Beta Bully (F/M) - Chapter 49 (Early Access) (Patreon)

Double Dinner Date II

Oli and Darcy turned in unison, and Alpha Nico appraised them with long, sweeping looks as she entered.

“You only see instant gain,” Oli reasoned, his eyes bright and teasing. “The kind of rewards you get for giving people your social energy are more long-term. Like alliances.” The addition was said with insinuation, but Alpha Nico did not rise to it. She gave him a sharp look and took a seat on the opposite side of the table.

Without thinking, Darcy dropped into the seat facing her. Then realised she couldn’t switch without appearing rude. Luca was still outside. She begged him telepathically to come back.

Luca’s upper body burst into the room. Maybe he did have superpowers after all.

“The food is going to be ready sooner than expected. I’ll be back in twenty,” he called into the room. Darcy gave him a tight smile, knowing it wasn’t her soul-mate’s fault, but furious with him all the same.

“No worries, Beta,” Oli replied. “We’ll take good care of Darce until you get back.”

Luca hesitated momentarily at the nickname, but recovered quickly and disappeared down the corridor.

“I don’t think he liked that I called you ‘Darce’,” Oli said awkwardly. He scratched at the shaved section of his hair and offered a sheepish smile.

“I think he was just surprised,” Darcy reassured him.

“He’s not the only one,” Alpha Nico added quietly. “The two of you are on an informal basis now?”

“Um-”

“Yep,” Oli replied. Blissfully ignorant, or ignoring, the swirling storm in Alpha Nico’s dark eyes.

“I hope that’s okay, Alpha.”

“What does it have to do with me?” Alpha Nico snapped. Tiny pink spots pinched at her cheekbones. Her gritted teeth dared Darcy to mention what she’d seen. What she knew.

“Nico.” A flash of uncharacteristic dominance. A pulse from Oli’s body that echoed throughout the room. Both Nico and Darcy stilled unnaturally. “You’ve had a long day, but please don’t take it out on us.”

“I’m not,” she grumbled. The wolf was back in its cage. She returned to her disinterested disposition, refusing to look at Darcy or Oli.

“Then let’s talk about something more pleasant,” suggested Oli. “How was your day, Darcy?”

Beta Oli, as expected, was very good at small talk. Every time Darcy stammered or hiccuped her way through an answer, he had a way of smoothing the conversation along with an interesting story or gentle joke. Alpha Nico watched them converse, but did not join in once. Frankly, Darcy liked the alpha best when she sat silent.

They could smell the food, and hear Luca huffing and puffing, long before he made it into the dining room. Oli jumped up to help distribute the packages. He waved Darcy’s helping hands away.

An omega being catered to by no less than two betas, Alpha Nico was probably frothing at the mouth to make a comment. She remained silent.

Plated up with plenty of food, they dug in and made grateful sounds of enjoyment.

“Darce, you need to try this.” Luca held his fork out with a fat ravioli pronged onto the end. “It’s so good!”

Darcy bit off the corner and ‘mmm’d in agreement. It was filled with a spicy tomato sauce and strong cheese.

“You’re not going to feed us, too?” Oli teased.

Luca laughed easily and offered the fork. Oli declined. They quickly fell into a playful back-and-forth telling wild tales of their patrol that day. Alpha Nico watched the pair with dull eyes.

Stealing sneaky glances at Alpha Nico’s reaction took Darcy’s concentration off her plate. A splat sound let her know before she saw the meatball drop, that it had landed on the white tablecloth. Red-brown splatter spread across Darcy’s corner.

Alpha Nico stiffened, Oli laughed quietly, and Luca scooped it up with a napkin.

“Sorry! I-”

“It’s totally fine,” Oli chuckled.

“An accident,” Alpha Nico added, although her eyes remained pointed away from Darcy and her mess.

Unfortunately, it was not the only accident.

When refilling her water glass, Darcy managed to tip the jug too far forward and soak Alpha Nico’s chicken in a flavourless broth. Oli traded dishes with her.

While clearing away their dessert plates, Darcy dropped hers and Luca’s together like cymbals. They smashed into sharp white pieces all over the table. Oli took the corners of the table cloth and tied them in the centre, turning it into a bag of ceramic shards, and put it in the bin.

When Oli suggested an after-dinner coffee, Alpha Nico and Luca yelped, “No!” simultaneously.

“Thank you,” Luca added. “But I think it’s time for us to head to bed.” He looked at Darcy pointedly and her tummy twisted. He was not pleased with her, at all.

As soon as their front door was closed, Darcy rounded on him.

“You don’t believe me anymore,” she said bluntly.

“Why would you assume that?” Luca asked. He was leaning back against the door wearily, as though Darcy had run him ragged. “I do believe you, but I still haven’t seen anything with my own eyes.”

“She isn’t going to show her true colours in front of you and Oli,” Darcy huffed.

