hummed. “You didn’t actually want to help with moving stuff, you just didn’t want to look weak,” he said.

Darcy flushed. “I don’t want him to think I’m lazy,” he grumbled.

“There’s nothing wrong with letting people help you.” He curled his fingers from Darcy’s hairline through his brown waves, separating a piece and clipping it back. “Especially when you’re built to bring out a protective response in people.”

Darcy pouted up at him, bending his neck uncomfortably. “I’m not a puppy.”

Luca reached over his head to open the cupboards, showing the mugs and tins of coffees and teas. “You’re right, but your body, and your scent, and even your voice sends similar signals to everyone near you.” He shrugged. “It’s just nature, babe.”

Darcy spun on the spot to face him, leaning against the counters behind him. “How come you didn’t feel protective of me before, then?” He didn’t bother to fill in the silent ‘when you bullied me’.

“I got the signals,” Luca admitted with an awkward grimace. “I just didn’t like them. They made me feel weird.” He stepped forward, placing his hands either side of Darcy’s body on the counter and trapping him between them. “I’m sorry for making that your problem,” he added.

A crackle of desire ran over them, one body to the other. Luca leant his head down, slowly, leading Darcy up onto his toes to meet him. He trailed his nose down the side of Darcy’s cheek. The tips of his fingers grazed the outside of his thighs and his stomach clenched.

“Beta-” he gasped. Luca’s eyes darkened and his teeth sunk into the soft spot beneath his jaw. Darcy’s knees jerked together with the shock of pleasure that came with the bite. “Oli!” Luca froze. “He’s-” Darcy pushed lightly at his shoulders with his palms. “He’s waiting for you.”

Luca unlatched himself from his neck and took a half-step back. They were both breathing erratically.

“Yeah. Thanks for the reminder,” Luca said curtly. He turned to leave, then spun back around and hesitated. He didn’t seem to know what to do with his hands. “If you could do me a favour, though,” he said. “And just never again say someone else’s name when any part of you is in my mouth?”

“Sure,” Darcy agreed between his attempts at calming breaths.

After he left, Darcy gave himself a few minutes to cool down before starting on the coffees. His underwear would stay damp for a while. He hoped they didn’t notice the scent of his pre-cum when he returned.

He hadn’t asked them how they liked their drinks, so he made three black coffees and put the milk and sugar in small containers that he found rooting through the cupboards. He also found a tray to carry his offerings back with him.

It was a long three floors back up to Alder Suite, especially without a free hand to cling to any of the bannisters and drag himself up the stairs. Once he made it to the front door, he was as sweaty as the boys inside.

Beta Oli and Luca were sat with their backs against the furthest wall, huffing and puffing. The moment Darcy breached the threshold, their eyes snapped to him. One pair gold and one pair hazel. They both smiled.

“I come bearing sustenance,” Darcy announced, walking the tray to them. As he lowered himself to his knees between them, he was acutely aware that the three of them must look like an ancient tapestry you would find in a council building. An omega on their knees serving from a tray, with a pair of betas sat casually nearby. Darcy had never felt a great deal of connection to the omegas of the old times. It wasn’t like ancestral pride or culture, passed down through the generations. He wasn’t related to them by blood or marriage, and yet they were the same. They were bound by something invisible and untouchable.

They drank their coffee and made small talk. Beta Oli cautiously insinuated that he was avoiding Alpha Nico’s wrath this morning, and had been very grateful to be allowed to help them move in. He didn’t elaborate as to why the alpha was not in the mood to be approached, but Luca simply nodded sagely as the older beta spoke. Eventually, the coffee had all been slurped and it was time for the organising to commence. Beta Oli took the tray on his way out, and promised Darcy he would do his best to warm up Alpha Nico for him.

As he and Luca were cataloguing their newly joint wardrobe, Alpha Nico summoned him.

A stocky man with a bushy beard knocked on their open door and called in that he needed to report to the alpha's office. Luca gave him an encouraging smile as he hurried out, but remained in his place on the carpet, surrounded by jeans of various dyes.

Darcy adjusted every aspect of his appearance on his way to the office. Smoothing his t-shirt. Tucking the tufty parts of his hair behind his ears. Pushing his shorts' pockets in properly.

The office door was built the same as all the others within the titled members' house, but it had an aura that sunk Darcy's stomach. Even the air around it intimidated him. The bearded man left hms in front of it and he thanked him as he left.

Within a moment of his knocking, Alpha Nico called him inside.

The office was decorated as though it belonged to someone much older than the alpha sat behind the ornate wooden desk. Alpha Nico looked to be in his mid twenties, with smooth pale skin and sleek black hair brushed back from his face. Shorter strands framed his angular face, but didn’t manage to soften it. He watched Darcy approach with hawk-like eyes. He did not stand from his seat to greet him.

There was nowhere for Darcy to sit opposite the alpha, so he stood in front of the desk, straining his back to keep it straight and appear as tall as possible.

Silence.

Darcy fought the urge to fiddle with his fingers as Alpha Nico appraised him. Already, he felt as though he had done something wrong. Should he have been the first to speak? Was it rude that he hadn’t asked the alpha how he was? When-

“I’m sure you’re over the moon to have such an easy entrance into your first and only job, hm?” Alpha Nico cooed. It did not reach Darcy’s ears as sweetly as it left his mouth. Poisonous honey dripping over his words.

Darcy wasn’t sure what to reply, so he remained silent.

“Some of us are born into our roles,” Alpha Nico continued. “And for one class out of the secondary genders, that role requires no training or proving of their worth.” He leant forward, balancing his elbows on the desk top and pressing his chin against his interlocked fingers. “You probably think this is going to be the easiest money you’ll ever make-”

Darcy jolted. “No, Alpha,” he gasped. That wasn’t true at all. “I’m-”

“Speak over me again and see what happens.” His words were half spoken and half growled. It sent a freezing tingle up Darcy’s spine. Almost painful. He could only twitch in response.

In the pause afterwards, Darcy could have sworn he could hear his own fingernails growing. The silence made him want to curl up like a pill bug. But it gave him time to release his muscles, one by one. Taking back control over his body.

Finally, he managed to squeak, “I’m sorry, Alpha.”

Alpha Nico blinked once, slowly. Uncaring for Darcy’s apology. “I hate laziness,” he said. “There is no wolf so lazy as an omega.” Darcy gritted his teeth. It would gain him nothing to argue. “You want your pay? You work for it. You are not a pet or a little treasure like some omega are told. You will not be put up on a pedestal to look pretty here. Do you understand, Omega?”

“Yes, Alpha.” He didn’t agree, but he understood.

“Your working hours are whenever the fuck I summon you. Your duties are whatever I ask of you. Do you understand, Omega?”

“Yes, Alpha.”

“I have one rule, and that’s for you to stay the fuck out of my way. I don’t need an omega fluttering around me like a lost puppy.” Despite his dark eyes, Alpha Nico’s fury seemed to burn through them brightly. “You come when I call you and you do the tasks that I give you, otherwise I don’t want to see or hear you. Understood, Omega?”

“Yes, Alpha.”

Alpha Nico stared at him for a few moments as though Darcy had just then materialised into the room. After an uncomfortable silence he growled, “get out, Omega.”

“Yes, Alpha,” Darcy responded. He hurried out of the office as fast as his little legs would carry him.