This is not a fairytale.

For once, I didn't grow up being raised by a wicked stepmother. Both my parents are alive and well, they love me just like any parents would.

My father was the Beta of our pack. He is a very close friend to the former Alpha, so both of our families were raised together.

I had a very carefree childhood, but as soon as I was old enough to understand that my entire family are werewolves, my dad started grooming me to take over his position one day.

Wolf packs are dynasties. Sons and daughters succeed their fathers and mothers.

Slowly, I was convinced that this was my dynasty. I was meant to be the next Beta of the pack just as well as the Alpha’s son would be the next Alpha.

We are the same age, Richard and I, considering our fathers were best friends we were supposed to be that for each other too.

Yeah, something happened on the way to heaven.

As soon as he first shifted into a wolf once he hit puberty, Richard and I started growing apart.

He formed new friendships, hung out with a different crowd. It was as if I wasn't werewolf enough for him.

I guess this is the part where I tell you I am an Omega. I was shorter than other kids my age, skinnier and a bit weaker. Not by choice and certainly not by the lack of exercise.

My parents never made such distinction. To them there are only werewolves and humans. Omegas are just a different breed, but it bears no consequence for them. No difference whatsoever.

But no matter what, Richard did not look at me like an equal. It was as if I was a pesky little brother even though we are the same age, as I said.

It's fine, we don't need to be best friends to be Alpha and Beta. At least, that's what my father used to tell me at the time.

But the older we got, the more Richard rejected the idea of me being his Beta. Some people got it in his head that me being an Omega was a disadvantage, a hindrance if you will.

As if us Omegas could not perform the duties of a Beta just because we are a little shorter. Seriously? *eye roll*

Knowing the uphill battle I had ahead of me, I trained the hardest. I worked day and night to become the best candidate for the job. My father wouldn’t have it any other way.

But by the time we were 17, Richard was still adamant that I wasn't fit for the part. By then, he had his best friend set to take over my father's position.

He was dead set on the fact that me being an Omega was an impediment to take over as the next Beta. As if my breed was a disability. Goddess, I hate this tired and dated rhetoric.

Nothing would dissuade him of this notion. I tried to reach out to him, only to be made fun of by my effeminate traits.

I have no idea why some people confuse sexuality with masculinity. I am capable of being gay, effeminate and strong. My sexual orientation - and breed - has no bearing on my effectiveness as a warrior or my leadership skills.

I may be small, but I am fierce.

My dad worked the hardest just to get me ready, not that Richard appreciated our efforts.

I really tried to be his friend, if not at least his colleague. But nothing I ever did was enough for him, nothing at all.

It is really sad when people refuse to see you as their equal. Do I not shift into a wolf? Do I not have the same abilities as other werewolves?

Why wouldn't I be enough for him?

Just because I am an Omega? It's far too much of a stretch to dismiss me because of my breed. We have come a long way as werewolves.

Still, nothing seemed to get through to Richard. His mind was set on keeping me away from being Beta.

You'd think a legacy kid would relate to me and my willingness to succeed my father in the same way he would succeed his dad. But nothing would convince him of my worthiness.

With that being said, his father saw things differently. He is a compassionate man who empathized with me and all the effort that I had put in.

It's not as if I was slacking, I trained with the best warriors. My father made sure I was a fighting machine, fit for any position in the pack.

The Alpha counseled his son that I was the natural choice for Beta and nobody else. And he should get along with the idea, accept the natural succession of the pack’s leadership.

Yeah… Richard was not sold on this concept.

He was determined to tear me down no matter what. He blatantly refused to accept me as his Beta. There was no convincing him at all.

At one point, his father issued him an ultimatum. Either he got onboard with the idea of me as his Beta or he wouldn't ascend at all.

Richard blamed me for his father taking my side. From that point on, there was no more relationship to salvage between us.

It became unattainable. We had school together, but we barely interacted. Meanwhile, his friends poisoned him against me, filling his head with dated prejudice about Omegas. It was really bad.

One fateful day, we were playing basketball together after class. I was part of the school team, though I am short I was an excellent point guard.

