Early the next morning, Jughead makes the short walk to Betty's where she's already waiting on the porch for him. Standing on the bottom step, she rises to her toes to wring her arms around his neck and kisses him hard. He smiles into the kiss, lifting her off the ground before setting her gently on her feet on the sidewalk. She smiles up at him, her bright green eyes sending butterflies swirling in his stomach. He wants nothing more in this moment than to nuzzle her mark, brush his fingers against it and listen to her gasp as it sends chills down her spine, but he can't. Since he'd marked her, she's been careful to keep it covered beneath a thick layer of concealer. It bothers him more than it should that the world can't bear witness to his claim on her, but they've yet to tell Alice anything more than the fact that they're dating. The only plus side to Alice being unaware that he's a wolf is the fact that she still lets him into the house at night.
Upon their arrival to school, Jughead is hit with the heavy scent of wolves nearby. His tension eases quickly as he recognizes the scent, but it's Betty who speaks up about it.
"Why is Sweet Pea here," she questions, pausing mid stride to look up at his equally confused expression.
Before he has a chance to answer her, Toni and Fangs appear from the side of the building, following behind Sweet Pea as he begins his approach down the sidewalk.
"What are you guys doing here," Jughead questions, his brow quirked as he glances between the three of them.
"Alpha's orders," Sweet Pea speaks up, nodding his head in a silent request for Jughead to speak with him privately.
"Be right back," he says lowly against Betty's ear, leaving her with Toni and Fangs to follow Sweet Pea a few feet away.
Sweet Pea's usually playful demeanor is anything but as they come to a stop, his arms folding over his chest as he chews his lip thoughtfully.
"FP tell you about Peabody," he questions just above a whisper.
Jughead nods.
"FP wants watch on Betty at all times," he says, glancing over to where Betty is chatting with Toni and Fangs. "Peabody's got a grudge and since FP no longer has a mate, he thinks you're her target."
"Makes sense," Jughead nods, shooting a worried glance at Betty. "She been spotted in town?"
Sweet Pea shakes his head, "A couple guys from the pack in Greendale saw her over the weekend, but she's been around."
Jughead nods, remembering the body that had been found behind Pop's, his stomach sinking as he imagines Betty meeting the same fate. They discuss the matter a bit further, agreeing that someone should be on watch outside Betty's house at night, leaving the specifics to be sorted at lunch.
Throughout the day, Betty is pleasantly surprised to find that she shares each of her classes with at least one of her pack mates. She's curious of course as to why they're suddenly going to school here, but she's sure that Jughead will fill her in when he feels it's appropriate.
At lunch, the moment she takes a seat beside Jughead in the cafeteria, she's whisked away by Cheryl, claiming they have some bonding to do now that they're pack mates. She hesitates, but the look in Jughead's eyes is pleading for her to cooperate. She gives him a subtle nod, kissing him on the lips before allowing Cheryl to drag her off to who knows where.
In Betty's absence, Jughead proceeds to go over the watch rotation he'd come up with in study hall. Peabody is a powerful witch with an unscratchable itch for vengeance in the form of severing a Jones bond, leaving Betty as the obvious target. It kills him that he's unknowingly brought her into this mess, but all he can do now is make sure she is protected at all times.
Over the course of the next month, Betty has become accustomed to being followed around by wolves. Jughead has always walked with her to school, but now they are accompanied by Sweet Pea, Toni, and Fangs, trailing a few feet behind them every morning. She doesn't hate it, their chatter and banter behind them, but she does miss the time she used to spend alone with Jughead, hand in hand as they walked quietly to school. During school hours, the four of them walk her to and from classes, dependent on who shares what class with her. Toni escorts her on every bathroom trip, and even Cheryl steps in on occasion. Jughead always walks her home, and at night, the four of them rotate throughout the week as to who stands guard outside her front door. Jughead still slips into her room on occasion, but being intimate has been a bit awkward knowing there's always an extra set of sharp ears just outside.
"I've been working on something," Betty says softly as Jughead crawls into bed beside her.
"Oh yea." He kisses her. "What's that?"
"A barrier spell," she says proudly, earning an impressed nod from Jughead. "I'm hoping to cast it over the house but I haven't been able to expand it beyond my bedroom yet."
"You'll get it," he encourages, rolling himself half on top of her to nuzzle her mark, now washed clean of makeup.
