Chapter 1
I looked down at the clip board in my hand, confused. I looked a second time, and then a third. The shipment in the back of the truck wasn’t what I had ordered, and that was a problem.
“What is this?” I turned to Paul, the beta who had gone to pick up the order. “This is only half of what I ordered. Where’s the rest?”
He shrugged, not even bothering to look up from his phone. “Ask Marcus. He modified the order.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Modified?”
Paul sighed in annoyance. “Yeah, modified. Look, I’m just the driver. If you have a problem, take it up with him. I really don’t have time for this.”
He shoved his phone back into his pocket then turned and walked away before I could ask anything else. I had a sneaking suspicion that it was me, personally, he didn’t have the time for. Me, or any other omega, and he certainly didn’t like being questioned by one. Most of the Silver Moon pack had that mentality. Omegas were at the bottom of the social ladder, had the least amount of rights, and were generally looked down on. We didn’t hold positions of power and we didn’t order anyone around, least of an a beta. Omega’s were to be seen and not heard.
So why was I, a lowly omega, standing here in the warehouse taking inventory of our food supply? Someone had to. Our pack’s Alpha, Marcus, couldn’t be bothered with things like, actually running his pack. Most of the time he could be found at the pack house, playing video games with his buddies, and getting high. It’s not entirely his fault that he was so utterly useless as an alpha. He didn’t have the best upbringing nor did he have a great role model. He knew nothing about running a pack and honestly, he didn’t even want the job. It was forced on him when his father was killed in an honor challenge. Marcus was the oldest alpha son and so he inherited the responsibility of running the pack.
If anyone had come forward and challenged him for leadership, Marcus probably would have just handed it over but no one came forward. No one wanted it. Our previous Alpha left behind a legacy of poverty and misery. A good amount of our members dispersed after our Alpha’s defeat. They either went off in search of other packs or left to form their own. Those who remained did so only because they had no where else to go. At one point, we had 263 members but over the years, those numbers continued to fall. Now, there were only 38 of us left. Twelve of our members are omega’s, ten are betas, eight are gammas and the last eight are alphas. Six of our members are under eighteen, and two of those are still in diapers.
If another pack came along and decided to invade, we wouldn’t have a chance. Silver Moon was dying and our Alpha didn’t care. Sometimes I wondered if it wouldn’t be better that way. Leadership under another alpha couldn’t be any worse and being absorbed by another pack didn’t sound that terrible, if it was a good pack. But then, I started to think about what would happen to our current pack mates. The alphas and betas would be safe. They’d be useful to another pack. The gammas probably too. Maybe some of the omegas would be spared. Especially those of child bearing age but what about the children? Would another pack take on someone else’s burden? Would the children be spared? As an omega, my first thought was to protect the children. I couldn’t allow Marcus to destroy what was left of Silver Moon. As bad as it was, it was still my home, and I’d do what I could to protect it for as long as I could.
I took a quick inventory of what the betas had brought back. Mostly canned goods, frozen veggies and juices, powdered and canned milk, bread that could be frozen for future use, boxed meals, instant potatoes and rice, and a few dairy items such as cheese and butter. There was no meat, no fresh fruits or veggies, and no eggs. I groaned internally. This amount of food wouldn’t feed the pack for the next month, even a pack as small as ours. We had a few laying chickens left but they didn’t produce enough eggs to feed everyone and the alphas kept killing them when they wanted meat rather than take the time to go out and hunt. This was a disaster. We were going to starve and there was only one man to blame for this.
I left the shipment for the gammas to unload then left the warehouse and marched myself straight to the pack house where I knew I’d find Marcus. It was early enough in the day that if he wasn’t still in bed, he’d be in the living room, with his buddies, goofing off. Sure enough, when I stormed into the house, there he was, sprawled out on the couch, his crew fanned out around him, and all of them so invested in some zombie shooting video game that none of them even looked up when I burst through the front door.