It was just some boys shooting hoops, nothing much. Until my heat struck. Immediately, one of the boys who was already mated and marked - therefore resistant to heat - started pulling everyone away from me.

He worked towards keeping me safe, one by one, he kept my teammates off of me. After a while, he dropped me off the locker room for a shower and change of clothes.

He would come back later to escort me home, meanwhile I was left on my own, perfectly safe. Or so I thought.

Out of nowhere, Richard appeared inside the locker room. His eyes glowed with lust towards me while I was completely vulnerable.

I wasn't in a position to fight him or anybody off. My body emitted powerful pheromones making it impossible for anyone within my vicinity to resist me. The only exception is other Omegas, which is obviously not his case.

Next thing I knew, my body was being possessed by a horny teenager who isn't even queer - not that it makes any difference to my heat. It attracts all males.

By the time my mated teammate returned, he was horrified to catch us together. Richard was on top of me, lying on the floor, fulfilling his lust towards me.

It made no difference that Blake pulled him off of me right away. By then, it was too late. I was ruined, which is exactly what Richard wanted to begin with.

Who would believe that the soon to be Alpha raped me? The Beta's son.

My heat offered him the perfect cover. He bullied Blake to corroborate his story, I was too drugged by heat to know better - according to him.

Soon enough, he made it look like I was the predator who trapped him into a heat induced lust, as if somehow I always had a crush on him and this was my way of getting my wish.

Right. Sure. Every Omega known to existence dream about getting raped while struck by heat. That's totally believable. *eye roll*

Most of the school ended up taking his side of the story - apart from other Omegas - and his parents were left having to believe their son. The alternative was far worse to grasp.

Why would a straight boy do something like that to another boy on purpose?

I am not a psychologist, but some say that rape is not about sex. It's about something else entirely. And they are right, at least in my case.

The relationship between my dad and the Alpha deteriorated. It was impossible for me to be Beta anymore given this fact.

This is exactly what Richard wanted. A free path to go with the Beta of his choice.

I was ostracized by a lot of pack members, as if somehow it was my fault that the whole thing happened.

It was easy enough to blame the gay Omega than to think their Alpha could pull something like that off. Their straight Alpha. It was unthinkable to them.

Besides my friends and other Omegas, the only people that stood up for me were some female classmates.

The boys who knew the truth, my teammates, were too afraid to speak up and go against the Alpha. Pack mentality.

My parents did their best for me, but the consequence of that incident was inevitable. I became pregnant with Richard's baby. There is no ‘plan b’ for male Omegas and abortion would be dangerous to me, possibly harming my ability to conceive again.

He completely ignored me and my pregnancy, leaving me to fend for myself. Ironically, my biggest supporter was the Luna, his mother.

She was worried about me for the entire duration of the pregnancy, meanwhile all I cared about was what my mate was going to think of me.

Am I getting rejected by him?

We know what werewolves think about unmated pregnancy. Richard was the Alpha and the “victim” of a bad situation. He had all the privileges while I had a huge belly to show for.

How come he went to class with me and still ignored the elephant in the room?

I was petrified that I was going to be rejected by my mate for carrying another man's child. I was taught to believe that was the fate of Omegas who got caught in a bad situation.

Of course, the reality was I never found my mate in high school. I graduated with a big pregnant belly and unmated.

Richard found his mate, a lovely girl that did not reject him for the “accident” he had with me. Why would she?

All through the pregnancy, he completely ignored me as if I was not carrying his son. It was his parents who offered me their support, despite the circumstances.

Of course, my parents loved and supported me as well. They are great.

The Alpha tried to get Richard to come when his son was being delivered, but even then he pretended it wasn't real.

As if I wasn't birthing his progeny. How could he be so cold like that? I have no idea, but after the rape the less I saw of him the better.

If he didn't want to have anything to do with his son, I don't either. In fact, I don't need him for absolutely anything.

Eventually, our pack had a beautiful ascension ceremony when he and his best friend took over as Alpha and Beta.

I was absent, of course. My parents were present as they must. Me and my son were fine on our own.

It's funny. I was so terrified to be rejected by my mate that what actually happened to me I never saw coming. Not at all.

I didn't find my mate anywhere.

