Beta Stone

Stone jogged home, wanting to hide from the sunlight and its citizens. His house was a few yards from Alpha Sol’s house. Its raised countertops and furniture, tall door frames, and massive bed were all customized for his size.

He lived alone, having no one to share it with.

The door screamed with pain when he slammed it closed, but he didn’t turn to inspect the damage. He needed a shower to cool both his body and temper.

A pedophile?

He was called many names by unkind people, and flirtatious women, but a pedophile took the cake.

He entered the bathroom, making immediate eye-contact with his reflection. His short brown hair was as wild as the distaste in his gut, and his grey eyes were polluted with darkness. His body– his cursed gift, dominated most of the glass.

His endless height and obnoxious muscles brought the world’s attention to his feet. Cocky men saw him as a means to prove their dominance. They pulled him into fights all the time, hoping to prove just how tough they were. To them, Stone was a boss at the end of a video game that they needed to beat to certify their manhood. Women like Kennedy were just as aggressive, desperate to get into his pants to see if his cock matched the rest of him.

The comfort of becoming invisible was taken from him the second he exited the womb. For decades, he had been a slave of attention.

Looking away from the mirror, he pried his dirty clothes off and entered the shower. Once he was under the spray, a whoosh of exhaustion abandoned his chest and entered the world. His thoughts crawled back to the mate that abandoned him– Karen.

First his parents, then his mate, and now his friends.

Why does everyone leave?

–

When he was done showering, he picked up a comic and threw himself on the couch, deciding that his paperwork could wait until his mood was less shitty. He didn’t have a wide variety of hobbies. For the most part, he was either working, reading, or helping a pack member.

He forgot all about the classic comic when a knock erupted on his door. Running over, he pulled it open and revealed his Alpha.

“Hey bro,” Sol greeted. The lycan was a handful. He was an animated man, always causing chaos with his upbeat attitude. His mate, Arabella, was more reserved. The two had polar demeanors, but Stone equally liked them. The lycans knew a fair bit about receiving rejection from the world, so they always went out of their way to make sure that Stone felt welcome.

“The party’s about to start, and Arabella has asked for you so many times that I have an urge to kick every rock I pass. You should–”

“Hey! Sol!” Alpha Raiden hollered from a few feet away.

Sol ignored him, wanting to finish the conversation. “– grab a shirt and come over.”

“Sol!”

Sol turned around to face his frenemy. “I get that you’re an antisocial son of a bitch, Raiden, but you need to have some damn manners!”

Raiden growled, angry as usual.

Stone tuned out their bickering, knowing that they would likely be fine after throwing a punch or nine. The two lycans were brothers by name and loved each other deeply, but they would blow their brains out before they admitted it.

When Sol grabbed Stone’s forearm and pulled him off the doorstep, the Beta stiffened.

“Wait. I need to grab a shirt,” he protested.

Sol kept tugging him toward the festival. “For what? It’s not like you have tits.”

Stone didn’t reply because in doing so, he would have to admit that he used shirts to curtain his insecurity. With shoulders heavy with defeat, he followed Sol in nothing but jeans and flip flops.

“Finally!” Arabella smile when she noticed him. Shifting Light to her hip, she used her free arm and wrapped it around as much Stone as she could manage. “I thought you weren’t going to come. I was worried,” she told him as she stepped back.

Stone probably wouldn’t have. With everything that had happened earlier in the day, he completely forgot the fact that Light turned one year old and the parents were celebrating.

He smiled at the luna before bending down to greet Light. “Hi, little Alpha.”

Light grinned toothlessly when he recognized him.

“Do you want to hold him?” Arabella suggested.

“Ah no, that’s alright,” Stone said as he escaped to his full height and took a step back. The thought of holding something so small was petrifying. The last thing he needed was to drown a baby in his massive hands.

The night went by smoothly. He watched with amusement as Sol and Raiden got into the second petty argument of the night, only to become distracted by an unwelcomed Kennedy.

“Hey.”

She looked pretty in her aqua blue dress, but the smirk on her lips painted her ugly. He crossed his arms over his exposed chest then gave her a reluctant nod of recognition. With the hope that she would return to whatever hole she crawled from, he stared at the background.

“I barely see you shirtless, Stone. You should rock this look more often.” As if praising him verbally wasn’t enough, she reached a finger out and skimmed it down his forearm. The move was supposed to be sensual, but it only served to unsettle him.

Stone’s face flushed with frustration as it always did when a woman tried to rope him with their feminine wiles. He wasn’t a petting zoo. He wasn’t a wild bull they could ride and tame.

He took a step away from her claws and muttered, “I don’t mean to be rude, but I want to be alone right now.”

Kennedy didn’t accept his retreat. She reached another unsolicited hand to squeeze as much as she could of his bicep.

Getting annoyed by her greedy hands, Stone flicked her wrist away gently. “Don’t touch me.”

“You’re such a tease!” she laughed in a matter that was anything but attractive. According to her scent, she was sober. This surprised him because the she-wolf was acting like an intoxicated bitch.

Being unfamiliar with rejection, she reached for his arms again. His nostrils flared, his skin spiked with goosebumps, his molars sought flesh. Kennedy made him feel cornered– a dangerous state for a beta male to be in. Memories of growing up at the orphanage surfaced, the trauma dancing with the present. The mix of realities blinded him, and he shoved the female away.

Kennedy was sent to her knees. She stared at him in awe. While she had been wanting to knee before him for a long time, this was not how she had imagined getting to the position.

“Stone!”

He became as stiff as his name.

“What the fuck are you doing?”

“Sol,” Arabella interjected calmly. “You didn’t see what happened, so you need to cool off.”

“I saw enough!”

“Calm down,” Raiden inserted.

“Not now, Raiden,” Sol spat.

Kennedy tried to speak up, but the dominating Alphas weren’t giving her the time of day. As the argument brewed, Stone turned to Arabella. “I’ll be going home now. Stop by in the morning if you need to talk.” His voice remained low in volume as it always was, not betraying his genuine emotions.

“You’re not going anywhere.”

“I said to back off!” The Luna snapped.

The field instantly went silent. Arabella was the least ignited when it came to the lycans, but when she blew, she was heard across dimensions.

Stone gave his back to the discord and walked home, allowing its darkness to blanket him. Unbearable exhaustion weighed down his shoulders as he replayed the events. Sol was a close friend, but the man let his trust get crushed by Stone’s size.

Stone laid on his back and stared at the ceiling blankly as sadness leaked from his brain and began its course of destruction.

“Sorry. I can’t be your friend anymore. The guys think you’re weird.”

"Why don't you look like the other boys?"

“Ms. Dawn touched your privates? So what? You should be happy. That’s super cool.”

“No one is going to adopt us. We’re already thirteen, and you look like a man. That’s probably why Ms. Dawn touches you.”

“You should keep it a secret. Maybe Ms. Dawn will marry you.”

“Did you youch Ms. Dawn’s boobs?”

“How does it feel to be touched by a woman?”

When Ms. Dawn tried to take his virginity, he ran to the nearest adult. She was taken away, but the ghosts of her touches remained.