Shades of Green

Chapter 13: Time Warp Career Edition

Three years later.....

Funny how time flies and your standing in your executive office looking at your wedding picture. Hope thought "how did I/we get here?". She thought of that day and recalled every word, every smile, every vowel, even every touch. "Was it all a lie?" Hope thought to herself. The Steel 'n' Smith company was created right after they got back from their honeymoon.

Each member took an active part in the company and worked part-time jobs until they were making enough that they could focus on the company full time. It didn't take long for the company to get off the ground. Their specialty was making furniture for large packs and apparently there was a bigger market for it than any other furniture company knew. In a year's time, they had over two warehouses, 750 employees and on the cover of Forbes as "Companies to look out for". Within two years, they went public with their stocks, with six warehouses and 1000+ employees.

With such success, they were one of the most loved packs in the public's eye. Everyone seemed to crave more appearances from the Smith Pack. Which leaded to a small YouTube show that also ran very successfully. Everything seemed to be going well up until the night. Hope was coming home late one night.

Two months ago...

The Beta had felt so giddy, she couldn't keep still. Looking over the paper and logistics of the research she had conducted. Her face was lit up. She couldn't wait to get home and tell her pack about the project she had been working on. Since the company was fine and everything was going well. They had talked about the possibilities of matting soon, which sent the Beta into overload. Researching everything they would need because she knew she and the Omegas all wanted to be pregnant together. They had talked about it so many times, and what it would be like.

"Crap! HOME!!" Hope checked the clock. It said 6:45pm. She quickly picked up her phone and called Janet.

"Hey Baby." when Janet picked up the phone she told her that she would be late and they should have dinner without her because she was still working on this project. It was normal to get a call from any member at any given time when it came to running the company. One week they all just slept at the office because they had a big client they were trying to prepare for. Janet told her she would relate the call to the pack and to try and not be out too late. Hope promised to try and be home by 9pm and hung up the phone. The Beta returned to her work and lost track of time all over again. Her phone buzzed.

"Hello," Hope answered it typing away on her computer, so she didn't look to see who was calling.

"WHERE.THE.HELL.ARE.YOU!!" Hope was surprised by his tone and looked to see who it was. It was Nicolas.

"I am at the office still working on this project," Hope answered in shock. She had never heard Nicolas use that tone with any of the pack members.

"You told Janet you would be home by 9pm. It is now 11pm. GET.YOUR.ASS.HOME!!" Nicolas said in his alpha voice. Hope knew she couldn't go against the voice. Once it was spoken, all the pack had to follow it.

"Yes, Alpa," Hope said in a low, shaking, whinnying voice. For the life of her she didn't know what she had done wrong besides losing track of time. Once she got home, Nicolas was waiting for her in the living room pacing. She sat her stuff down and took a deep breath. Before Nicolas could speak, she spoke.

"I am sorry, Alpha, that I was out later than I said I would be." The only thing the Beta could think of to apologize for was to make her Alpha use such a tone.

"Cut the crap, Hope. YOU ARE A BETA AND YOU NEED TO START ACTING LIKE IT." Nicolas yelled as he bit back. Hope looked puzzled at him.

"What does my Beta have ANYTHING to do with me being late?" Hope bit back. The Alpha scent was filled with anger, but Hope's scent was getting to that point as well.

"WE ARE ALL ABOUT TO MATE AND YOU ARE MORE NEEDED IN THIS HOUSE AT A DECENT TIME RATHER THAN AT THE COMPANY. DO YOUR PART!!" Nicloas shouted.

"EXCUSE ME??" Hope yelled back. "Me working late for the company that we ALL own that we ALL WORK HARD for. So again, what does my Beta have to do with anything?" Yelled back, getting the attention of the other members, and began to file in the living room.

"YOU. ARE. A. BETA. THE. OMEGAS. SHOULDN'T. BE. DOING. ALL. YOUR. BETA. RESPONSABLITIES.AT. HOME. HOPE!" Nicloas snapped back.

"You have got to be kidding me? I do my fair share of all the house responsibilities. The Omegas don't do anything anymore than anyone else. Its all equally separated." Hope trying not to lose it anymore than she already has.

"Hope don't give me this treat, everyone equal bullshit. Just make sure your ass is home at a decent hour. We all know once we start matting the Omega's will more than likely be pregnant first, so I need you at home, helping out, not at the company working on some "project."" Nicolas said, and then walked out the room. The room went quiet and everyone just looked at one another.

Hope felt as if she was in some prank because her worst fear had just happened before her eyes, she was treated in a sub-gender way, and not as a member of the pack. Hope sprinted past everyone and ran to her room. Her inner Beta was shaking so badly. "What just happened?" The Beta asked.

