Micah

I had a good run.

Despite my grandfather's tragic death defending the pack against an attack, my dad was never bitter about it. Sure, he missed his dad very much. But he understood his sacrifice. And taught me the same value as a kid.

Besides, my dad is the Beta of the pack.

The first Johnson to be one. Usually the Alphas are Huntingtons and the Betas are Underwoods. That is until another tragic death took the former Beta and made the late Alpha choose another one. The Delta, of course. The next in line after Beta.

But because there was no Underwood available for Beta this time around - the only one that could ended up being the Luna - my dad was then chosen, which was his proudest day, especially considering he was supposed to be her brother's Beta. Not hers. I'm talking about Alpha Rosalyn, who 'won' the race to be chosen as the next Alpha after her father.

Then he met his mate, my mom Christina, and the rest as they say is history.

I have great parents. Despite my dad's occupation, my mom insisted on having her own so she wouldn't just stay at home worrying for him. She put herself through nursing school even if that meant studying in a different city than where my dad lived.

They held off on having kids early so that they both could be stable when they finally did.

They had me and my sister Stella. And I had a happy childhood, thank Goddess.

My dad had turned out to be a great Beta for our pack, despite not having the same connection with Rosalyn that he had with Emmett, her brother. This has never influenced his willingness to make it work or to do his best.

But from a very young age, he taught me that nothing was assured in life. I had to be smart about things. And if I wanted to be Beta like him, which of course I do, I had to befriend the next Alpha, Felix, which was easy since we were practically raised together. And he's such a nice boy.

Also, he taught me that the Beta's primary concern is to be aware of everything in his surroundings. 'The Beta knows everything', he said. And I really took it to heart.

I went to school, studied hard, trained to be a warrior like the Huntingtons and Gregory, the foster brother. I mean, I still do all these things, but I always fought to prove myself so that when my dad would be forced to retire - like all Betas do when another Alpha ascends - I was the number one choice to replace him. It's what he wants. And so do I.

I became the friend, the brother, the warrior, always looking for clues in things. Never to be caught off guard, as much as possible.

But one thing I don't have a single clue about: my own mate. I have no idea who it could possibly be. But then again, neither did my dad before he met my mom. My granddad before he met my grandma. And plenty of other werewolves in town. It's never who we think it is.

I am 18 years old, as of 3 months ago and so I looked for them. I circulated around town and everywhere I could think of, but still nothing. It's a drag.

Sure, I had girlfriends before. But you know how it goes, wolf girls don't usually let you go very far til they know you're their mate and humans I couldn't bring into the pack compound (where my house is located).

It's forbidden unless they are, in fact, your mate. But that doesn't happen til you're 18 or at the very least is an ascending Alpha, which wasn't my case. Not because Alphas can bring humans into the compound, they can't. But Felix has the extraordinary advantage of possibly dreaming with his potential mate; in case it's a human, then he's allowed to bring them in.

A similar thing happened to Emmett (his uncle) and Alpha Daniel Huntington (his grandfather), who brought in his namesake Felix Ford (Daniel's mate).

Still, no complaints. I know the game from birth. Every werewolf does. And so I've waited.

But I'm 18 now. And I want my mate, whoever they are. Just hoping she's a SHE. No offense to Felix. I knew since I first caught him looking at me shirtless he's gay. I don't care. Like at all.

I don't get these "straights" who feel uncomfortable around gay guys. And we stand next to each other naked all the time. Sure, it was a struggle at first. When we went for a run together after he began shifting, we wouldn't be around each other (nude) before the transformation.

It took several months for us to get this level of comfort we are now. Maybe even a year. But I never wavered in my resolve to make things natural and for us to have a safe space to be around. I knew he would never do anything to compromise our friendship.

And yes, there may have been an accidental boner or two from his part when he saw my naked self. Chuckles. But that's to be expected. Not that I knew that at the time, of course.

But now we've established our friendship and he respects me like no other. There's no one I trust more, other than my family. And that's all I ever wanted. That and my mate.

