Chapter 1: Sariah: Fuck the Alpha

Snow melted beneath my boots as I crossed the academy courtyard, hiding my head in the hoodie of my sweatshirt hoping that no one would notice me. 

No one moved out of my way as I ducked and weaved in between the crowd of happy, screaming academy elites. 

They never did. No one ever paid me any mind or attention unless I was the butt end of some joke. 

The academy banner hangs above the courtyard, snapping violently in the wind, black and silver stitched with the wolf crest of the Axton Pack staring me dead in the face. I stare back at the wolf hating everything it stands for. Every student wears this emblem somewhere on their uniform jackets. 

Except me. 

Mine is just gray. 

A constant, daily reminder that I’m unranked. 

Unwanted.

Human. 

I have almost made it to the large brass doors leading me back into campus and away from all of this. Just as I think I’m in the clear, laughter erupts near me where a small group of future alpha’s crowd around the ranking board. It must have just been posted. 

I spot a familiar face amongst the group, not bothering to wave or acknowledge his presence. He currently has some girl pressed up against him and I can smell her perfume from here- the scent making me sick to my stomach. 

“Move.” 

A shoulder slams into mine hard enough to nearly knock me off my feet and into the snowbank next to the stairwell. 

There’s no apology. There never is. 

It’s just another reminder of how low on the totem pole I am. 

I tighten my fists at my sides and keep walking, wanting to be anywhere but here. 

Three more weeks. 

That is all I have left. 

Three more weeks until my eighteenth birthday. 

Three weeks until graduation.

Three weeks until I can finally leave this place behind and disappear into the human world where no one cares. Where you were free to be yourself and your entire world wasn’t based upon a ranking system you had no control over. 

No ranks. 

No mating contracts.

No pack laws.

Freedom. 

The thought of leaving this place is the only thing keeping me breathing some days. 

“Well, if it isn’t the pack pet.”

My stomach tightened before I even turned around.

Danika Vale leans against the stone railing outside the academy entrance with two of her beta friends beside her. Perfect blonde hair. Perfect smile. Future Luna material according to every elder in existence.

And unfortunately for me, she knows it.

I say nothing and just keep walking. Sidekick number one to her right, a tall not so pretty version of Danika moves directly in front of the doors, blocking me from being able to walk past her. Her lips curve in a sneer. “Still pretending you belong here?”

I stop, not wanting to give her body guards an opportunity to put their hands on me. The last time that happened, I was blamed and given a warning. It’s too close to graduation to mess up, get blamed for something once again and risk my chance of being able to leave this place forever. 

“I’m just trying to go to the library and study.” I say quietly. I hate this meek version of me. The first chance that I get to stand up to this bitch- I’m taking it. 

She mocks me. “What exactly are you studying for, pet? It’s not like any of the elders are going to give you a job worthwhile.” She laughs, crossing her arms in front of her chest. 

It’s too fucking cold for this shit. It’s freezing and she’s still mean. 

I turn to head back down the stairs. I guess I’ll just go all the way around the building to the other entrance. I’d rather that than sit here and keep arguing with her, constantly being the end of their jokes and laughter. 

The rankings were posted this morning where alpha’s not in the Axton lineage determine where they are going to lead and what jobs they will have in society. I’m surprised Danika isn’t front and center of the crowd, scoping for her next boyfriend or future husband. 

Just as I’m about to turn, I’m pulled backward, someone grabbing my fur lined hood and yanking me down the set of icy stairs. I slide all the way down the steps my ass now cold and wet. I take a deep breath in trying to supress the anger I feel with the fact that she put her hands on me. She's testing me. Baiting me. 

I take a second before trying to get up. I close my eyes and the world stops moving around me. All I hear is silence. I've gotten good at blocking the entire world out. The energy around me shifts and suddenly I know I'm not alone in my thoughts.

I don’t need to lift my head to see who’s in front of me. 

I don’t need to open my eyes to know that every single head is looking directly at the entrance of Darkthorne Academy.

I already know who’s standing in front of me. 

Saving me. 

Again. 

Brock Axton doesn’t extend his hand toward me because he knows that I won’t take it. It’s embarrassing enough dealing with Danika and her insane friends. It’s another to have one of the most popular guys in school come to your rescue. Again. 

