1
Stark
Stark letout a huge sigh as he fell back on the couch.
He had barely had a moments rest for as long as he could remember. The kingdom had undergone major changes in the last year, and since he was the captain of the royal guard - the most elite group of alphas appointed to protecting their royal figures - Stark was always being called on for one reason or another.
The new king and his good friend Killian had pulled him aside and said, “You need to take a break, Stark.”
The list of duties he still needed to accomplish instantly flashed in Stark’s mind. “But sir - “
“No buts,” Killian said. “Take a break for a few days. That’s an order.”
So now Stark was stuck at home on official couch-sitting duty.
He’d woken up early like he always did, but this time there was no rush to get ready for work. What was he supposed to do with all this free time?
He fumbled until he found the remote and flicked the TV on. He hadn’t had time to simply lounge around and watch something frivolous for a long time - probably before he even joined the royal guard.
He sat in his pyjamas and shovelled a spoonful of granola into his mouth. He felt absolutely lazy and useless sitting in his house doing nothing, but he couldn’t obey a direct order from Killian. He sighed and thumbed the remote’s button.
The channels flashed by until something caught his eye. It was some kind of human dating program. He turned the volume up.
From what he could tell, a male alpha - or whatever the human version of that was - was being vied for by a bunch of female competitors. The show was flashy and gaudy and strange, but for some reason Stark couldn’t take his eyes off it. He stared, fixated on the show as he finished eating.
By the time he had finished his breakfast, the hour-long program ended on a cliffhanger. To his own surprise, he’d become invested in this weird human show.
“Huh.”
He sat back and fell into a daze of thoughts. The whole show had stirred up a strange feeling inside of him. He didn’t know that even humans had such difficult and complicated mating behaviours. He just thought it was a shifter thing.
He furrowed his brow as he watched the preview for the next episode. Even the humans looked ecstatic to be with each other. The look on their faces as they glanced at their potential mate made Stark almost jealous.
He sunk back in the couch seat and let out a sigh. Sometimes it seemed like he was the only shifter in the entire Whitewood pack not to have a mate - not only just a shifter, but an alpha. Hell, thecaptainof the royal guard!
Having a mate was anything anyone ever talked about. Alphas, omegas, mates, pregnancy… Stark understood how big of a deal it was. It was a massive part of shifter culture.
He suddenly wondered if there was something about him that omegas found off-putting. Was he not desirable? Was he doing something wrong?
The phone suddenly rang, making Stark jolt up. He scrambled for his cell in his pocket, half hoping it was Killian telling him he needed him on the job, but the caller ID stated that it was his mother.
“Hello?” Stark said.
“Stark, honey, I finally got a hold of you,” she said. “How have you been? How’s work?”
His mother lived comfortably in the middle ring of the pack territory. Stark shared some of his wealth with his parents because he had too much of it for someone living alone. Even though they lived relatively close by, his mother was usually too tired to make the trip up to visit and Stark was constantly busy at work.
“It’s fine, I’ve just been super busy,” Stark replied.
“Are you at work right now?”
“No,” Stark said with a disappointed sigh. “I got orders to take time off.”
“Well, that’s good,” she said. “Every time I call you never answer, or tell me you’re too busy to talk! You know I get worried ever since last year when that whole Silvercreek debacle went down.”
“I know, I’m sorry about that,” Stark said genuinely. He made a mental note to call his mother more often, especially now that she was getting older. “But I’m here now. What’s up?”
“Oh, not much. Everything’s the same with your father and I.”