So, I'm always on the lookout, aware of anything that pops my attention. One day, I caught Felix and Greg looking at each other differently. I suspected something might be up, but said nothing.

I came to the pack house on another day and caught Felix's scent on Greg. But that could be anything. They live together after all and I know they're close. The three of us are.

Another day, Greg's scent on Felix. Suspicious, but not damaging. Not really.

Yesterday after our run together, Felix wouldn't look Greg down past his neck. We were all naked at the waterfalls, we even laid on the ground sunbathing together, but not a single glance from Felix to Greg. And vice-versa. Not past their faces anyway.

Now, I know Felix. He looked at every inch of me as soon as he had the chance. Like I said, I don't care. Plus, I'm very much used to it by now, but not a single look at Greg?

Now that is suspicious! Even more so than if I had caught them both in bed. They live together, it's not that far fetched that they can be in the same room. Now Greg came to my house alone because Felix was going on a run with his dad and he didn't want to intrude.

That's fair. I have gone on runs with my dad too. It's a right of passage for every young werewolf whose dad is still in the picture. And unlike humans, unless your father is dead, your dad is ALWAYS in the picture.

My mom, for once, made sure my father had a very "hands on" approach to raising their children, not leaving everything up to her. She was inspired by Luna John's dad, who raised him pretty much alone until he was 5 while his mom went to med school. All the while still being a full time Beta.

Anyway, like I said, suspicious. So, I asked him point blank.

"What relationship?" - He asked me, playing dumb. If I was wrong, his face already told me the opposite.

"Greg, come on! I wasn't born yesterday. Felix didn't even glance at your body down at the waterfalls. And he has ogled every single boy he's ever showered with!" - I shouted at Greg while we walked inside the compound.

It's a massive condominium of houses where only wolf families live. It's where the pack house is located, so it's heavily guarded by warriors 24/7, although it can only be accessed by a single large steel gate.

"I knew it!" - Greg yelled like he realized something. Then, he looked down feeling some sense of shame. - "It's not a relationship, we're just fooling around. It's nothing serious, really." - He admitted, blushing.

"OK. But why didn't you want me to know? You do know you can trust me, right?" - I asked him, looking deep in his eyes while we walked.

"I know Micah, of course. We didn't want anyone to know about it, really. We're just messing around until he gets mated. Like I said, it's not a relationship or anything serious." - He explained in an embarrassed tone.

"I understand, Greg. But how do you know you're not..."

"I'm not! I'm sure of it. If I let myself think that way, I may develop certain feelings that I'm not prepared to deal with. There are certain intimacies that I'm not ready for. Or will ever be." - He confessed, mortified. My heart sank. I know what he meant by that and it pains me to even think about it.

"Oh Greg, I'm so sorry, buddy. I really am. I didn't mean to force you to deal with any of these issues. I only asked because I was curious about you two. That's all." - I shot him an apologetic glance.

"I know, Micah and I don't blame you. But you know why he couldn't look at me, right?" - He smirked. I smiled mischievously at the question.

"Yes, of course I know. Like I said, Felix hasn't met a naked guy he didn't stare at. That made for some unfortunate reactions over the years, but I don't judge him. If I was forced to shower with girls, I'd react the same way." - I joked.

"I like how you said 'forced'." - He laughed. - "But I thank you for your honesty. Actually, you're much cooler than you look." - He snickered.

"Hey, I am cool! Like I told him a long time ago, I don't care who looks at me. If you treat me with respect, you'll always have mine." - I spoke with a mildly pretentious smile.

"I know. Thanks for not saying anything yesterday. It would have been..."

"Disastrous, I know. Don't worry about it. Betas are trained to diffuse conflict, not create them." - I snickered, cutting him off. He laughed. Not long after, we returned to my house.

"Greg, one more thing, take as much time with the intimacy as you want to. Don't forget: you drive the car. No one can ever pressure you into anything you're not prepared for." - I advised him, looking seriously. Especially in HIS case.

