Waking up, I looked around and found the clock that had numbers on it 6:11 AM, once I was up I’m up. So I went to my dresser and took out a white shirt and grey sweapants and put them on, taking my old clothes to the hamper. I put on my new grey and white shoes and gave my door a fresh scent before leaving to the Cafiteria.

I got my food and ate, thanking the cooks for the food before heading to the open area. There stood a big Alpha and when he looked at me he nodded and told me to run. I stared to run in the big area until the Alpha told me to stop.

“Good job, Alpha. You wake up early and start your day like this you’ll be the best in no time. I expect you to be here earlier and run for 5 minutes a day before breakfast. Stretch before you run and after.” At the I started my stretch, Justice telling me how while the Alpha finished talking, “At oh eight hundred you will head to class, here is your schedule. Try not to fall behind Alpha. Dismissed.”

I walked out as Alpha’s started filling in and went to my room to get a change of clothes so I can wash up in the Bathrooms. I found my locker and put my old clothes on the bottom and my new ones on top and went to shower.

Drying myself off I got into my new clothes and took my old ones to my room’s hamper. I picked up my grey and white track jacket and looked at the time 7:20 AM. I’ll figure out what the clock means later.

I stepped out of my room and headed to where the noise was, it seems the Alpha’s were showering and some were heading to the Cafeitera.

“Angelique, good morning,” I heard Salem and looked at him exiting the Bathrooms. He walked beside me as we headed to the Cafiteria.

“My name is Angel,” I corrected him but it seems to fall on deaf ears.

“Angelique do you know where your classes are?” I gave a soft growl but ignored him instead. “Aw, are you mad?”

I was about to say something but he wouldn’t let me.

“Hey! Angelique, Angelique will you howl for me when I’m presented? After all I howled for you first.” It was true, he did Keep me in the pack. He got his food and we sat down.

“Omega’s can’t howl first,” I said but it seems that talking to him was useless.

“If you howl for me you can Keep me,” Salem smiled and continued to stuff his face after. Salem was a messy eater, messy but fast. Soon we were on our way to class and I found the one seat that was open with no other seats next to it.

I took the seat before I could be dragged away to sit next to the annoying Alpha.

Salem frowned but went to the next open seat.

If I am to howl first for Salem to return the favour, I’ll next connections.

Most Alpha’s don’t take too kindly to an Omega-Born making the first move but if I’m to prove myself then I should take risks. If they ignore me, then fine they are not worth my time. But if they pick on me for being so brave then I’ll have to get through it somehow. Or they accept me and I can learn to be an Alpha.

‘There is something off about that boy,’ Justice growled, ‘stay away from it.’

‘I’m sure your over reacting Justice, Salem is a friend.’ I said back to him and listened to the teacher talk. I also picked up the little habits of the Alpha-Born around me, Justice warned me not to take on the mannerisms but I argued that if I’m to be here for years I might as well learn all I can so I can be strong. It also wouldn’t hurt to have connections.

Jayden, a female Alpha-Born, not presented often growls and grumbles about the Math and having to read. She was not happy with me asking her for Math help so I tried to search for her strongest studies and it seems to be about War.

Lake, a male Alpha-Born, also not presented normally seen nodding off except for the Math so getting him to help with that was almost easy if he wasn’t trying to drool on his desk of boredom. Science was another one he liked most and he often says strange quotes just to pass the time during the boring lectures.

Knox, a male Alpha-Born, he’s not interested in books but he’s more active when it comes to early morning runs and excersise. We paired up often during early morning runs and stretching.

In that first moment of walking in that classroom I’ve made the best of friends I could ever ask for. They stayed loyal and true as we grew up, we became strong. But it wasn’t until we got older did I realize the impact they had before, but now I know. If only I didn’t listen to Justice back then, if only I didn’t keep them at a distance.

~ O ~ M ~ E ~ G ~ A ~

A year had past by then, Salem continued to follow me around but didn’t interact much with Jayden, Lake and Knox. I thought it was strange at first and I tried to include him but it just didn’t feel like he wanted to.

We learned a lot, the Past Alpha’s their great deeds, we worked on strength and survival.

I was strong now.

Strong enough to take on an Alpha two years younger than me. My friends congradulated me on this but I still wanted to be stronger. I was out of breath and this little Alpha-Born was difficult to beat.

I trained harder, pushing my limits day and night when ever I got a chance I was becoming strong.

