Deputy Omega A Your Service.

Have you ever felt as if you were losing control of your perfect life? A life that you had fought hard to achieve? After years of blood, sweat, and tears, navigating through the turmoils of puberty while successfully climbing the social ladder of the hellhole I called high school. I finally found my groove, which I danced to. Life was glorious.

I was the third-born son of the previous Beta. I had two older, obnoxious idiots I called Liam and Luke, and a younger sister called Lillian. Anyway, as the third child, I was never meant to be the future Beta, but it didn’t bother me. I was going to attend college next year when I graduated from the hellhole. Unfortunately, that meant that I had to leave my best friend Justin behind.

Justin, the lumbering giant, had been my friend since our mothers popped us out of their wombs. Yeah, it was gross to think about, but it was true. I couldn’t have asked for a better friend than him. A month ago, Justin turned eighteen and shifted for the first time. You see, young werewolves cannot shift until they turn eighteen. It sucked, but it also prevented hormonal teenagers from going on a rampage when their feelings got hurt. So yeah, I was stuck with a prima donna yapping around inside my head.

“Hey! Who are you calling a prima donna, bitch?”My other half yells out.

I winced and then replied, “You, Orion.”

“Yeah, funny bones. You’d better get your head into the game before—”

A football to my helmet muffled out Orion’s warning. Knocked off my feet, my back soon met the green turf with a thud rippling through my body. I watched on as a couple of white puffy clouds drifted along the clear blue sky while catching my breath. Another tortuous football practice...It was not that I didn’t love football. However, after four years of playing the game, it had become less significant to me. I only tried out this year because Justin nagged me until I caved under pressure.

A large hand appeared, descending toward my face. “Come on, man,” Justin grunted. Wrapping his digits over the rail guard, he yanked me to my feet. Jerk! “It’s not the time to space out. The coach will have your ass in a grip lock if you don’t get your head into the game.”

I sighed while readjusting my shoulder pads. “Sorry, Captain Jackass. I can’t seem to concentrate today.”

Justin patted me on the shoulder while chuckling at my remark. “It wouldn’t surprise me, considering that tomorrow’s your birthday.” His gray eyes twinkled mischievously. “Hopefully you won’t stay this short after tomorrow, short stack.” He knocked twice on my helmet before scampering off before I could redecorate his handsome face.

Shaking my head, I didn’t want to drool over my best friend again. Yeah, I was gay. However, I was too scared to step out of the closet just yet. Not that our school or pack was homophobic. The headmaster was married to a muscle head who worked at the local gym. So there was a strong policy in place at the school against discrimination of any kind. The last loser who picked on a gay kid got suspended before his ass hit the exit doors.

I’ve had a crush on Justin since middle school, but kept it tight to my chest. I didn’t want to lose my best friend. Although it was a cliché to crush on your best friend, I couldn’t help my feelings.

“Hey! Mr. Grand?” The coach yelled at me, waving his clipboard in the air. “Get your pasty ass over here before I drag you off the field!” A few of the cheerleaders on the side of the field laughed at my expense.

I reluctantly pulled my helmet off my face before running toward my doom. Justin warned me it would happen, but I didn’t listen. A cool breeze hit me on the back of my neck as I approached our coach. And man, he looked pissed. His porn-star mustache bristled as his brown eyes landed on me. I nervously ran my fingers through my sweaty blond hair, trying to get rid of my helmet hair.

“What the hell are you doing out there, Caleb?” The pot-bellied old man yelled at me. “It’s the fourth time you’ve dropped the ball.”

“Sorry, Coach,” I mumbled, staring at Justin’s tight ass as he bent down. “I’ve got a lot on my mind—”

A hard piece of plastic hit my head. I yelled out, rubbing the top of my head. “Get off my field! You’re done for the day. Kenneth! Get your ass in position!” He waved his clipboard at one of my fellow teammates who sat on the bench.

The jock picked up his helmet and ran on the field with a grin on his stupid freckled face. Goddess! I just lost my place on the team. “Get your useless ass in the locker room! Hathaway will play this Friday in your place. I’ve given you plenty of chances this season, but it seems your heart is no longer in the game.” The couch’s eyes softened a bit. “Sorry, Cal. But we can’t afford to lose this upcoming game and I only need the best players on the team.”

