Alpha Assignment (BL) Chapter 49 (Early Access) (Patreon)

The noise that woke Quinn was electronic, but not his morning alarm. His phone. Ringing into the dark of the night with a melodic beeping. At his side, Remi stirred, mumbling nonsense. Quinn struggled up out of their warm blanket lasagna, flinging his hand at the bedside table. The screen was bright, and the call still ringing, when he managed to bring the phone to his face.

Jordan's name almost blinded him. He accepted the call.

"'ullo?"

"Quinn." His name was sobbed, it struck a lightning bolt of energy into him. "I'm so sorry, I know it's late, I-"

"Jordan, are you okay?"

A crackling cry came down the line. Quinn leapt out of bed.

"Alpha?" Remi whined from under an avalanche of duvet. A top-knot poked out like the greens of a turnip.

"Where are you?" Quinn asked.

Through hiccups and sniffs, Jordan offered a road name. Quinn knew it: it connected the rural area Jordan lived in with the main city. It was a no man's land with nothing but that road to show civilisation had arrived there.

"I'm so sorry, Quinn, I can't get a taxi and I don't know which way to walk an-"

"I'm on my way, share your live location and I'll be there in ten."

Remi watched him leave with a confused, sleepy expression, but when Quinn called over his shoulder that Jordan needed him, his mate nodded and retreated back to the covers.

He broke some speeding laws to reach Jordan within the ten minutes promised, but it was worth it to skid to a halt at his friend's side. Before Quinn could jump out and open the door for him, Jordan had already scrabbled into the car, face red, tear-streaked and puffy. He was dressed nicely, with well-fitting jeans, a flattering shirt, and a knee-length heavy coat, open despite the chill with a waist tie that had clearly been dangling in the mud that made up the banks either side of the road.

Quinn ramped up the heat and pulled away to find somewhere safer to stop. Jordan cried the entire drive, covering his face with his hands, sleeves soggy from a combination of rain and tears.

On a small side road, under a tree, Quinn rolled to a stop.

“Jor-”

“He went nuts,” Jordan gasped. He was staring through the wind shield, as though he could see anything out in the darkness. Quinn could, but he knew that skill wasn’t one humans shared. There wasn’t much to see anyway, just more dirt road.

“Jay?” Quinn guessed.

A nod, and Jordan continued. “We had a nice date - the food was good and the conversation was normal and… then on the drive back he just switched.” He sniffed hard and gurgly and Quinn regretted not taking an extra moment to grab some tissues on his way to the car. “H- he started throwing these crazy accusations around.” He wiped his eyes harshly. “I’m not fucking cheating on him, but it obviously doesn’t matter if I am or not.” He took a moment to breathe, almost wheezing. “I can’t even find one good person to like me, let alone a second or third!” Sniffs broke way to sobs again.

Quinn unclipped both of their seat belts and pulled him into an uncomfortable hug.

“This is on him,” he murmured. “Not you. You’re great and-”

“And deserve love and kindness or whatever you said to Jay in the office?”

“I- I’m sorry.” Quinn pulled back, shamed. “I crossed the line there, I-”

“No, I’m glad you did it.” Jordan watched him for a moment, as though uncertain whether to share whatever came next. “He was so angry, and so scary, I think things could have gone a lot worse if he didn’t have the threat of…” He gestured at Quinn’s general body with his soggy sleeves. “He left me in a ditch, but at least I’m not dead in it.”

Quinn’s fists clenched against the upholstery of his seat. “I’d have killed him if that happened.”

For a few seconds, Jordan stared at him, his expression strange. A mixture of acceptance, sadness, and longing. Finally, he just nodded, turning back to the darkness ahead.

“What will happen now?”

Jordan scrunched his mouth in thought. “I avoid Accounts like the plague, take a few weeks to enjoy all that the single life has to offer - which is mostly just unregulated ice cream eating… and then…” His eyes welled again. “Start all over again trying to find someone to love me.” On the final word, his voice cracked and Quinn snatched him into another hug. Rough and manhandling.

“You are so lovable, easily lovable,” Quinn said into Jordan’s damp hood. They were ear to ear, Jordan silent on his shoulder. “If Remi hadn’t come along…” They both tensed, unsure if they were ready for these words to be out in the open. “-and given a little more time for me to adjust to someone with no experience in the cult, I would have- we could have-”

“Yeah.” A croak.

