The old alpha's voice was monotonous. Only a few students managed to stay motivated and most of the eyes were almost closed after an hour of class with the passionate yet soporific history teacher. The entire class of twenty-seven teenage werewolves seemed to be under the influence of a sleep spell. Yawn, haggard eyes for the most part, and quiet sleep behind their notebooks for the more daring, that was this oblivious teacher's audience.
The words of the salt-and-pepper coat wolf were clouded by the screeching of chalk on the blackboard while he wrote down the work to be done for the next class. He had just finished tracing the last word when the bells rang out in perfect sync.
At the shrill sound of the bell, a student jumped. He almost fell from his seat and his voice rose above the stillness, uttering an incomprehensible stream of words.
With a wrinkled nose and a pinched mouth in a grimace of utter disapproval, a teenage werewolf with the profile of Adonis turned to the disruptive element.
"God! Dante, stop making a fool of yourself please!" he blurted out, glaring at his neighbor who was wiping away the trickle of drool that had run down his chin with the back of his hand.
"Sorry?" Dante said, sheepishly. Several of their classmates looked at them amusedly. One yelled across the classroom.
"Rivers, can you please tell what were you dreaming of for you to jump off your seat like that?"
"I don't know," the beta replied, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment. He glanced at the board where the professor had left his instructions for the next time. "Probably the Big Bloodshed?" He said in a small voice, redirecting his attention to the old alpha who was glaring at him.
"Nice try, Mr. Rivers, but your responsiveness will get you nowhere. Come see me as I pass you the extra assignment you are going to work on to make up for the lesson you missed."
Several laughs erupted and Dante Rivers heaved a disappointed sigh. He watched out of the corner of his eye as his friend was tidying up his things without paying him the slightest attention.
"Sorry Eden, can you wait for me a while?"
Eden Bloodhood turned his head to him and his gaze instantly softened. How can he blame his friend knowing that he's tired because of the chores he did before going to class this morning? Their pack, Bloodhood, was among the most embedded in the lore of ancient times.
The way they live was pretty similar to the first werewolves' daily life. This meant that the werewolves in their pack, as soon as their rank was assigned, had to fulfill their role and help organize the pack, in addition to their everyday occupation.
For high school students like them, it could quickly become hellish. Rise before dawn for picking and hunting, when it is not the late-night watchtowers to guard borders, repel rogues or even combat training. Their alpha, Silver Bloodhood was well known to be ruthless to members who dare to slack off.
At least that's the case for all members except omegas like Eden. As an omega, the lowest rank in a pack, the teenager had it pretty easy. Considered weak although this was not the case, most tasks were off-limits to him. Thus, Eden displayed a sympathetic smile on his face while following his friend who was dragging his feet to their teacher.
He stared for a few seconds at Dante's bent back as he listened to the old alpha berating him for his behavior in class while shoving several handouts in his hand.
He walked out of the classroom and leaned against the wall near the door to wait for his classmate and packmate.
Dante left the classroom, shoulders even lower than when Eden had left him.
"I don't know how I'm going to do all of this. I'm on-call duty until late tonight. "
"Don't worry, I'll help you. We will go to the library after the lunch break. What's the topic? "
The two classmates walked in the hallway, slaloming between the students who took advantage of the break to discuss and keep up to date with gossip. Eden's shoulder hit a young girl's who squeaked at the light touch. He snapped his head at the sound, giving her a concerned look. Frowning, he leaned over her as he saw her wince in pain. The frail teenager had her hand laying on the space between the shoulder and the base of the neck. Eden saw a bandage sticking out of her hand and immediately apologized.
"Is everything alright?"
"Yeah, it's nothing, my mark is just still fresh."
Eden noticed the distress pheromones that she had immediately emitted and laid his eyes on the bandage that covered the mark of commitment of his packmate. He remembered her name and the announcement of her engagement with a dominant of an allied pack.
Startled by the sudden leak her pheromones, the female omega blocked her scent and apologized before giving him a shy smile. One of her friends glared at Eden before gently grabbing her by the shoulders to pull her away. He watched the three young girls walk away and he swallowed the lump in his throat.
"It's not like I did it on purpose," Eden muttered.
Nervously, he slid his hand into his jeans pocket and pulled out his smartphone, unlocking the touchscreen. Eden sighed when he noticed the lack of notification. He put the device away before returning to Dante, who was waiting for him a few steps away.
Without a word, the beta and omega resumed their way to their next classroom. It was their last hour of class before lunch break and they were going to have to suffer from an hour of advanced calculus. Dante entered the classroom and sat on a seat in the last row. Standing on the threshold of the door, Eden let out a long sigh.
"I already feel like shit. I wish I could go back home already. "
"I'm sorry to hear that. Well, it'll only save you a few minutes of my class, but you can already pick up today's assignments for me, Mr. Bloodhood."
Startled by the voice, Eden turned his head to his teacher. A small omega with cyan blue eyes gave them a mischievous smile.
"Hello," the professor continued. He raised an eyebrow in a silent request for his student to clear his way.
"Oh sorry. Go ahead, Mister Meadow! ", Said Eden, flustered.
