My Alpha Mate (or ex)

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.

Rose, Ash and Monika turned as the tall figure entered the café followed by two smaller figures.

"Sitting on the couch isn't very productive for a coffee shop." Lane said in a joking tone.

"It's a slow day. Everyone is busy with the Mating Run." Jenny replied as she sat down next to Ash on the love seat.

Simon walked to Rose, behind the counter and started to make himself a cup of espresso and poured Lane a large cup of dark roast coffee. The pleasant atmosphere and sound of light banter made Rose happy to be a part of this group of friends, but she still kept on thinking about the Mating Run and about her love life, or more so lack of. Sure, she told everyone that she didn't mind having been single but in times like these, where both Monika and Ash were with their significant other, it was hard to not feel a little left out.

"Well, I have to go back to the station so have fun kids." Lane said before walking to the door with his cup of dark roast in hand.

"We're not kids anymore Lane." Replied Jenny.

"You're always going to be kids to me." He replied while walking out the door.

"Well, since it's the end of the school year and we worked our asses off this semester, we should go out and have a night of intense partying." Monika said completely out of the blue.

"Monika, we finished our semester two to three weeks ago. High school students are finishing right now, not university students." Rose replied.

"Details! It's never too late to celebrate. So, Ash and I heard about a club in our city called 'DDL' and their holding a huge party since it's under new management. It's the new 'it' place. We have to go."

"You're all underage..." Rose started.

"We have fake IDs." Monika interrupted her.

"And when is this big party?" Jenny asked feeling a catch coming up.

"Well, that's the thing it's tonight and starts at 10h30 but there's going to be a huge line so we should try to be in city at 8h. We'll eat close by and then go to the club."

"Monika it's almost a two-hour drive from here to downtown main city." Rose groaned. "I really don't want to go. I'm not a club person. Hell, I'm barely a social gathering person."

"Come on Rose it's going to be fun and don't say you have something planned I know for a fact that you have nothing. Ash and Jenny were willing to come."

"Wait so all of you knew about this event but me?" Rose asked while looking at her friends in stupefaction. "Why was I the only one not informed?"

Everyone avoided making eye contact except for Monika who told her that it was because had she known before, she would have planned something else to avoid going, so telling her last minute was the only way to get her to go.

After a lot of complaining and being pressured by her sister with speeches of responsible driver and need to let loose, Rose finally gave in and agreed to go to the club with them. Monika was trilled and was already planning out her outfit for the occasion.

"Wait. If we're going to be there so late and you'll all be drinking, that means that I have to drive back. No way! You and Ash are horrible drunks and I'm not driving for two hours with you two in the car."

"I already booked 3 hotel rooms so that's not a problem. You have no excuses so give up and just agree."

Rose tried to come up with reasons not to go for the next hour, but Monika always found a counter and it was finally time to close the café and go home to get ready.

It took Monika half an hour to find something decent to wear. All Rose shirts were old and worn out and not the fashionable kind. Her black shirts were becoming grey, and her jeans were all plain. It took digging into the back of her closet to find some of the clothes Monika and Ash had gotten her for her birthday and Christmas to find something new and appropriate. The outfit was simple for most people, but this wasn't part of Rose comfort zone. The skinny jeans were black but too tight in her opinion and the dark grey t-shirt had a V-neck instead of a round one and was clinging to her body unlike her "one size to big" regular ones. Still, she got dressed and waited after Monika who was talking for ever to choose what she was going to wear. She apparently didn't want to wear her original choice of a black body con dress. Then there was a red jumpsuit, a forest green mini dress, a few other outfits and after what seemed like forever, she settled her choice on a silver mini dress. Ash, Jenny and Simon arrived just as Monika was finishing her makeup and a few minutes later they were all packed into Simon's van, on their way to main city.

"We're here! OMG people are already waiting in line and it's barely 8h30. We should go wait in line, but I don't really want to wait for two hours and I'm hungry." Monika whined.

The whole group agreed. None of them were willing to wait for two hours on an empty stomach. They were trying to figure out what to do when a man in a well-tailored suit past by them, bumping Monika in the process.

"Forgive me Miss. It wasn't my intention to bump into you." The man said in a very polite tone.

"Oh no it was my mistake we were blocking the sidewalk. We were just debating something, sorry."

"What could you be debating in the middle of the sidewalk?" He asked, an eyebrow raised.

"We wanted to go to 'DDL' tonight, but the line is already forming, and we were hoping to grab a bite before going but we think that the line will reach around the block by then."

"Ah! Yes, indeed. The line will be very long in about an hour. Well, I think I can fix your problem, I'll just add you to the guest list and you won't have to worry about the line. As an apology for running into you." He said walking towards the door of the club. "Please follow me."

"Ram. Please add these fine people to the guest list for tonight."

"Sure Mr. Ray. What names do I have to add?"

Getting over the shock of having their dilemma solved each gave their name to Ram and showed him their (fake) IDs.

"Thank you so much! Oh, I didn't get your name."

"I'm Ray. I'm friends with the new owner of the club. Well, I must take care of the finishing touches for tonight so goodbye and hope to see all of you later. As for a good place to eat, I would recommend the Thai restaurant, two streets down."

Ray entered the club, leaving them at the door with Ram, completely bewildered. What were the odds? They then went to eat at the Thai restaurant he had recommended and had a blast. They then went for froyo across the street because Jenny and Monika wanted a cup with plenty of toppings and once, they were finished, it was 10h45 and they headed back to "DDL".

