Growling softly he watched as something skittered across his view. It wasn’t prey-like, he knew that for sure, it was just strange as it walked. It limped. Sniffing the air, it already was attacked, reeked of blood and dirt.

It stopped and turned to him glaring its red eyes at him.

It was a diseased creature.

“No,” he growled lowly and looked for an escape route. This thing was sick and it would be bad to bring it back to the pack. He needs a different way of killing it, and he had already used most of his energy trying to track it down. He figured that making it follow him was a good idea. Hopefully, the other Elite Omega’s were at the site waiting for him. If not then this might be tricky.

The creature turned to him and hissed, leaking pours and hanging fur and skin, it didn’t look right for a Shifter to be like this. How long was it like that? The air turned sour, there was more of them. This disease was ongoing, how long will it be until it took all the Shifters? Would any of them become extinct?

“No time to dwell, I need to lead them away from here,” he growled. ‘Through that gap, young Elite Omega.’ the dark deep growl within him voiced. It was his Wolf Spirit, the one that teaches him how to be a proper Elite Omega.

They are the strongest wolf in the pack, the packs' protector, and law enforcement. They were specially trained to take on dark forces in this world that no other wolf can. Special powers were gifted to them by their Wolf Spirit. They were also Omega’s meaning they can be mothers, but the Elite can’t have children. No, more like not allowed. If Elite’s had children in the pack, they would most likely protect their child more than the rest of the pack. Only special wolves were picked to be Elite Omega. All Wolf Spirit’s have these special powers, depending on the wolf they are in charge of, they could gift them the powers as well. All Shifters were born with a second gender along with Male and Female they can be Alpha, Beta, and Omega. Alpha’s are natural leaders, always likes to take charge. Beta’s are the normal people. Omega is a submissive being and can bear children regardless of gender. Because some packs believe that Omega is the weaker gender the wolf spirits changed that. They granted the Omega’s to be strong and dare to overcome anything. They’ve been given the task of protecting the pack. The only problem is, the Omega was weak to Alpha’s Pheromone's so any Elite Omega was punished if they were seen with another Alpha in an intimate way. If the Omega got pregnant they were stripped of their powers by the Wolf Spirit and can no longer become an Elite Omega again. The Wolf Spirits had seen that the Elite Omega were protecting their own young before the pack, signifying that they would let the pack die first. It had happened repeatedly for two hundred years before the Wolf Spirits decided to enforce the rule that no Elite Omega can have children. If they engage with an Alpha they will be in pain during their heat as punishment for even thinking of an Alpha sexually.

‘Jump, Justice!’ his spirit howled. Following the instructions of the spirit inside him, he allowed some control of his movements as his timing wasn’t perfect with his wolf. Fire seeped out of him as he ran from the Panther Shifters. “They’re gaining Nighy Rose!” he could hear the growls behind him and their rhythmic breaths. His wolf growled and picked up more speed the wind starting to pick up and spread his fire through the forest. ‘We need to think of something, and fast, Justice.’

“Ok, we’re far from the pack, but the forest is dry.”

‘We have wolves that can control water, they can protect the territory from where they stand.’

“We’ll be taken out by the fire.”

‘We’ll be fine, you’ll find a wolf to take under your paw. Teach them well, teach them to be strong, teach them that Omega’s matter. It was an honour to work with you young wolf, Elite Omega Justice Knight.’

“It’s time to cleanse this forest,” Justice turned and breathed out fire towards his pursuers and again up to the sky to let the other Elite Omega’s know what’s coming towards them. The fire scorched his dark fur and he gave a long howl to let the pack know he wasn’t coming back. The cat screeched and ran with fire in their fur, the fire running after the retreating panthers while Justice lay where he stood.

‘I, Nighy Rose hereby grant this Elite Omega the power to become a Wolf Spirit to guide and honour the next Elite Omega. Young Omega, will you become a Wolf Spirit to teach the young wolf of our ways and to honourably protect the pack at all cost?’

“Yes, I want to protect my pack.”

‘Omega Justice you are now known as Justice Nighy, may your Spirit be strong and your wolf pup wise. Use your judgment and my teachings travel with you. Now howl, howl to the spirits to hear you and take you into the stars.’

Justice looked up and saw the fire reaching to the sky and just like the fire he howled. It felt strained but soon became stronger the longer he held the note. The fire swirled around him and soon he was the fire. Everything looked bright as he saw starred wolves stand beside his pack as they too howled their farewell to him. Justice gave one last howl and the fire rose with a flicker and vanished to the sky. Justice saw stars and welcoming sight.

