Beta's Forbidden Love

Chapter 1

~Torrin~

I wake up to the sound of my alarm clock going off. I roll over and pick up my phone, looking at the time. Crap, I need to get up or I'll be late for training. I sit up and just as I'm putting a shirt on, there's a knock at my door.

"Sweetheart, are you up yet?" I hear my mom call.

"Yeah, mom. I'll be down in a minute." I call back to her. I hate getting up so early, but this is what I have to do if I want to be one of the head warriors in my pack. I'm so close, I only have to worry about the warrior tests coming up after graduation. It's basically a big test for all the warriors, to see who will make the cut. The Alpha judges it with his Beta and Gamma. This year is also the year that his son will take over the pack, so he and his ranked members will definitely be out there too. Dominic, the Alpha's son, is already 18, so he can take over now, but he's waiting for his Beta and Gamma to become of age so that they can all take over together. His Gamma, Owen, just turned 18 last week, but his Beta, Cal, won't turn 18 till after graduation. His birthday is actually the day before mine.

Callahan Bishop. When the moon goddess made him, she did everything right. Cal went from being an innocent childhood crush to someone who is completely drool-worthy. He was this shy kid that only hung around Dominic. Then in high school, he did this complete 180 and now girls fall at his feet, just like they do Dominic and Owen. I admire him from afar because being gay isn't something that's allowed. The current Alpha is very against it. Plus, Cal is straight. He always has girls hanging off his arm at school. I'd never tell him how I feel, it'd just end with me getting my heart broken and I'd lose the opportunity to become one of the head warriors.

I finish getting ready and head downstairs. My mom is sitting at the table, drinking her morning coffee. She laid out a quick breakfast for me to grab and eat on the go, like always. I smile and kiss her on the forehead.

"Thanks, mom. I'll see you after school." I say.

"You're welcome, sweetheart." Mom says as she smiles at me. It's just been me and my mom for a few years now. My dad died in a rogue attack. He was one of the head warriors as well. It was hard for her when he died, but when I came out to her, she said it's almost lucky dad isn't around anymore. He had the same views at the alpha. He wouldn't have accepted me. My mom understands it's just how I am, but she worries for me. She knows I can get into a lot of trouble if I decided to date a guy. But that's never happened. I've always been too caught up in my feelings for Cal to even think about someone else.

When I walk out of the door, Lela is standing next to my car. She's been my best friend for as long as I can remember. Tons of people think we're dating, but obviously, we're not. I'm gay and she wants to wait for her mate.

"About time! I've been waiting for like three minutes!" Lela jokes, throwing her hands up in the air.

"Oh, I'm so sorry your highness. Next time, I'll make sure to wake up extra early." I say in the most sarcastic voice I can as I smile at her.

"As you should. It's starting to get hot and the humidity is bad for my hair." Lela giggles. I shake my head as I unlock the car door.

"Get in, you drama queen." I laugh. Lela opens the door and hops in my car. We drive to training together every morning. Lela doesn't technically have to come with me, since it's only mandatory for the ones training to be head warriors and optional for everyone else. But she comes just so I'll drive her to school after. She hates taking the bus.

"So, prom is coming up soon. Any cuties catch your eye?" I ask Lela. Our school is mostly werewolves, but there are some humans as well, including the staff, so the school throws regular human stuff like prom.

"Ugh, goddess no. Everyone is so repulsive. I don't even want to think of guys until I turn 18. Unless it's you, of course. Which is why you will be my date." Lela smiles at me and I laugh.

"Your birthday is right before prom. What if you find your mate?" I ask.

"He will just have to be the third wheel. Can't just ditch my best friend. What about you? Any cuties caught your eyes lately?" Lela asks. I roll my eyes.

"No. Of course not." I say.

"Riiight. Mr. Eternal Bachelor because he can't get over his crush that will never happen." Lela says.

"Yeah, I'm well aware it will never happen. Don't need to remind me." I say.

"I'm just saying. Maybe you should just focus on your mate. Whoever she is, she will take your mind off it." Lela says. I hate thinking about that. I know I'm gay. I don't feel that way for women. Never have. If my mate is a woman, I'd have to reject them. I can't do that to someone. I'd never be the mate they'd deserve. Yes, I'd probably love them because of the mate bond, but it wouldn't be the same. I don't think the mate bond would make me physically attracted to a woman. But, unfortunately, there hasn't been any same-s*x couples fated in a long time. At least not that we know of. I'm sure there are lots of chosen mates out there who are gay. But in our pack, it's not allowed. And no one wants to risk getting banished.

