Alpha Assignment (BL) Chapter 13 (Early Access) (Patreon)

Despite Wednesday being a day at home for Quinn, he needed space from Remi, and Remi definitely needed space from him. He didn’t bother knocking on the guest room door before he left for the office, but left out a note on the dining table about the available food in the fridge.

At his arrival in the office, Jordan’s head bounced up from behind his screen with the excitement of a puppy, but Quinn wasn’t in the mood for socialising today. It only took a few grunted responses for Jordan to catch on. He sunk back into his seat with what looked like a pout.

At home, the note hadn’t moved from the table and the fridge appeared undisturbed. Quinn couldn’t tell if anything had been taken from the cupboards, but he hoped so. There wasn’t a peep from the guest bedroom, so Quinn let Remi have his peace. He went about his evening routine, almost reliving his life before Remi for a night.

It was rinse and repeat on Thursday: no sign of Remi in the morning, a grouchy office day, and then returning to an undisturbed home in the evening. Quinn checked the fridge, inside the bin, and every cupboard. Not a morsel had been moved.

His pack hadn’t eaten. The very thought twisted at his gut, punishing him for being a poor alpha. Rushed by the painful sensation, he plated a combination of finger foods: carrot sticks, salted tortilla chips, a banana, and mixed nuts. The contents of the plate shivered as he hurried up the stairs and to Remi’s door.

Quinn hesitated. Remi had made it clear he didn’t want to see Quinn, otherwise he wouldn’t be hiding in his room. He carefully placed the plate on the carpet, knocked, and headed back downstairs.

After eating his own dinner, in complete silence for the first time in almost two weeks, Quinn hovered at the bottom of the stairs. There had been no sounds from the upper floor, nothing to reassure Quinn that Remi had taken his plate.

There was a war waging inside of him as he clutched the bannisters: was it concern or alpha instincts pushing him to intervene? If Remi wanted to be left alone, he should respect that. But Remi was his... guest? Quinn frowned. At what point did Remi stop being a temporary hurdle in the road? And when that happened, what were they?

He knew, staunchly, that they were not alpha and omega. Master and servant. King and commoner.

Quinn launched himself up the first step and thundered halfway up the staircase before realising that could be incredibly intimidating to someone under six feet tall. He took the second half at a light jog.

The plate remained untouched outside Remi's door, the carrot sticks dried a little along their edges. Quinn lifted it with one hand and knocked with the other.

"Remi, can I come in?"

"Yes, Alpha." Zero hesitation, but one-hundred-percent squeak.

Quinn hesitated. It didn't sound as though Remi had given his agreement because he wanted to, rather, it sounded instinctual. Against his better judgement, he entered.

The room was clean and tidy with curtains drawn and bed made, not at all the hovel hide-away that Quinn had been expecting to find Remi buried in. At the foot of the bed, Remi was stood to attention. His eyes were red rimmed, puffy, and half-hidden under lowered lashes that were glued together into clumps. His clothes hadn't been swapped since the day of the painting class, and his hair had retained its colourful crust.

"Dinner," Quinn offered awkwardly, holding out the plate to him.

Remi started, but otherwise didn't budge to take the food.

"Not hungry?"

The tiny topknot bounced with the shake of Remi's head. "No, Alpha. Not until I've thought about what I've done."

A long pause held them, with the plate outstretched between.

"Remi, please take the food," Quinn said, weary. “Please.”

Despite a very confused expression, Remi finally accepted the plate in both hands.

"Bed," Quinn grunted, ushering them both onto the white duvet. They sat on opposite corners, and Remi placed the plate back between them. "Eat," Quinn ordered. He was tired of the games and the wordplay, at the very least he wouldn't have a man starving to death in his house.

Remi's fingers circled the plate, trembling, and Quinn restrained a sigh, he was becoming so easy to read. Red wire, green wire, blue wire, trying to pick the right choice that would keep his alpha from exploding. He settled on a cashew, the smallest item on the plate, and stared at Quinn for the entire journey it took to his lips. Quinn stared back.

The eye-contact stand-off continued as Remi ate one of every item that Quinn had brought him, including a single tiny bite of the banana. Relieved, Quinn flopped flat on the bed, legs still dangling over the edge, feet firmly in the carpet.

"I think my dinner can finally digest now I know you're not going to starve," he joked, although he was entirely serious. He stared at the white ceiling, urging it to relax him.

When he glanced over at Remi, still curled on the corner, the small man was poking at the plate with longing in his eyes.

“You’re not angry with me, Alpha?” Timid and tiny in tone.

