Chapter 1
When I finally came out of my heat, I was completely and utterly dazed.
How could I not be? To find out I was the only omega in all four packs around the lake was unthinkable. At least, it had been, before my twentieth birthday just a week ago. Since then, I’d been holed up in a solitary cabin deep into the East Pack woods while the advisors and more of my parents’ underlings scrambled to come up with a way to subdue my heat--before every damn alpha in the four territories jumped on me like white on rice.
I groaned in exhaustion, still slumped against the bed. There wasn’t much in the cabin. Food and water, of course, plus a bed and a box of toys to attempt to keep me… sated. And then there were about fifty padlocks on the door. Unnecessary, given the fact that all the alphas in East Pack knew me as the pack leaders’ only son. Touching me without consent would’ve probably spelled an automatic death sentence.
That didn’t stop Mom and Dad from putting an overblown ring of beta guards around the door, though. I appreciated the gesture. Even if it seemed over the top, no one had seen an omega in the four packs since before I was born. Nobody knew what would happen, or how any of the alphas would respond.
And on top of that, I definitely didnotwant to get knocked up by some rando alpha, thank you very much.
Though my body was pretty clear that’s exactly what it wanted. The urges were indescribable. I lost myself completely to my animal instincts, to bend over and be bred. It was a total shock to both my system and my mind.
I went through my whole life thinking I was a beta. I didn’t have any particular scent - no powerful, thick musk of an alpha and no knot to speak of--and before my last birthday, I’d never experienced a heat. I shuddered in disgust thinking about how my body opened up like that, how slick it’d gotten… Ugh.
Maybe with the right partner it would’ve been sexy. But right now, I felt like molasses on the sidewalk on a summer day. I was grateful the heat had finally passed so I could leave this damn cabin and take a shower.
I quickly threw on my clothes, undid all the locks and poked my head out. The guards were immediately there.
“Sir, do you need an escort to use the bathroom?” the beta asked. He was in human form, but some of the others assumed the form of their wolf to provide the full range of protection.
“No, I’m fine now. My heat’s done,” I told him.
He seemed unsure, looking me up and down like I was a ticking time bomb and he didn’t know when I’d go off. “Let me get your parents.”
I sighed. “Fine, but I’m going home anyway. I seriously need a shower.”
“We’ll escort you,” they all said at once.
I blushed at the attention, especially since I was still covered in embarrassing slick fluid, but I didn’t complain. As soon as we left the boonies and walked through the more populated areas of the territory, alphas gathered curiously around our little brigade. I lowered my head and grumbled, not wanting to be seen.
I knew they didn’t have bad intentions. They were my packmates, people I’d been around my whole life. But me being an omega threw a wrench into everything. My twentieth birthday was supposed to be an exciting day; a rite of passage into adulthood, when I would receive full rights to join the pack’s guards. Even as a beta, I could fight. I would’ve helped my pack protect our territory from humans, gryphons, and even the surrounding wolf packs if I had to.
But what could an omega do?
It didn’t change my mind. I still wanted to reclaim these lands. But I knew Mom and Dad wouldn’t see it that way at all. They’d want to put me in a glass case, protect me from everything.
As the guards brought me home, I ignored my parents’ half-spoken cries and rushed to the shower. They could wait ten minutes until I was done. When I no longer felt disgusting, I came back downstairs wrapped in a towel.
“Hi,” I said as they frowned at me.
“Matheson,” Mom said. “How are you feeling?”
“Like I got hit by a truck.”
“This isn’t a joking matter, son,” Dad said, gentle but firm.
“I’m not joking. That’s really how I feel,” I insisted, throwing my hands in the air exasperatedly. “Do any of you know what this feels like? Doesanyonein the packs know? No, they don’t. Not since the last omega died.”
I knew I was probably stepping out of line and acting petulant by bringing that up. But it was the truth. I hadn’t known him, since the guy passed away a long time ago, and since then no other omegas had been born into any of the four packs. I didn’t even know if omegas existed outside the packs, anymore.
My parents exchanged uncomfortable glances.
“Anyway, whatever,” I continued, wanting to dispel the tension. “It’s over now, so… What’s next?”
I noticed the beta guards still hanging around outside, along with a few rubbernecker wolves who were deeply curious but too afraid of being reprimanded to come any closer.
Mom frowned and closed the blinds with a sigh. “I don’t know, Matheson. I know you wanted to fight for our pack, but…”
