Beta Bully (F/F) - 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 Luna couldn’t make it.” She had gotten called off on an understaffed patrol at the last minute. Next time, she would be scrubbing the headstone while Darcy watched from a lawn chair. Darcy really didn’t mind helping, and meant no disrespect to Luna’s 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 girl since she couldn’t make it today…”

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

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

“Sorry,” Luna said, breathless.

Her mother hummed her disapproval.

“We have a lot guards off sick today, there’s some virus going round,” she explained. “There’s another patrol of the inner forest line due in a few minutes and they’re down three wolves.” She 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 Luna’s hand. “Sure, I could do with a stretch of my legs.”

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

“Mum!” Luna 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,” Luna offered. Her 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 daughter at ease. “I much prefer Darcy’s company to yours anyway!” She stuck her tongue out and mother and daughter laughed. Now Darcy knew Mrs Shane was lying, she desperately wanted more time with Luna.

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

“Sure.” Sonia nodded.

Luna 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 Luna 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 girls 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 Luna, so she sprinted forward until their front paws were aligned. Luna glanced down at her and nodded in her direction. Darcy had learnt this meant she was asking if she was okay. She did the same back to let Luna 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, Luna says that’s her job.