Chapter 1

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Derek

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The bass is deep enough to feel coarse through his bones as he moves through the night club, Sirens. It was just like any other wanna-be lounge out there in Larrissa’s Bay, focused mainly on the sea. Why they were there was beyond him. Derek rolled his shoulders as he tried to regain some sort of comfort in the stiff leather seating that sectioned off the floor. As he panned away from his pack mates getting comfortable among the dancers, Derek crossed his arms, one over the other as if he was the Alpha to please. 

It didn’t matter to him that he wasn’t in the running for Alpha. It was a tireless, thankless job. Except for nights like these when they were evicted from the pack house to make room for one of their couples to consummate their mateship within the home. It’s been the way they’ve done things for as long as he can remember. Not that he ever settled down that is. The matehood meant for life and everyone he’s been presented with wasn’t enough. 

That seems wrong to think but the match wasn’t there. Although he gave each a chance, why give more if all they wanted was to be mated into the pack? Derek broke his personal contemplation to take in more of the scene around him. Sirens Gentlemen's Club was obviously run by a human which clearly explained the disconnect between the land and what their pack was after. They put dancers on display around the room, which was fairly large for a club like this too which kept his eyes moving. 

The lights still made their presence known covering their clientele’s booths more so than it did the dancer or her platform. Regardless of how it hid them, women still dismounted from their posts to the highest tipper. The lithe, scantily dressed dancer to the right of his claimed place, gladly stuffed what was left of her top with his bills and proceeded to take him right there.  

Derek’s grumble couldn’t be heard over the pounding music reverberating deeper through his chest than even his growl could. What could be seen was how clearly he launched himself up to stand. He was not small by any means, which made being a Beta hard. He wasn’t supposed to move with fury similar to the Alpha’s but Zane didn’t seem to care the way he did about things. 

Oftentimes he felt alienated by it. As if, maybe he wasn’t supposed to be a part of his pack at all. Only, his entire bloodline belonged to it. Not that they helped shape him at all either. But with the way that his pack mates conducted themselves here, Derek felt the impending need to leave. He scanned the room looking for the door that they had been ushered in to no avail. 

Before he could take more than a step in any direction that would take him away from the scene unfolding beside him, Zane’s hands clapped hard against his back in that way that told Derek it was him. 

“Where are you going, D?” Zane challenged playfully. 

Derek slowly turned his head to scowl at the werewolf questioning him. 

“Out,” Derek replied, not wanting to give anymore about his distress. 

“Nah, man. Not happening,” Zane replied loudly. 

His volume ceased with the drop in tempo and the loss of the thrumming beat. Derek knew what Zane was going to say next. It happened every time they were out. The Alpha thought he was the ultimate wingman because of his status, but the women Zane would pick to set him up with were shallow. Their pack had a status. They’ve been around for long enough. It was something to behold to become one of their many… and there was more to say about pleasing the Alpha. It got whoever they were perks. 

Derek wasn’t blind to it. They swayed for Zane in ways that made him feel like the women Zane expected to entertain him were actually there for him. They weren’t. It was humiliating. Refusals were hard. Especially being offered by Zane himself. But Derek didn’t look like the rest of the pack. While his size and braun was considerable for a Beta, his varied skin tones made it hard for others to look twice at him. The humans had a phrase for it, vitiligo skin disorder, but in the eyes of their species, it was just skin. 

Real werewolves knew their pigment came from the goddess herself. It was a blessing. It was her mark, just as the way she selected their coats and the way their fur covered their bodies, skin was just one part of their beings. 

Humans on the other hand didn’t really know what to do with his markings. While Derek faced the world in his human form he found himself looking for an exit at all times. Those that called it a disease were diseases themselves. Derek lost count of all of the times he watched others judge him for it instead of being respectful and looking him in the eyes. It was disgusting.

As time went on even their own culture caught on.  Males that had even toned skin were the chosen werewolves, which left Derek with a sizable chip on his shoulder. 

“Ya see, a Delta…”

“Nigel,” Derek corrected Zane who looked at him queerly. 

“D…” Zane challenged, expecting his Beta to knock it off. 

If Zane brought up anything to do with his status, Derek promised himself he’d leave. Who cared if he was around anyway? The fools he called his packmates were indulging in the club’s amenities and they had yet to know exactly where they’d be after even this shut down. 

“You need to loosen up.”

“Oh?” Derek replied, fighting the rest of his reaction back down his own throat. 

The last thing he needed was to make a scene.

“How do you figure?”

“Simple… you let our last Delta,” Zane replied sharply, “mate and see his female through her heat before you!”