"I don't know." Hope whimpered to herself. She lifted herself off the door and sprayed the scent blocking spray all over her room and that night she cried all night. Which was the beginning of her new nightly routine.

The next morning, when she got up, everyone was dressed and ready, rushing out to the office. Hope kept her head down every time Nicolas looked at her.

"Janet, honey, will you hand me my briefcase. Oh, I will be late tonight everyone, so don't wait up on me." Katie said. Hope flinched. Flashes of last night's fight flooded her memory. Hope braced herself and waited for Nicolas's scent to spike in anger at Katie, but it never came. Nicolas kissed her on the cheek and she was out the door. The Beta's heart fell, and she felt so confused as to what was happening.

"Hope? Why can't I smell you?" Josh asked. The members all looked at her. She looked up at them and had to think of a lie quickly because she wasn't ready to talk about last night. Her scent was laced with rain this morning so she took a scent blocker to cover it up.

"Oh, I have meetings all morning so I told everyone to wear scent blockers since we are going to be in a little room." Hope lied. They all seemed to be satisfied with her answer, since they didn't keep asking about it.

"Hope, I am making fried rice tonight for dinner, your favorite." Janet said and smiled at Hope. Hope grinned and felt a little at ease that maybe not everyone felt the same way as Nicolas. After all, Janet had always been her number one supporter.

"We had rice two days ago. Couldn't we have some Italian food? We haven't had that in a while," Sergio complained.

"Italian food takes so long to make, I can make it this weekend. Plus, Hope has been working hard lately. I want to treat her." Janet said.

"Ugh! Shouldn't Betas and Omegas be treating the Alpahs? I work hard too," Sergio spit out. Hope flinched.

"Sergio!" Janet said. Nicolas looked at him and then looked at Hope. All the Beta could hear was Pack Alpha's voice in her head. Hope then grabbed Janet's arm.

"It's.... alright Janet, we can have fried rice some other time. I'll be home on time today and I can help make dinner." Hope said quickly, trying not to cause a fight so early in the morning. Janet glared at Sergio and then at Nicolas and dropped the subject.

From that point on, Hope went from feeling like she was one of the pack members to feeling like she didn't belong and that she was in everyone's way.

"Oh my gosh, Hope, can I not get ready? You're in the way." Katie complained.

"Oh, I am sorry, I was just bringing in your dry cleaning that you asked me to get." Hope replied.

"Ugh! I swear you don't think of others sometimes. I am going to be late for this meeting." Katie snapped back.

"How is me giving you, YOUR dry cleaning going to make you late?" Hope snapped back.

"Because YOUR IN MY WAY! Just leave the clothes on the bed and leave." Katie yelled.

"FINE!" Hope snapped back and threw the clothes on the bed. On her way out she could swear she heard Katie say something about "dumb betas". Hope fled to her room and locked her door and cried into her pillow that morning. Later, she texted that she would drive herself to work because she had errands after work. This way they wouldn't smell the rain that laces her scent and ask questions. She only got "K" respondes back.

Things just got worse from there. Janet had kicked Hope out of the kitchen one evening because she wasn't watching what she was doing and dropped a whole pot of noodles on the floor, calling her a clumsy Beta. Josh had gotten pissed at her, because she mixed up the schedule for the meeting rooms, and accidently scheduled two meetings at once. The saddest of them all was Victoria. Out of all of them, she never would have expected the Omega to treat her in such a way, even after all the talks they had in their early college career.

"Hope, we are about to record," Victoria said. Their YouTube show just consisted of two or three of their members talking about life in general and they all take turns telling funny stories and sharing other tidbits. Today they were planning on talking about their pack families and how often they visit and get visited. They began to record and they are both having fun and laughing at each other and their families. They moved on to the next part of their segment, which was answering questions from their fans.

" OK, this one is from @lionmark, their question is. "Hope, how hard is it being the only Beta in the pack?" " Hope read the question. "Well, it can have challenges, but I think we all do a good job of keeping the pack together." Hope replied to the question she read.

"Says the Beta that is always working. I'm surprised you can even answer that with such a clear consciousness." Hope's heart sank all the way to the floor. She couldn't believe that Victoria would say for thousands, to hear just how much of a failure the Beta was for her pack. Hope could feel her Beta turn on her and banished herself into a corner. She would have cried right there on the spot but they were filming and no need to give the editor some drama to stir up. Hope took a deep breath trying to control her face and emotions.

"Victoria, I do help out. Who did ALL your laundry this week?" She swatted at her to make it look like they were just joking and playing. "Anyway, next questions." They moved on and finished the video and told everyone good bye. The studio was in their house, so it was easy to film and then go to one's room and finish work or whatever needed to be done. When they left, Hope grabbed Victoria by the arm and pulled her into her room.