You would think being best friends with the Alpha’s son would gain me some brownie points in the pack or at the academy, but the truth is, it makes things worse. 

Because no matter what Brock is always on my side. And not a single person at Darkthorne understands why he’s been my friend for years. Or why he pays me any sort of attention at all, truthfully. 

Brock grabs me from the elbow and lifts me back up to my feet, dusting the snow, ice and salt off me. 

“I’m fine,” I snap, brushing my jacket off. 

Brock turns and gives Danika the finger, wiping the grin from her face off. Her friends pull her at both elbows into Darkthorne academy’s brass double doors and I’m left to face the crowd again. 

The laughter, screaming and celebration has ceased. Me falling on my ass is clearly more important than 

their livelihood. 

Brock walks me through the group of alpha’s and into the parking lot, opening his passenger side door. 

“I wanted to study.” I say, not getting into the vehicle. Acing my exams isn’t going to help me here, but it will help me to get into an Ivy League school once I reach the human land. And then I can get into med school and become a doctor. 

“Well now you’re getting in the car and we’re getting pizza. Come on.” He says giving me that look that always makes me give in to what he wants. I can’t help it. Saying no to Brock Axton is not an easy task. 

I roll my eyes and get into the front seat, taking my mittens off and rubbing my hands together for friction. It stays extra cold in the midwest, even in the springtime. But this year has been even weirder than normal. Snow in May is diabolical. 

Somebody pissed mother nature off, that’s for sure. 

Brock walks around the front of the car, sliding on the side of the hood, being extra as usual. I grin to myself knowing that there are parts of him that only I’ve seen. There is a side to Brock Axton saved for me and in my opinion it’s his best side. 

“You do realize we have a test in Garrison’s class in two days, right?” I say sarcastically. School has always come easy for me. I’m a perfectionist at heart which might explain why the rejection of a pack I don’t even want to belong to eats at me as much as it does. 

Unlike Brock, it doesn’t matter what grades he gets in school. He’s an Omega to his father’s pack so he’ll end up serving whoever the alpha of the Axton pack becomes. Does he like it? No. 

But he doesn’t have a choice. 

So not doing homework, not trying on tests and still somehow not flunking out of the academy is a favorite past-time and hobby of his. He at least keeps his grades good enough to remain on the 

Darkthorne elite hockey team, though. Hockey is what Brock lives and breathes for. 

He grunts. “Since when have you ever known me to study, Ri?” 

“Well some of us aren’t privileged enough to not give a damn about their grades.” I retorted. We can go back and forth like this for hours. We have before. The only reason that he gets to be so nonchalant is because he’s the Alpha’s son. Normally that means he’s positioned on a silver platter from birth. Except Brock’s wolf doesn’t scream alpha and therefore he was given an Omega job as a right of passage.

This excludes him from public embarrassment. This also excludes him from competing in the Darkthorne Rite. 

“I did not save your ass back there to get scolded about grades. Do you want our normal spot or try something new?” He asks, changing the subject.  

My phone vibrates in my back pocket, catching me off guard. 

“It’s Lydia, let me take it real quick.” I say to Brock, pressing the green button on my phone. 

“Hey,” I say in a quick breath, anticipating an emergency of some sort. Lydia never calls me unless it’s something important. She hates technology and barely knows how to use her landline phone. 

“Hi, Ri.” She says, a tone in her voice that I can’t comprehend. “Alpha Axton just called.” I swallow the lump in my throat. “You are arranged to marry one of his beta’s sons in three weeks.” 

I can’t breathe. I don’t even have time to comprehend the words that she just spoke. 

I pull the phone away from my ear, knowing I am every shade of pale and white possible. I hit the red end button and shove my hands under my bouncing legs. 

“You fidget when you’re nervous. Spill.” Brock says, breaking me out of my shock. 

“You’re dad is a piece of shit, Brock.” 

He looks at me, then at the road then quickly back on me. 

It takes all the power inside of me not to cry. I won’t do it in front of Brock. I’ll wait until I’m home, secluded in my bedroom before I let my emotions get the best of me. Alpha Axton won’t have to worry about marrying me off to some beta’s son. He won’t have to worry about me at all. Because before I marry someone I don’t love and let him dictate yet another part of my life, I’ll be gone. 

Into the human lands. 

Free and making my own choices. 

Fuck him and fuck this pack.