Becoming Beta

Chapter 15

A/N: Graphic violence/torture below.

Fenrir watched Draco walk into the pack's dueling court and a huge cheer went up. Draco grinned as he saw that the whole pack had been waiting for him to arrive. Fenrir grinned in response and walked forward to greet his pup.

Fenrir shook Draco's hand, then pulled him into a hug. As Fenrir turned back to the group, he squeezed his pup close. It was good to have everyone together again.

"Our future Beta is back! Let's celebrate!" Fenrir announced. The center of the dueling court was set with tables, laden with a feast. The butterbeer and firewhisky were flowing as the pack relaxed, each of them eager to catch up with Draco.

The collective felt complete again, and that alone was enough to ease Fenrir's nerves. He joined Draco, Seff, and Arnou at the table, keeping silent as he listened to his pack talk, joke, and laugh with each other. It was good to have his family home.

"Wha's this I hear abou' a mate, pup?" Arnou asked Draco, waggling his shaggy eyebrows at him.

Fenrir chuckled at the dull red color that appeared on Draco's cheeks at the question.

"You have a mate? Why didn't you tell me? What's she like? What does she smell like? I hope she's pretty. Is she pretty?" Seff asked, rushing his words together. This only made Fenrir laugh harder. Seff had never met a wolf with a mate before - they must seem almost mythological to him.

Draco's blush deepened even more at Seff's questions.

"She's pretty, smells amazing," Draco mumbled to the group.

"I'm afraid they'll want more details than that, pup," Fenrir prodded. Draco glared at him for a moment and then huffed.

"Fine, she's the smartest witch in our year. Bloody beautiful to boot. And powerful, never gets a spell wrong, learns them all on the first try. And she's kind. We weren't friends, never have been friends, but she's been so damn nice to me. Almost inexplicably nice," Draco sounded puzzled over this.

"Tha's the bond," Arnou piped up.

"But I haven't marked her yet..." Draco's brows furrowed.

"But you've kissed her? Done other things?" Fenrir raised an eyebrow at him. He knew about mate bonds. They were heady, and they sneak up on you if you weren't paying attention.

Draco admitted a bit sullenly, "Yeah."

Arnou nodded in response, "It's the bond. The mate bond reaffirms with each touch, kiss, lick, fuck..." He trailed off, looking at Draco like he was hoping for details.

Seff's eyes went wide, "You've had sex with your mate already? You've only been gone two months!"

Draco groaned and dropped his head into his hands. Fenrir chuckled. This was better entertainment than a Death Eater revel. He loved his pack.

"No, Seff," Draco bit out. "I have not had sex with my mate. Not that I didn't want to. The bond is powerful. Two months ago, if you told me that this is the girl I would be panting after, I would have laughed in your face. Now I can hardly stand to be in the same room with her without wanting to shag her silly. It doesn't help that we share a lot of the same classes."

Fenrir grinned, "Aren't you going to tell them who your mate is?" He addressed the rest of the group, they had all stopped to listen about their almost-Beta's mate, "She's famous."

Draco glared at Fenrir, and Fenrir just chuckled, "Own up to it, pup. They're all going to find out eventually. Especially when we go tell the Dark Lord."