"I won't have a mate. I probably will end up being the eternal bachelor." I say to Lela.

"Don't say that. You will find someone." Lela says. She's always so optimistic about mates. I know she's excited about her mate. She's been waiting for this forever. She has avoided dating or crushing on anyone, so she's not disappointed if it ended up not being that person. Her parents are always saying I will probably end up being her mate. I seriously hope I'm not. I can't hurt my own best friend.

We finally pull up to the training ground and Lela hops out. I look to the grounds and see it's busier than usual. I wonder what's going on?

"Hey, my brother is here." Lela says. I look to where she's pointed and see Jeremy, Lela's older brother, standing with a group of people. Jeremy doesn't live at home like Lela. He lives closer to the packhouse with his mate because he is one of the head warriors. He works closely with the ranked members of the pack. He's also friends with most of them. We start to walk towards them when I realize the people he's standing with are Dominic, Owen, and Cal. Crap. They almost never come to these training sessions. They usually only go to the ones after school.

"Hey, Jer. What's going on?" Lela asks her brother. Jeremey turns to us and Owen glances over at us, giving Lela a strange look. Weird.

"Ranked members are here to scout out future head warriors. They're only taking in five this year at the warrior tests, so Alpha Dominic is here to see who has potential. He asked me to come for help." Jeremy explains.

"Ah, okay. Well, Torrin will be one of those five, easily." Lela says.

"Oh yeah? What makes you think that?" Owen turns to ask Lela.

"He's by far the best one out there. He trains harder and is much faster than anyone." Lela says.

"What about you?" Owen says. He's giving Lela this heated stare. What is he doing?

"Oh, I'm not testing to be a head warrior, Gamma. I'm only here because I hate taking the bus to school." Lela says. Owen gives a confused look, so Lela explains. "Torrin drives me to school, but only if I tag along to his early morning training sessions."

"I see. Well, if you don't want to get up so early, I could drive you to school. If you would like that, I mean." Owen says to Lela. I look at Jeremy and we exchange confused looks. Why is Owen offering to drive Lela to school? I look over at Dominic and Cal. They are also giving each other confused looks, like they have no idea why Owen would be offering this to Lela.

"Oh, that's very nice of you, but I don't mind getting up. Plus, Torrin lives right across from me, so it's not out of the way like it would be for you." Lela says.

"Alright, well if you change your mind, just let me know." Owen says, looking a little awkward now. Lela nods and turns to me.

"Shouldn't we be getting ready?" she asks, giving me the 'let's go now' look.

"Uh, right. let's go." I just go along with it. I notice Cal looking at me, but he quickly turns away. I shake it off and we start for the field. Lela grabs my hand as we're walking. I look at her and smirk. She only does this when guys hit on her. She holds my hand to make them think she's unavailable.

"Can you believe him?!" Lela yells through the mind link.

"What? He just offered to drive you to school." I say back.

"He probably wants something nasty in return. Not happening. Right in front of my brother too. Gross." Lela shivers and I laugh.

"Let's go, drama queen. We need to get on the field." I say.

Lela nods and we drop our bags by everyone else's. We join the group as the instructor pairs us off. I'm sparring with a guy named Alan today. He's a bit smaller than me and looks nervous. He must know I'm almost never taken down. Good, he knows to expect defeat. During the training session, I never let Alan get the jump on me and take him down over and over. But the whole time, I feel like someone is staring at me. When we were finally done for the morning, I help Alan up and apologize for handing his ass to him. Alan laughs it off, but I can tell he's glad it's over. I glance over to where Dominic was standing, to see if he saw what I did today, but I'm met with the cold stare of Cal. Has he been looking at me this whole time? He's the reason I felt someone looking at me. Lela comes bouncing over to me and I look away for a second, but when I look back, Cal is walking away with Owen. What the hell was that about?

"You good, Torrin?" Lela asks me. I look back at her.

"Yeah, I'm good. Let's go." I say and we head for the change rooms. I can't be thinking anything into this. I don't know why Cal was looking at me like that, but I'm sure he has his reasons. Right?