"Mmm," she hums. "While I was researching, I found something else," she suggests, smirking wildly.
"Something else huh," he grins against her neck, nipping her skin and earning a tiny mewl of approval.
"Mhm," she nods, her back arching to press herself tighter against him as he hovers above her. "We could be as loud as we want and no one could hear us," she purrs against his ear, giving it a tug with her teeth.
Jughead lets a low growl above her, grounding his hips into hers and losing himself in the pressure against his hardened length.
With a final kiss to his lips, Betty urges him back, getting up from the bed to pick up an unlit candle from her desk. He watches with slight impatience as she lights it, setting it just so on the desk. His brow quirks as she pours salt into the palm of her hand.
"Edacay," she mutters, tossing a handful of salt over the flame.
"Did it work," he questions, glancing around the room for any signs that it has.
"Sweet Pea," she yells fearfully, causing Jughead to startle to her side.
"Jesus Christ," he laughs as she giggles into her hand, her cheeks tinged a rosy pink.
The two of them move to her window that overlooks the front yard, peeking through the blinds to where Sweet Pea is seated on the front steps, casually smoking a cigarette.
"So, where were we," he smirks, dropping the blinds to haul her over his shoulder.
She giggles, her eyes bright as he drops her onto her back on the bed. All laughter falls from their lips as he leans closer, his fingertips following the crescent shaped scars on her neck. His lips collide with hers, sweet and slow at first, slowly burning into a deep desire for more. He ruts against her, his swollen length dragging between her folds as their tongues dance. He breaks away, being tugged back to kiss the smirk off her lips before moving his focus to the taught skin over her collar bone. He sucks it between his teeth, soothing the angry red mark with his tongue before trailing lower to the swell of her breast. Betty rises into him from the bed, her chest heaving as his tongue swirls around her rosy pearled nipple. She lets a squeak of surprise with the nip of his teeth, cradling his head in a silent plea for more. He obliges, sucking one nipple hard between his lips, then the other, before trailing kisses along her abdomen.
When he reaches the angular jut of her hipbones, he kisses them gently, his lips brushing ever so slightly against her skin, raising goosebumps in their wake. Betty becomes impatient, pushing his head downward to where she wants him most. With a smirk on his lips, he avoids her center all together, earning a pitchy whimper as she fists the sheets beneath her. He starts at the inside of her knee, dropping gentle kisses and purposeful drags of his tongue along her inner thigh. When he reaches the crease of her groin, he retreats, starting on her other leg and she whines in protest.
"Patience baby," he chuckles between kisses.
"Juggy," she whines breathlessly.
As he reaches the juncture of her thigh, he draws back, grinning as he takes in the sight of her glistening folds. He's kneeling on the floor now as her hips rocks involuntarily, seeking his touch and he blooms with pride that this is all for him; because of him. Craning his head down, he blows a cool breath through his lips against her pearled bud and his stomach swirls with arousal is he watches it twitch with the sensation. He wastes no more time, growing impatient himself, and sucks her swollen nerves between his lips. Betty cries out, her fingers gripping his hair as he laps mercilessly at her middle. He can't help but moan against her, his cock twitching with her every unrestrained call of his name. Determined to get her off, he thrusts two fingers inside her, grunting with the moan she lets into the air as he begins to curl them inside her. In a matter of seconds she's a writhing panting mess, her moans becoming a near scream as she soaks his chin.
Jughead sits back on his heels, wiping his mouth in the palm of his hand before crawling over her eagerly on the bed. He kisses her hard, turned on all the more by her nonexistent give a damn for her fluids on his tongue. Before he can settle himself between her folds, she pulls away, sliding down beneath him to suck his swollen cock into her mouth. A deep groan escapes his chest, his hips bucking forward to fuck her face. She takes his every thrust with ease, furthering his reach until he's pressed back into the vice like squeeze of her throat.
"Fuck Betts," he groans, hissing as he quickly draws his length from her lips. He's so close, but he wants to be inside her, he needs to be inside her. Betty grins as she slides back up to the pillows.
"Proud of yourself," he teases, a smirk touching his lips as he steadies himself.
Betty only shrugs, tugging her lower lip between her teeth as she feigns innocence.
Jughead rolls his eyes, kissing the smirk off her lips once more as he pushes inside her. He moves at a hurried pace, so near to the end he can hardly stand it.
"Fuck, I should pull out," he pants, mostly in an attempt to convince himself.