“Angry?” Quinn repeated, sounding breathless from the shock of Remi even suggesting such a thing. Remi flinched at the word and Quinn quickly shook his head, pulling himself up onto one elbow. “Remi, I’m not angry with you. I’ve never been angry with you.” A short huff of a laugh burst from his chest. “I don’t know if I ever could be.” Because you’re too damn cute. He kept that addition to himself.

“I ruined-”

“Nothing was ruined," he said, gentle as his exasperation would allow. "Messes can be cleaned up. It’s an art class, Remi, they expect mess!" He laughed again and Remi's eyes darted between his face and the plate uncertainly. Visibly unable to comprehend how his alpha could find this situation funny. "Why do you think they had us layer the floor in newspaper?" Quinn reminded him. Remi scrunched his mouth and shrugged. "You saw the state of the sink, clearly they’re used to spilled paint.”

"I was doing my best," Remi croaked. "I swear, Alpha."

"Remi, you could have been doing your best to make a mess and I wouldn't be angry with you."

It was obvious Remi wasn't convinced.

"I was way more worried about you hiding up here than about some stupid spilled paint."

"I wasn't hiding." Almost a tiny, little bit defensive.

Quinn sat up properly and leant forward over the plate. "This is another one of those rules, isn't it?"

Remi's cheeks puffed and his lips scrunched as though he were holding in his breath. Or a rude response. Quinn grinned.

"Whatever you want to say, say it."

Remi's puffed cheeks popped. "An omega must wait in their alpha's office or other assigned space if a punishment cannot be dealt at the time of the offence. They must not take any other actions to delay punishment or cause issue for their alpha in the pursuit of just consequences." Breathless, he added, "I was not hiding, I was waiting."

Quinn raised his brows and nodded slowly, pretending to mull over Remi's informative explanation. After a few seconds, he dropped the act, letting his face fall neutral and watching Remi immediately pick up the change, an alertness running over his tiny body.

"There was no offence," Quinn said firmly. "There will be no punishment. Don't ever starve yourself under my roof again."

"Y-yes, Alpha." Remi still appeared unconvinced, but Quinn wasn't in the mood to argue the point further. And he wouldn't cross the line of forcing a bond to check, the ice was thin and he wasn't looking to skate.

Instead, he stood, leaving behind a cavern in the duvet that could hold Remi like a nest. "Eat your dinner, have a shower, get into your pjs, and meet me downstairs," he said. "We're going to watch a movie and have an early night."

"Yes, Alpha."

"Take your time. Don't rush because you think I'm expecting you."

"Yes, Alpha."

Quinn nodded, more to himself, and left, pulling the door closed quietly behind him.

After preparing a tray of snacks to sit beside them on the sofa, Quinn queued a wholesome cartoon family movie on TV, paused at one second in, because he couldn't bear any more peril or other intense emotions. He had found himself naturally pushing their viewing habits towards younger content, and he knew it was some ingrained omega effect. The thought of letting Remi watch an action film filled with gore made Quinn feel more sick than seeing the blood on screen himself. But Remi was a grown man, those instincts were just dumb werewolf shit.

The softest pads of mini feet sounded from the hallway as Remi descended the stairs. When he entered the living room, he was freshly scrubbed and donning his fleecy pjs. The familiar scents of Quinn's toiletries clouded the air around his small form.

The next best thing to a scent mark, an intrusive thought that was accompanied by a rumble deep in Quinn's chest. He forced it away, focusing his body on moving about the room and dimming the lights. Remi shifted the tray to the end of the sofa and took the middle spot. Apparently, they were sitting together again. Quinn gave a crap summary of what he thought the movie was about while he grabbed a couple of blankets and double-checked they had everything they needed. Remi said it sounded fun, and Quinn pressed play.

Under nine minutes, and Remi was dead weight against Quinn's side. The movie was of no interest whatsoever anymore.

There had been a prickle of suspicion at the very back of Quinn’s mind since Remi’s arrival. A possibility at the edge of his consciousness that the small man was sent to spy on him. To bring forth something incriminating to allow the Assembly to cast down a charge upon him. But this creature curled into his side…

Innocence incarnate.

Quinn could barely hold his gaze upon his petite snoozing form for more than a minute before the urge to touch and squeeze overwhelmed him. He clenched his fists over his knees in the hope of dispelling some of the thrumming energy he felt when he looked at Remi. It was charging him up for something. Something that heated the lowest point of his stomach.

Quinn took a low and slow breath and hooked his arms under Remi’s neck and knees. He carried him to the spare room and laid him carefully atop his bedding. Then he took himself to his own bed and simmered in his warring emotions and ridiculous animalistic urges all night.