Each spar always felt like the Alpha-Born’s were letting me win.

I hated it.

“Alpha,” Lake greeted, not sure when that started but everyone was calling me that.

“L,” I greeted back and waited for him to catch up, I had just finished my morning training with Knox and was going to shower.

“Salem,” Lake greeted Salem as walked up and stood next to me, “So Alpha, excited for the field trip into town?”

“What’s so exciting about a town?” Salem asked.

“I want out of the Den and Borders, the only thing we’ve done is circle our border once a day.” I said ignoring Salem and his attitude.

“You and me both little Alpha!” Jaden walked out of the Bathrooms.

“J, what formation today?” Lake greeted happily, I started walking towards the Bathrooms knowing that those two would want to talk. I went to my easily noticable locker and put my old clothes on the top shelf of my locker. I went to the shower next to Knox and started washing myself quickly and taking a few moments to enjoy the warm water.

“When are you going to start fighting back?” Knox asked, “You’re strong enough now to not take it anymore.”

“Not strong enough, there’s so much I still need to learn. You know the rules of Challenges, we can’t fight those that are stronger than us.”

“Doesn’t mean we can fight those weaker than us either,” Knox gave a deep growl, that growl is what kept other Alpha’s away from him. He even taught me the growl and to practice it daily just in case.

“Easy friend, not much longer. The day I don’t get knocked down by you is the day I’ll be ready to face anything. What do you think town would be like?”

“Mm,” Knox shrugged and I turned off my water. Walking back to my locker I took out my waterproof bag with my fresh clothes and changed into them. It was always me and Knox finishing first before other Alpha’s got there, having Knox around kept the Alpha’s tolerable since most Alpha’s view an Omega invading their space was unacceptable.

Knox finished and he dressed just as quickly as we walked out.

Gathering up with the Alpha’s they exchanged greetings and we were on our way to class. Salem tried to get close to me but was pushed aside from the others and soon they put me out front.

Walking in the class I seen the teacher writing on the wall but was pushed to my seat and the Pack took their places except Salem who was dragged to the far end by the friends he had made.

“Trip Cancelled,” the teacher said and class resumed without us knowing the reason why.

Lake passed me a note asking if I’m still going to be presented as an Alpha like the rest of them. My answer was No and that it was still a long way off to even be thinking about it.

Jayden passed me a note this time talking about the plans of Alpha’s when they finally get to Challenge. They were going to target any Omega-Born that wanders into the Alpha Den and put them in their place. I wrote back saying ‘What have I been training for then?’

No notes was passed back to me as we started the lessons.

The class ended with the teacher saying that this was the last class as the Coach wanted to finish our lessons. Most of the Alpha’s rejoiced until I stood up, the class went quiet and I thank her for all her lessons. The rest of the class said ‘Thank you’.

“It was an honour teaching you all, those of you that want to continue lessons I’ll be here. Remember in 5 years we will go back to the book, may the moon light your path.”

~ O ~ M ~ E ~ G ~ A ~

Stretching on the mats, some of the others were running for being late to class while Coach spout random facts to survive.

“The rabbit comes out of the hole, in front of the tree, goes behind the tree and back down its original hole,” it was the Bowline Knot, a knot to attach something to a loop. It was my favourite facts just because he said Rabbit many times. My mind goes to chasing the rabbit around the tree and I was brought out when Lake asked me something. I wasn’t paying much attention to anyone else.

Lake didn’t repeat himself when I asked so I went back to ignoring him again and listened to Coach fire off more about collecting water and where to find it.

During our run, Coach repeated it all again and I caught bits of it because of the handsigns he was using to tell us to slow down and speed up. “Keep cool, digging is your friend.”

On cooldown we did jumping jacks or pushups, “Rain! Collect, Store and Drink!”

Grip tests we did until someone gave up, “Boil water for one minute, gets rid of germs and makes the water drinkable! Jayden! Out! Switch! Quickly, quickly!”

Some of us were tasked to run until we collapsed or did planks until we fall, “Snow! Melt first then Drink! Faster Salem! You’re falling behind an Omega!”

After all that we did Squats and I absolutely hated them! “Cattails, cotton wood, willows all mean water! Dig by these plants or trees until you get to moisture and wait to collect! Good job Knox! Salem! What are you doing? If you can’t handle this then you should just quit! The Omega is doing better than you!”