“Welcome, Justice Nighy, to the pack of the Stars. We welcome you as our Elite Omega.

Talking into the room with the small tunnel maze I felt a strong tugging sensation towards the entrance of the little hole in the floor. I went down and the door closed casting darkness to swarm me. The tugging started again and I crawled in its direction. I’ve always had this tugging, which has always shown me the way to go. Mom calls it instinct, but she can never tell me why it shows me the right choice all the time. This tunnel maze is the Omega Test, you have to find Grandma’s Living room and sit on Grandma’s Couch. This is a test to see how submissive you are, finding Grandma’s Living room means you are an Omega, sitting on Grandma’s Couch means that you are a Submissive and like to do what you are told. Dominant Omega finds Grandma’s Living room and leaves to find Grandma’s Kitchen instead. There’s magic that pulls you to where you want to be. But I don’t feel pulled to Grandma’s Living room or Grandma’s Kitchen. I’m being pulled in a different direction. So I follow my instinct and go towards an old creepy door and open it. It wasn’t to where I was expecting though, to be honest, I didn’t know what I was expecting. It felt weird and out of place somehow. I turn to some voices and see the open window of Grandma’s Living room. Then I see my dad waiting by the small replica maze of Grandma’s House. It was used to entertain smaller Omega’s.

“Dad?” I called out to him, he turned surprised to hear me behind him, as well as a few other Alpha’s. Seems like I did it wrong.

“Well, you found Grandma’s Backyard. I’m proud of you, Son!” my dad smiled and walked towards me. “Wouldn’t be too surprised if you found Grandma’s Living room and Kitchen as well.”

“No, I didn’t want to go into the rooms or go near the doors. Did I do bad?”

“No my pup, anyone who finds Grandma’s Backyard gets to choose where they go. It’s like Grandma’s giving you a special task to go out on an adventure.”

“I like Grandma, she lets me do anything.”

“That she does, she spoils all her grandpups. Not many Omega can do what you do, or should I call you Alpha now?”

“No, Omega,” the word flew out of my mouth before I had time to think about it. Why would I want to be an Omega? I could be a strong Alpha. No, that doesn’t sound right. What’s wrong with being a strong Omega? We can’t all be weak... can we? No, I’m going to prove that an Omega can be strong.

“Okay, you still have time to choose before you are accepted into the pack. Isn’t that right Alpha Rodger?” my dad said and looked over to the Alpha he was talking to.

“That’s right, it would be nice to have a smart Alpha like you into the pack,” he said with a smile. It felt like he was trying to insist that I shouldn’t be an Omega. Why? “Pup, meet my son, Beta Franklin. I’ll be passing my Alpha status to him.”

“Hello young Omega, it’s nice to see a smart young man in our ranks,” Franklin knelt to my level and he talked calmly about my choice of being Omega. I felt trust and respect for this Alpha. “All pack members go through the Omega Test, my son, Salem took it last week. Not any pup can do what you just did, you are indeed a great member of our pack. No matter what you choose, you will be respected.” Franklin stood back up and started talking to the two Alpha’s, my dad and his dad. Salem walked over to the open window of Grandma’s Living room and used the dripping water from the gutter into a small brown plastic bottle. He swished it around and emptied it into Grandma’s Living room.

“Why did you do that to Grandma’s Living room?” I whispered to him, he looked at me startled. He glanced to his dad and back to me a bit relaxed.

“Sorry, I didn’t know. I’m... I’m taking gross medicine that makes me feel even sicker.”

“Why?” I asked him, this kid looked the same age as me. Seven years old, his hair was brown, and his eyes were dark.

“Dad says it helps me to be stronger.”

“Well I don’t think it will work on Grandma’s Couch, and Grandma doesn’t like stains on her floors. She’ll be so mad if she finds out.”

“I apologize to Grandma, I didn’t know. I just don’t want to take this medicine.”

“I’m sure she’ll forgive you, I think she’s understanding.”

“Did you mean it when you said you wanted to be an Omega?”

“Why wouldn’t I? Omega’s can be strong, can’t they?”

“I didn’t mean it like that. Omega born are Alpha’s but there’s only so much they can do. Why give up the title when you are given the choice? I thought all pups want to be a leader of the pack or Alpha’s.”

“Because the term Alpha signifies that it’s a powerful role, but that’s only in strength. Beta’s are also strong, what makes an Omega different from those two?”

