Fight For The Highest Wolf Rank

by Valery C. Kincade

  What the actual fuck?

  I am both impressed and freaked out. I think it's time to go home.

  I looked at my phone and remembered I had turned it off. I didn't want to talk to anyone, so that seemed like a good idea. I turn it back on and see that it's almost 2 in the morning. Oh shit! Have I been here this long? My parents will not be happy. First I rank Omega and now I stay out until morning.

  I quickly dismiss the weird feeling that keeps nagging me. How come nobody has come looking for me? Scanning through the text messages and missed calls, I only see Jen and Marie's names.

  How come my parents didn't try to call or text me? I push that though away as I run as fast as I can towards our house.

  3 - Homeless

  Samantha

  Relieved that I am home and not facing half the pack anymore, or crying alone in the heart of the woods, I get my key out and open the front door to our house.

  As usual, I get in kicking my shoes off and sending my jacket flying on the sofa. But I quickly see that this is far from usual. The atmosphere inside my house seems weird, but yet again this whole day has been a nightmare for me.

  I start making my way to my room when I notice my parents sitting solemnly in an eerie silence, in the kitchen. As soon as they see me, they look at me, so I'm guessing they were waiting for their daughter to get home. I abort my plan to run off to my room and cry myself to sleep, so I turn on my heels to go into the kitchen instead.

  Shame radiates off me in waves, because I know how badly I let them down with the rank I got. I do need their support right now, so I join them hoping to hear those kind words that I desperately need to keep me sane. I need my mom and dad to tell me that everything is going to be ok, that I'm going to be ok.

  I put my head down and walk in the kitchen. I take a seat on one of the stools, not having enough courage to look my parents in their eyes.

  “Samantha, you need to leave.” I freeze.

  “We can't have an Omega daughter. I am very sorry, we love you, we really do, but you have to understand we have a reputation, we are Commanders.” My father's speech breaks me. My brain can barely grasp the words that came out of his mouth.

  What do you even say to that? Nothing, you say nothing, you just DO. Do as you are told.

  A part of me still believed they would hold me in their arms and tell me it's all a big misunderstanding, that they will talk to the Alpha and the Council, that all this mess will be sorted, basically that they are here for me. Isn't that what parents are supposed to do? Hell, they should be kicking and screaming at the injustice. I know damn well that my scores were so much better than to only get me the rank of Omega, so why do my own parents just accept this without questioning it?

  I have disappointed them enough to last a lifetime. I might as well do this last thing that they want from me.

  “I understand, daddy, and I just want to say that I am very sorry I have put you guys through this. I will be gone by morning.” When they don't question my words like I desperately wanted them to, I understand that this is it.

  Standing up, I give both of them a pained look, one more chance for them to be loving parents and not kick me out like I'm an untrustworthy stranger. They don't say anything else, their silence only emphasizing their previous words.

  Well this sucks.

  I grab a gym bag and stuff it with 3 pairs of jeans, a few shirts and a hoodie. I almost forgot about underwear and socks. I always do that, pack for a holiday and forget about underwear. Tears start running down my face as it slowly and painfully sinks in that I am not going on any holiday. As a matter of fact, I stupidly realize I don't have anywhere to go. I am way too proud and ashamed to call Jennifer or Marie, and I would hate the looks and uncomfortable questions that would come from their families. Or maybe their families would just chuck me aside like trash, just like my own parents have.

  I stand in the door and take a final look at what used to be my bedroom. I took everything for granted, and that's on me. As silly as it may sound, I wished I had enjoyed my cream colored fluffy rug more, I wish I had enjoyed the zen corner in my bathroom more, and I wish I had enjoyed having a fucking roof over my head, having a family, friends and being able to go to school.

  I think I lost it, but along with freaking out about being homeless all of a sudden, I am also concerned about school and continuing to get an education. I'm not even 18 yet, what in the Goddess' name am I supposed to do?