"Mhm," Betty agrees, though it's hardly convincing as her ankles lock around his behind.
"Oh fuck. Betts," he warns, looking at her as sternly as possible as he fights hard not to lose himself inside her.
With a defiant whine, Betty releases her hold on him and he manages to pull out without a moment to spare, painting her abdomen with thick white ribbons.
Dropping back on his heels, Jughead pants heavily, scolding himself for what he'd almost done.
"Baby, you gotta let me pull out," he breathes, chuckling as she pouts her lips. "Trust me, I don't want to either," he laughs, dropping to the bed beside her.
After getting themselves cleaned up, Betty puts out the candle and kisses him goodbye. As much as the both of them would like to fall asleep together, Alice has almost caught them far too many times. It's not that she doesn't want her mother to know what Jughead is, it's just that she really doesn't want to give up their night time rendezvous. So, reluctantly, Jughead makes his way silently out the front door.
"Fuck were you guys doing up there," Sweet Pea grumbles as Jughead steps onto the porch, "My ears have been crackling for like an hour."
Jughead laughs, "Better than the alternative."
"Oh," Sweet Pea chuckles, giving a nod in understanding. "She do a spell or some shit?"
Jughead only nods, sitting down on the steps to nab the cigarette from Sweet Pea's fingers. He sits there a while with Pea, discussing any strange goings on and coming up short. It's been quiet, almost too quiet. They'd expected that something would have happened by now, even something small, a warning that Peabody is near, but the radio silence is far more unsettling than anything she could have done in the meantime.
Handing the smoke back to Pea, Jughead throws him a two fingered salute before heading home.
It's well past midnight when Jughead reaches Sunnyside trailer park. He tosses his smoke to the dirt below as he makes his way up the stairs to his front door. Inside, he shuts the door behind him, flicking the light switch by the door. He flicks it off and on a few more times, the house remaining dark regardless of his efforts. With a sigh, he goes back outside, rounding the back of the trailer to access the fuse box. It's a simple fix, and he flips the breaker back on with one finger before heading back inside. Once more, he flicks the light switch on, all the air in his lungs being sucked out before he hurls the contents of his stomach onto the floor between his feet.
"Fuck," he cries, dropping to his knees and crawling toward the bloodied lifeless body on the floor. "Fuck, fuck, fuck! Dad? Dad, get up!" He shakes FP's shoulder, shuffling back with a pitiful wail as his father's head rolls across the kitchen floor. He sits there, frozen, his eyes stinging with hot tears
Gathering his senses, he shuffles back further, opening the door from his place on the floor without ever taking his eyes off his father's lifeless body. He falls out the door as it opens, scrambling to his feet once he hits the porch and takes off running. He has no idea where he's going, but he can't stop moving. His vision is clouded with fat tears as his legs take him anywhere but here.
"Jughead," a distant voice calls, but he can't stop, he just can't. His chest runs into something heavy, knocking the wind out of him as he lands hard on the pavement. "Jughead! What the fuck is going on?"
Jughead barely manages to lift his head from his seated position on the pavement. He knows his ass should hurt with the hard collision to the unforgiving ground, but all he can think about it his father's severed head rolling across the floor. He lifts his gaze, tears making it almost impossible to make out the face in front of him.
"Christ Jug," The male voice mutters.
Jughead is promptly lifted from the ground, his legs like gelatin under his own weight before he's sat on a wooden surface. The cloud of tears finally breaks over his lashes, dripping beneath his chin as he views his surroundings clearly for the first time.
Betty's house? Sweet Pea? Why did he come here?
"I can't be here," he shakes his head urgently, getting up slowly and backing away from the steps.
"What the hell are you talking about," Sweet Pea clips, worry heavy in his tone.
"He's dead," he whispers. "He's fucking dead!" As tears again begin to well in his eyes, he takes off running, bolting for the tree line.
"Fuck," Sweet Pea huffs, kicking the pavement beneath his boot. He pulls out his phone, calling on fangs to take over watch before taking off after Jughead.
It takes a while, but Sweet Pea finally catches up to Jughead. He finds him sitting alone at the cliff edge over looking Sweetwater River. He shifts before taking careful steps towards Jughead and takes a cautious seat beside him.
"Guess I'm Alpha now," Jughead mutters bitterly, his gaze fixed on the dark rushing water below as he sniffs up tears.