~1~
I didn’t want to leave the cocoon I had made for myself in my room, my cocoon of shame and horror when I presented as an omega. I had lived my entire life preparing to be an alpha or a beta, what literally every single person in my father and mother’s line had ever presented as. But of course, I had to be the one shame upon my family. The other shameful part is that as soon as I had presented, my inner wolf was clawing at me to find my mate. I rolled my eyes at the thought, hating that life was even the way it was when it came to mates and inner wolves and all that mess. Inner wolves were exactly what they were, an inner part of ourselves that controlled our instincts, base desires, even some of our personality traits. We lost the ability to shape shift into wolves over a century ago. It almost seemed as though when humans and society evolved, we lost our ability to evolve as well. I am just thankful we didn’t present as early as we used to. Our ancestors would present in their late teens, all to further the development and strength of the pack, some mating and reproducing as young as fifteen! Things were different now, many not presenting until sometimes mid to late twenties, depending on the way things were in your pack.
We didn’t live entirely like normal humans, but fairly close. The main difference was, we did not consider ourselves as part of human society, therefore causing us to live in isolation. For the most part, humans respected us and our boundaries, even leaders of countries go so far as to give us reservations of land. Our pack was one of the oldest on this side of the country, giving us the most land in the most fertile area. My father was leader of our pack, which now had grown to over eight hundred others. Because of this, I felt even more shame in becoming an omega. I wasn’t someone who was more obscure in the pack, oh no, I was front and center being my father’s eldest child. My younger brother Hongjoong had already presented as an alpha so all eyes had been on me. He was set to become pack leader once my father stepped down, but thankfully my father was still strong and fit to lead us.
Everyone in our family was happy...until three days ago when I presented. I should have known I was going to be an omega, simply from the way I looked. I was curvy, very curvy, much more than any of my female relatives. They all had slender, sharp, strong figures of alphas and betas. Once I felt my heat set in and, I locked myself in my room to suffer through it. I finally had to venture out, the grumbling of my stomach leading me to emerge. As I slowly opened my door, the scent of my family overwhelmed me. I could always sense their scents before, but now that I had presented, they were much stronger to me. I closed my eyes and took a shaky, calming breath before making my way into the main area of the house to see my father sitting at the table, looking over some papers. He immediately jerked his head up to make eye contact with me, his face stern at first but softening a moment or two later.
“G-Good morning, Father.” I said, walking slowly past him before he cleared his throat.
“Come back, don’t shy away from me.” he said, his voice soft, but the strong words of an alpha spilling out of his mouth. I wanted to ignore him, but my omega tendencies now showed their ugly face, making me shrink into myself and walk over slowly. I stood next to him, my eyes on the floor as I played with my hands nervously. He sighed and gripped my hands in his, the feeling of his strong, callused hand squeezing mine made me feel safe and warm.
“I’m sorry.” I said softly, my voice trembling as I still dared not look up. It wasn’t until he let go of my hands and lifted my chin to make my face even with his gaze.
“What are you sorry for my child?” he asked, making me sniffle.
“I...I’m a stupid, worthless omega. The first in your line, or Mother’s line.” I said, trying to keep the tears at bay.
“Do not ever call yourself stupid or worthless. You are my daughter, and always will be. I will admit I was...” he trailed off.
“Ashamed?” I asked, feeling a single tear drop before I could wipe it away.
“No. I am not ashamed of you. I was surprised, but I don’t ever question what the moon goddess has planned. She must have something amazing planned for you, something special to have given you this blessing.” he replied with a soft smile. I scoffed and wiped my eyes, trying not to roll them at his statement.
“You have a lot more faith in her than I do. How can I consider this a blessing? I am made to submit and to breed, that’s it. I’m weak, I’m soft...I’m...” I trailed off, choking back a sob.
“Come here.” he said, standing and pulling me into his arms. I cried into his chest for a moment as he patted my back softly. I always loved being hugged by my father, which even though it wasn’t that often, felt so warm and comforting. He was almost six and a half feet tall, and had large, broad shoulders, the makings of a true alpha. I guess it would make sense why I always love his alpha’s scent, that deep woodsy smell.
“Please don’t push me aside. I know I’m not as valuable as an alpha or a beta, but please don’t push me away and forget about me.” I said softly into his chest after pulling myself together.