“Well have you seen a strong Omega recently?” Salem asked. It was true, none of the Omega born looked strong, against an Alpha the Omega are powerless. Isn’t it about time that changed? “See, Alpha’s are better.”

“With a head that big it won’t fit in the Omega Test.”

“I don’t think you’d be able to finish the Alpha Labyrinth!” I smiled, I wasn’t an ordinary Omega, I could take his challenge.

“Alpha Rodger, I would like to try the Alpha Labyrinth,” I stated to him and he looked at me with interest.

“Well, your father and I were just talking about that. But you’ll need to go through Alpha Training before going into the Alpha Labyrinth. Alpha Darius, would you allow your son Angel to go into the program?” Rodger turned to my dad.

“Angel? Isn’t that a girl's name?” Salem asked. “It suits you.”

“I want to prove that not all Omega are weak and dumb,” I said and tried to stand taller. Franklin seemed more hurt by my words than hardened himself.

“Omega is not weak or dumb,” Franklin said coldly and took Salem’s hand and walked away.

“One week, you’ll be in Alpha Training. Prove to us dumb Alpha’s that you can stand toe to toe with us and stomp on our heads,” Rodger said, and bid my dad a good day and started his rounds.

Dad stayed quiet as we started making our way back to our dorm. Our pack home is in an old abandoned warehouse on the outside, but under it is a large reinforced basement. It has rooms for all pack members and because of the rankings, most of the rooms are empty for the next pack member. At least that’s how dad explained it to me. He knows more about it, I only know our home and the Omega centre for all the pups and expecting moms. We walked up some steel stairs towards our room 4521, and I can already smell mom’s cooking. It smells like my favourite, mashed potatoes and mac and cheese with deer meat and deer gravy.

“He made it to Grandma’s Backyard,” my dad happily announced to mom.

“Wonderful! Unique my son is so smart! I still say you should be an Alpha, but my Omega son will do wonders.”

“Thanks, mom, but I don’t want people to know about... well you know...”

“I know Unique, you should rest your eyes before dinner. On such a special occasion I made your favourite!”

“I’m happy, thank you,” I smiled and walked to the bathroom. I took my time washing up, knowing that mom and dad want to talk a bit before I got back. Not sure how I knew, I just do. I always keep fresh pyjama’s in the bathroom too so I can stay in here for a while. Wash my face and hands, change my clothes, fix my jet black hair.

After washing up and changing I looked at myself in the mirror. My big dark eyes, medium jet black hair, fair skin, I had on some light blue pj’s with ice cream prints dotting around it. My black wolf ears were showing with white inner ear fur. Tilting my head a bit I could see a thin line on my eyes, frowning I turned away from the mirror and walked out of the bathroom.

Mom and dad were setting up the table together peacefully, smiles clear on their faces. I loved seeing them like this, they always look so guilty of being caught.

~ o ~ m ~ e ~ g ~ a ~

Rodger walked after his son, Franklin, his grandson was with his mother. “My son, I know what you are saying, but that’s why we are doing this.”

“I know Dad, but, Omega shouldn’t have to deal with that constantly. At that age nonetheless,” Franklin said storming through the Alpha’s office.

“Son, let me tell you something about the old Omega’s,” Franklin stopped his furious rampage to look at his calm father. “Years ago, there was a sickness that wiped through the whole world.”

“Corona...”

“No, after that. This sickness turned people before we were only Shifters. We were not yet Alpha’s, Beta’s or Omega. The sickness was that of the Living Dead, the vaccine forced our bodies to react to it. Although the Beta’s were unaffected by the change, the Corona prepared our bodies for the second attack that forced our bodies to change. Old wolves lost their lives to it, but they came back in spirit to help us through it. By helping with the change, the Omega’s were specially trained by the Spirit Wolves. From that training, they were granted special powers. Fire, Water, Air, Earth, Metal, Wood, and sometimes those elements were mixed from the Spirit Wolves' power and created Sub Elements. Omega was given that gift to protect us because of their nature, but it was also their weakness. Elite Omega can not create relations with Alpha’s, because they thought of their children first. They then became soldiers, a special operative of elite wolves. Separate from us regular Shifters.”

“So, Angel knows that and wants to make it like it was back then. Before we grew lazy or didn’t need them anymore?”

“Trust him, son. Trust that he can be as great as an Elite Omega. Or maybe he’ll become one instead and protect us instead of the other way round. It would be nice to feel protected again, wouldn’t it?”

“Yeah, I’ll trust him. I trust him with my whole heart.”