  “First thing's first, let's just get the hell out of here!” Ming pushes through. She's right. I know mom and dad haven't moved from the kitchen, and I'm smart enough to read between the lines. They want me gone, and they want me gone now. Doesn't matter that it is nearly dawn or that I have literally nowhere to go.

  I slowly make my way downstairs, not knowing if I should say goodbye to my parents or not. I had decided on just leaving when my dad called me.

  “Samantha, there's something else you should know.” My heart sank in the pit of my stomach. Oh Goddess, I beg of you, no more!

  I leave the bag at the door and walk in the kitchen to face my parents again, this time without sitting down.

  “Your mother and I aren't true mates, and due to an injury sustained in battle I was left unable to conceive.” Wait, what? I'm slowly putting two and two together when my dad sighs, a bit annoyed I might add, but I brush it off. He starts talking again. “We were 'given' the opportunity to have you and we gladly accepted to care for you as if you were ours.” As my dad speaks I am just frozen, my brain stops working. I had no idea they were not my birth parents. I mean, sure, the weren't all lovey dovey like other couples, and they did have their limits on how much they spoiled me, but they are fucking Commanders, they had to be tough.

  “Wow, this is the definition of 'kicking someone when they're down'. I guess all this makes so much more sense now.” I smile a pained and sarcastic smile as I gesture around us, referring to them not giving a shit about how my life just fell apart. I consider the fact that I managed to keep another wave of tears from falling, a small victory. The truth is that I have no more tears left, I am that broken.

  I make a plan to pull myself together as best as I can and request a meeting with our Alpha, and maybe Mr Biggins, to see why I got that rank. I may not have taken those tests and form too seriously, but I put in enough effort to show what I am capable of, and I'm pretty sure I should have ranked Beta.

  “Not from Beta parents, remember?” Ming's voice in my head is like another bucket of ice cold water being thrown on me, but she's right, my parents aren't Betas, and because they refuse to tell me who my biological parents are, I might as well just assume they were Omegas and probably got killed during some sort of rogue attack or fight between packs. That would make sense why two Commanders took me in.

  Feeling satisfied with the story I made up about my birth parents, and knowing that's enough to keep me sane for the time being, I take one more look behind me and take a big breath. I'm leaving the only house I called home, I'm leaving the only people I knew as my parents, I am basically leaving my life as I knew it behind.

  I can't stop but feel ashamed of everything, and keep stressing about how I can make this whole thing work so that nobody in school will notice that I'm actually homeless. I'm sure they will all find out eventually that I'm no longer living with my parents, but I don't want them to know that I am now living on the streets like a rat.

  I may or may not have watched too many teen movies or TV shows, because I have an idea, and although I know it's plain stupid, it's the best I've got.

  I'm going to sneak into the school and sleep on one of the sofas in the teacher's lounge or something. I can probably stuff most of my belongings in the two lockers I have at school. I'm so happy I have my locker in the 2nd floor hallway and I also have my locker in the girls changing room.

  Not everyone gets a permanent locker all for themselves in the changing rooms, but since I was best friends with Marie, she got both me and Jen lockers there.
Not to mention that I could shower, wash my face and brush my teeth in there also.

  It might be because it's almost 5 am, but this sounds like a great plan in my sleep deprived and depressed mind.

  4 - Bully

  Samantha

  I leave the girl's bathroom after checking myself in the mirror for the billionth time. I know I look like crap, but I am still hoping nobody will notice how red and puffy my eyes are and how dark the circles under my eyes have gotten.

  The pink in my hair is so faded and dirty looking that I decide it's best if I just put my hair up in a messy bun, making this whole bad hair day look intentional.

  I plan on washing my hair tonight, but I don't have any more pink hair dye, so I will probably be back to blonde ends. The lack of sleep is slowly catching up to me, but this is technically the first day of school and this will be my senior year, so I have to brace myself and show my face. Fake it till you make it, am I right?