The teacher, still in his twenties, walked briskly into the classroom. The hubbub died down immediately. Eden made his way between the tables and placed his bag on the table next to his friend and, without delay, got down to pick up the assignments.
The class had started twenty minutes already, and miraculously most of the students were paying much more attention than in the class before. The clear and cheerful voice of the Omega teacher explained in detail the steps in solving an equation.
In his pocket, Eden's phone vibrated. The two brief vibrations were enough to completely break his concentration.
Checking that the professor wasn't looking in his direction, he took the device out of his pocket and turned on the screen. His heart pounded in his chest when he saw the sender's name. His father. The Alpha of Bloodhood. Eden's finger trembled and paused for a moment then, he touched the digital rectangle. His message application window opened to display the text. He scanned the few lines and his eyes started to burn. Eden's mouth went dry and his chest tightened. The heat increased in his eyes as the omega hyperventilated.
"Eden!"
The teenager turned his head to his friend who had just yelled his name along with his teacher. His trembling fingers let go of the phone, which fell to the floor, shattering the screen in the process. Erik Meadow ran to his student who was having more and more difficulty in breathing. The rest of his classmates were blocking their noses and mouths to mask the pheromone of distress that had just exploded and suddenly dispersed throughout the room.
Eden didn't hear his teacher's words. The older omega was now on his knees next to him, a worried look on his face. Eden was in distress. The male omega was in pain and he didn't know how to calm himself down. He had lost control of his pheromones, sending out a distress signal that saturated the air in the classroom.
Eden's breathing quickened and his chest tightened a little more. Just before it all went dark, he saw the school nurse walking through the doorway.
When he opened his eyes, the omega was in its nest, surrounded by scents that calmed him down and made him feel good. He recognized the scents of his family and friends emerging from the blankets arranged in a pattern only he could understand. Eden buried his nose in the layers of fabrics to inhale their mixed scents. A fragile smile crept on his lips.
His eyelids fluttered as he noticed the presence of another scent wafting through the room. The scent of an alpha. The only one able to appease Eden when he was in such severe distress. Silver Bloodhood was sitting with folded arms in a chair waiting for his son to wake up. When his eyes met his omega son's, a loving smile lit his face.
"Eden".
The alpha's smile was instantly gone and replaced with pure worry. "You've lost control of your pheromones, Son. It was my fault, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have told you such news over the phone. "
"No, Dad! No ! Don't apologize, it's my fault. I should have controlled myself or just waited until I got home to look at your message. I was too curious. " He finished with a nervous laugh. Eden straightened up and sat down in his nest, silent. There was a sadness on his face that hurt the alpha.
"Son…" he said softly. He watched the teenager who started to fiddle his fingers nervously and his heart sank again. He reached out and leaned over to rest it on the top of his son's head and gently stroked his hair.
"Did White Stone's alpha explain why they turned down the mating offer?"
"Eden…"
"If they tell me what they don't like about me, maybe I can ..."
"Eden!"
The teenager was startled and brought his knees closer to his chest before wrapping his arms around them.
"Eden, son. You don't have to change. This pack doesn't know what they lose by refusing to let their future alpha mate with you. It's their loss, not yours, so don't dare to think that you are missing out on anything. Did you forget what I told you? You are… " He motioned his chin to encourage his son to speak.
"The most extraordinary of all omegas," replied Eden with a slight laugh.
"Exactly! And those who do not see it, are too bad for them. You don't have to prove anything to anyone. You are perfect as you are, inside and outside."
"But I have to find an alpha to protect the pack. If I can't find ... "
"You're going to find your other half," Silver cut in. "There is no hurry, Son. I'm here and I'm not ready to retire yet. You can take your time and forget without regret all those alphas morons who don't see your worth and how wonderful you are. The only thing you need to worry about is finding someone who deserves you. That's all that matters to me. "
His hand cupped the cheek of the young man who nuzzle and rubbed his cheek against the palm of the alpha. Silver cranked up his comfort pheromones a bit and stayed next to his son for a few more minutes.
A slight noise at the entrance to his room caught the attention of both father and son. Eden raised his head. An uneasy Dante was standing in the doorway, swinging his weight from foot to foot. The alpha lifted an eyebrow, and immediately the young beta explained.
"It won't be long before I'm leaving on my shift, so I wanted to check if Eden is doing better." He had finished his sentence by half hiding behind the curtain that blocked the entrance to Eden's room.
Silver rolled his eyes but couldn't help but smile. He got up to take his leave.
Dante let the alpha pass and slipped inside his childhood friend's room. With a shy look, he asked permission for the omega to climb into his nest. Eden shifted to make room for him and the young beta slipped by his side as his arms locked him in a comforting embrace.
"You scared the hell out of me, ass hat."
"Sorry." Silence fell between them and Eden was the one who broke it. "They refused the mating offer."
"I know."
"I can already see the gossip coming tomorrow at school. 'The broken Omega of the Bloodhood pack has been rejected again'. I bet everyone at school already knows. "
"You're not a broken omega and we don't care what those assholes think," Dante snapped. His hand squeezed Eden's shoulder and the teenager sniffled softly.
"Yeah you're right, we don't care." Eden rested his head on his friend's shoulder and he closed his eyes.