“Wait for me Nicky.”

Nick turned around as his younger brother came panting after him. He sighed and shook his head. He’d told Connor that the hill's too steep for him. As an Alpha he had more natural endurance, but his brother never let his Beta status stop him from trying to do everything Nick could. So Nick waited patiently until Connor caught up to him.

The younger boy flicked his black hair out of his eyes and looked up at Nick with light brown eyes.

“You’re going extra fast on purpose,” Connor accused.

“No I’m not. I’m going as slow as I can. You just can’t keep up.” 

Connor pouted and Nick almost burst out laughing but knew if he did his brother’s feelings would be hurt.

“Tell you what,” Nick said consolingly. “We’ll take the longer path. It’s less steep and it’s longer so we can tell Father we still did our required training.”

His brother beamed at him and Nick felt like a hero. He turned around and started walking back to get to the entrance for the longer path. “You know Connor, if you ever really get tired of all this you can just give up. No one would blame you.”

“You’re right,” his brother’s voice sounded rougher and older and Nick’s blood froze as he slowly turned around. “No one would blame me.”

 Nick saw his brother and screamed.

Nick jerked up in his bed, breathing rapidly and his entire body drenched with sweat. He looked down at his hands and realized they were shaking. 

Not again. God, not again.

 Nick clutched his face and leaned forward against his bent knees, pushing his palms into his eyes to keep the tears from falling.

Ever since that night he attacked Colt five months ago the old nightmares started coming back. It had taken years for them to stop and Nick didn’t know how to stop them this time. He thought apologizing to Colt would help, remove some of the guilt, but it didn’t work. Every night, he’d dream about Connor, and every night he woke up, thrashing and sweating, struggling not to break down.

He knew if he did his father would hear about it, and Nick would do anything to insure that didn’t happen. If his father knew Nick was having nightmares again-. He didn’t even want to think of it.

Swallowing Nick looked at his cellphone and saw that it was still only three in the morning. He didn’t have to report to the Wolf training building until six. He debated if he should try to go back to sleep but he really didn’t want to take the risk of ending up back in that nightmare world of the past. So he got out of bed and decided to run around the field a bit and take a shower. Might as well get an early start. And calm down before anyone saw him. 

He knew his hair was a mess and his eyes were probably soulless. No need to start the gossip mills running.

“What do you think we’re doing today?” Michael asked Kit as all the Hawk cadets stood lined up on the field facing the base.

“Don’t know. I’ve pretty much given up trying to guess. They keep surprising us.”

“That’s true. That test last week was a doozy. I really thought it was about controlling my aim during a crisis, not a sudden hostage situation.”

Kit tilted his head slightly so Michael could see his smirk, “Yeah but we still kicked ass.”

Michael raised his hand and the two bumped fists before they quickly stood still again. A few minutes later, Michael was seriously thinking it was an endurance test and they’d stand there until the end of the week when he saw a group of soldiers walking towards them. Soldiers in light blue shirts and camouflage pants. Wolf uniforms, a stark contrast to the Hawk black and red.

“Looks like we're training with the Wolves today,” Michael commented, already mentally preparing himself for the ordeal of having to deal with the arrogant Alphas. Especially since he knew Nicholas Chambers was one of them. He really didn’t want to deal with that dick. 

Michael looked down to gauge Kit’s reaction and started when he saw the yellow sheen on his bronze skin. He looked like he was going to be sick. If he was an Omega or an Alpha, Michael imagined there'd be a strong fear filled scent coming off his friend in waves. 

“Hey, are you OK?” Michael whispered fiercely.

“I hate Alphas,” Kit replied, his lips barely moving.

“We all do. But you look-” Michael was going to continue but he knew if he revealed how noticeably panicked Kit looked it might push the Beta over the edge. Kit hated looking weak.

The Wolves finally reached the line of Hawks and stood still in front of them, forming a line parallel to their own. The Alphas openly glared at him and he sneered back.

“Alright cadets,” Captain Miller’s voice boomed from his place in the middle between the two lines. “Today we’re going to have a joint session. If, and I say if, you make it to the official teams you’ll have to work together. The Wolves will guide and advise the Hawks, and the Hawks follow the orders of the Wolves. We all know that’s easier said than done. In order for both sides to trust each other, you’re going to have to earn that trust. Starting now. You’re all going to pair up, one Hawk and one Wolf,  and do some trust exercises with your partner.”

Michael wanted to groan and could see that the Alphas in front of him wanted to as well. But they all knew what would happen if they even hinted their dissatisfaction so they didn’t move an inch. But their eyes did get sharper as they stared at Michael and Kit.

“The Hawks will put on a blindfold and the Wolves will have to give them detailed, verbal instructions to get through a series of complex obstacle courses. Here are the rules. Number one, at no time is a Hawk allowed to remove their blindfold. Even if you fall, you pick yourself up and just keep going. Number two, you have to complete each obstacle completely before you can move on to the next one. If you get stuck, well tough. Which brings us to rule three, You have until midnight to finish. If you do this right you can be done in an hour. If you screw up, it could take all day. And finally, rule number four. If for whatever reason a Hawk gets hurt or someone loses their temper, you both fail. And you’ll be in house arrest for a week.”

Michael continued to stare at the Alphas, wondering if they too questioned if any of them would survive the day.

“Yes sir!” forty voices replied.

