Bridger's POV

Kian had taken the book with him. I had wanted to show him the training buildings and our field but he was far too excited to even remember why he was here in the first place. I let him run off and watched from my high-up window as his form dashed out of the doors below. He had slowed down a bit to not draw attention to himself but I could tell he was using all his willpower not to bolt back to the pack house.

I can't forget the way his entire face lit up with excitement and disbelief as he practically ran out of my office, no doubt going to tell Peyton. I keep imagining the way his smile spread to his eyes as they practically disappeared with how hard it was smiling. He had asked me if all that was written was true and I confirmed it, explaining that the book had been translated and all our books were written in Greek before any other language.

I found it heartbreaking and ridiculous that he didn't know anything about himself. My father always told me how important it is to know who and what you are. I was trained as a beta because it was convenient since my father was Arron's father's beta and we are close in age. I learned how important my role is in the pack and the reason why we have all these ranks. Structure is insanely important for us. No alpha? No pack. No beta? No strong pack. No omegas? No good pack.

Not knowing anything about your role and just blindly stepping into it is just a recipe for disaster. But that's how it is now. Is easier to take advantage of omegas if they don't know anything. So I can't be upset with Kian for not knowing, it's not his or any of the others' faults. His pack is at fault and right now, there's nothing I (one person) can do about it. I sound like an old record, but The Elders have been corrupt pieces of shit since ...fuck I don't know how long. I hate them with my entire being.

But I have no solutions for changing them so I don't complain about them openly.

The new set of Elders have been in charge since around the 1930s and though I obviously wasn't born back then, it's obvious to me the way they fucked up the system that their precessors had made and stuck with. Werewolves are one of the newest species to earth and even today, we struggle to maintain a good image on the Supernatural Board because the new set of Elders aren't agreeable. Of course, we aren't as bad as some species, but we're not as good as I wish we were either. And it seems I'm the only one who feels that way.

And it's all because of the Goddess-forsaken old bastards.

I had thought about what it would be like if we just eradicated The Elders and burned their Court to the ground. But that would make matters among the packs worse as then, we wouldn't have any government besides our own. Then I imagined that angels could take over just as they did with vampires so long ago. But angels only offer their services temporarily since they are in such great need and there's no guarantee that packs will continue upholding to the angels' rules once they've relinquished power - just as the vampires had. They turned right back to their old ways the day angels released them.

Angels, no matter how pure, can only do so much good. I admire their ability to do what needs to be done but not stress themselves when it's over and their goodness is thrown out.

There's truly no way to govern thousands of packs with one system, not to mention, one system in one place. Plus...the way they constantly change locations for no reason but to fuck with packs is simply childish and infuriating. They're currently supposed to be in South Korea but Goddess knows where they actually are. There should be Courts per country or maybe even just a few Elders in each pack. That way, when we need them, they'll be right there. But alas, I don't think that can or ever will happen.

I shake my head as I near Arron's office. Just thinking about those ancient assholes puts me in a bad mood.

I still need to talk to Arron for Keira. I didn't get to do it when he visited my office today because he was too busy bitching and whining to let me get a word in. Plus, he wasn't in the right headspace to hear me talk about how he needs to leave Keira alone. He probably would have broken something if I told him then and everything in my office is precious to me.

I choose my battles wisely.

But unfortunately, this battle can't be avoided because my alpha possesses only one brain cell which happens to only produce anger and offense.

I knock on his door but I don't receive an answer. I knock again, louder this time but get the same result.

'Arron, are you in your office?' I ask through our mind-link. It takes a while before he finally answers.

'No, I'm in my suite'

Why the fuck is he in his suite when he has work to do?

I throw my head back in exasperation. If the idea of our shitty one-system government doesn't piss me off, then it's Arron and his ridiculous behaviour.

'Careful' Jace reminds me, ever the obedient beta. 'Oh shut up, I'm just doing my job of keeping you in line'

I roll my eyes as I begin to make my way to Arron's suite. Being the alpha, he had the chance to live in a more private part of the pack, but he decided the alpha's suite suited him better. I enjoy my private cabin. It's small but cozy. Our pack isn't as flashy as most packs are.

I make my way to his suite and don't bother knocking. I walk in and my eyes land on his shirtless body relaxing against his headboard supported by pillows. He's staring at his phone and though he knows I'm in here, he doesn't acknowledge me.

I clear my throat as his frosty blue eyes drag themselves from his phone and up to me.

"I came here to talk to you-"

"You gave that omega your book?" he asks with a scoff. "Why do you fill these poor omegas with hope?"

I frown at that. "What?"

"I saw the boy running off with your book, the same book Keira and all the others were introduced to by you. At some point, you have to realize that things have changed and everything in that book is obsolete."

I let his words sit as I think about the right response. Arron and I took the same history lessons when we were training. As a beta, I trained as an alpha and I took my lessons seriously. I turned everything in on time, did all the readings, participated in discussions. Arron didn't. He didn't have to anyway, he was destined to be the alpha by blood. But I wish he had. I wish he had paid more attention, cared a little more. If he had, then our pack would be different, something to be proud of.

Instead, he's just like every other ignorant high-ranking werewolf.

"It's our job to remind our kind of who they are," I decide to say calmly, "Alphas and Betas are taught The Alpha's Code, Zetas are taught Peace of War, Omega's should be taught about who they are as well. I believe everyone plays an important role."

