A Beta's Heart

Adrian's POV 

The mouth-watering scent of food made my stomach growl. It's almost enough to make me want to go down there, at least to sneak some food and quickly slip back inside without being seen. 

As tempting as that was, the loud sound of many voices reminded me of how many annoying people were outside, which is why I was still hiding in my room. 

“Ugh, come on! My stomach is eating itself!” Nikolai groans as he lies sprawled out on my bed, staring at the ceiling while holding his stomach. 

I growl in frustration as I try on another tie. Everything looks stupid! “This shit's too dressy for me!” I said angrily as I ripped the tie off and threw it on the dresser. I felt like I was suffocating in this stupid shit. I untied the first two buttons of my shirt and tugged on it as I stretched my neck, taking a deep breath. 

“You're so dramatic! Come on! This year is not so bad. It's at our place this year instead of those dipshits,” Nikolai said as he sat up. 

“How can you stand to be around those people? Their ideals and beliefs are frustrating! It takes everything I have not to choke each one of those fuckers!” I said angrily as I pointed toward the balcony.

“Yeah, but they're not all that bad. At least we snagged four Omegas last year, like this little one,” Nikolai said as he reached over and roughed Milo's hair. 

The Omega growled as he swatted the Alpha's hand away. 

“Hey! Don't mess up my hair!” Milo said, glaring at the Alpha before returning to what he was doing. He pulled his lip between his teeth and carefully painted his last toenail light blue.

Nikolai chuckled and shook his head at the Omega. 

Milo yelped when the door burst open. He placed his hand over his chest to calm his racing heart when he saw it was just Weston. 

“You guys are assholes! You left me out there with the hungry beast. You said you'd be down there 30 minutes ago! Unbelievable,” Weston said as he threw himself on the bed and pushed out a breath. 

“See!” I said as I pointed at Weston. 

“Even he doesn't want to be down there!”

“No, I don't! I already have a headache,” Weston said as he massaged his temples. He looked at the Omega when he set his nail polish on the nightstand. The commander in training opened his arms as he whined, “I need snuggles!” 

Milo smiled as he moved forward, crawling into Weston's arms. He nuzzled his cheek, and within seconds, the Omega was purring. 

“If we don't get down there soon, my father will come up here and drag us down. I'd rather walk on my own if that's okay with you,” Nikolai said, and I groaned as I looked toward the balcony. 

As much as I didn't want to go down there, I knew I had to. This idiot wasn't going down without me, and I didn't feel like getting yelled at by his father like I did last year. Getting yelled at by the Alpha isn't on my list of things to do today. 

“Come on, you big baby!” I said as I pulled Nikolai to his feet. 

“How are you supposed to be my Alpha when you can't do things on your own?” I asked, side-eyeing my best friend, who also happens to be the next in line Alpha. 

“Well, technically, an Alpha isn't supposed to do everything on his own. That's what I have you for. My future Beta,” Nikolai said as he slapped his hand on my shoulder. 

“Hey, what about me? Did you forget me? You need me to,” Weston whined as he shut the door behind him.

“No, I didn't forget about my commander,” Nikolai said as he wrapped his arm around Weston's shoulder. He smiled at the Omega in Weston's arms, reached up, and pinched his cheek. 

Milo growled and swatted his hand. The Omega hated his cheeks pinched or when someone messed with his hair, and the Alpha knew it. Every chance he got, he messed with the Omega just to hear him growl. 

Nikolai chuckled as he stepped just out of reach. 

“You have the most adorable growl,” Nikolai said, and the Omega growled louder. 

“My growl isn't adorable! It's fierce and scary!” Milo said, and the three of us threw our heads back, laughing. 

“You sound like a kitten, angry that someone drank his milk,” Weston said, and Milo took a sharp breath in, staring at Weston in shock. He slapped his shoulder before squirming out of his arms. The Omega pouted as he stormed toward me, reaching his arms out. 

I almost laughed when I realized just how short he was compared to us. The little thing doesn't even reach my chest. I had to bend over just to pick him up. He settled into my arms and looked over my shoulder, glaring at his current enemies. 