“Good. Now, Sergeant Warner and I already paired you up. When your name is called just go over to Sergeant Carter and she’ll give you a blindfold and you can start. Alright boys and girls, let’s get this show on the road. Milton and Haines.”

Michael saw a Wolf and a Hawk, one out of the three female Hawks this year, leave their respective lines and jog over to Carter. As his eyes passed over the all male line of Wolves, he finally saw the person he least wanted to see- Nicholas Chambers. The dick still looked as arrogant and stuck up as he did years ago. 

Nick looked up and their eyes met. They sneered at each other, neither willing to look away first.

There he was the precious Maximilian Hastings, Nick thought. 

He'd been shocked speechless when he saw him at testing day months ago. He spotted him around the base a couple of times since then from afar, but always walked the other way. He hoped he'd never have to talk to the bastard directly. And now here they were, and it was a high probability they’d be paired up together. Nick was one of the best candidates to join the Wolves and there was no way Hastings wasn’t the best Hawk. Their superiors probably had fantasies of their two strong Alphas working together in the future and wanted to give them a trial run. 

He really hoped he was wrong. He couldn’t stand Hastings. He was always so fucking cheerful as a kid, running around as if the world owed him something and was especially designed to make him happy. The fact that he was here showed that his distorted sense of self worth still existed. Otherwise he would have joined his family business, or at least become a Wolf.

“Kelly and Saunders.”

 Nick’s eyes flicked to Colt and saw the Beta step up and pair up with the short Beta Nick saw kick ass on testing day. Nick’s fists clenched as he took in Colt’s relaxed demeanour. He probably slept like a baby every night.

“Chambers and Andrew.” Hastings stiffened and stepped forward and Nick closed his eyes, trying to deny the reality he knew was possible since the minute he discovered they’d be working with the Betas today.

His eyes narrowed, Nick walked out of the line and strolled towards Carter. He joined the cue waiting for blindfolds and felt Hastings’ warm body next to him, emitting faint traces of disgust and anger.

Nick smirked and spoke softly, “No need to be so upset Hastings. Neither of us wants to be here.”

“My name is Andrew,” Hastings clipped back, his voice pitched low so no one could overhear them.

Nick chuckled and finally looked at his childhood nemesis, “Oh of course you'd change your name. Don't want anyone fawning over the precious Hastings name. Andrew huh. It suits you. It’s so...weak.”

Hastings stiffened and slowly turned his head towards Nick. They were at the same eye level and they continued to glare daggers at each other until Carter called on them.

“So we should probably just get started,” Colt said.

Kit swallowed and nodded, still reeling from the relief he felt when he realized he’d be working with the only Beta on the Wolf team. He’d felt sick when he saw the row of Alphas and he knew, with their superior sense of smell, they would pick up on the distress Kit was struggling to hide. It was a miracle Michael hadn’t scented him.

“Don’t look so worried,” Colt assured him, patting his shoulder. “I’ll make sure you don’t get hurt. I don’t mean to brag but I am one of the best cadets in the Wolf program.”

“I know. I mean, everyone talks about the Beta Wolf,” Kit said in a rush.

Kit thought he saw a flash of irritation in Colt’s eyes but it disappeared so fast he thought he must have imagined it.

“Beta Wolf, huh? Has a nice ring to it, don't you think?”

 Colt smiled down at Kit and he couldn’t help smiling back. There was something comforting about the Beta despite his superior height. He wasn’t as tall as the Alphas but he was taller than the other Betas Kit knew. As it was, he had to remind himself Colt is a Beta, despite his eye color. A dark emerald green. It let him blend in with the other various eye colors in the Wolf line, but contrasted with the sea of brown eyed Betas alongside Kit.

For generations, all Alphas and Omegas had colored eyes while Betas were brown.  No one knew why, sexist elitist liked to claim it proved that Alphas and Omegas are special, while Betas are nothing. Kit thought it was the opposite. Betas were statistically the majority throughout history, and their similar eye colored marked them as superior in number. The ones who didn’t care or cater to the twisted view of beauty as exclusive to the two genders that were smaller in number. 

It made them special, united, in Kit’s eyes. 

He had to resist touching the corner of his eye, confirming their dark brown shade by touch to remind himself that he’s one of them. One of the majority. A Beta.  

“Alright, I’ll put on the blindfold for you and you tell me if it’s too tight or too loose,” Colt said, smiling but his voice efficient. 

Kit felt his anxiety return as the Beta blindfolded him. Having his world suddenly become dark was disconcerting and he knew that if he ripped off the blindfold he’d be able to see again. But he’d also fail.

“I know it’s probably scary not being able to see,” Colt said soothingly right over his shoulder. “But there will be times you’ll have to fight in the dark with only a voice in an earpiece to guide you. Or just on your own. It’s good to get used to it now.”

Kit’s determination returned at Colt’s reassurances and he nodded. Colt was right. There was never a guarantee that things on the field wouldn’t go to hell. That’s why he’d trained for so long and was constantly being tested now. And like him, the Beta was trying to not only survive, but beat a whole gender system that saw itself as superior to his own. 

Even though they’d just met and Colt thought he was a fellow Beta, Kit couldn’t help feeling a strong affinity with the other cadet and wanted to prove that they could both succeed, as a team.

“We’re going to beat this,” Kit said fiercely. “And we’ll win.”

Colt was silent for a few seconds then chuckled, “Nicely said Kelly. Let’s make those other soldiers green with envy.”