The Replacement Aplha

Quinn's Betrayal

***Flashback***

***9th grade***

Unfortunately, I learned all too quickly just what Thomas Cauley meant.

I didn’t get much of a break from my traumatizing school experience. Although Dad tried to comfort me in the best way he could, I couldn’t help but see the underlying delight in his eyes.

At first, I didn’t understand it.  

In my defence, I was only 14 at the time.

For the first time, he started to cook dinner again. He stalked the fridge. He cleaned the house. He even stopped gambling for a short amount of time.

But eventually, I grew to understand why he suddenly felt so full of energy. His Omega daughter had made up for all of his mistakes. She was going to be the mate of the Alpha. 

Finally, the Goddess had restored fate.

Mom was a daughter to a Beta. Her mother and father were hoping for a mated alliance that would excel their chances of their son, Sebastian, securing his position as the next Beta.

The deceptive Moon Goddess, however, had other plans. 

On her 18th birthday, Mom didn’t mate with any of her parent’s prospects. Still, this was not a complete lost cause.  After all, she was elegant, beautiful, and everything they could have ever wanted in a daughter. Every male wolf had their eye on her. 

It wasn’t until she was 20 that she finally found her mate. She and her current boyfriend had decided to get couple’s photos taken, much to Mom’s discomfort. She hated being the centre of attention.

Her boyfriend was a strapping, tall-dark-and-handsome Warrior that had practically sold his soul for the chance of a date with her. She had finally given in, much to her mother’s pressures. Her mother wanted grandpups; with or without a mate.

Eventually, the pair started dating, mainly due her mother's influence. Mom wanted to save herself for her mate, but seeing how happy her relationship with a Warrior made her mother, she just kept it up.

That first moment that she landed her eyes on Dad, her photographer, she knew.

She knew he was her mate. 

As a little girl, asking Mom’s perspective on finding a mate was strictly PG. She said her heart and soul just belonged with him. He was her past, present, and her future. 

Everything that she had done in her life up until that moment when she first smelled his scent, every decision, every relationship, was so that the Goddess could bring them together. 

She had never felt so definite about anything else in her entire 20 years on this planet. It was like having a multiple-choice question on an exam, and knowing 100% that he is the right answer.

I remembered looking up at Mom. Her blue eyes shone. I knew she loved Dad. They had their arguments, sure, just like any couple. But no matter what, they loved each other deeply.

With or without status and money. 

Grandpa and Grandma, although glad their stunning, talented, daughter had found a mate, were reluctant. 

He was an Omega; a nothing in their eyes. 

He was a servant of the pack.

Because of this, Dad always felt less than deserving. 

It rarely showed, however, because of how much he loved Mom.

Until of course, she died.

I couldn’t blame him for wanting better for his child. If it wasn’t for him, Mom would have probably had a daughter of middle-class pack standing.

Now, after hearing my tearful recap of the events that took place in school, he felt as if a weight had been lifted off his chest.

It was as if he no longer was at fault for marrying a Beta borne daughter and dragging her down to his pathetic life.

I went back to school the following Monday.

As I stepped out of the tarnished and poor-looking front door, I caught a glance of Thomas.

He was standing on the sidewalk in front of my front lawn with his hands in his pockets kicking a rock back and forth like a soccer ball. 

I immediately became aware of the scraggly bushes that lined the side of my house. As I glanced down, I noticed a piece of cardboard that was half rotted near my foot. Why the Harvest Moon happened I picked it up earlier? It had been there for weeks and I hadn’t bothered to remove it.  

“What are you doing here?” I asked hastily.

I knew that he was a long way from home. He was part of the Alpha clan, and lived in the largest estate among the grossly massive mansions that dotted along the riverbank. 

I stepped off my property and immediately and began walking towards the school.

“I wanted to apologize,” Thomas began, “for acting weird earlier.”

I didn’t reply. I was focused on getting to my first class as quickly as possible.

“Look,” Thomas said. He seemed determined to say something, so I slowed my pace.

“I’m sorry if I freaked you out. I get it. I had an entire speech ready all planed out, but then I saw you walking out the door and after getting one look at you..." 

His cheeks blushed a rosy pink.

“Anyway. I know that the match is also not… completely certain until you are 18. So maybe he isn’t your mate. But if he is…” he shook his head.

“What?” I asked, suddenly.

“He’s… not a good guy.”

He looked up at me as we walked. His brown eyes were clear and focused.

“I know all the girls are obsessed with him because he’s the Alpha-to-be. Plus, he’s easy on the eyes. He even has Mom and Dad convinced. But I’m his little brother, I know how he really is.” He looked off into the distance, focused on a bird that was hobbling across the street.

