Alpha Assignment (BL) Chapter 39 (Early Access) (Patreon)

Remi was waiting, suited and booted, on the sofa when Quinn got home from work the day of their dinner date. His hair was combed down, although the ends still flicked, and instead of a floppy topknot he had an elegant section pinned back with a twist. The silky material of his shirt shifted and shone with every little movement, and bare collar bones blushed. The trousers and jacket were silver, selfish really to match Remi’s outfit to Quinn’s eyes, but he was wearing a black suit, so they were even. The silver, seductive omega followed him up the stairs.

While he buttoned his own shirt, Remi watched around the door, inquisitive. Not about the clothes, they had three-pieces back in the packs (more so for those that had to attend inter-pack meetings and alpha-headed dinners) but studying Quinn from head to toe.

“Did you need something?”

Remi smiled, coy, and shuffled back around the door. Still peeking, but a little more subtly. Quinn chuckled to himself and closed his waistcoat.

They parked up and strode into the restaurant, hand-in hand, perfectly on time.

Their waiter was a suave man with perfect posture and a burgundy bow tie who led them to a cosy table in the corner. He stepped forward to offer Remi his chair, but a moment’s meeting of the eyes and he bowed back to allow Quinn to do so instead. When Remi sat, Quinn lifted the chair a half-inch from the ground to shift him forward instead of scraping the feet along the carpet. Remi weighed so little the chair might as well have been empty. Hopefully that would change after all the courses they would eat their way through tonight.

The menus were half Remi’s height, and he disappeared completely as he browsed the choices. In the softest murmur he could manage, Quinn coached him through the different sections and explained that he would have to make a choice for all of them. Or leave it up to the chef’s recommendations. He asked what Quinn was having, and then chose the same aside from the seafood dishes.

Quinn ordered for them both, including a bottle of wine for the table, and Remi nodded along with his eyes down and his hands interlaced under the draping white cloth. When the waiter excused himself, Quinn stretched across the table, seeking out Remi’s fingers. Remi dropped them into Quinn’s palm and smiled, shy.

The lighting in the restaurant was muted, the music low and lyric-less, the air warm and filled with mingling perfumes, and the furniture plush and velvety… it all fused to create an atmosphere so perfectly intimate. It hadn’t felt like this at the work dinner. The private area they were given was more… corporate and cold.

“Are you okay? I know it can be a bit overwhelming at firs-”

“I’m great,” Remi breathed. “It’s so beautiful here. And the h- the people are so nice.”

“I’m so happy to hear that.”

“I’m so happy about… everything,” Remi giggled. His cheeks flushed and he traced his fingertips along Quinn’s palm. “I’ve talked to… you-know-whats and had dinner with them and drank alcohol and I’ve never felt so safe and happy.” He finally looked up, and his shining eyes had Quinn’s stinging and blurring. “Thank you. For everything.”

Quinn sucked in a breath, struggling not to turn into a big blubbery mess. It was cute when omegas did it, but alphas looked pretty pathetic when they sobbed like a baby. He went to tell Remi he was welcome, but Remi wasn’t finished.

“I love painting and I love cooking and I love gardening and I never got to do any of those things before, not for fun or because I might like it. I never did anything I wasn’t told to… I feel like I’ve become-” He floundered, looking away. “It sounds so silly.”

“I won’t find it silly.”

Remi brought his gaze back to Quinn, his eyes trusting. He whispered, “I feel like I’ve become a real person.”

Quinn nodded. Leaving the pack, living like a human, it made you independent of the horde. You are no longer part of some giant furry blob who somehow see themselves as separate and better from all the other packs that all live the exact same way as you. Community was one thing, but living to upkeep the hierarchy, not only within your pack but outside it, drained you of your individuality.

“I have a home now, not a pack house.”

Quinn didn’t need the food any more, he was full and sated off Remi’s words. That final sentiment had just filled him with pure light, glowing deep in his gut. It was everything he had wanted since Remi arrived - he was safe, he was happy, he had his own personality and hobbies… Quinn wiped his eyes with the heel of his hand, Remi dried his with the drag of a pinky.

The conveyor belt of small plates, however, were going to keep coming no matter how mushy they felt.

Bruschetta… Tuna tartare for Quinn and a thick, sweet-smelling tomato soup for Remi… Burrata… Caviar for Quinn and a mini cheese platter for Remi… Tortelli… Veal… Tiramisu… An espresso for Quinn and a hot chocolate that was thick enough to be a sauce for Remi… sorbet… and finally, some mints.

