Topping the Omega (Werewolf Story)

Chapter 3: Iris

TWO YEARS AGO.

I had a rough time.

After hearing all about yet another surprise mate pairing, my mental health was rocked and my confidence was shaken. I hate to display my vulnerable side to others, I do not want people to tiptoe around me whenever a mate bond topic is brought up in conversations.

I truly don't want that at all. I am already the odd one out, if I give people any reason to not be themselves around me, I would feel even worse. I do not wish to be babied by anyone. I am a man, an adult, and Beta of the pack.

I have to pull myself together because I cannot afford to be seen as anything else except for a kick ass Beta. I need my warriors to respect me instead of worrying about my mental health. I fought tooth and nail to get where I am today and I will never give up.

It may seem like I was handed this job, but I actually had to work for it. I had to train, study, learn the ropes, and read everything about pack law. Yes, my father secured the position for me, it is true. I had to earn it, otherwise he would rather not risk his reputation. Our family's good name.

My grandfather - the former Beta - once told me that reputations are everything in our business. People almost always have heard of your name before they first meet you, but if they haven't, at least they have to know about your pack.

When I was a child, I would only ever need to hear the teacher making a row call for people to go:

'Oh... He is a Cortez.'

I am telling you, it means something to carry my last name. But that also means I cannot mess it up. Because it would take one false step for my entire family's reputation to go to waste. It is a huge pressure all the time, but one I am able to carry through, as long as people don't think I am fragile.

I did not come this far to be looked down upon.

I walked inside the training center in the first week of September, just after Labor Day. This place runs twenty four seven, but fortunately for me, I do not work on weekends outside of an emergency. That does come in handy whenever I feel like going away.

"Good morning, Beta. How was your Labor Day weekend? Did you miss the smell of sweaty men?" Delta Andersen greeted me in an apparent good mood.

"Good morning, Delta. It was great, actually. No, I did not miss it. I'm not into that, no offense." I replied in a humorous tone. He laughed at my remark.

"I heard a rumor that you went out of town for the extended weekend." He fished for information, looking sneakily at me.

"Did you pull traffic reports to track down my car?" I quizzed him, baffled by the question. How would he know I left town?

For safety reasons, we not only patrol the town borders in wolf form but we also keep tabs on which cars come in and out of town. It is usually just numbers on a spreadsheet, but if you know a license plate, you could figure out if a car left or came into town and when.

At this point in the game, we have the entire town wired.

"No, Beta. Your dad told me. Come on! Do I look like I have time to look for license plates on reports? I didn't even get the holiday off!" He scoffed at the question.

"Aren't you in charge of the scheduling? Why didn't you give yourself the weekend off?" I asked him, surprised by the information.

"Because I couldn't. Clarkson has a family too. I just can't assign myself every holiday off just cause I am the boss. That's not how it works!" He protested emphatically, referring to the Under Delta, his second in command.