Beta Bully (F/M) - Chapter 48 (Early Access) (Patreon)

Double Dinner Date I

Darcy woke to the smell of burning.

“I made breakfast,” Luca said sheepishly when she poked her head into the kitchen, bleary-eyed and panicked. “It took me a few tries,” he added.

A plate of oddly-shaped pancakes was held beneath her nose. The ones at the bottom of the pile appeared a little crisp. But the last couple balanced on top had her mouth watering. She accepted the offering gratefully and waddled to the living room to eat.

Luca joined her with his own stack, much darker in colour. They split the good ones and laughed at the bad ones together.

“Thank you, Luca,” Darcy said with a sigh. She brushed her hands over her distended stomach, half feeling it and half removing crumbs.

“You’re always welcome, my love.”

Darcy pouted at him pitifully. “I needed something nice to set me up for today.”

She was still licking her wounds after the blue lounge incident. It hadn’t been too difficult to avoid Alpha Nico since, but a blond head seemed to appear just out of her eye line, and disappear around corners, much more often. Darcy smelt a spy. One that she had already sworn vengeance on for ruining plan b.

“I actually had an idea,” said Luca. His tone was almost cautious, as though Darcy were rabid. “Something to help with the Alpha Nico situation.”

“Oh?”

“Why don’t we have a dinner for the titled members? The four of us could have a nice meal in one of the dining rooms.”

Darcy gave him a grim look. “I don’t think Alpha Nico would want to sit in the same room as me, let alone at the same table,” she replied.

“But in front of me and Beta Oli,” he reasoned sweetly, “how could she refuse?”

“What if it makes her angrier?”

“Then we have our evidence.”

“And what if she doesn’t get angry?”

“Then we use it to try to smooth things over between all of us.”

“Do you always have an answer for everything?”

“Yes, it’s my superpower.”

“Why is water wet?”

“It’s not.”

Darcy stuck her tongue out. Luca grabbed her chin and pulled her in for a kiss. As he coaxed her lips open, the alarm on her phone sounded.

They broke apart and Luca groaned.

Darcy had chores to do. As much as she believed Oli would have fought her corner with Alpha Nico, the majority of the tasks she was given every day were still cleaning-centric. The alpha still wanted Darcy as far away as possible. As though even looking at her would bring bad luck.

“I have to get to work, I don’t want to bring on the wrath of Alpha Nico.”

Luca nodded sulkily.

Darcy flicked his forehead gently. “Let’s meet at lunch to talk about that dinner, though.”

He perked up a little. “Okay!” He placed a quick kiss to the top of her head as she climbed free of her chair to get ready for the day.

By the time they found each other for lunch, the dinner had been arranged. For that night.

"That's too soon!" Darcy hissed.

Luca smiled sheepishly. "No time like the present!"

"But I am the one who needs to organise it," Darcy groaned with a hand over her forehead.

"We just need a room, there are a few dining rooms in the house."

Dining rooms that were caked in dust because Alpha Nico never held political dinners with leaders of other packs. The Pearl Claw were tied into alliances with a few nearby packs, but since taking over from her father, Alpha Nico had apparently done nothing to maintain them. This was all gossip, of course, but Darcy had lived in the main pack house for some time now, and she hadn't witnessed a single event being held within the red brick walls.

It would be up to her to pick a room and make it spotless before dinner time, as though she didn't have a million other tasks to complete by the end of the day.

"And the food?" she asked wearily.

"I'll order from a restaurant and pick it up with my car."

"And what do I do sat at a table with Alpha Nico and Oli while we wait for you, delivery boy?"

"You can-” Luca’s head jerked back a little. “Wait, are you and Beta Oli on informal speaking terms now?"

Darcy flushed. "He started it,” she said defensively.

"No fair." Luca pouted. "He's never told me to drop his title."

Darcy scrabbled for an excuse. "Probably because you two talk in front of other people, like the guards. You're setting an example to them, right?"

"That's true.” Luca scrunched his lips to one side. “But when do you two talk?"

"Just in the kitchen sometimes, we bump into each other getting drinks and stuff." Darcy shrugged as nonchalantly as she could, but Luca was still giving her a suspicious look. "I think we're friends."

Luca's expression softened and a small smile crept onto his lips. "I'm glad.”

“Saying that… is making me realise that I’ll be fine if he’s there,” Darcy admitted. Alpha Nico never behaved badly in front of Oli. She was quiet and neutral next to him. Maybe a hint of submission, Darcy wondered.

“I’ll only be a text away while I’m collecting the food,” Luca reminded her.