My stomach lurched as I looked around the house. For a pack house, it was pretty small. Just a ranch style with four bedrooms, one bath, a large living room, small dining room and a sliver of a kitchen that barely fit two people. Everything in the house was outdated, the carpets had holes in them, and the walls were dingy and yellowed from decades worth of nicotine. It was in better shape five years ago when our previous alpha occupied it. Not great shape, but better than it was now and no where near as dirty or cluttered. All around me were empty food and drink containers, half eaten and moldy food had been left just sitting out in the open, collecting flies. Ash trays were filled with cigarette butts and the trash cans were overflowing. How that was possible I didn’t know as it seemed all the trash had just been thrown on the floor or on a table. There seriously wasn’t a surface that wasn’t covered with something be it trash, dirty dishes, or spills that had never been cleaned up.
We had twelve omegas in the pack and any one of them would have volunteered to come and clean but Marcus wouldn’t have it. This was his space and he wanted it kept omega free. Omega housekeeper or not, I just couldn’t believe that he’d allowed it to get so bad. The place was absolutely disgusting. What’s worse was that Marcus wasn’t some young kid that didn’t know any better. He was twenty-three. Sure he was eighteen when he’d taken over the pack but in the last five years he hadn’t seemed to mature or grow as an alpha at all. If anything, he’d gotten worse. More relaxed and uncaring. He didn’t care about his home and he didn’t care about his pack and I had finally reached the end of my rope with him.
“Marcus!” I bellowed loud enough that my voice rang out over the TV and the shouts and laughter of the six males who were encouraging the two players to slaughter the zombies invading their video game town. If Marcus and the other alphas put as much effort and energy into running the pack as they did killing fictional creatures, we may not be as bad off as we were.
The laughter stopped abruptly as all eyes were suddenly on me, and none of them appeared happy to see me. I guessed as much. Omegas were unwanted in general but to actually enter the pack house, uninvited? Well, that was a huge mistake but I didn’t care. I wasn’t scared of Marcus. I wasn’t scared of any of them. Without me, the pack would fall apart and Marcus knew it. Without me, he might actually have to lift a finger and do something and, as far as I could tell, it would be a cold day in Hell before Marcus Bowden took responsibility...for anything.
"Erik?” Marcus looked up from the couch wide-eyed with disbelief. Not in the past five years had any omega dared to defile the peace and sanctity of the pack house by crossing the threshold and entering the alpha’s domain. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing here?” He growled. “Get out!”
“No.” I said, my tone sharp and stern. “We need to talk.”
The looks on the faces of the other alphas was something between outrage and amusement. Omegas were supposed to be submissive, obedient, and easy to control. I had just openly refused a direct order from my alpha and countered with an order of my own. It wasn’t a direct order but the inflection in my voice was clear. I wasn’t taking no for an answer.
“You’ve got some nerve.” Marcus said as he rose from the couch. He walked over and stood in front of me, trying to intimidate me as he narrowed his eyes and glared down at me but I stood my ground, refusing to back down, no matter what. “This is my house. How dare you come in here and bark at me.”
“Your house...” I sneered, staring back up at him with as much contempt as I could muster, “is a pig sty. It’s disgusting what you’ve done to the place but, that’s not why I’m here.”
“I don’t care why you’re here.” He moved closer, puffing his chest out and trying to push me back but I didn’t budge. “You have no right...”
“The food supply, Marcus.” I shoved my clip board into his chest, hard, catching him off guard. “Half of what I ordered is missing. Why is that?”
He took the clip board from me and with a show of defiance, dropped it on the ground at my feet. The tension in the room was palpable. A silence hung in the air as all eyes suddenly shifted to the two of us. Marcus was so close to me now that I could see the sweat beaded against his brow. His eyes narrowed to two small slits as he sized me up.
For a long and uncomfortable moment, the only sound that could be heard was the slow, measured drip of water from a leaky kitchen pipe--a reminder of the neglect that ran far deeper than any missing food shipments. “I don’t have to answer to you, Omega,” he finally spat, using my gender designation rather than my actual name.
I reached down and picked up the clipboard, though my eyes never left the alpha before me. He searched my eyes for any sign of weakness, any hint of submission, but found none. I stood my ground, meeting his stare with one just as intense, just as unyielding. I’m sure he saw it as a challenge, something an omega would never do, but I didn’t care. Someone needed to challenge him. Someone needed to force him to take responsibility.
