Two: Alpha

Growing up, Wren had always had a hard time around alphas. He was already seventeen before he even had a conversation with an alpha besides his own father.

The first time he did talk to one around his own age, it was by accident. Wren’s parents always kept a careful eye on Wren. Not only was he homeschooled, but all the socialization activities they made Wren do were always only with other omegas and the occasional beta. His neighborhood playgroup consisted of six omegas and one beta girl, and his little local baseball league was an all-omega team. There was an all-alpha version, of course, but they weren’t permitted to play together.

While Wren’s parents consciously kept him away from alphas, they also didn’t want to scare Wren by telling him he absolutely couldn’t interact with them, so when Wren actually met one, he was mostly just curious. He had heard all his omega friends talking about some of the local alphas they knew, and he thought the way they’d described alphas was weird. Why were they all so competitive? From what he’d heard, alphas were always punching and biting each other all the time too. Wren couldn’t comprehend someone having that much aggression.

Anyway, after finishing all his schoolwork for the day, Wren had gone to the park to meet a few of his omega friends. Since he was getting older, Wren’s parents had decided that they no longer needed to accompany Wren to the park. He still had to be home right on time, and they always gave him pepper spray to carry with him just in case, but for a few hours a day, he could breathe without his parents clinging to his shadow.

Wren and his friends played baseball for half an hour, and then got bored and went to the swing set to hang around and talk. Wren didn’t do much besides his homework and this, so he didn’t have any exciting gossip to talk about, but he sure did like listening to his friends’ stories. Adam and Will were also homeschooled, but they had a lot more free time to go running around the neighborhood getting into trouble.

Will was in the middle of regaling Wren and Adam with the tale of how he had snuck into the local movie theater to see the latest X-rated film when he suddenly paused mid-sentence, eyes locking onto something in the distance. Confused, Wren and Adam turned to look.

About fifty feet away, on one of the park benches, was a boy a little younger than them, maybe fourteen or fifteen. On the surface, nothing was particularly noticeable about him, but then Wren figured out why Will was unsettled enough to pause.

The boy was staring at them. Or at least in their general direction. But it was late enough that Wren and his friends were some of the last people in the park. They were certainly the only ones in the general vicinity. They were too far away to determine what the boy’s secondary gender was. He could be another omega, Wren supposed. And that was what he assumed at first, unaware that omegas usually didn’t stare at other omegas like that.

Will lowered his voice, even though it was unlikely that the boy would be able to hear them from this distance. “That boy was staring at us before. When we were playing baseball. He was outside the gate.”

This park had both a basketball court and a small baseball field, both blocked off from the rest of the park by wire fences. Sometimes, when Wren’s baseball team came out here to practice recreationally, they would draw a small audience, usually of adoring children. However, when it was just Wren and a couple friends, most people left them alone. But still, if someone had been watching them, it wouldn’t necessarily be out of the ordinary. So, Wren didn’t really get why Will was so discomfited at first.

“He’s an alpha,” Will said next, voice impossibly quiet.

Wren blinked. “How do you know?”

Will and Adam both gave him a look. Wren looked between them, confused. “What? Did you smell him or something?”

Adam shook his head, clinging to the swing chains nervously. “No. But he’s so tall. He’s got to be younger than us, but I would bet he’s about as tall as you, Wren.”

That was quite the feat. Wren was all legs – he sometimes felt miles taller than his other omega friends. Most of them were jealous that Wren could reach things on tall shelves, which Wren took great pride in.

However, while height could sometimes be an indicator of someone’s secondary gender, it wasn’t always. There were some pretty tall betas out there, and omegas. Wren was proof of that. Sensing that Wren wasn’t convinced, Will jumped in.

“Plus…look at how he’s looking at us. Actually, ‘us’ is wrong. I think he’s looking at you, Wren. He was looking at you on the field too.”

“…”

Wren still didn’t see how that meant the kid was an alpha. “Maybe he wants to learn how to play baseball. I’m pretty good at it.”

Adam snorted. “I think he wants to play something with you. Probably not baseball though.”

Wren was dense, but he got the gist, and rolled his eyes. “Please. He’s just a kid, even if he is an alpha - which I’m not convinced he is. I think he’s just looking in our direction.”

Will and Adam shared a look between them. Maybe it was pitying, but Wren didn’t notice. “Why don’t you go over and talk to him then, if you’re so confident,” Will dared him.

Well, that wasn’t fair. Wren may talk the talk, but he couldn’t walk the walk. His eyes widened slightly. “Umm.”

Adam joined in, kicking Wren’s ankle lightly. “Yeah, talk to him. Tell us if he’s an alpha or not. I’ll bet you ten bucks he is.”

Will was never one to ignore a bet. “I’ll add five to that.”

Wren spluttered, suddenly regretting giving the strange boy the benefit of the doubt. But you know what? Maybe Wren was right. There was no way to tell if the boy was an alpha without smelling him, so they were wrong to just make that assumption. Wren straightened his shoulders, gathering confidence. Who cares if the only alphas Wren had smelled before were his father and passing strangers on the street? Wren could totally do this.

Wren got to his feet, determinedly striding towards the boy lounging on the park bench.