Survival [MxM]

Chapter I

A/N: Guess what! Here we are, with a new story!

This one was requested by Dadria, who complained that all these stories were usually girlXgirl. So I decided to give her a Christmas present, and write a boyXboy one for her.

Merry Christmas, Dadria!

Fate is a funny thing. My adoptive parents, the Karrows, used to tell me that it was fate that brought me to them. That when my real parents left me in their territory, it was because I was supposed to be with them, instead. And I believed them. I loved my parents, even if we weren't really related. Rory and Ami Karrow.

The Alphas of our pack.

Our pack was small, unlike most other packs in the area. Only a few of our members weren't related in some way-- me being one of them. Raine Foster.

No one treated me any differently though, for not actually belonging. We were a close-knit family, and everyone knew everyone else.

My best friend, and technically adoptive brother, was Haven Karrow. The oldest son of Rory and Ami, and the future Alpha. I had a lot of respect for Haven. He was smart, and athletic, and attractive, and charismatic. Whereas I was shy, and naive, and all-around tiny. I was better off as an Omega than a Beta.

But I didn't care. I wasn't treated any differently.

"Raine!"

I glanced up from the book in my lap, blowing my bangs back out of my face to see Haven waving to me from a distance. Even from where I sat, I could see his light muscle definition, and his sandy blonde hair, sticking to his temples and forehead in some places from sweat. He'd been running around with his other friends, while I was content to sit against a tree and read.

I smiled and stood up though, bringing my book with me as I walked over to him. His golden eyes glowed, like mine. There was going to be a full moon, and everyone was excited for it.

Haven's friends, Torrence and Will, looked to be winded from all the running. Torrence was bent over, with his hands on his knees, and Will was in the process of removing his shirt. I glanced at them before looking up at Haven. "Yes?"

Being only 5'3'', Haven, and pretty much every other male, towered over me. Ami told me it was nothing to be worried about though-- I was just a late bloomer.

Haven smiled, still breathing heavily. "A bunch of us are going down to the lake. Wanna come?" he asked. I frowned slightly, tilting my head.

"Isn't that off our territory?"

"A little," he shrugged. "It's more of a neutral zone between territories. Perfectly safe. What do you say?"

I fidgeted a little, looking over to Will and Torrence, who met my gaze with almost bored looks before I looked back into Haven's hopeful eyes. "Well... I guess it couldn't hurt... for a little while." I murmured finally, seeing a smile break out on Haven's face as he clapped my shoulder.

"Awesome! Let's go!"

He and the others took off running again, making me sigh to myself. I was by no means a runner-- which was probably why I rarely went off-territory. I followed them though, clutching my book to my chest as the breeze swept my hair back.

The lake was roughly a mile out of our bounds, but I'd always thought it was a free zone-- anyone could defend it, because it didn't actually belong to any pack. Every now and then, one pack would claim it as theirs, but their claim would be overruled by everyone else.

But because it was a free zone, we could be hurt.

I winced a little at that thought. Any opposing packs would go after the weakest links first. AKA; me. Some of the female Betas were stronger than I was. So I'd be the first to go.

They wouldn't even kill me. They'd use me as a toothpick.

That made me shudder, stumbling over a tree root before righting myself and coming to a clearing in the forest where the lake sat. I could hear the voices of several younger wolves from our pack already, and once I was through the brush, I saw that most of the younger ones had indeed come. "Raine, come on!" Haven yelled through the crowd before cannon-balling into the water, splashing a few of the girls who screamed and laughed.

I shook my head, but couldn't stop the slight smile from forming on my face as I sat by another tree, cracking my book open as I listened to everyone laugh and shout.

Less than a second later, my book was being torn from my hands as I looked up to see Will and Torrence, who were smiling down at me. Torrence had my book in his hand, and Will simply reached down, grabbing me around the waist and hauling me up over his shoulder. "Hey! What're you doing? Guys, come on!"

"It is officially our job to make sure you have fun." Will replied, patting my back as he carried me toward the water.

"This isn't fair! He didn't even save my page!"

"You'll find it later."

My response to Will died in my throat as I was thrown into the lake, scrambling underwater for a second before I resurfaced, spitting out water. A hand on my shoulder made me look over to see Haven, who was smiling at me. "See, it's not that bad!" he said. I huffed and splashed in his direction, making him chuckle before he ducked under the water.

I swam to the shore, which unfortunately was just a straight drop off, so I struggled with trying to pull myself up for a second before I sat on the grass, sighing heavily. I noticed Torrence and Will in the distance, still with my book in hand as they waved to me. Glaring back at them, I tried to squeeze the excess water out of my t-shirt before standing up and stalking over to them.

"Uh-oh, I think we're in trouble." Torrence muttered. Will only crossed his arms over his chest as he smirked down at me.

"Need something, short-stack?"

"My book." I growled. Will looked like he was considering it for a second, and went to reply before I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Come on guys, give him the book back." Haven said with a smile. Torrence hummed, but handed me the book, which I snatched away from him while still glaring.

"No need to be so bitchy." he mumbled. Will reached over and punched Torrence's shoulder, frowning slightly.

"Curb the language, genius. What did Rory say?" Will reprimanded. Torrence only stuck out his tongue as a response. Haven smiled a little at their interaction, his hand still on my shoulder as he went to speak. But a sudden howl cut him off, making all of us freeze and go silent.

Haven glanced around, sniffing the air for a second before his eyes widened slightly.

"It's Hathorne."