Chapter 1 Rose

It was a week before the end of the year in the small town of Moon-land, and summer was coming up. All the students were rushing for their final exams, eagerly awaiting summer break and the adults were preparing for the big event. Everyone, but a hand full of people, was excited for the big event, the Omegas.

Moon-land has a tradition that is as old as the town itself, The Mating Run. At the end of the last day of school, all graduating students (18 years old) and any unmated wolf under the age of 21 are forced to attend the event. The Alphas (leaders), Betas (Second in command), Deltas (Mediators), Gammas (Warriors) and the Omegas (Outcasts) are all divided in their own groups. The Omegas start by running into the forest to find a territory of their own to await the other wolfs that will have followed them.

Then the Deltas and Gammas enter the forest and try to find the scent of a wolf they like, followed by the Deltas and finally the Alphas. All are looking for the scent of their mate, or at least who they think is their mate.

Deltas and Gammas usually mate among themselves or sometimes Betas. Betas go for pretty much anyone but mostly Alphas. As for Omegas, they are rarely mated to anyone else but Alphas. Being a rare gender, Omegas make 2% of the towns' population and were often seen as a hindrance. They weren't weaker just less dominant than the other genders and that pushed them to the bottom of the social pyramid.

The Mating Run is like a big debutant ball for most. But by far less fancy, held in a forest and with wolves instead of people in fine attires.

If you found a partner that you liked and liked, you back then you were set. If the feelings weren't mutual both parties part ways and try to find their real mate. But Omegas weren't so lucky. They weren't allowed to approach anyone so that made meeting their mate harder. If another wolf is interested Omegas can agree to the paring or refuse and risk the chance of a fight. Most Alphas don't take well the rejection of an Omega and want to fight to show their dominance and that leads to some casualties during this event.

This year, Rose James was going to be forced to attend the ceremony for the last time. She was finally going to be 22 this year but she still needed to wait for five months until September 12th and the Mating Run was at the end of week so she would have to attend this one. She had managed to avoid being mated for three years and she intended to do the same this year.

Her sister, Monika, had found her mate on her very first Mating Run. She was an Alpha, and her mate Simon was a Delta. They had been friends ever since Simon moved into town and they knew that they wanted to be together, so the Mating Run was just a formality at that point. Her best friend, Ash, was also mated. He had met a fiery Beta called Jenny, who happened to be an old friend of Simons', and was happily mated since.

Even if Ash was an Alpha, Rose thought that Jenny was the one that was mostly in charged in their relationship. As for her, she wasn't as lucky. Being an Omega in a family of Alphas wasn't exactly easy. She had to prove herself to her parents even more then before and it made her into an Omega that didn't fit the mold. This led to her being even more of an outcast and her peers at school has kept a good distance from her with the exception of Ash and her sister Monika.

After her first Mating Run, she came out to her family and about her second gender after rejecting a male Alpha whom her parents had tried to set her up with. Luckily it hadn't turned into a fight since Alpha found his mate shortly after leaving Rose in the woods. This put another strain on the James family bond and Rose and Monika decided to live in an apartment from then on.

Word traveled fast and it did limit the number of "suitors" she got during the next Mating Run. She only had to fight once, against an Alpha called Adom who had picked a fight with her because of a previous grudge.

Adom and Rose had once been close but once Rose met Ash, they drifted apart, and Ash became Adom biggest competition in both popularity and in sports. Not taking it very well, Adom became focused on besting Ash in everything that he could. All this rivalry got to him, and he became a bully to Ash friends and that included Rose. During the Mating Run, Adom had stumbled upon Rose territory and decided to pick on her just to tick her off. What started as mocking remarks became insults and then full-on blows. The fight attracted the attention of many wolves, and it took the intervention of the town sheriff to separate the two. That year the Mating Run was cut short, and both were sent to the hospital to get stitches. Luckily for Rose, Adom had found a mate during his stay in the hospital and was now living in another City with her.

"Only one Mating run left and then I'm free." Rose told Monika and Ash, while sitting on the sofa in the café.

"Do you think you'll find someone this time?" Ash asked.

"No."

"Who knows, maybe someone new will show up in town and sweep you off your feet." Monika said in a joking tone.

Rose rolled her eyes and got up to get a cup of coffee. She was now helping Ash run the town's coffee shop with their friend Simon that they met Jenny here first time. She had never found someone that she found even remotely attractive at any mating run, social gathering or even just walking in town. She knew she was Omega and stupid because of a past crush on Ash but she was completely over it after a year and now she was simply accepting her fate. She would never find someone in this town. She could move but there was no guarantee that she would find her mate even if she left and leaving her sister and Ash behind didn't sit well with her.

"I'm just going to live my life and too bad if I don't find a mate because I don't need one. Look how Mom and Dad turned out. They mated with someone that wasn't really their mate and now their cheating and arguing all the time. If I have to choose between being single and that, I'm going to stick to the single life."

"You could at least keep an open mind to meeting someone. It doesn't have to be at the Mating Run."

"Don't even get me started on that stupid event and its stupider rules." Rose grumbled.

Rose was about to start ranting about her hatred for the event when the door to the café was pushed open and a tall figure walked in.