“Well, I thought I was going to have to come up there and drag the three of you down here,” The Alpha said as he stood at the bottom of the stairs with his arms crossed over his chest. 

“I'm sorry we're late. I tried to get down here as fast as I could. You know how much I love these things,” I said sarcastically, and the Alpha raised an eyebrow before shaking his head. 

“You three… Just get on out there! Who knows, maybe one of you will find your mate.”

“Don't hold your breath,” Nikolai said as he bumped into my shoulder and reached for Milo's cheek. He quickly jerked his fingers back when Milo snapped his teeth at him, trying to bite his fingers. 

Nikolai holds his fingers against his chest, looking at the Omega in shock. He could have sworn he felt the little shit's teeth graze his fingers.

A smug and satisfied look settled on the omega's face, proud of himself for almost biting the Alpha's fingers.

I pause at the back door before exhaling as I push it open. 

As expected, the party is in full swing, and there's hardly anywhere to walk without bumping into someone. 

Many years ago, werewolf packs were sectioned off into territories. It helped the council keep track of all the packs. Where they were, and prevented too many packs from popping up everywhere. 

They named each territory after the city of the largest pack in that section. Since we are the largest pack in our section, they came up with the name Watton territory.  

I find it ironic since Watton is quite a small town in Michigan's upper peninsula. And yet, the entire peninsula is called Watton territory for us werewolves. 

Thankfully, with the amount of land our pack owns, we are big enough to host an event this large. 

Each year, our territory has an annual party, and every pack participating takes a turn hosting it. It's to enhance allied relationships and to create new ones. It's also for unmated werewolves to find their fated mate or to choose a claimed one. 

Omegas are brought out at the end once everyone has found their mates. This allows Omegas to see if they have mates, and allow higher ranks to choose a breeder. 

Our pack has no problem with anyone finding their mate, but we do have a problem with people choosing breeders. It would be one thing if they volunteered to be one, but that is not the case.

You see, in the world of werewolves, Omegas are the only ones who can get pregnant by anyone besides their mate.

Because of this, they are used for breeding, mostly by Alphas looking for an heir. 

Things are like this for a reason, and maybe if I tell you the ranking system, you might understand. 

Ranks from highest to lowest are as follows; Alpha, Beta, and Commander are your highest class. This is followed by the Delta class 1 through 3, with 1 being the highest, and lastly, Omegas.

Alphas are all dominant, the rest of the classes, except Omegas, have submissives and dominants. All Omegas are submissive, and only Omegas can get pregnant by someone other than their mate, which is why they're used as breeders. 

Breeders are essentially used like a surrogate, but it's against their will. They're forced to have a baby, and most of the time by rape. They are not allowed to raise their child or stake claim to it. Once that baby is born, it goes to its father and the claimed mate to raise as their own.

This kind of treatment would never fly in the human world, but it does in ours, and here, we consider ourselves superior to humans… If we are so superior to them, then why are they getting it right when we are getting it wrong?

Nikolai says that because the three of us grew up together, believed in the same thing, and knew what the other was thinking, we would be a stronger team than our fathers and the ones before them. 

I don't know how right he is, but we have at least nine years before our parents step down. 

The only time one of us steps up before thirty is if our Father dies, and that's not something any of us want. So, no matter how much we're looking forward to taking our parents' place, we also hope it won't happen until our parents step down instead of passing to us by circumstance. 

Now if I can only get through this stupid get-together without choking a rapist, maybe I won't spend the next two weeks in a jail cell like I did last several years.

I paused at that though, and let my eyes scan the crowd. When I did, I instantly knew where I would be for the next two weeks, and it wouldn't be in my room. Not after seeing all the terrified Omegas standing silently next to their owner, who were not only raping them behind closed doors but brought them to this event to show them off and exchange Omegas as if they were trading cards. 

That thought lit a fire in me, and all I saw was red as I moved forward, wondering how many Alphas I could take down before I was thrown in jail.