The Alpha and her Luna

Saved by the Bell

"There's a party in the pack house tonight!" is being whispered between the pack kids that go to our high school. I've heard it mentioned a dozen times if I've heard it once. It makes me sigh every time. I'm working tonight, and that means getting on that stuffy black and white uniform and walking around with canapes and hors d'oeuvres  in the hours leading up to dinner, and packing huge trays of plates to place at each setting before my night is over.

The Alpha's only child is returning to the pack tonight after having studied out of state. It's customary for the future Alpha to study away, but since she's their only daughter I guess they decided to send her instead. I don't remember her very well at all. First, she wouldn't have bothered with me as an omega, and would probably have been part of the popular crowd in our elementary years, so if I did see her it was at a distance, and second I was only 12 when she left, so I was even more clueless about pack politics then than I am now. 

I hear the buzz on the way to the cafeteria, but honestly it's little more than that to me. Lunch is my favorite part of the school day, honestly, and when I turn the corner a bright smile crosses my face as I see all of my best friends gathered around a table trading food and laughing. I packed my lunch today, so I head straight to the table, just to find that their discussion isn't much different than the rest of the pack kids.

"I heard she found her mate and they're coming back so he can be the new Alpha." declared Josh, one of my best friends since kindergarten. "I mean, it makes sense, doesn't it?"I roll my eyes at him and plop down on a bench. "Where'd you hear that, Joshie? In your imagination?"

He bristles almost instantly. "Don't call me that!"

I laugh and just start pulling out my lunch. Because my mom's a pack chef my friends practically drool over my lunches, and before long they've grabbed most of what she packed and replaced it with their own food. We've been doing this for so long I've grown used to it. Sarah's mom makes pretty decent sandwiches, and Josh's mom always packs fresh fruit. We're all omegas, and even if we aren't the popular kids we all have a great time together.

Sarah scoots closer to me and whispers, "I'm working tonight. How about you?" I nod my head and we both wrinkle our noses together. "Pick you up at 8?" she asks. I nod. Sarah's my best friend. Her mom is one of the few pack members that works outside of the pack businesses. She's a veterinarian for larger animals like horses, cows, goats and the like. Sure we have a few of those on our lands, but not enough to keep her busy. Because of that Sarah's parents could afford to buy her a car as soon as she was able to drive.

"So, will you two have time to hang out tonight?" Sam asks. She's a tomboy, and our softball team's star player. Some might say it's unfair to have a werewolf on a high school sports team, but hey - the Goddess gave us our gifts. It's only fair to use them!

"Yeah, probably during dinner and then after everything is put away. Save us seats, will ya?" I ask, and take a bite of the apple that was tossed into my lunch box by Tristan, another friend. I'm not sure what tonight might bring, but I hope it doesn't affect me too much.

"So, do you think we'll have a new Alpha by the end of the night? What if he's not as good to us as Alpha Stephan? What if he's a gigantic asshole?" Josh sometimes doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut, and 6 sets of eyes fly to him before our heads begin to shake. Sarah's his girlfriend and her hand flies out to cover his mouth before she hisses at him, "Joshie! Watch what you say!"

The rest of us are ready to light into him, but just as we open our mouths to speak the lunch bell rings. We might be treated well by our pack, but not all Alphas have the same philosophy. That's one person an omega does not want to piss off. Ever.