My hand instinctively brushed over the cool metal of the clipboard and I clutched it tighter against my chest as thought it could shield me from Marcus’s outrage over my behavior. “Maybe, maybe not,” I countered quietly, “But you’ll have to answer to someone, eventually.”
I expected him to lash out, to threaten me, but he didn’t. The dangerous look in eyes quickly softened into amusement. He shook his head, chuckling softly to himself as he strode, non-nonchalantly, back onto the couch and sat down, leaving me standing there, dumbfounded.
“I cut the order in half.” He told me, his voice lacking any concern or emotion. He might as well have been talking about the weather rather than the survival of his pack.
“You cut it in half?!” I gasped, my voice tight with barely contained anger. “Marcus, we need that food to last us through the next month. What the hell were you thinking?”
Marcus rolled his eyes and leaned back against the couch, draping one arm over the backrest as he stretched out his legs, taking up space like a lazy king on a crumbling throne. “You ordered too much. It was getting pricey, and I don’t have that kind of cash just lying around.”
I blew out a breath, trying to calm my nerves but my outrage at his statement was more than obvious. “We would have the money if you didn’t blow it all on booze, weed, and whatever else bullshit you and your alpha buddies waste it on.” I gestured to the coffee table, littered with empty pizza boxes, beer cans, and half-smoked joints. “All that money could have gone to the pack, to keeping them fed, to making sure we make it through the winter--but instead, you’re squandering everything we have.”
Marcus sat up, scowling. He furrowed his brow and glared at me as though I were the most revolting thing on earth. “Don’t lecture me, I’m Alpha. I don’t have to explain myself to you or anyone else. I run my pack how I see fit.”
I narrowed my eyes and took a step forward, closing the distance between us, refusing to back down. I was seething and more than that, I was in shock. He wasn’t running the pack. If anything, he was running it into the ground. He liked the power, he liked the money (of which there was very little left) but he didn’t like the responsibility of taking care of his people. He didn’t care. He honestly did not care and for the first time I was seeing just how cold and selfish he really was.
“Well then, maybe you can explain it to them!” I practically screamed at him as I gestured to the door, to the pack beyond that I knew were suffering because of Marcus’s inability to give a fuck. I was so outraged now that tears formed in my eyes and I hated myself for it but I couldn’t help it. I was angrier than I’d ever been in my life and couldn’t hold back my emotions anymore. “Explain it to the mothers whose children are starving. Explain it to the elders and to the unmated omegas who don’t have anyone to hunt for them. Explain it it the children who go hungry everyday because you can’t be bothered to care.”
Marcus waved a hand, dismissively. “They’re not my problem.”
My breath caught in my throat for half a second before my outrage finally took over. “Not your--?!” I forced myself to inhale deeply, grounding myself before I lost it completely. “It most certainly is your problem, Marcus! You’re Alpha, the Alpha. This entire pack, or what’s left of it, is your responsibility so, yeah, it’s your problem if we all starve to death.”
“I never asked to be Alpha and I never wanted it,” he huffed. “The fact is, I don’t care what happens to the pack. If they don’t like it here, they have my permission to leave.”
“And where would they go?” I asked, hoping I could make him see reason.
He only shrugged. “I don’t really care.”
“Is there anything you do care about?”
“Being left alone.” He answered, his voice cold and full of contempt.
“That’s not an option, Marcus. We need to start preparing for winter. Our storage is nearly empty. There’s not enough food to last the month let alone the winter. You’re going to have to take a hunting party out before the first snow or we’re all screwed.”
Marcus snorted. “I have no interest in hunting. If you’re so worried about food, go kill the chickens. There’s like what, five left?”
My stomach turned and I grit my teeth. “Four,” I answered, “and that wouldn’t even come close to feeding everyone. Besides, we need the chickens for their eggs.”
Marcus shrugged, unconcerned. “Again, not my problem. If the pack needs meat they can hunt for it themselves.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “Most of the pack left after Seth was killed, our numbers are seriously low. We’re barely scarping by as it is and you’re acting like there’s still a full hunting party to rely on! We need the alphas and the betas to hunt, Marcus, we need you. For once, can’t you get off your ass and take care of your people?”