“Yeah,” Luca grunted. “Tonight definitely showed that no matter how hard you try, you can’t bait her out.”

Darcy stiffened. “Bait her out?” she repeated. “What are you talking about?”

Luca pushed off from the door with a sigh and walked towards their bedroom, undoing his shirt buttons lazily. “You’re not that clumsy, Darce. Don’t take me for an idiot.”

“I was nervous, Luca!” Darcy called after him. “I can’t believe you’re accusing me of making those mistakes on purpose!”

He spun on his heel to face her again. “You poured your water onto her plate!”

“Why would I do that on purpose?” Darcy asked incredulously. “She’ll hold onto all those mistakes till tomorrow and then go apoplectic on me!”

Luca sighed. His hands dropped, leaving his shirt half-buttoned and hanging open droopily.

Darcy sighed back. “You’re just like Oli,” she said quietly. “You don’t think it’s as bad as I’m telling you.”

“I believe you, Darce.”

“But you don’t think her anger is serious. Or dangerous.”

Luca pinched the bridge of his nose as though she were giving him a headache. There were deep bags under his eyes that she hadn’t noticed before. He always appeared weary these days, but this may have been the worst he’d looked in a while.

“You’ve always been a bit sensitive,” he said.

That word. It lit a fuse Darcy didn’t realise had been hiding inside of her. An explosion that almost sent her eyes out of her head like a cartoon character.

“Sensitive?” she screeched. “My high school bully wants to call me sensitive? Are you out of your mind?”

“Darce-”

She ignored him, yelling, “That is an omega stereotype! I can’t believe my own mate can’t see past such an old-fashioned idea.”

He watched her with a hurt frown.

Darcy snatched her mini backpack from beside the sofa. It had her essentials, the barest of them like money and her keys. She wasn’t going to embarrass herself scrabbling to pack a bag in front of him, she needed to leave. This was pointless tonight. They were both tired and agitated and staying up all night angry at each other wouldn’t help.

She stomped back towards the front door with the bag slung over one shoulder.

“Where are you going?” he barked. Curious, and almost afraid. But Luca wasn’t afraid of anything.

Darcy didn’t turn back to answer. “I’m not staying here tonight,” she said simply, and continued walking.

“But where are you going? It’s late!”

“Somewhere else!” She would message Sonia. Her parents. Oli.

“You can’t just walk away when you don’t get your way, Darcy. Stay here and we can talk about it.”

If she stayed they would go back and forth all night and she didn’t have the energy - physically or emotionally - to handle that.

“Talk, or argue?” she snapped over her shoulder.

“This is your home!” An oversized hand snatched her elbow as she reached the door, spinning her. Forcing her to face him. “You sleep here-”

Darcy stomped her foot. “I sleep where I want!” She shook his grip from her arm.

“It’s late and dark out there.” His tone had turned darker, too. It prickled at Darcy’s skin. “You are not going out alone.” She hesitated for only a moment, though, before continuing to the door.

She yanked the handle violently. Enormous hands slammed into the wood above her head, sealing the door again and trapping her under the arch of his body. Gravelly panting breaths shook her hair, and Darcy’s body began to tremble in response.

“Luca,” she whispered at the door.

No answer. His presence at her back remained, the fists resting against the door were clenched tightly. Darcy turned her head to peek over her shoulder cautiously and froze when she met his eyes. They were wide and wild, sparking gold lightning with an intensity that wasn’t anger. Her soul-mate looked feral.

“Darcy.” There was a strain in his voice that seemed to hold his entire form taut. The muscles of his shoulders were tight under his unbuttoned shirt. “I don’t tell you what to do, or refuse anything you ask.” The husk of a barely restrained growl coated every word. His chest heaved with the effort. “This time, you need to obey.”

Darcy twisted her body to match her face and pressed her back against the door as hard as she could. Flattening herself under the shelter he created with his arms. Somehow, she was both too hot and too cold. She wanted air. She wanted him to pull her in tight and squeeze her like a hard reset.

“Darcy,” he grunted through gritted teeth.

“I-” Darcy’s breath caught in her chest like a painful hiccup. “I’m scared.”

“I’m not trying to scare you,” he said slowly. He was staring down at her as though it were crucial to their existence that she listen and understand his words. “I’m trying to protect you. I can’t let you go out like this. In the dark.” The vibrations coming off his chest betrayed his strained attempt at a calm demeanour. A growl was being held, rattling inside of his rib cage. “Where anyone could find you,” he added gruffly. “If you go, our bond will force me to follow. And that’s only going to send me further off the edge.”

Darcy squeezed her eyes shut and let her back slide down the door slowly in defeat. She could feel Luca’s form around her, following her down. When she reached the carpet, his legs were crossed under her.

The cocoon around her held until her heart finally stopped fluttering fearfully, and the exhaustion of the night swept over her.