“I think my shirt is going to burst,” Remi whispered with a hand to his mouth, covering the mint he was still suckling.

“We’ll get straight into our stretchiest pyjamas as soon as we get home,” Quinn promised. He rose from the table and gave Remi a reassuring smile. “I’ll be back in a moment.”

While he paid the bill, his eyes drifted back to Remi, his sparkling gem perched on a velvet cushion.

“You make a lovely couple,” their waiter said, keeping his eyes to the card machine.

“Thank you.” Quinn slipped some cash from his wallet and into his free hand. “I’m hoping he agrees, I’m asking him to become official tonight.”

“Wow, you bring him here to ask that? Will you be proposing in Buckingham palace?”

Quinn laughed. “What’s wrong with that?”

He grinned, tucking his tip into his vest and tearing off the receipt which Quinn refused. “Nothing at all, if I could afford it I’d bring my girl here, too.”

The walk back to Quinn’s car was much slower than when they had arrived, both weighed down by their endless dinner. With Quinn’s suit jacket draped over him in a meagre attempt to keep off the cold, Remi clung to his arm and allowed himself to be half-dragged and half-carried through the car park.

They drove with the heating on full blast and reminisced about their favourite dishes. Packs that didn’t have their territory spread over a river, lake or coastal area rarely ate fish, but especially not shellfish, and never caviar. Remi had been brave enough to try a tiny bite of each of Quinn’s fish dishes, and had liked what he tasted. The menu had apparently filled Remi with inspiration for his own cooking, and Quinn promised to buy his any ingredients he wanted to experiment with. Even caviar.

Quinn ran them both into the house, Remi bundled against his chest and laughing, to avoid the almost-November temperature. He kicked the door shut behind him and lowered Remi to the ground.

Shoes off, Remi immediately took off up the stairs.

“Wait!” Quinn snagged the back of Remi’s jacket, halting him.

Remi turned. “Pyjamas?”

“Yeah, but I wanted to talk first.”

Confused, Remi patted his tummy where it was straining against the silky material. A reminder that there may be dire consequences for his new garment if he didn’t get out of it soon.

“I love you.”

Remi’s hands dropped and his mouth popped open a little.

Quinn had been toiling for days over how he was going to ask, all the lovely things he wanted to say about how wonderful Remi was… but after Remi’s effortless sweetness in the restaurant, his own speech sounded, frankly, shit. “I… am so happy you’re here, and I don’t want you to ever leave.” He followed up a step on the stairs and took Remi’s hands in his own. “I could never have predicted how things were going to develop between us when you arrived, but I’m so glad they did. And… I was hoping you would be interested- or agree- I-”

Remi giggled, leaning forward and squeezing Quinn’s hands supportively.

Quinn sighed with an awkward smile. “Remi, will you be my mate?”

Instead of a yes or no, Remi leapt forward, throwing his arms around Quinn’s neck and kissing his cheek. Quinn clutched him close and walked them up to the next floor.

“Is that a yes?”

Remi drew back, grinning. “Of course it is!”

“Then… would you like some help getting out of those trousers?”

Nose to nose, Remi whispered, “Please.” And the puppy dog eyes that came along with that one word almost sent Quinn feral.

He kicked his bedroom door open and draped Remi over the duvet like he was the final course on the menu. The suit came off slowly, peeling sleeves free one by one, so that Quinn could savour every moment with his mate.

“You’re so beautiful,” he murmured into Remi’s collarbone. It no longer jutted out like a knife.

“So are you,” Remi replied.

Quinn snorted. He was tall and strong and not ugly, but he was an alpha so that was supposed to make him special. Remi was genuinely unique, truly perfect even in his imperfections, sweet to a fault, and impossible to recreate.

He hoped every word of that thought was conveyed in the way he dragged his tongue from Remi’s flushed throat to between his legs. The curled toes as Remi came apart on the bedding signalled he might just understand how much pleasure Quinn wanted to give him.

Inside, he was plush and pulsing and when Quinn pushed into him he squealed, high and sweet and with that omega whine that reset something between Quinn’s ears every time he heard it. A primal itch scratched. His alpha instincts switched on.

Mate. His mate. All his. Forever and ever and-

A clenching spasm rippled through Remi’s body, stomach folding, and his eyes crossed up at the ceiling. “Quinn!” he sobbed.

“It’s okay, my mate.” Quinn kissed the creases from his forehead, his hips never slowing. “I’m here.” You’re safe. And you always will be.