Beta Bully (M/M) - Chapter 51 (Early Access) (Patreon)

Walkies II

A shadow came over him, blocking the warmth he had been happily bathing in.

Darcy cracked an eye open to appraise the great furry beast standing over him. Luca’s shaggy fur couldn’t cover his dopey expression and Darcy huffed a laugh at it. Whatever he wanted from him, he wasn’t picking up his clues. This shouldn’t be surprising to him, Darcy had explained more than once that he had no natural ability to read wolf body language. He tucked all four of his feet in and rolled out from under Luca like a sausage, back into the sun.

He was so oversized compared to him, he really did feel like a puppy. Maybe a little playful. Especially when Luca followed, side stepping to place himself over him again like a parasol. Darcy rolled away. Luca followed. Darcy jumped up and ran through his back legs. Luca swiped at him with his tail. He ducked and rolled and darted away from him every time he approached until he was panting. Luca, predictably, appeared unbothered by the heat and continued to chase him at a delay. Toying with him at half-speed.

Darcy skipped back to the shade to cool down, and a furry form was at his back in an instant. He tried to groan at Luca, to let him know he was overheated, but it came out as a rumbling sound - almost a growl. Darcy started at the sound. It had come out of him. He had never growled before. Or barked. Or howled. Luca scooted back a little behind him and Darcy scurried back to him, burying his face in Luca’s furry stomach. Even though he knew the growl had come from him, it had startled the nerves back into him.

He didn’t know how to do this. It didn’t come naturally to him. He was going to get himself hurt if he couldn’t even keep from making threatening noises. Luca made no noise in response, but he nuzzled the top of his head gently and Darcy whined. He really hoped he knew he didn’t mean to growl at him. He was good at this stuff. As a beta, he had to be.

Darcy swivelled his butt to sit back against him, mirroring his body language like a pair of nesting dolls. The heat wasn’t too intense anymore, and Luca’s body warmth was comforting rather than overbearing. After what couldn't have been more than a few minutes, he could feel Luca growing restless behind him. Darcy glanced at him over his shoulder, tilting his head like Luca had done. Asking him what he wanted.

A damp nose nudged the base of his skull, urging him forward.

Now who needed walkies?

Darcy begrudgingly straightened his hind legs and picked his way through the dry undergrowth daintily, avoiding sharp sticks and thorny tendrils. Luca had no such qualms, bounding over him and straight through a bush that parted for him like the red sea. It created a path for Darcy to follow, though. He let Luca forge out their trail while he carefully manoeuvred through the destruction he left in his wake.

Clearly, he had a lot of energy to release. Darcy couldn’t relate, he was exhausted already. He took a last look at the pretty patch of grass amongst all the dry, brown earth and sighed to himself.

A blond ball of fur bounded back towards him, his ears were up and his movements were tighter than before. Darcy could see these things, but what they meant was a mystery.

Luca trotted a loose loop around him before moving in close to his side. His back paws aligned with Darcy’s while his front paws were planted much further forward. Darcy gave him a questioning look, knowing he wouldn’t understand any answer he gave. Luca started forward again, slower. Darcy matched his pace, attempting to stay in line with him.

A cacophony of thrashing branches and barks preceded a small group of wolves bursting out from between the bushes ahead. They were all smaller than Luca, and coated in much darker fur. A hulking mass followed them, though. A latte-coloured monster brushed past them to take the front spot. And a familiar scent came with it.

Beta Oli.

He sniffed in his direction and Darcy skittered back a step. Oli tipped his nose to Luca at an angle and the beta moved a little closer. Darcy wished he wouldn’t, it meant he was obliged to follow.

The wolves behind Oli were fixated on him. A patrol squad, he had to assume. So many sets of black eyes bore into him that he almost squeezed his own shut to pretend they weren’t there. Instead, he kept his eyes flicking between Luca and Oli, but they were having their own quiet conversation in huffs and ear tilts.

The more they stared, and he could feel them still staring, the more he wished he were a burrowing mammal. With tiny steps, he retreated deeper into Luca’s side. He and Oli continued to exchange noises and head jerks.

As the wolves either side of the larger beta grew restless, their eyes finally darted away from Darcy and into the trees. But they always returned to him. Darcy dropped to the ground where he was. Sat beside Luca was the safest place to be, anyway.

Luca lifted the paw by Darcy’s head and stepped it over him, covering his entire body like a pop-up gazebo. Then he lowered himself down until his fur was just close enough to mesh with his. A chicken resting over an egg.

Beta Oli almost looked as though he were smiling. Without bared teeth, of course. If anyone flashed a single canine at Darcy he was going to cry. There was something in the tension of Luca’s body pressed to his back that told him his soul-mate wasn’t smiling. Almost as though his fur was bristling with annoyance against him.

The conversation between the wolves came to an abrupt end, with Oli leading his troop away in a burst of scattered leaves and mud. They took off into the forest at top speed, in the direction of the boundary line.

Luca rose slowly, then paced back and forth in front of Darcy a few times, then shook his fur as though throwing off all of his frustration. Why he had suddenly become so agitated was still a mystery. Perhaps one of the guards had offended him with the wrong ear movement. Darcy didn’t know how these things worked. He expected to be mauled for leading with the wrong paw.

With his fears dulled now that Oli and his team had taken off, it left room for his hunger to make itself known. His tummy growled louder than he had on the grass patch. Luca’s dark gold eyes were on him in an instant, he sniffed at his sides and Darcy huffed through his nose at him. He was just hungry, not hurt.

Satisfied via his sniffing, Luca nudged him back the way they came. Then he took off again, racing ahead and leaving Darcy to trot behind him with his nose in the air, trying to ignore the prickling pain in his delicate paws. He was just too small, and everything else was too big! Luca would never understand.

They shifted back once they had located the backpack, Darcy once again hiding behind a tree, and dressed quickly. On their walk back home, they were mostly silent, except for picking up lunch at the bakery.

There were a lot of questions in the back of Darcy’s mind, but he didn’t have the energy to put them into words just yet. Nor did he want to start a conversation that would open up the wolf-form debate again. Today was enough.

As soon as their front door was shut, Luca broke the comfortable silence.

“Did you enjoy it?” He laid out their collection of foods across the coffee table while he waited for Darcy’s answer.

“The scenery was nice,” Darcy said carefully.

“What about the run itself?”

“I’m sure the exercise did me good.”

“But did you like it?” His hands had stopped arranging sandwiches, and his eyes were burning into him.

“I don’t know if that’s the word I would use.” Stressful. Unnerving. Uncomfortable.

Luca sighed.

“It’s not your fault, Luca,” he reassured him quietly. “I’ve never had that connection that you have with your wolf form. I’ve always known I was odd for not having the built-in instincts.” Odd didn’t even begin to describe how he had felt growing up and into his wolf form. “It makes my wolf form almost… exhausting. Because I have to think so much to make up for the lack in natural cues.”

“Well, thank you for giving it a shot.” Luca smiled sadly. “I had a really good time.”

And now Darcy’s heart hurt.

“Movie?” Luca asked. Pandering to him, and trying to save the rest of the day, he could tell.

“Sure,” he agreed softly. “You pick, I just want to cuddle on the sofa with background noise.”

His smile became ten percent more believable. “Perfect.”