“Maybe it wouldn’t have been a good fit, and maybe it would have ruined our friendship, and everything I’ve made for myself outside of the cult… But you are very easy to love, Jordan.”

“Thanks,” Jordan whispered, pulling back. “So is Remi.”

“He is, but I didn’t have any intentions to end up…” In gridlocked obsession with an omega? “… together when he arrived.”

“No? But he’s so cute.”

“He is.” Quinn couldn’t help but smile at the thought of just how cute his mate was. “But I was really mad that some ex-cult member was being shoved into my house without my permission. No one asked me if I was willing to take someone in and support them and teach them how the outside world works- I barely understand it myself, still!”

A watery giggle escaped Jordan. “You are much more capable at blending in than you think. You’re the most computer literate country bumpkin any of us normies have ever met!”

They both laughed now, it prompted a short coughing fit from Jordan as he fought against his own snot and tears. They settled into silence, listening to the wind rocking trees outside the car.

“I hate that I’m so desperate for it,” Jordan mumbled.

“It?”

“Love. A relationship. Someone that’s special, and only for me.”

“I only understood that feeling recently, to be honest.”

“Because of Remi?” Jordan smiled sadly. “That’s sweet.”

“Mmm… not quite.” Quinn took a second to try and source the right words. “I think, outside of the cult, I had created this bubble that only had me in it. And that seemed safe, the only way I was going to make it amongst-” He smiled. “-normies. I couldn’t even imagine myself being in a relationship because those outside the cult are like a whole other species.” Are literally a whole other species, he added in his mind. “And I went so long without indulging in that idea, not even fantasising about it as a far-future goal, that I almost forgot it was something we need. Until I had someone like me dropped on my doorstep, I hadn’t realised how deeply lonely I was.” He thought of tiny Remi and his tiny suitcase, and all the impossible-to-predict emotional developments that had unfolded from the domino flick that was his arrival. “I can only describe it as being the last person left on a deserted island - why let yourself feel lonely when there’s no chance to have that need fulfilled? It was actually you that really set things in motion.” They shared a look, Jordan’s pained understanding, and Quinn’s apologetic. He needed to get the truth off his chest. “It was like you reminded me that romantic love existed. If it wasn’t in my planner, it wasn’t part of my life. You reintroduced it to me right as Remi arrived. And if he hadn’t…”

Jordan nodded.

They could only watch each other for the next minutes that passed, there was nothing more that could be said.

Quinn broke the silence. “There’s no point in me saying it will happen for you, because we both know it will, and that doesn’t help with how it hurts now.” A redundant statement, but he had already revealed his truth, and this was Jordan’s.

“Thanks, Quinn.”

Pulling out of their private spot and turning back to the main road, Quinn announced, “Let’s get you home.”

Jordan took two days off sick, although he kept Quinn updated via text as to the self-care routines he was partaking in. Jay was nowhere to be seen, either, but he would have to come back to work sometime, and when he did, Quinn would be lying in wait.

Coming home Tuesday, Quinn allowed himself to temporarily shed the anger that had been clouding his thoughts since dropping Jordan home. He would be getting a sliver of his and Remi’s routine back tonight - painting class. Wes was so almost ready to leave, a few more hearty meals and they would be free of him. Until then, they just had to try for normalcy, or Quinn would combust.

There was an eery silence to the house when he entered, shucking off his backpack, coat and shoes.

“Remi?” he called up the stairs.

“In here, Alpha.” The response came from the living room, but Quinn hesitated before stepping in. Was Remi calling him Alpha for Wes’ sake? Sometimes it slipped out in front of him, as though the presence of another werewolf put him back in the pack mentality.

But they weren’t a pack, he ensured Remi understood that. They were an alpha and omega couple… plus a non-titled werewolf guest who would soon be on his way. An alpha alone was just that, an alpha with a mate was a couple, an alpha plus two or more lower ranks was a pack.

Still in the hallway, he sniffed lightly so as not to be heard doing so. His heartbeat quickened. There were three scents in the coming room: Remi’s, Wes’, and another wolf. No secondary gender - a regular like Wes. As he stepped around the door, Quinn’s suspicions were unfortunately correct: Remi had not called him Alpha for Wes’ benefit.