Chapter 1
It was tough being a beta in a world full of alphas and omegas, but never more than during adolescence.
There I was, like every other weekday morning, cooling my heels at the bus stop, waiting for it to turn up and take me to school, when just like clockwork, they arrived. I didn’t sense them, didn’t scent them like an omega would, not until they were almost upon me.
“There you are!”
Big, strong, masculine arms went around me, grabbing me tight, fingers digging into my ribs. I stiffened, then bucked within his grasp, but that was a big mistake. I was acting like prey. A low growl came in response, his grip growing tighter.
“Trying to get away from me, little beta?”
That should’ve scared me, and if it were any alpha other than him or his brothers, it might’ve, but instead, I drove my elbow backwards, slamming it into his ribs.
“Oof!” he said, recoiling.
I grabbed my bag and slung it across my body as I turned to face him, his brothers ranging around him as he made a great show of being wounded before straightening up, a lazy smile spreading across his face.
“Can’t even get the drop on a beta, Fen,” one of them said, giving his shoulder a shove.
Fen.
The name I’d scrawled inside a million love hearts on scraps of paper I’d burned, screwed up, and tossed away with a violence I shouldn’t have felt. I was supposed to be a calm, rational, reliable beta, and I reminded myself of that when his hand went to my hair.
“How’re you doing, Red?”
My hair was ruffled like you would a dog’s or a young child’s, forced to fall in my face, obscuring my gaze. But when I looked up at him from behind the scarlet curtain of my hair, just inspecting him before I swept my unruly mane back behind my ears, I had to tell myself the same thing I always did.
Fen touches everyone like this.
He’s casual with his affection.
He’s an alpha, you’re a beta.
He’s Alpha Vanguard’s son and, therefore, way too good for you.
And the last one—the most painful one.
You’re not an omega.
“I’m fine,” I replied belatedly, picking up my books and holding them to my chest, and that was my second mistake. It was a defensive gesture, and nothing got a wolf’s attention like when you were trying to hide something. All five of them clustered closer now, those easy smiles fading. I watched their nostrils flare, their eyes taking on a silvery cast as they inspected me much more thoroughly.
But for no reason. I had literally nothing to offer them. I was a beta, I couldn’t shift, I had no wolf and I also had no—
As if to make sure to interrupt my thought processes, the bus chose to turn up then, the pump of the air brakes alerting us to its presence. The door swung open, but as I went to climb in, a strong hand slapped down on the folding door.
“Sit with us, Red.”
Fen’s voice was a low buzz in my ear, one that made me want to shake my head to dislodge it, but I resisted. He stood there, the bus driver being oh so patient when faced with the alphas’ sons at play, because Fen didn’t give a shit about how long this was taking or the fact that everyone in the bus was watching us. His eyes were like chips of jade that almost glowed against the deep tan of his skin, and now they were beginning to twinkle. He saw my irritation, smelled it too as he breathed in big lungfuls of my scent, and that just made him smile wider.
Eyes do not twinkle, I told myself grumpily.That’s a biological impossibility.Iraked my hair back and stomped up the bus stairs, trying to scurry down the aisle and find an empty seat, when I heard them come behind me.
You always knew where Fen and his brothers were, because that was where the sound, the energy was, and today was no different. Every single person on the bus would have turned the moment they got on, like flowers following the sun. Hands would have reached out to be high-fived, fists to be bumped, obsequious comments made as they passed. It should’ve been enough to make me hate them.
But it wasn’t.
I found an empty seat towards the back. Not too close, as that’s where all the omegas and alphas sat and making yourself a target wasn’t smart. Not too near to the front either, as that was where the younger kids were. The equivalent of social suicide for a year twelve student. I went to sit down so I could slide across the vinyl seat, nestle up against the window and stare out of it, counting down the days until I was done with this place. Bye, bye, Bordertown, hello big city and university.
Of course, that didn’t happen though, did it?