Some mean spirited people had the gall to say that I was being punished by the Goddess for “trapping” the Alpha with my heat.

Yeah, I love raising my son as a single father without support from Richard of any kind.

His parents absolutely love Charlie - he reminds them of their son a great deal. And he loves his grandparents, especially the former Luna.

I raised my son with the support of my parents, took some online classes after high school, eventually I found a job in town.

Year after year, Charlie grew up with only one father and two sets of grandparents. He is an adorable little boy who fortunately never missed his second father.

Eventually, people in town forgot about our story and moved on with their lives. Richard certainly did, not that I care.

I learned to live my life with my son without him ever acknowledging our existence. I feel sad for him, really.

Can you imagine living your life without ever acknowledging that you have a son?

Well, be careful what you wish for.

Years ago, the Alpha couple began trying to start a family. It went on for quite a while with no result.

For years, Richard and his mate tried everything to conceive. They consulted doctors, but naturally the problem wasn't with him.

However, no one was able to discover anything wrong with his mate. It was a proper conundrum.

Richard was examined thoroughly, maybe he had an issue undetected thus far, but they couldn't find anything wrong with him either.

Half a decade passed with no baby in sight. It was troubling not only to his family but the entire Wolf Council.

Meanwhile, Charlie turned 10 years old with a birthday party where all his friends and family showed up. Not Richard, of course.

It was then when people started to really question themselves about the succession of the pack.

Why isn't the Alpha's mate able to give him an heir?

There is nothing wrong with her, as far as the doctors who examined her could detect.

Eventually, higher ups started to wonder.

If Richard cannot provide a mated heir, it must be because in the eyes of the Goddess he already had a true heir.

Werewolves are a superstitious folk. We believe in signs, premonitory dreams and what the Goddess wants for us.

It was starting to look like the Goddess didn't want Richard to have any other heir to distract from his own son's heritage.

In the coming months after Charlie's tenth birthday, this theory started getting track within the pack.

It's unheard of for an Alpha to have difficulty conceiving. I never heard of a pack whose Alpha couldn't produce a natural heir, even if only one.

It became the talk of the town.

Even at my son's school, students started to treat him as the next Alpha of the pack. Kids pick up on what their parents talk about, they are like sponges at a young age.

I explained everything to my son, leaving out the rape part for obvious reasons. He couldn't believe his ears.

I also had the unfortunate task of explaining to him why his other father never seeked him out. I mean, what can you really say to a child about his father rejecting his birth… *sigh*

Once Charlie turned eleven, he shifted into a wolf for the first time. It's incredibly rare for anyone to shift at such a young age, even more so for males.

His young wolf's howl resonated throughout the entire pack, shaking people to their core like only an Alpha could.

It was quite the event. His grandparents were shocked when they heard about it. Richard's parents talked it over with their son, now it has become obvious the natural successor to the pack’s Alpha.

It's like a punishment of sorts. Like the Goddess decided to show Richard that he cannot ignore his only child.

If he wanted to become a deadbeat dad, he should have been born a human.

It was a Sunday afternoon when I got a call from my dad. He hasn't been Beta for more than a decade now, but he still is a highly regarded member of the pack.

Some higher up with inside knowledge alerted him that Richard was going to take my son away from me to raise him as his own.

I was like… what?

He ignored Charlie for 11 years and now that he cannot produce an heir he is coming after my son?

What the actual fuck!

He was coming with warriors to my house to forcibly capture my son against my will.

I had a few minutes to collect what I could of my personal belongings, packed my car and left town with my son.

There was nowhere to hide in our pack, so I got the hell out of his grasp. I went as far away as I could from him.

I was fortunate enough to have my parents' support, but it was an uphill battle to tell my son why I had to uproot him from the only life he has ever known.

But I'll be damned if I'm going to let that prick - who hasn't spent a minute with Charlie - take my son away from me.

That is never going to happen for as long as I can draw breath. It's not my problem if he cannot produce another heir.

Hell hath no fury like a father protecting his son.

Now I am on the run for my life, afraid of Richard catching up and snatching my son away from me. He had every chance to be a father, now it’s just too little too late.