Beta Bully (F/M) - Chapter 55 (Early Access) (Patreon)

The End

The Autumn air had kept their drinks cool while they worked. After popping the tabs on their cans, Darcy and Sonia bumped them together in silent cheers. They were both flushed from the physical labour of scrubbing and weeding around Mr Shane’s plot.

“Thank you so much for your help, Darce,” Sonia said with a sigh.

“No need to thank me,” Darcy replied. She took a long and refreshing sip of her cherryade. It tasted all the better for a morning of hard work. “I’m glad to get to spend time with you. I’m sorry Luca couldn’t make it.” He had gotten called off on an understaffed patrol at the last minute. Next time, he would be scrubbing the headstone while Darcy watched from a lawn chair. She really didn’t mind helping, and meant no disrespect to his father, but they could at least take it in turns.

Sonia polished off her lemonade and put the empty can in her tote bag. “Do you mind if I speak to him?” she asked, nodding at the headstone.

Darcy sat up a little straighter. “Would you prefer if I gave you privacy?”

“No, you deserve a rest.”

“Then, I don’t mind.”

Sonia turned away to face the headstone. “Hello, darling,” she said, almost too quiet for Darcy to catch. “I finally had the time to give you a scrub down with the help of Darcy. She’s got a mean swing with the trowel. Maybe she’ll weaponise it against our boy since he couldn’t make it today…”

Darcy smiled to herself while Sonia talked. Luca was getting better at balancing his job and his personal life, but she sympathised with his mother all the same. Sonia had gone from having her son all to herself, to becoming a fraction. Sharing him with his soul-mate and his work.

A panting jogger approached from behind. Sonia and Darcy turned in unison to watch Luca huffing his way to them, half-dressed and clearly fresh off patrol. His shirt hung open and Darcy fought the urge to lick her lips in front of his mother.

“Sorry,” he said, breathless.

His mother hummed her disapproval.

“We have a lot guards off sick today, there’s some virus going round,” he explained. “There’s another patrol of the inner forest line due in a few minutes and they’re down three wolves.” He looked down at Darcy with a lopsided and prideful smile. “We all know everyone switches to their best behaviour when Officer Darcy is on patrol, would you help me make up the numbers?”

Darcy pulled herself up from the grass beside Mr Shane’s plot with the help of Luca’s hand. “Sure, I could do with a stretch of my legs.”

“So that’s how to secure some of only son’s precious time?” Sonia said with a roll of her eyes. “I’d better get myself a guard dog application.”

“Mum!” Luca scolded. “Don’t call them that.”

“For the record, I think you’d scare the crap out of any intruders,” Darcy told her with a grin.

Sonia grinned back.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t help,” Luca offered. His sad expression twisted Darcy’s tummy. “He looks great, though.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Sonia smiled easily. Darcy wondered if it was real, or to put her son at ease. “I much prefer Darcy’s company to yours anyway!” She stuck her tongue out and mother and son laughed. Now Darcy knew Mrs Shane was lying, she desperately wanted more time with Luca.

“We have to get going, but let’s have dinner together.”

“Sure.” Sonia nodded.

Luca smiled sadly at the grave once more before starting to walk away. “Bye, mum. Bye, dad.”

“Bye Mr and Mrs Shane,” Darcy called.

Sonia patted the top of the headstone and waved at them as they turned away. They needed to get to the guard post on the West side of the pack to check-in before taking the patrol.

Some boundaries had been set when Darcy had begun joining patrols. No staring. No touching. There must always be a beta present. Pre-approved trails only.

The inner forest line was a regular patrol for Darcy. A run of soft grass between the forest and the pack buildings. On the cusp of civilization. It felt like running perfectly balanced between the human and the werewolf worlds.

She usually patrolled as part of the pack, but when the weather was good and she was feeling in need of a stretch, she even ran for fun. Her wolf form had become part of her needs, like food and water. If Darcy had revealed that to herself just two months ago, there would have been silence. And then hysterical laughter.

But it turned out that acclimatisation, of herself and everyone who came into contact with her, had been the key. Now that she wasn’t the topic of interest, she felt more in control of her wolf form. So in control that sometimes she ran to the front of the patrol, falling in line with Luca or Oli. Dipping under their stomachs and running around their legs when they stopped to sniff or glance about.

On the rare occasions that Nico joined them for a titled members’ run, she always promoted Darcy to second-in-command. They lead the boys to all of Darcy’s favourite spots: those with soft ground, lots of flowers, or sun spots to laze in. In wolf form, Nico was the scariest thing Darcy had come into contact with in her entire life. Until the girl from the ring crawled out of her TV, that wasn’t changing any time soon. As a wolf, Nico was a monstrous beast. Bigger than Oli. One misstep and her paw could crush Darcy to dust. But the way she pandered to Darcy in ‘puppy mode’ gave her a sense of security that allowed her to run at her alpha’s side.

They were side-by-side all day in Nico’s office, too. Their matching desk set-ups sat pressed together, although Darcy’s had to be modified into a slightly smaller version. Even their mugs were a matching set. A joke gift from Oli of Pride and Prejudice merchandise. One read ‘I love Elizabeth’ and the other ‘I love Darcy’. These days, alpha and omega shared coffee-making duties.

With the installing of Darcy in Nico’s office, a certain blond lurker had been ousted. And, in a very entertaining spectacle, banned from the main house completely by Oli and Nico. Now Oli was the pest hanging around Nico’s desk. Darcy always got a sudden craving for a fresh coffee when she could see Oli’s hazel eyes sinking into pure brown. As long as they didn’t do anything on her desk, she didn’t care what they got up to while she was out of the room.

With a confused blink, Darcy realised she had been running on muscle memory and instinct for a third of the trail. Lost in her own head. She glanced about at the others, but they were all looking over the surroundings, checking for anomalies. It wasn’t expected for Darcy to do the same, she was more moral support. Apparently the guards took their work more seriously when she was in the group. She didn’t know if it was true, but she’d had no issues with them so far.

She was falling a little behind Luca, so she sprinted forward until their front paws were aligned. He glanced down at her and nodded in her direction. She had learnt this meant he was asking if she was okay. She did the same back to let him know she was fine.

Maybe a little better than fine.

Darcy was two-for-two on overcoming bullies.

Although, if she had to go for a third round, she was fairly certain she would resort to physical violence almost immediately.

Just kidding, Luca says that’s his job.