  Man, I really hope people have forgotten about the humiliating event yesterday. I really hope there's some hot new gossip going around school and that nobody would give a crap about me being an Omega anymore.

  What I do know is that I need to keep my head down and just act like a don't have a care in the world.

  “Hey babe, how're you feeling?” Jen catches me up to me as soon as I exit the bathroom. I can see on her face that she feel bad for me and doesn't quite know what to say or how to say it in order for me not to feel like she's taking pity on me.

  I don't even manage to open my mouth and mutter a reply because I'm nearly knocked down by the force that crashes me into a bone breaking hug.

  “What the hell happened to you yesterday? We were worried sick. You just bolted to the woods and did not even bother to tell us. Are you alright? What the hell happened to you?”

  “Marie, I'm fine, just get off me, you're heavier than you look.” I shake her off but she still hold my gaze demanding an answer. I got to love my friends and how much they care about me.

  For a good minute I was afraid I'll lose Marie and Jen's friendship, but looks like I had nothing to worry about. That song pops in my head 'But at least I've got my friends..” which makes me smile a bit.

  “I'm alright guys, I just needed to be alone for a while, you know? I won't lie to you, I did not expect to rank Omega, so it kind of messed me up and I needed to clear my head and make some sense of it.” They both nod at me keeping their eyes cast down showing me that they feel bad for what happened.

  “It's not your fault, don't feel bad. I'm really happy you guys got the ranks you wanted.” I look at both their faces and they don't seem convinced, not even one bit.

  I decide it's best to keep to myself the whole mess with my parents. I'll tell the girls one I digest the information better, because I know they will have a lot of questions and even more comments about the whole thing.

  “Seriously guys, I'm fine. Let's just get to class. I have History first, and we all know Miss Pratt does not like tardiness, not even on the first day of school.”

  Jen groans because she apparently has the same class as me.

  As an Omega, (oh Goddess it hurts to even think of myself like that, it's like a silver blanket is burning me from the inside out whenever I think of my rank.)

  “Sorry, that's me. I'll calm down now.” Ming smiles apologetically in my mind. I guess it makes sense, she must be pretty upset to get that rank, but what if that's actually our rank? I mean, my theory about my birth parents starts with both of them being Omegas or other low rank wolves, so maybe I am meant to be an Omega.

  “Earth to Sam!” A well manicured hand belonging to Jen waves dangerously close to my face. “Can we go to class now, or you want to stand out even more, like a sore thumb, when you show up late to Miss Pratt's class on the first day?”

  “Let's go Jen. See you later Marie.” I grab Jen and we make our way to History class.

  During Miss Pratt's monologue about the Cold War, I start to space out again, going back to my earlier thought that got so rudely interrupted by Ming's anger. Basically, Marie and others that ranked Alpha, Beta and Delta have most of their classes together and they go though intense courses and in depth studies while Omegas and Sigmas have minimal education. Gammas usually take a mix between the two, and that's why Jennifer might have a lot of common classes either with me or with Marie.

  Another interesting thing, as Omega I notice there's only one hour of PE per week in my schedule. So much for training, I guess.

  “That should be enough to keep Omegas fit and enable them to use a broom to sweep the floors in the pack house.” Ming's snarky comment makes an amused grin spread on my face, although it also gets me thinking about what my options are here. What am I supposed to do with myself after I graduate, if I manage to pull this off for a year and actually graduate.

  “You could..”

  “I swear, Ming, If you say that I could sweep the floors in the pack house, I'm going to block you for a month and not let you out of a run.”

  “I wasn't going to say that, but you might have to consider getting a job. You do need to eat and get school supplies and necessities. And I have a feeling going to Alpha Jaxon and asking for help will only result in you familiarizing yourself with the broom and the floors in the pack house.”

  “I'll figure something out, Ming.”

  The bell finally rings to signal our freedom and I’m pleased to see how the next periods just fly by, surprisingly quick.