Arron scoffs but doesn't argue with me. If he wanted to, he could demand me to never teach the omegas their history and I would have to comply. Alpha's have a certain power that forces all wolves to obey their commands. But he hasn't done it yet which means he has to have some moral compass deep within his soulless body. There are times I like to imagine how I'd be if I ran my own pack. How the education, the rules, the morals would all be different. I can't say I'd be the best alpha, but I can imagine I'd have a good, steady pack. Hidden off, not participating in tournaments or anything like that. Not trying to keep up appearances. We'd be close-knit; a family. Like the omegas who came here.

I clear my throat. "Anyway, I've come to talk to you about Keira. She doesn't want you, Arron."

That catches his attention and he looks up at me as if I just slapped him. I keep a straight face as he stares at me, probably trying to determine whether or not I'm joking. He should know I'm being serious, I have never joked with him. Sometimes I wonder how people still consider Arron and I friends; our relationship -- if you want to call it that -- is strictly business.

"What the fuck?" is all he can say, something like a chuckle coming out with the last word. "Who do you think you are?"

"Arron, you are starting to disturb her, she wants to find her mate, and considering Kian is your mate, we all know that Keira isn't," it just dawned on me how close their names are but that's a joke to be made another day.

Arron is in disbelief which is hard to understand since this isn't the first conversation we've had about Keira. I've told him constantly to leave her alone, that she's not interested, that he's making her uncomfortable, but Arron believes she's just playing hard to get. Arron believes what Arron wants to believe. If he said 5+5 is 20, he'd fight for it.

"We've talked about this before," Arron states as if I didn't know. "Keira is perfect for me and she'll see that eventually."

"She wants her real mate," I say again. I want to get a drill and drill it into his head. "You need to focus on your actual mate too, Arron. Have you even talked to him about it?"

Arron scoffs before I can even finish my sentence. He throws his hand up to stop me from talking but I don't. I know neither of them wants or feels anything for the other, but Arron, at his big age, should at least be mature enough to talk to Kian about it. If I were in Arron's position, I would have discussed our situation as soon as possible to get things over with.

"There's nothing to talk about. I don't want a man more or less a male omega," Arron spits out 'male omega' as if just saying those words left a sour taste on his tongue. "Has he told you that he wants to speak with me? Since you two seem to be getting friendly."

I hear what he's implying but I choose to ignore it. "No, he hasn't said anything to me about you."

"It's settled then, we don't need to discuss any of these topics any further, Bridger. I don't want to talk about this anymore. You have work to do and you've given me a headache so leave. Now."

Here it comes. The tantrum.

I do as he demanded, sighing and shaking my head as I back out of the suite and close the door behind me. He's right though, I do have work to do and I shouldn't waste my time talking to an incompetent alpha. I remind Jace to remind me to tell Keira about our conversation. She'll likely have to involve her Zeta father if she needs to leave the pack when her birthday comes around. I shake my head again, thinking about Arron would react when he finds out that the girl he's been chasing actually doesn't want him despite how many times she's directly told him that she doesn't want him.

How can someone embarrass themselves like that?

I make another mental note to not be there when Keira announces her departure. The second-hand embarrassment from seeing my alpha make a fool of himself would be enough to turn me rogue.

When I return to my office, I notice a mail notification on my computer. I open it, expecting to be some spam mail from The Supernatural Board or The Elders. I've been receiving nonstop emails about the boarding school The Board built a few years ago. They need more werewolves to attend to reach their quota since we're the lowest population there. No one has tried to help and they've been sending emails almost daily now, offering special deals and such. The school is still new so there are a lot of bugs they need to fix before thinking about trying to include werewolves. I still can't believe they managed to get the young of fairies, faes, and nymphs; they're very protective of their young, more so than werewolves. But I digress.

I open the email and my eyebrows shoot to the sky when I see that it's a response from one of the packs I recently contacted: the Crimson Moon Pack. Their alpha's name is Nathaniel and I met him once at a tournament about two years ago. We bonded over how terrible packs are today and he had found it hilarious how incompetent Arron is. His pack was the first pack in mind when I was searching and I was relieved when I saw his pack was listed.

The email reads: Hey Bridger! It's been a long time since we've talked, glad to know you're still alive out there. My pack currently has ten Omegas and counting and as much as I'd love to take five more in, I'd recommend looking for a pack struggling to keep their numbers up. If all fails, shoot me a text at xxx-xxx-xxxx and we'll discuss it further, I'll try my best to accommodate them.

That's not the response I was hoping for but I save his number to my phone anyway. I was hoping he'd gladly take them in but I understand why he's telling me to hold off. We still have roughly a month to two months before Jenna gives birth to her pup and I hope that by then, I'd have figured something out for her, her pup, and her friends.

Speaking of her friends, I use the pack's mind-link to ask the kappa in charge of finding the two missing omegas if he's had any luck. It takes a while for him to answer but finally, he says,

'one of my lambdas believes they've made it to the nearest human town. They're out of our hands now'

Once again, not the response I was hoping for. I'm tempted to tell them to continue into the human town and bring them back here but we'd face much more complications. Humans are a very curious but suspicious species, always suspecting the worst from people. I imagine that one of our big-bodied hunters trying to take the two probably underaged omegas back to our pack would come off as highly suspicious to the humans especially since the omegas would attempt to get away from them. The police and our kind do not mix very well.

Now I have to find a way to tell Kian, Peyton, and Jenna that we can't bring their friends back.

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Word Count: 2600