"Do you really believe what you said? That I work all the time and barely have time for anyone else? Do you think I have failed this pack as a Beta?" Hope said with sad eyes.

"Yes, I do. Hope you always work if not at the company. Then you're busy here at home, we barely get to see you because your always working on this project of yours." Victoria was full on venting at this point. "When was the last time you even touched any of us? When was the last time you even kissed us?" Hope snapped.

"THE LAST TIME I..." Hope yelled "How about the way everyone is treating me like I don't f*****g belong in this pack any more?" She started to go off on her walk away from the Omega. "Hope, do this, Hope, do that. Hope, scheduled this meeting here, Hope, Hope, Hope." She turns and then turns back towards Victoria. "and I haven't touched the pack? I am f*****g taking scent blockers because my scent smells like rain all the time." Hope paused and pointed to herself. She paused at Victoria, and looked her straight in her eyes." How about how the pack spends most nights in the pack room and doesn't even bother to come get me?" The Beta paused. Victoria's face, which had fallen, shot up with wide shocked eyes. "Yes, I know you all thought I didn't know. I CAN f*****g SMELL YOU ALL!!" Hope looks down at the floor and then quietly says, "That's what makes this even worse. I can tell you all don't want me." Victoria went to say something but Hope walked over to the door and opened it. "Just get out!" she said quietly. Victoria walked out and turned to try and say something, but the Beta shut the door and locked it before she could.

Hope knew Victoria had told the pack the events that had happened, because there were six knocks on her door that night asking her to do a series of things like eat, watch a movie, play a game, all the things Hope used to enjoy doing with her pack. Things she no longer felt welcome to do.

The next morning, she dressed, fixed breakfast, laid out everyone's dry cleaners on the couch, and left before anyone woke. When she got to the office, she double checked everyone's schedules for the day. She went ahead and made an itinerary for each of them which is normally the secretary's responsibility. Then started her work at 8am. At 9 am, the pack filed into her office and shut the door. Hope looked up from her computer and stood up.

"Good morning," Hope said, trying to keep her voice from cracking.

"Thank you for this morning, we appreciate it," Nicolas said.

"No need for thanks, just doing my Beta duties." Hope said emotionless. Their scents had a hint of rain and it started to piss Hope off.

"None the less, thank you," Sergio said. Hope smiled and nodded.

"Is there anything else? Because you all have individual meetings in about 10 minutes," Hope said, looking at her watch. "I went ahead and left the itinerary for the day and each meeting on each desk. Also, I plan on leaving at about 3pm to pick up the dry cleaning and get home to make dinner." Every word coming out of her mouth was bitter at that point. They just wanted a Beta, then that's what they were going to get.

"ENOUGH!" Nicolas yelled.

"I am sorry, Alpha, is there more for this Beta to do?" Hope said. If this was what they wanted, then this was what they were going to get. Hope's Beta had been through enough already. Nicolas growled. There was a knock on the door and it opened.

"Excuse me sir, but your guests are here for the meeting," Nicolas's secretary said.

.

"We will all discuss this matter at home tonight. No excuses as to why any one of you can't be home." He growled. They all shook their heads yes, as the Alpha left the room. When he did, Hope turned her back on the rest of the pack. Tears filled her eyes and she hoped they would understand she didn't want to see or talk to them. One by one she heard them leaving until all six of their scents were gone. When the door shut for the sixth time, the Beta fell to the floor holding her legs and she began to sob.

Present time....

The Beta didn't know how long she had been crying but she finally pulled herself up. When she lifted her head, her eyes locked with the pack's wedding picture. As she stood there she looked at how happy each and everyone were. They were all smiling and standing so close together that not even a strain of hair could separate them. Now you can fit a whole country between them. Well, at least between her and them.

Hope couldn't focus on work, so she left even earlier than she had expected. Which gave her more than enough time to do everything she had set out to do for that day. She went to the dry cleaners to pick their clothes up, went to the grocery store to pick up everything she needed to fix dinner tonight, then she went to the wolf only store to pick up things they were out of for their heats and ruts. Katie's and Josh's heat and rut was coming up next month. Then she went home and put away all the dry cleaning. She changed into more comfortable clothes and began to clean the house. The house was completely sanitized and clean by 4pm. In which she started cooking dinner. She made a large meal with at least one dish of everyone's favorite and rice.

Hope wasn't hungry so she planned on telling them she had already eaten when they got home. She didn't think she could stomach eating around them right now. After she was done cooking, she set the table and cleaned up all the dishes she had cooked with. She put the last dish away from cleaning and everyone started to file in.

"Hey, I hope you don't mind, but I was hungry and I already ate. I really want to go and shower since I stink and feel gross from cleaning the house today. Just call me when you are all ready to talk. I will meet you in the living room." Hope said and walked away as quickly as she could without anyone protesting. She couldn't tell if they believed her or not, but at this point did she even care?