My shoulder dropped, knowing that the coach was right. I’ve fucked up too many times already. I nodded at the coach before jogging toward the locker room with my tail between my legs. Great going, Caleb. What is Dad going to say?

“Oh, he’s about to chew your head off,” Orion sang out.

I scoffed and said, “Don’t you think I don’t know that? Dad has always compared me with dumb and dumber.”My older brothers could never do anything wrong in my father’s eyes.

The locker room’s door nearly broke off its hinges when I rushed into the vacant room. I walked up to my locker and then dropped my helmet on the nearby bench. With a heavy heart, I slumped down next to it and glared at the red locker ahead of me. What was happening to me all of a sudden? I’ve never had a problem getting my head into a practice session before. But this feeling of dread pooling in my stomach has been nagging me relentlessly of late.

“You’re scared about what will happen tomorrow?”Orion asked.“We’ve been looking forward to this day since we were nine. Tomorrow’s the day our goddess blesses me with my physical form. We’ll be able to shift for the first time.” Orion’s giddiness made my heart palpitate.

I grabbed a towel off a railing and wiped the sweat off my forehead and neck.“Aren’t you a little scared?”

“And why would I be?”

I hesitated for a moment before I made my deepest fears known.“What if we don’t shift into a beta class wolf?”My stomach clenched at the idea. My father would shit in his pants if we didn’t shift into a beta.

Orion laughed before he said, “And why wouldn’t we? Both our parents and brothers are all betas.”

“You know that’s not a given. The Moon Goddess doesn’t give us what we want, but what we need.”I twisted the towel until it groaned under the strain.“There have been multiple cases where the Moon Goddess has given a werewolf a different form than their parents. So being born into a long bloodline of betas means nothing if our goddess decides otherwise.”

Orion remained quiet for a minute before he said, “You have your doubts that we won’t shift into a beta wolf?”

“Don’t you? We aren’t as buff or tall as the rest of our family. Hell, Mom’s taller than we are.”

It was embarrassing. I was the shortest in our family of five. Even my sixteen-year-old sister was an inch taller than I was. What made matters worse, I didn’t have the muscled physique that my brothers or father had. I had a swimmer’s body with curvy hips. Justin always slapped me on my ass and called my butt cheeks ‘juicy’. But my small stature added to my fears that the Moon Goddess would give us a Delta form, or worse... an Omega form. I shuddered, closing my eyes.

“What’s wrong with being an Omega?”Orion growled.“If the Moon Goddess will it, so shall it be.”

I shot up from my seat and punched the locker in front of me. I flinched and swore, rubbing the pain away. Bad move! My injured hand throbbed painfully.“Are you stupid? What do you think is gonna happen when we turn into an Omega?”

“Nothing disastrous is going to happen,” Orion assured me.“The pack will be overjoyed at—”

“They’ll take our freedom away from us, and then they’ll imprison us in this pack until our dying breath.”

“You know that’s not true. Look at the Luna. Is she imprisoned?”

Shaking my head, I said, “I’m not talking about chains and prisons, you dolt! I’m talking about how the pack treats her. Have you ever seen the Luna leave the pack without having a dozen warriors following her everywhere? Every time she wants to leave the pack grounds, she has to ask her mate for permission.”

I began removing my uniform, lifting the shoulder pads over my head before dropping it on the bench.“I don’t want to live like that. If we become an Omega, we can forget about attending college or traveling the world. And if you’ve not forgotten already, I have no intentions of ending up as a bargaining chip.”

“Do you think the Alpha would mate us off to another pack?”

I scoffed, throwing my game pants and shirt in the laundry basket.“In a heartbeat. Justin’s not gay,” I shook my head, “and we’ll end up as a trade for another Alpha who is.”

It was common practice in the werewolf community to exchange omegas between packs. Omegas were always mated to the Alpha of a pack, rarely to another rank. It only happened when a pack wasn’t blessed with an omega. Then the Alpha was free to choose another wolf from any rank, or bargain for another pack’s ‘excess’ omegas. Lunas were synonymous with Omegas.

I opened my locker and retrieved my wet bag before slamming shut the locker door.“Sorry, Orion. I won’t end up playing bitch to some arrogant Alpha. I want to choose my own mate and live my life as I see fit.”