Marcus yawned and I could tell that I’d already lost the argument. “Let the omegas take care of it. It’s about time they contributed something anyway.”
Hearing his last comment, I felt something inside of me snap and I suddenly wanted to punch Marcus in his ugly, arrogant, face. He was worse than his father. Yes Seth was a tyrant but at least he did his duty. The savings he’d accumulated over the years was nearly exhausted and the pack wasn’t generating any new income. All of Seth’s business deals fell through because Marcus refused to honor them. We had nothing of value to sell, apart from the land we lived on which really wasn’t worth much anyway. We couldn’t even reach out to a neighboring pack for help because most had washed their hands of us and were not willing to help. We were essentially stranded, alone, and left to fend for ourselves.
Now, he expected the pack’s omegas to do his job for him? It was absurd. Omegas, as a rule, didn’t hunt. We didn’t hold positions of power, and we didn’t handle pack business. Well, we weren’t supposed to. Omegas had the least amount of rights of any pack member. We were last to eat and treated like garbage. Omegas were the caretakers, the nurturers, and the ones who brought balance and peace to the pack. To say that we contributed nothing was a slap in the face. Marcus wasn’t thinking rationally, he couldn’t be.
“What about the elderly?” I pressed. “The kids? The ones who can’t hunt for themselves? Who’s supposed to hunt for them?”
Marcus just stared at me, unblinking. There was something eerie in the way he looked at me. His eyes seemed colder and his gaze seemed to drift past me as if he no longer saw me standing there. Or he did, but what he saw meant absolutely nothing to him. Finally, he spoke, and his manner was so callus and unfeeling, that it literally sent shivers down my spine.
“If any member of this pack isn’t strong enough to fend for themselves, then they’re of no use to anyone. Maybe it’s a good thing they don’t survive the winter. I can’t afford to have pack mates who are nothing more than a drain on our resources.”
Marcus’s words hit me like a punch to gut. For a moment, all I could do was stand there and stare, stunned into silence. I didn’t know what to do, or what to say. How does one react to a statement that was so cold and heartless as what he’d just said to me?
My blood began to boil. I could hear my own pulse pounding in my ears. I was so pissed and for a moment I’d forgotten how to breathe. Deep inside, my wolf howled with rage. I could feel him, pacing back and forth, demanding to be set free but I couldn’t allow that. If I shifted right now I’d likely rip Marcus’s throat out. He wouldn’t even see it coming. Omegas weren’t as strong as alphas but what we lacked in strength we made up for with speed. I couldn’t allow myself to turn to violence though. I couldn’t kill our alpha. I couldn’t even challenge him. That would be a death sentence.
Besides, I’m an omega. I was supposed to be calm, docile, and understanding. Omegas didn’t fight, we didn’t speak up, and we didn’t question our leaders. Omegas were supposed to be the least aggressive members of the pack. It’s in our nature to submit and obey, so why was I suddenly feeling so hostile? Well, that’s the other side of an omega. The side that most people forget about. When an omega’s pack is threatened or in danger, our protective nature takes over. It’s like a mother defending her pups. Our protectiveness over our weaker pack mates can make an omega become quite fierce, and fearless. We’d give our lives to protect those we love.
I loved my pack, despite what it’s become. It’s still my home, my family, and I was willing to fight any threat to that family. I just never once thought that the threat to my pack’s safety would come from our own Alpha. A cold resolve settled in my bones just then. I had come here looking for help, looking to our Alpha to save us but he wasn’t going to lift a finger to help those he deemed unworthy. He had made that crystal clear. We were on our own. If we were going to survive the winter, we had to rely on ourselves because our pack had basically abandoned us.
I straightened my shoulders and exhaled slowly, locking eyes with Marcus one last time. “So, that’s it then. You really don’t care if we live or die?”
“No.” Marcus said, picking up the game controller and focusing his attention on the TV screen. “If you’re so concerned about them, you deal with them. But, don’t expect anymore handouts from me. I always thought this pack had too many omegas in it anyway.”