  For lunch I meet Marie and Jen at our regular spot, stupid me didn’t realise that means seeing most of our pack members who witnessed my ranking yesterday.

  Walking in the cafeteria, I can already sense all eyes are on us.

  “Just ignore them, It’ll all blow over as soon as Rianna find someone other than Jason to focus on, and we’ll have ourselves the newest hot relationship filled with drama.” Marie whispers to us while rolling her eyes, and Jen, bless her heart, just glares at everyone that stares at us whispering, laughing and even pointing.

  We sit at our usual table, and try our best to ignore all the stares.

  “I’ll go get us lunch. You guys fancy pizza or burgers?”

  “Pizza!” Both myself and Marie reply at the same time and Jen goes to get our lunch chuckling.

  I’m listening to my friend talk about how happy she is that Jason finally left for Alpha training, and how she’ll have peace and quiet now, stating all the reason she and Jason never got along.

  To be honest, they didn’t really have any valid reason not to get along, they genuinely just didn’t like each other, and I’ve always found that strange, but not bothered to give it more thought. Even if they’re not actually siblings, their relationship looks a lot like sibling rivalry. And it doesn’t help that they’re both Alphas, or that Marie has been spoiled rotten in an attempt to overcompensate for her losing her parents at such a young age.

  “So I hear the Omega is craving pizza today.” A sarcastic voice can be heard behind me. I try to be the bigger person and just ignore it. I was expecting teasing, I’m surprised it didn’t happen sooner. What I did not expect was bullying, although Rianna always had it out for me and now she finally is in a position to assert herself as the designated bully of the defenceless Omega that I apparently am.

  Judging by the tomato sauce that is currently dripping from my head, soaking my hear in the process and also my clothes, I can tell that spaghetti and meatballs with red sauce was another option for lunch today.

  Oh, I’ll need to find a way to wash and dry my laundry on school premises. I wonder if I could sneak into the kitchen tonight, maybe they have a washing machine or something.

  Slowly and in a dramatic manner, I stand up glaring daggers at the queen bitch that’s smirking feeling pleased about humiliating me in front of everybody. Marie mutters something about getting Mr Biggins and bolts out of the cafeteria. I’m not mad at my friend, she’s trying to help me by getting him. Before I can even begin my payback on Rianna, Timothy
and some other buff guy, who’s name I don’t know, flank me and hold me down while the bitch uses me like her personal punching bag.

  Ming is clawing to get out, but we aren’t allowed to use our wolf form on school premises, so I have to keep her contained. Suddenly the mutts drop me to the ground, or more like push me down.

  Kick! Punch. Kick! Punch. Fuck, that’s hurts, and there’s so much blood that I just give up trying to protect myself, I just wait for the beating to end. Marie is on her way with Mr Biggins, so it’ll all be over soon.

  Kick! Punch. Any minute, now. It’ll all be over.

  I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve been kicked and punched, but I can bet more people joined Rianna in stomping me.

  “Miss Bailey, get up and follow me to my office.” Oh, thank Goddess Mr Biggins is here. I’m using the last bit of strength that I have to get up. My eyes are almost swollen shut, heck I can’t even see with my left eye, but I’ll heal eventually.

  “Miss Bailey, I must say that I’m terribly disappointed in you. I guess you have shown your true colours.” He keeps sighing sounding very bored and like I just disturbed his mid-day nap. ”You will have detention for the rest of the week, and I expect you to know your place and act like it.”

  It’s taking me a bit longer than usual to process what he’s saying, but ‘luckily’ he explains himself in detail.

  “You are not to upset those who are ranked higher than you, especially Rianna, who word has it, is Jason’s mate and will soon be your new Luna. You are to keep your head down and not disturb or attack her anymore, or else I might have to inform Alpha Jaxon and strongly recommend that you be exiled of the Crescent Moon pack.” I look at him in disbelieve.