“Thomas,” I began, “did Ben ever hurt you?”

He smiled and touched his scar again. “Sure, but don’t all older brothers?”

“I’m not sure,” I responded, “I'm an only child."

We walked in silence for serval minutes. Thomas was attempting to remain chipper, but I could tell there was something unpleasant underneath that he was keeping hidden beneath his positive demeanour. 

“Can we be friends?” he asked, breaking the long silence.

“Sure,” I responded plainly.

He beamed, his gorgeous white smile.

“Thanks. Do you want to come over to my house after school?”

I stopped dead in my tracks. He meant the same house the Ben lived in, right?

As if to read my thoughts, Thomas grinned, “Ben’s got a date. He won’t be there tonight.”

An unexpected sense of jealousy swept over me. 

If he was my mate, like he claimed to be in front of Rock Mountain High's entire student body and staff, why was he going on a date with another shewolf?

And what kind of girl was she? Was she smarter than me? Did she make him laugh? 

“I’m really good at Wii,” Thomas interrupted my thoughts, “well, the tennis part. I'm not so good at the bowling.”

I couldn’t help but return his grin. 

I sat in class hyper-aware of every time a classmate whispered or giggled. Were they directing it at me? Likely.

 I tried to focus on my studies. As an Omega, I knew that academics was my only way out of the poverty.

Unless, of course, I mated with Ben.

I shook my head, disgusted that I would ever use my mate as a means to escape. Even if what he said was true, why wouldn’t I use my brains to get out of my own situation myself? I was perfectly capable.

That was also the day that Quinn started acting strange.

In the morning, I saw her talking to a group of girls we rarely cohered with.

In class, she barely acknowledged me. She kept her freckled nose pointed directly at the front of the class, unless it was to giggle with another girl across from her. I attempted to catch her eye several times, but she didn't look at me once. 

 What the Harvest Moon? 

As a brought my measly, sparse lunch to our regular spot at the table in the library, Quinn's seat was empty. 

 As I began snacking on leftovers that had probably been in our fridge for a week, I began to realize that she wasn’t coming to join me.

 I glanced around at the few students that had decided to spend their lunch hour in the library.

Instead of looking dedicated and studious, they all just looked lonely. 

After staring at all the sad library loners for a period of time, I lost my appetite. I threw the remainder of my small lunch into the garbage can and opened the library door.

I caught sight of her red hair instantly. She was sitting at the ‘popular’ 9th grade table in the common area that stood directly in front of the library.

“What the Harvest Moon, Quinn!” I shouted even before I could comprehend the situation. 

Everyone in the common area snapped their heads in my direction.

“How could you?” I stammered, tears welling up in my eyes.

For a moment, I couldn’t have been positively sure, I thought I saw her tear up as well.

“What’s going on?” a booming voice arose from the entrance of the common space.

 I turned, and there, in the flesh, stood Ben Cauley.

He was about 6 feet tall, with a thick, muscular stature. He was traditionally handsome with a straight, narrow nose and dark, even complexion. He was wearing a long-sleeve Hollister shirt, which was a popular brand back then, that stretched tautly across his muscular chest. 

Although I could see why his looks would attract the girls, nothing particular stood out to me.  

His eyes, however wolflike, seemed almost beady and birdlike to me.

Most of the boys in the 11th and 12th grade went off campus for lunch. I guessed that Ben and his group had come back early.

Belle was the first to talk. She should up from the same table Quinn was sitting at.

Although I hated her guts, I admired her bravery.

“B-Ben,” she stammered, looking down at her lunch consisting of chef’s salad, “We were all just congratulating Scarlett on the exciting news. I guess she is not as happy as the rest of us are, though.”

Belle gave a subtle glare at my direction. I clenched my jaw and started to dig my nails into my palm.

 What nerve that prissy b***h had. 

Ben started to move in my direction, and I felt myself backing up against the smooth stone along the library wall.

It was his smile that disturbed me the most. It was hungry, yes, not unlike the smiles that the other male wolves frequently gave me , but also…

Demanding. Savage. Wild. 

He approached slowly. His pack stood further back, including his Beta Oliver. Oliver had a proud look smeared across his crooked grin.

His scent wafted over. 

It was rustic and dank with a tang of iron. It reminded me of the smell of rusty metal after a rainfall. 

Quinn abruptly burst from her seat.

“Oh my goodness, look what time it is. It's almost time for class!” she called.

Seconds after, the teachers began to flood the common room.

Ben stepped back.

But before he turned away from me, he winked.

SR