Darcy nodded. “Thank you. For that and for thinking of this, it was a good idea.”

Luca kissed her forehead and squished her cheeks between his hands.

“I hate that I have to work and not be with you all the time,” he groaned.

“I know.” Darcy sounded like her mouth was full trying to speak from between his palms. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.” He gave her another kiss and retreated outside to be pulled in ten directions by every wolf and their mother.

Speaking of mothers, Darcy realised she hadn’t messaged Sonia in far too long. Luca’s mother was also insanely busy, but she managed to find time to send Darcy cute gifs, videos, and random news articles she thought she might find interesting. In return, Darcy kept her mother-in-law updated on her son’s non-stop life. And made excuses for why he so rarely visited, despite being only across the compound they called home.

After this dinner, Darcy made a note to suggest another one with Sonia.

She chose the smallest room she could find with a dining table and spent almost two hours dusting and wiping down every surface. Somehow, she found time to finish her other chores and even squeeze in a shower. Then she sat on the edge of their bed, wrapped in a towel, while Luca talked her down from cancelling.

“It’s going to be fine.”

“No, it’s not,” she squeaked.

“Babe,” Luca cooed. “I’ll be there with you for the first ten minutes, then I’ll only be gone twenty.”

Darcy sucked in a long breath through her nose and squeezed her eyes shut.

“And Beta Oli will be there.”

Darcy nodded.

“And he’s the easiest guy to get along with.”

Darcy nodded again.

“Ask him about his patrol today and he’ll easily fill twenty minutes with one of his funny stories.”

Darcy exhaled out of her mouth, it turned into a groan at the end. “Okay. I’m good.”

Luca ruffled her hair. “You’ve got this. Now, get dressed while I shower.”

She dragged herself up and pulled on comfy underwear, a silky blue blouse, and a long black skirt that floated around her calves. The outfit felt a little too formal, so she added tennis shoes and a simple gold bracelet. Her signature clip was slid in as always.

They arrived early and Darcy immediately began flapping around the table, adjusting the cutlery and shifting the table cloth in minute movements. Luca stepped out into the hall to call the restaurant, he finally had a text response from everyone with what they wanted off the menu. Alpha Nico had gotten back to him last.

A cheerful knock startled a napkin out of Darcy’s hands.

“Didn’t mean to scare you,” Oli called into the room.

“Oh, it’s fine,” Darcy stammered. She snatched the material back up and folded it neatly, but her eyes were on Oli. Actually, they were scanning around his neck and shoulders. But Alpha Nico was not with him. “Is Alpha Nico…”

“Running a little late, she’ll be over soon,” he answered the awkward question with a comforting smile.

“That’s good,” Darcy lied through her teeth. “Wouldn’t want you to be stuck as the third wheel.” She flushed and immediately looked to the doorway, but Luca was still ordering outside. “I didn’t-” She dropped her voice to a whisper. “I wasn’t calling this a double date- I-”

Oli threw his hands up in surrender. “It’s okay!” He laughed easily. “No harm done.”

“I’m nervous,” Darcy admitted quietly.

“I can tell.”

She pulled an exasperated expression and he laughed again.

“You’ve scrubbed up the room nicely,” he said, offering a new line of conversation. He turned on the spot to appraise the newly-cleaned gold and green decor. “It’s a shame that the dining rooms don’t get used often.” A small and soft sigh escaped him and he brought his gaze back to Darcy. “But Nico doesn’t have a lot of interest in politics.”

Darcy nodded, she’d heard and guessed as much. Alpha Nico was the anti-Marshall. She didn’t hold dinners or alliance meetings or schmooze other pack’s alphas. But Alpha Marshall was also an extreme, they were two ends of the spectrum that alphas were expected to fall within.

Darcy asked, “Is that something you could take over?”

“The arse kissing?” Oli clarified with another one of his bone-shaking laughs.

Darcy shrugged. “You’re a bit more…”

Oli let the pause hang between them, waving his hand to encourage her to continue. His face was filled with glee and anticipation at whatever she was about to say next. Darcy shook her head and tried not to laugh. It was very hard to find a way to word her thoughts without saying something offensive about her alpha, and Oli’s soul-mate.

Charming.

Amicable.

Well-mannered.

Likeable.

“... extroverted,” she finished carefully.

Oli nodded with an impressed grin.

“And I think you’d enjoy those kind of situations more than Alpha Nico, too.”

“Oh, definitely.” Oli laughed to himself. “She hates small talk, or any talk that keeps her away from the work she would rather be focused on.”

“If there’s nothing to be gained, why endure the conversation?” said a dull voice from the doorway.