It was break and we stretched, it was also a time to review what we had learned. Coach called on me, “Water found in puddles or streams should be boiled!”

“Dew! Use a cloth to collect and squeeze into a container!” Knox said.

“Wrapping a bag over a leafy plant is another way to collect water!” An Alpha-Born called out, in the corner of my eye the Alpha smirked at me.

Coach told us to go get water and one of the Alpha-Born’s asked if they should collect it. “Keep up that additude and I’ll make you drink from a sock!”

I got water quickly and went to rest on the mats, “The rabbit comes out of the hole, in front of the tree-”

“Goes behind the tree and back down its original hole,” Lake finished as he sat beside me.

“Love rabbits,” I said as I practiced the knot on my shoelace.

“Because their soft and fluffy?” Lake asked.

“What?” I chuckled, “No, I want to hunt one down. I bet it would be a good chase their crafty at running away. We’ve also been lacking meat during lunch and dinner, if we hunt we can supply the kitchen with food for the others.”

“That’s... something,” Lake said and I looked over to him wondering what was wrong with him. He wasn’t looking at me but watching the others as they idly talk about Challenges and Hunters Moon.

“Well the Omega District gets first dibs because of the expecting mothers and new pups. If we hunt we can get a small share of it before it goes to the Omega District. Wouldn’t it be nice to have fresh meat if we gave it to the Kitchen instead?”

“Not really, I’d rather eat it myself.”

“Well, I’m going to hunt for the Alpha’s Den. We go out in a week, it would be so fun to actually hunt in the forest.”

“Yeah,” Lake didn’t seem to want to talk so I listened to Justice and finally ignored him to properly tie up my laces again before we started running again.

~ O ~ M ~ E ~ G ~ A ~

We’ve spent a year doing that and finally at age 9 we were able to fight other Alpha-Born’s. I was up against younger Alpha-Born’s but they still knew more than me and were in fact stronger. So after the day was out and we went to our rooms I started night training until I can finally take an Alpha-Born two years younger than me down. Justice helped me with my form and soon I was up against a large Alpha-Born.

He introduced himself as Hurly because he liked to toss wolves out of the ring. I stood and stared at him towering over me with his stronger build. His ears twitched on his head and his tail gently swished back and forth. His arms folded as he looked down at me with a grin.

I was specifically told not to go wolf, since the others couldn’t shift yet. Their instructions were to make me go wolf. I growled and stepped forward with my left foot and got ready to defend myself.

Hurly laughed and didn’t even take a stance.

I quickly rushed him and swipped his feet from under him and he landed heavily on his back. He growled and stood and tried to punch me, quickly ducking only to see his knee come at me I held my hands before me and got ready to jump back when he made impact.

Hurly was disappointed that I didn’t go far and tried to do it again but this time I flipped him back when he tried to knee me by grabbing his left and lifting and went to the side and away. He stayed down after a few more failed attempts to knee me, it was rare for me to wag my tail.

“Positions,” Coach said and I went to my side again while the downed Alpha-Born stood up and took his, “Not you, you go over there and think about what you did wrong.”

Hurly went to the side and started growling to himself and glared at me while a new Alpha-Born took his place.

“Go Wolf, Omega Crowther, Alpha Jake,” we both shifted, my black fur looking soft and fluffy, his grey fur course. He stepped forward growling at me trying to scare, I gave a growl of my own and stood my ground. Justice told me not to shed blood and to control my bite, “Alpha Jake found his wolf not to long ago, again you let an Omega-Born get past you.”

“What will it take for you to show me the same respect you show the rest of these Alpha Low-Born’s?” I growled.

“Begin!”

I shifted my weight from paw to paw anticipating his attacks and we circled each other looking for a weak point. The Alpha-Born growled and I bared my fangs as he tried to stand taller.

At the sound of an imaginary bell we charaged at each other my fangs met fur while his met air. I yanked the fur in my teeth back and he pulled away before I could grasp him properly. He threw his head under my left paw, quickly thinking I held his head down while I moved back but he pushed forward trying to stand.

I jumped over him and grabbed his tail and pulled.

The wolf yelped and threw himself towards my shoulder, moving out of the way of his fangs I let go and went for his hindlegs.

He jumped away from me and tried to grab my neck fur, I went to his right while his head was aimed for the left and grabbed his neck fur instead. I pulled him hard down and he laid down.

“Bad Alpha!” I growled and the Alpha-Born flinched, “Bad!”