“Now you listen to me. You may have presented as an omega, but you are still my daughter. You are raised by a family of strong alphas and betas. You are raised to be strong, and that is what you are. I love you always, and I could never push you away. In fact, come, let me show you this.” he said as he unwrapped his arms from around me and returned to his seat at the table.
“What is all this?” I asked, sniffling one more time before sitting in the chair beside him.
“These are proposed changes to our borders by the Silva pack.” he said, showing me the papers he held in his hand.
“They have always given us problems with the northern borders. Is that what this is about?” I asked, looking at the map stretched out on the table, the edges worn and curled from use.
“Yes. You know that they have always desired our land at Crystal Falls. We have always divided the lake in that area, but they want the entire surrounding area. I can understand why they do, but we have to consider whether it would be advantageous to allow them to now own that land. Do we let them take it and strengthen our relationship between packs? Or do we refuse them to keep that fertile land for ourselves?” he asked, motioning to the area of land.
“Well, it is on the very edge of our land so if we did give it up, it wouldn’t really cut into our own lands.” I said, looking over the map.
“That is my thinking as well, however some of the pack elders argue that it has been ours since the beginning of the pack’s formation so we shouldn’t just give it up so easily.” he responded with a sigh.
“Hmmm....did they say why they wanted it?” I asked, looking up at my father.
“I believe it is because of the location. What is one thing you know about the Silva pack?” he asked, looking at me.
“I know they are forest dwellers. They live toward the base of the mountains, so they are more hunters and gatherers than we are. They don’t plant and harvest as much like we do because of their location.” I said, as he smiled at me.
“Yes, that is exactly it. I believe they desire that land because of its fertility. They can fish more, hunt more and gather more in that area, helping their pack grow stronger.” he said, plopping the papers down onto the map.
“What are you going to do?” I asked as his face screwed up for a moment. He sat there silently rubbing his chin for a moment before he looked over at me and smiled.
“I know exactly what I’m going to do. I am leaving tomorrow to go and sit down with their pack leader and the pack elders to discuss the terms of this possible border dispute. I was going to take your brother and leave one of the pack elders in charge, however I think I will leave him here to lead in my stead and bring you with me instead.” he said, making my eyes widen.
“Me?! You really want to bring me??” I asked, my face slack in shock as he let out a deep laugh.
“You are my daughter after all. Now that your heat is over, you are safe to come with me. I know you are unmated and that can cause a little concern, however no one would dare touch you with you being my daughter.” he said with a grin. It made me feel a little better that he would consider bringing me to something this important. My thoughts were interrupted by my stomach grumbling, making him laugh.
“Thank you, father.” I said, standing up and kissing his cheek.
“Now go and get something to eat before you fall over.” he replied, making me roll my eyes.
“Have you seen me? I’m hardly in danger of starving.” I said, motioning to my body.
“Get to your mother before I have your brother haul you in there.” he said, making me laugh. I left his side and walked on the other side of the house to the kitchen where my mother was cooking lunch. She stopped stirring the pot as soon as she sensed my presence, turning to face me with a slight look of sadness on her face.
“I’m sure you’re hungry.” she said, turning away and grabbing a bowl from the cabinet before filling it with the hearty stew she had made.
“Thank you, mother.” I said quietly, turning to grab water from the fridge.
“How...how are you feeling?” she asked before sitting the bowl on the small table, sliding a spoon into the stew.
“I’m tired but I’m feeling alright.” I said, sitting down at the table and beginning to eat. I could feel uneasiness radiating from her, making me feel self-conscious and uncomfortable.
“I’m sorry I didn’t prepare you for what you faced with your heat. Honestly, I’m probably not the best person to prepare you anyway.” she said, making me shrink a little at her words. She was a strong beta; one you would almost assume was an alpha if not for her scent.
“It’s ok, I got through it alright.” I replied. I am sure they heard my groans of pain and discomfort over the last few days, but I didn’t really want to talk about it. She hummed in response and went back to cooking for a few moments as I ate before she left the room. I wasn’t expecting her response to be so cold, however I knew that was a possibility. Honestly, I was looking forward to this trip. It would get me away from the judgmental stares of everyone I knew, and into a place I had never been before with fresh eyes.
