Faun

Faun tried to listen to the instructions from the guard, but the sound of his chattering teeth drowned them out. Besides, the rules of the mating run had been embedded in his mind for years.

The horrible story was quite simple. As the population of Alphas grew fewer, they began genetically changing to resemble their animal counterparts. The Alphas gained baser, volatile instincts which turned the already dangerous hunters into instinct-driven, killing machines. Then the transformations began to occur and the situation only grew worse.

After decades of senseless murders, a deal was struck, the Alphas would remain in an isolated, vast forest far away from the rest of the population but in return, once a year three genetically-compatible Omegas would be released into the Alpha's territory. If the Omegas could travel through the Alpha's territory and come out the other side before dawn, they were free to return back home. If the Omegas didn’t make it out, well, nobody truly knew what happened to those Omegas..

Faun glanced to his right where the two other omegas were huddled together. Alliances between Omegas were not unheard of. Faun was tempted to join them in their quiet planning, but his timid nature kept him rooted to his spot.

“And the last rule is,” the guard’s rough voice brought his attention back to the front of the truck. Only items you're allowed to bring with you are the clothes on your back.”

The farthest omega from Faun let out a dark scoff.

“What, you think that even with a weapon we would be able to make a scratch on those motherfuckers?”

Faun silently applauded the omega’s gall. The soldier narrowed his eyes at the ebony-haired omega. Both parties stubbornly kept eye contact until the omega closest to Faun cleared his throat.

“How much time do we have left, sir?”

The slim, pale-haired omega reminded Faun of one of the porcelain dolls his mother used to collect. The guard finally looked away from the omegas to glance at his wristwatch.

“30 seconds left.”

The three young men lined up at the door, prepared to run.

“Oh, one last word of advice.” The three omegas glanced at the guard.

“The Alphas aren’t the only ones who go through a transformation.”

With that, the bolted door opened and with trepidation in their hearts, the three omegas raced into the dark woods.

The mating run had begun.