Ares - “This Fucking Sucks” 

“HA! Your name *is* dumb.” My wolf laughed at me. 

“Timber is a pretty dumb name for a wolf.” I wasn’t going to let him get away unscathed. I left my classroom to report to the administration that a student was my mate. Some packs encourage child-brides, but luckily for me, and Jonquil, Creek Run was not one of them. The Alpha here was no dirty old man with tradition etched into his every decision. Alpha Ryan and Luna Daisy were in their late 40s, their pups in this very school. Alpha Ryan was a large man, even as Alphas go, he was above average in height and weight. He wasn’t the musclebound hero of a romance novel though. He had enough muscle, but also some jolly padding. Where he had dark eyes, dark hair, and tanned skin, Luna Daisy was all over pale with strawberry blonde hair, light grey eyes, and a complexion that rivals the light of the moon. Beyond all that, the Luna was petite in every way the Alpha was large.  

I couldn’t remember any one of the boys resembling them, perhaps the future Alpha will be in a different class. I stepped into the administration office where the principal and vice principal were laughing at something I apparently missed. “Hey, the two people I need to see, and here you are!” I greeted them. 

Still chuckling the principal motioned for me to follow, “Come on in, Ares, let’s see what we can do for you.” Mr. Graybill, the principal, held his office door open for Mr. Dawson and I, closing it after and coming to sit behind his own desk. Chuck Dawson and Lucas Graybill were lifelong friends and found it a particular privilege to work together. Creek Run was a large enough pack to have their own school district, and modern enough to have a good few humans included. Being new to the pack, I really didn’t know either of them well, but my first meeting with them, the interview for this teaching position, had been positive. I hope to maintain a good working relationship with them. 

While Lucas and Chuck sat comfortably, I was actually a little nervous. I had been good at hiding it around the students, but here, it was more difficult to pull off a stoic attitude. “I have some news,” both men gave me their full attention. “I certainly wasn’t expecting this, but it is what it is.” 

“C’mon,” interjected Lucas, “out with it. There’s no reason to beat around the bush here.” 

With a sigh, “In my first class, I was surprised to find my mate.” 

“Oh! Well congratulations! She’s in the senior class, right?” Chuck clapped me on the back with a hearty laugh, quite ready to have a good time with the exciting news. But Lucas was watching my face when I shook my head “no.” 

“Ares,” Lucas gives me a fatherly look. Not like he’s my father, but the fatherly look one would get from their mate’s father. “Who is it? 

I cleared my throat and brushed non-existent wrinkles from my pants, “She really seemed too young, uh,” suddenly, I felt infinitely more nervous, my mind racing to the reasons why a younger wolf would be strong enough to find her mate. “It’s Jonquil Milner?” The confession seemed more like a question. Finally, everything clicked in my mind. Jonquil’s hair was thick, and dark, with a single patch of gold hair at her left temple; and her skin was fair, very fair, appearing delicate. What really shook me was her eyes. One was as deep and dark as her father’s, and the other pale and grey, like her mother. Of course, she is Alpha’s daughter, Alpha Ryan Milner. I couldn’t hold back the audible groan as the realization hit me. 

Chuck and Lucas shared a look I couldn’t read. Without his usual jovial manners, Chuck sounded threatening. “You haven’t done anything you shouldn’t have? Now, Ares, she is full young, and the Alpha’s daughter is...” he trailed off as Lucas motioned for him to stop. 

“We’ll contact Alpha Ryan and Luna Daisy with the news. No doubt they will want to celebrate with her. Of course, though, the mate bond with an alpha wolf progresses faster and stronger. Especially with frequent and prolonged contact.” Lucas began writing some notes for himself, “We’ll transfer her from your class for now,” he cleared his throat noisily. “Now, how old are you again, boy?” 

Boy? When was the last time someone called me that? “I-uh, I’m 26...”  

On my way back to my classroom, my mind played back the look in her eyes as she tried to reject me. She was afraid. I imagine it’s an unusual feeling for an Alpha wolf. I recall watching as the son of my previous pack’s beta rejected my elder sister. His eyes did not hold fear, only contempt, disgust at being paired with the daughter of an unranked wolf. The intense soul wrenching pain hit her immediately, but her death came slowly. She was such an obedient girl; she refused to reject him and cause him the same pain. When he took a chosen mate, Yanna writhed in pain again. The goddess finally took pity on her and allowed her to pass.  

We had not been able to leave that pack right away, not with the shifting loyalties and unrest in the area. Still, we did our best to remain innocuous and not call attention to ourselves, even in our grief. When we finally left, it was not quiet in the night. We were chased out by the Alpha and the Beta, hardly with enough time to pack some few things. Late in the night, from a distant hill side, we watched as our family home was burned to the ground, and the people who were once our packmates celebrated in the streets. 

Experience has left us cautious of ranked wolves. As my next class filed in, all I could think, this fucking sucks.