Beta Bully Bonus: Melody Part 1 (Early Access) (Patreon)

Post-catch-up coffee with her best friend and soon-to-be neighbour Darcy, Melody stepped out of the Pearl Claw’s main pack house alone. Ready to hunt down her soul-mate.

The Pearl Claw was a much larger pack than she had been expecting, in grounds and population. Ashen Fur thought they were a normal-sized pack, but if that was true then the Pearl Claw would have to be one of the biggest in the county. Melody had never felt like a big fish in her small pond, but she felt especially puny now.

Darcy had disagreed with her that it was creepy to turn up at Summer's house to introduce herself, but Melody felt a meet-cute was more romantic. If she didn't find her by wandering around the community for a few hours, though, she may have to resort to awkward door knocking.

There were a bunch of family-run cafes and markets for food, but Melody didn't spot a single red head in any of them. The summer holidays were on the brink of ending, and kids were crammed into the small playground, getting the most out of their last hours of freedom. None of them looked like they could be Summer's younger brother.

When Darcy text her asking how the introduction went, she knew she needed to bite the bullet and track down the address on the file her best friend had procured for her. Google maps didn't have permission to be documenting pack lands, so she was on her own in terms of navigation.

Surprisingly, it only took fifteen minutes of walking, and turning back on herself once, to find the right road. She hesitated in front of the green door.

It would be so embarrassing if Summer didn't answer. If it was her parents. Or brother. What if she wasn't even inside? Would Melody be offered to stay or asked to leave until Summer came back? If she hovered too long on the doorstep, that was awkward, too.

She knocked, retracted her hand like the wood was poisoned, and clenched her entire body in wait.

The door swung open after only a few seconds. Melody felt a tight sensation take over her chest. From afar, Melody hadn't realised just how wide the height gap between herself and Summer was. In the doorway, her soul-mate towered over her. Her hair was loose and fiery over her shoulders and a  small boy with the same flaming head was hanging off her leg, whining. Melody caught the words 'homework', 'holidays' and 'not fair.’

"Sorry," Summer laughed. It tickled Melody’s heart. "Bear with me one second."

Melody tried to say, "no worries," but it came out as a croak.

"I'm not arguing this with you anymore, buddy, you're the one who'll be in trouble if your summer homework isn't finished when you go back on Monday."

"But-"

"Do it, or don't do it, I'm not gonna force you. But I'm also not going to hang out with you until it's done."

The little boy groaned and stomped away, out of Melody's sight.

"Sorry about that," Summer said, turning back to her and leaning her hip against the door frame. "He's got two days to finish six weeks of homework and his latest strategy is to just give up."

Melody managed a quiet titter in response. Her mouth had dried out completely. Her brain was blank. Her body stiff.

Summer tilted her head, shifting all of her hair with it. "Was there... something you needed?"

"Soul-mate," Melody blurted.

"Excuse me?"

She sucked in a steadying breath and tried again. "You're my soul-mate. I saw you at the beta birthday party, by the pool, but I was too nervous to say anything. But now... I'm... here."

Summer’s smile sunk. "Sorry, I think there's been a misunderstanding. I've found my soul-mate."

Melody blinked. "What?"

Impossible. Melody knew what she had felt when their eyes had accidentally met at the poolside. She had never felt a rush of adrenaline like that. She could hear her pulse in her ears, feel it pounding under every inch of skin. She would swear in a court of law that she had felt her pupils dilate at the sight of her.

"Sorry." Summer shrugged. "You must have made a mistake."

"Show me your mate," Melody demanded.

Summer’s head jerked back a little, stunned. "Don't you think you're taking this prank too far?” Her tone had turned irritable. “It's really pathetic to be faking a soul-mate connection.”

"They are the one lying about the soul-mate tie!"

"Noah is my friend, he wouldn't lie to me."

"Well, I'm not lying to you either!"

Summer stared her down for a few moments, her dominant energy pressing Melody back a step, but she would not be deterred.

"Introduce us, please.” She tried to keep the desperation and shock from her voice. “I swear that I'm telling the truth."

Summer sighed. "Fine, but only because he's coming over tonight anyway."

A burning sensation prickled at the back of Melody's neck. Did this Noah guy sleep over? Had they... done things?

"Come in." Summer stepped back to allow Melody entrance, and she was immediately entranced by the scent that wafted around her when she was squeezed in close. Summer shut the door behind her. "Have a seat in there." She pointed her to a living room crammed with couches and armchairs.