"I know that, thanks Micah. And he doesn't pressure me, if that's what you're implying." - He told me in a sincere tone, looking a bit enamored at the thought of Felix.

"I'm not. But sometimes in the heat of the moment..." - I trailed off, dreadfully.

"Don't remind me. I actually kicked him off my bed yesterday." - Greg admitted with a guilty laugh.

I was shocked. My mouth opened so wide, I couldn't form words for a second.

"What did he do to you?!" - I asked him, surprised at the revelation.

"Nothing, we were just kissing but like you said, in the heat of the moment, he grabbed something he's not supposed to..."

"Say no more! Good for you! You teach him a lesson!" - I snickered, uncomfortably. We laughed at this awkwardness.

The next day, I asked my dad to shadow him at his job. I don't get that many opportunities like this. He was thrilled to have me by his side. I followed him to the pack house and we entered the dining hall while they were still finishing breakfast.

"Good morning, everyone." - Dad greeted the presents. The warriors present stood up, greeted him and sat back down. It's awesome to witness it every single time. They do that everyday because the Beta is in charge of all the warriors. He is known as the protector of the pack. That never gets old, to be honest.

"Good morning, Beta. To what do we owe the pleasure?" - Alpha Rosalyn asked my dad. I greeted everyone too and we both bowed our heads to her.

"Michael's shadowing me today. Is that okay, Alpha?" - He asked as we came closer to her at the table.

"Of course, Paul. I wished my son, the future Alpha, shadowed me too." - She smirked, glancing at him. Felix glared daggers at me.

"Thanks, Micah!" - He rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"You're not gonna believe the request that came over my email yesterday!" - Dad teased her as we took a seat at the table, not far from where she's sitting.

"Woo. Do tell. Now, I'm curious." - She replied with a wide smile. Luna John, Felix, the twins and I were curious about it too.

"A new police officer, who's going to replace the Chief of Police..."

"Oh my Goddess! Don't tell me! We're finally gonna have a werewolf as Chief of Police!" - Alpha Rosalyn shouted, excitedly. Her eyes were glistening with happiness. And of course it made everyone pay attention to their conversation - those who still weren't.

"I'm sorry, Alpha. He's human. What I was going to say is that his mate is a werewolf. And they have a son and a daughter. I don't know whether or not they're humans too." - Dad replied in a somber tone.

When a werewolf and a human mate, there's a fifty / fifty chance that their offspring will be werewolves. The same happened to Luna John, whose mother is human. Both he and his brother turned out to be werewolves, but they didn't know that until they shifted at the age of 13, the last year for a young werewolf to shift for the first time. If they don't, they're humans.

"Really? A police officer with a werewolf mate. This is interesting! At least, we'd be protected either way. Find out if any of his children are..."

"I will. But like I said, I only got the email from her yesterday asking to be permitted into the pack. I don't have the specifics yet. I just thought you'd like to know." - Dad informed her in a serious, but excited tone. She was still radiant about this news.

Every werewolf knows, if you want to be allowed inside a territory of a wolf pack, either for visitation or permanently, it's the Beta who you need to contact first. He's the gateway to the Alpha, especially considering he's in charge of the pack's security.

"Definitely, you're right. And they can absolutely join our pack. We'll welcome them with open arms!" - Alpha Rosalyn exclaimed, cheerfully.

"Great. I'll make the arrangements, Alpha. Please excuse me." - He stated and took his leave. I followed him to his office inside the pack house.

I spent the entire day with my dad and it was great seeing him in action. I could totally see myself doing the same thing, kicking ass as Beta. It is an incredibly important position to occupy in the pack. And I'm so here for it!

Just please, can I find my mate soon? I need her now. Come on, Goddess! Your lonely subject awaits.

A|N: I love this song. And I love Queen.

This universe in particular has a different set of rules than my other ones. There are no omegas, no heats. And the stories are told from four different points of view.

Love,

Léo.