The group walked by the line, getting jealous looks from the people waiting in line, and were let in by Ram. The inside of the club was fantastic. The seats, the booths, the bar, everything was perfect. It would have been perfect except for Rose, if not for the sea of people occupying the whole room. The dance floor was packed, and the bar didn't have a single stool free. The only space free was a booth and table elevated on a platform, that was clearly reserved for VIPs as showed by the big bouncer at the bottom of the five steps leading to the platform.

It was empty for now, but it was probably for the owner and Ray.

"Monika, it's packed how can you have fun in a place like this?" Rose asked, nearly screaming in her sister's ear.

"Let loose Rose. This place is great. Let's go get you a drink and then you'll maybe loosen up."

Monika didn't even wait for a reply and made her way through the dancing crowd with surprising ease, while Rose was elbowed and shoved by the people dancing. Was it the Alpha aura that allowed Monika to naturally glide through the crowd because this was impossible to do as a regular person, Omega or not. As she finally made her way to the bar, she saw Simon and Monika cuddling at the bar. She slowly looked around and saw a lot of couples or people flirting, all of them human. It was really starting to get to her. God were they lucky. There was no mating in the human world, only werewolves had to deal with that. The Mating Run was approaching and since she was unlikely to find a mate, her parents would still try to pressure her into a match that would help their reputation. With all those dark thoughts, Rose didn't even notice the man staring at him from the other end of the bar.

"Why hello there beautiful!" Said the man once he had approached Rose.

Turning around abruptly, Rose looked at the man who had pulled her out of the swarm of dark thoughts that had her in a daze. What she saw nearly made her jaw drop. There, standing before her was the most gorgeous man she had ever seen. A caramel tan skin, silky black hair combed up into a short and messy pompadour with golden tips, dark brown eyes with a glimpse of gold flakes lined with kohl, well defined lips framed by a close shaved goatee and a lot of jewelry. The man had a very flamboyant style. His electric blue silk shirt was open to reveal his smooth chest, with rows of different size golden chains resting upon it. He wore tight leather pants that made him feel very baggy in his skinny jeans.

"Do you like what you see? If you're going to stare at me so much, I think it would only be far to offer me a drink at least." The man said with a lopsided grin.

"Sorry. I... I didn't mean to stare. I got distracted and... Sorry."

"No problem, Doll, but what's your name?"

"I... I'm Rose. And you?"

"Why hello Rose, I am Sebestian. Is Rose is like flowers?"

"Ya. No, no one... I mean yes. But no one calls me that. Rose is fine. I'm...I'm just going to shut up now."

"Oh, what a pity I was hoping to get to know you better dear flower."

Rose cheeks turned red and started to heat up. Hopefully the colorful lights hid the blush from Sebestian gaze. Rose was nervous. It was the first time she felt this way because of someone. This gorgeous man was taking to her and seemed to actually want to know her. This was too good to be true. There had to be a catch.

Sebestian didn't smell like a werewolf, yet he had the presence of an Alpha and God was he good looking. There was no distinct gender smell, so he had to be a human. That meant that Sebestian couldn't be his mate. Wait what?!? Where did that thought come from? They had just met. They didn't know anything about each other, and Rose was already thinking about Sebestian as a potential mate. Great, she was officially crazy. Or desperate. All this Mating Run was really getting to her.

"Did you come here alone?" Sebestian asked while sipping his drink.

"No, my sister and our friends dragged me to this crazy place."

"Dragged?" Sebestian repeated, raising an eyebrow. "Did you not want to be here?"

"This isn't really my scene. I try to avoid these kinds of events full of people." Rose said, scratching her neck awkwardly. "I'm more of a good book and a cup of coffee kind of girl. Drinking and grinding with strangers isn't my idea of fun."

"Well, that's a shame. I was going to invite you for the next event. I thought we could get to know each other a little more."

"Invite me for the next event?" Rose asked. "Do you know the owner? "Darling"

"Darling, I am the owner. Welcome to 'DDL'! Where the wildest parties are held."

The statement petrified Rose on the spot. She had just been bashing the event in front of the host. The amazing man standing before her was the one responsible for the event and here she was just going off about how the event was pure chaos. Great impression. Clearly, she had managed to insult the most gorgeous man that ever walked the Earth. Why was he not surprised?

"I... I didn't... I'm sorry. I... I'll just go. Sorry again." Rose said, head down and slowly turning away from Sebestian.

"Why the rush to leave? I thought we were going to get to know each other?"

"You still want to talk to me?"

"Of course. Even if you don't like these events, that doesn't mean I don't want to get to know you. How about you come to the platform with me so we can talk and get more familiar with each other."

Rose followed Sebestian to the VIP area and after a few beers, she was relaxed and happily socializing with Sebestian. The more they talked, the more she realized Sebestian was great, but they didn't have much in common. Rose wasn't very social and preferred a calm atmosphere, while Sebestian was a social butterfly. Still, Rose was drawn to him, and she hoped he felt the same about her. They were eventually interrupted by a Rose phone ringing.

"Ash. What's wrong?" Rose asked.

"Why do you automatically assume that something is wrong if I call you? I just wanted to know where you were. Monika and Simon are very drunk, and we were going to head back to the hotel."

"Oh ok I'm on my way. Meet you outside."

Rose turned to Sebestian with an apologetic look telling him her friends were waiting for her to leave. As she was going to go down the stairs, Sebestian caught her arm and pulled out a pen and wrote down his number on Rose arm and gave her a kiss on the cheek before wishing her a good night. Rose was so chocked and just wandered off towards the exit, still in a daze from the sudden kiss. As she exited the club, Ash and Jenny saw her strange expression and looked at each other in concern. Ash then asked:

"Rose, are you ok? What happened to you in there?"