Just as she said, she showered, changed and made her way into the living room picking the chair that would only handle one person. She really didn't want to be besides anyone or for anyone to touch her right now. Although the way these past few weeks have been, they seem to not want to touch her anyway.

Hope could only hear the sound of the utensils hitting the plates. Hope knew she made their favorite foods, but she didn't think they were so good that they didn't need words. Thankful she wasn't forced to eat because she didn't think she could even swallow properly right now. One by one, she heard the members get up and put their plates away until the nose in the kitchen was them cleaning it up. She wanted to tell them to leave it and she would do it, but she didn't want to lose her spot in the living room either. Hope also thought that it would be good because after this "talk" she could just go to her room and decompress.

As they entered the living room they were surprised to see Hope already sitting there. Which made her puzzled, but it was probably because earlier today she took some extra scent blockers to the office so she could go out in public without smelling like rain. They must have not worn off yet.

"Why can't we smell you?" Katie asked.

"I had errands to do today and I didn't want my mood affecting anyone else around me, so I took some scent blockers. They haven't worn off yet," Hope said, emotionally. Katie nodded and smiled a little as to understand what Hope was saying.

"Hope, please.." Janet said. The Beta turns to the Omega.

"Please? Please tell me what I did wrong or what I need to do?" Hope said, looking at the Omega. "I don't know what your asking for?"

"Stop this!" Nicolas said. Hope closed her mouth and started to think, and for the life of her she had no idea what she was doing wrong now. Her Beta was at this point weeping in the corner in which she had banned herself from feeling like such a failure because of the way the Alpha's voice was. Even with everything she did today, it still didn't seem good enough for them. All she ever wanted in a pack was to feel like an equal. The pack seemed to have other plans for how a Beta should be treated in a pack. Hope loved them but she didn't know how much longer she could go on being the outcast of the pack. She really felt alone, and was having a hard time trying to keep it together while her Beta sobbed in the corner of her mind.

"You have been so distant from us. We don't know what has happened to make you this way." Sergio said.

"Yes, you never come into the pack room. You know the door is always open," Josh stated.

"We don't even get your goodbye kisses anymore. I miss them." Victoria whined. Hope put her hand up to make everyone stop talking.

"Let me get this straight. You want me to do all my Beta duties at home, work and THEN come home to satisfy YOUR needs?" Hope asked. Was she losing her mind? Did she hear them right?

"Yes, isn't that part of your "Beta duties"? Since you keep referring to your Beta," Katie said. Hope shot up so quickly

"I'm sorry, I don't think I can listen to it anymore. I'm sorry if I made you feel a certain way about me not giving you the attention you believe you deserve from this Beta. I promise I will try to do better." Hope turned to go to her room.

"Hope sit." Nicolas's Alpha's voice boomed. Hope turned back around and sat down, having to listen to the Alpha's demand. "Good, we need to talk about mating. That is the other part why we are all here."

"Mating?" Hope whispered.

"Yes, but every since you started acting out..." Nicolas stated. Hope laughed.

"I started to act out?" as she pointed to herself and laughed "So, I am clear about what you are saying. That it's ME that's the problem here?"

"We aren't saying that we don't have our own issues," Victoria interrupted. " It's just you have been so extra lately and unforgiving." Hope thought, what in the world is going on. Do they not see what they are doing? Do they not see they are the ones pushing me away? Do they not see they aren't treating me as an equal in this pack? How else can I tell them, that they aren't making me feel like I am part of this pack?

"I've been unforgiving?" Hope repeated.

"Yes, and your three Omegas are ready to mate so we can all be pregnant together. So can we just drop the childless and start mating?" Victoria said. Hope looked at her completely bewildered.

"I can't believe this. Why do you all even need me for this meeting? Clearly, I am not a part of this pack anymore." Hope snapped at all of them.

"OH. MY GOD! Here we go with the equal bullshit again." Kaitie said. Hope's heart completely broke at that moment. She knew, no matter what she said, they were completely blinded by wanting to mate, that Hope just did't fit into their pack anymore. She hung her head.

"I am sorry, I will stop this childlessness now." Hope smiled but her insides were dying. "Let's start mating." she said, waving at all of them. The three Omega's clapped their hands together and hugged each other. Then they ran over to Hope and hugged her. God how she had missed their touch but her Beta was shaking in the corner because she didn't want to be touched. She tried to quickly get out of their grasps without being noticed.

"Good," was all that Nicolas said. Hope thought, wasn't he the Pack Alpha? Wasn't he supposed to know when one of his members doesn't feel like they don't belong? How could he just ignore her like that? How was she going to mate if she didn't even feel like she was a part of the pack?