Then she left Melody to twiddle her thumbs. Refusing to provide any kind of conversation or hosting while they awaited the arrival of 'Noah'. The room was empty, but Melody managed to restrain herself from snooping. For once, it didn’t seem like the time or place.

The sound of the door opening and closing, and mumbled conversation, reached her ears. Summer returned with a young man in tow. A dominant young man. His scent didn’t need to invade Melody’s nostrils for her to be able to tell, the sheer size of him made it more than obvious.

"Noah, this is- what was your name again?"

"Melody."

"Melody, this is Noah,” Summer said with a lazy swing of her finger between them.

"Nice to meet you, Melody," Noah said. He flopped into one of the armchairs, displacing a throw blanket. "Summer says you think she's your soul-mate?"

"I know she is," Melody huffed in reply. "I also know that you're lying about her being yours."

Noah chuckled. "She's rude, isn't she?"

Summer hummed in agreement.

"I'm honest, not rude,” Melody replied, knowing she sounded petulant.

Noah shook his head as though disappointed in her. "You can't be that honest if you've come here to play some sick soul-mate pra-”

"Are we just going to ignore the fact that you're both dominants?" Melody interrupted. She gave them both a sharp once-over with her eyes. Judgemental was Melody’s default facial setting.

"So are Alpha Nico and Beta Oli,” Noah countered smoothly. “And they recently came out as a couple. Are you one of those people that thinks they're lying?"

"No, I believe them.” Melody adjusted herself in her seat. “But if you are Summer's soul-mate, why did I feel the mate connection when I saw her at the beta birthday party?"

"A more important question is: why didn't you say anything at the party?"

"I was nervous! It's not usually on the submissive mate to make the first move."

"So why are you here now?"

"Her birthday is next week and I couldn't wait any longer."

"Convenient."

"And your story?"

Summer hovered to one side, watching them argue from their armchairs. Melody felt self-conscious under her gaze.

"Summer and I have been friends for years,” Noah replied. “I was in the year above hers at school, but we both knew we wanted to be guards when we graduated. First we started training together to meet the physical requirements, then our friendship grew with it."

"And you woke up on your eighteenth birthday knowing she was yours?" Melody prompted.

"No." Noah smiled sadly. "That's a bit more complicated."

Summer interjected indignantly, "you don't have to tell a total stranger about that. It's none of her business."

"It's okay. I get the feeling she won't leave us alone if I don't clear things up." His fake smile of reassurance only served to irritate Melody more. "I had another soul-mate first."

Melody felt her eye twitch. Soul-mates were not something that you collected like loyalty card stamps. You got one for your lifetime and that was it. There was no swapping, selling or splitting. Yet, she was curious as what wild tale he was about to tell, so she stayed silent.

The bullshit continued to spew from his mouth in a torrent. “Unfortunately, she passed away in an accident before her eighteenth birthday. But my parents spoke to a specialist, and they said that because my soul-mate died before mate maturity that I would be re-assigned naturally." Melody fought the urge to roll her eyes. All scientific evidence suggested that soul-ties developed pre-puberty, maybe even in the womb. "I didn't really pay attention to it, though, because I had already given up with her death." Melody glanced over at Summer, who looked appropriately sorrowful and pitiful for her friend and his make-believe story. "But then one day, I happened to look over at Summer and it just... clicked." The pair smiled serenely at each other and Melody fought a retch.

Melody glanced at the clock on the wall, her time was running out. She wouldn’t be able to convince Summer of the truth before her pack visitation pass expired. That’s fine, she told herself, she needed to retreat and arm herself with information first.

“Thank you for taking the time to explain to me,” she said sweetly. “Maybe I should see a specialist, too.”

“That sounds like a great plan, Melody,” Noah replied, smarmy in tone.

Summer walked her out, and Melody took a slow, yearning gaze at her as the door closed. Collecting as much of her soul-mate as her memory bank could store until she returned. On her way home to her own pack, she messaged everyone she knew who might have the connections she required.

The next morning, a very exciting text was awaiting her when she woke up.

Allegedly, Alpha Nico had been feeling a little guilty about how Darcy had been treated at the Pearl Claw initially. And apparently, this guilt lent itself to some small favours. And now, Melody had a bunch of crisply printed papers tucked into a cardboard file with Noah’s name on the front.

All she needed was a coffee and a croissant to appropriately nose around the man’s entire life.

Next to ‘Soul-mate’, a name had been hand-written. As Melody stared down at it, mocha in hand, her eye began to twitch again.