Wolf3are (2 page)

The look in Sasha's eyes when we were placed at opposite ends of the rope was enough to frighten me. She seemed like an animal, hopping up and down before bending to rub her hands in the dirt for better traction. All the while, Sasha made strange huffing noises, grinding her teeth with a wild look in her eyes.

I couldn't help but wonder if it would be less embarrassing for me to forfeit or to just let Sasha beat me. Before I had a chance to make up my mind though, the whistle was blown to signal that the game was on. Planting my feet into the dirt, I held onto the rope with all of my might.

Each spray-painted line represented a point. For every line that my feet crossed into, she got a point, and if she pulled me over the middle, that meant ten points for her and zero for me. We had one minute to battle it out, but Sasha had me over the middle line in about forty-five seconds. As she hollered out another victory over me, I gritted my teeth together in contempt. Without even tallying up the scores, I knew she had beaten me in the hierarchy trials.

I found Chris waiting for his turn in the strength trials, staring nervously at the guy who would be his opponent. They were both about the same height, age, and muscle tone—a good even match, unlike Sasha and I.

“
You'll do fine,” I told Chris, swallowing my own psychological injuries to give him support.

“
I don't know. That guy looks pretty tough,” he replied, not even bothering to look at me.

“
Well, I'd give you a kiss for good luck, but you've seen how well I've done,” I joked.

“
Like I said, this doesn't really matter for you. It feels like the difference between life and death for me.”

“
You're not going to be an omega, if that's what you're worried about.”

“
It is. I don't think I did too well on the test, and my archery wasn't that great either.”

“
Your archery was better than most. I wouldn't sweat it,” I tried to calm him down.

Finally, it was time for the men to line up for their tug of war. It was no surprise when Emmett did well. For Rick being a smaller guy, he held his own, though he wasn't able to make his competitor cross all the way over the middle line. Devon almost scored a zero, but he managed to hang on for the whole sixty seconds. After seeing him perform in the archery trial, I had hope that he wouldn't be omega again.

Despite Chris's fretting, his competitor did appear to be an equal match. They tugged back and forth, gaining a foot or two on one another before the other had a surge of strength and took the lead. At the end, Chris was only able to pull the other guy over the first bar. I wasn't quite sure how that would be scored, but it had to be a pretty decent score for the both of them, since neither was anywhere close to losing.

After the hierarchy trials were over, there was an hour-long recess before the crowning ceremony. It would take that long for the compound staff to total up everything, determine if there were any ties, and then have a tie breaker competition.

Chris, Emmett, Rick, and I stood outside of the cafeteria, passing time. Emmett was more excited than I'd ever seen him before. His mouth was set in an ear to ear grin, and he kept shifting his weight back and forth.

“
I definitely beat you this time,” he told Rick.

“
Oh shove it,” Rick teased, admitting defeat. “I'll get you next time.”

“
I think you did pretty well too, Chris,” I said.

“
Oh yeah, Chris here will probably give us a run for our money next time.” Rick slapped him on the shoulder.

“
I don't know. I totally bombed the test portion.” Chris's lack of confidence showed through.

“
Well, luckily, it doesn't all rely on the test. If it did, Emmett would never be alpha.” Rick prodded at his friend.

“
Hey, the same could be said about you if it was all up to strength,” Emmett retorted.

“
What are you saying? I held my own pretty well this time around.”

“
But I still beat you.”

“
Do you think Devon is going to be omega again?” I asked.

“
I think he did pretty good this time.” Rick looked past me when he spoke, but I could tell that his words were genuine.

“
Pfft, that squirt?” Emmett mocked Devon, putting in his two cents on the subject.

“
Hey, that kid has got a bright head on his shoulders. I wouldn't write him off. Besides, he did decent in the archery. Those two things combined will be enough to pull him out of omega.”

Emmett thought back. “I didn't really pay attention to how he did in any of the events except for tug of war.”

“
Well I did, and he did well,” I insisted, though I couldn't recall who had done worst.

“
All I care about right now is the after party.” Emmett smiled in anticipation.

Rick rolled his eyes.

“
The after party?” I asked.

“
Yes, the after party. All the food you can eat and all the beer you can drink. It's the best part of the hierarchy trials, except for me winning, of course,” Emmett boasted arrogantly. “I hope they don't cut down on the alcohol because you're here.” He narrowed his eyes at me for a second.

“
Oh, calm down.” Rick patted him on the shoulder. “It wouldn't be the biggest loss. We do tend to get rowdy after the hierarchy trials,” he told me.

We bantered for a bit longer. Eventually, Margaret and Terry came to join us, and we had to listen to Terry cry about how she knew she had lost her spot as female alpha. None of the other werewolves offered her comfort via disagreement. It was important to do well in all the events if you wanted a power spot. Blowing one of them guaranteed that you'd be stuck in the middle on the hierarchy. I couldn't help but wonder what blowing two of them meant.

At five o'clock, everyone piled into the cafeteria for the crowning ceremony. John Edward, the compound coordinator, somehow managed to sneak in unnoticed. He was standing at the front of the room, holding an envelope with the results of the trials. A microphone had been set up so that he could be heard throughout the cafeteria as he read the results.

Once we were all settled, John began, “Welcome everyone to the thirty-fifth hierarchy trials' crowning ceremony. There was some fierce competition this time around and lots of memorable moments. I'm sure you'd all like to know the results, so I won't make you wait.” He tore open the envelope with his finger and pulled a card out from inside. “Your male beta for this hierarchy trial is . . . Rick Bettis.”

A cheer rose up from the crowd when Rick stood to claim his prize. As he walked up to the stage, a woman in a gray jumpsuit put a blue ribbon around his neck with a silver charm in the shape of a wolf's head hanging from it. It seemed like a cheesy prize, but Rick obviously took great pride in wearing it.

“
Your female beta for this hierarchy trial is . . .” John continued, “Margaret Fitch.”

Another round of applause followed Margaret up to stage as she claimed her similar prize. The only difference with hers was that her ribbon was red instead of blue.

“
Betas get to live in the duplex, receive all luxury items, and are allotted fifteen free job points a month,” John announced. “Congratulations to both of you.”

My eyes darted around the room to all the smiling faces. Most of them seemed genuine, though there were a few that were disinterested in the crowing, knowing that they hadn't placed well enough to earn a high title and not really caring who placed above them. If you weren't alpha, beta, or omega, that put you somewhere in the middle of the hierarchy where placement only really mattered in relation to who got the preferred jobs first.

“
And now, for our alphas,” John continued. “Your male alpha for this hierarchy trial is . . . Emmett Kennedy.”

The crowd seemed a bit less elated about Emmett's crowning, probably because they were used to him winning alpha so frequently. He ran to the front of the room, oozing enthusiasm with every step as he bowed his head for the woman in the gray jumpsuit to place a fake gold crown on his head. It looked silly on him, but he wore it with pride, waving to the crowd as if they were all his adoring fans.

“
And your new female alpha for this hierarchy trial is . . . Sasha Abakumov.”

My heart sank in my chest to the point that I wanted to vomit. Not her. Anyone but her. Surely to God, Sasha didn't score high in the intelligence portion. She seemed more like an animal than a person capable of thought.

I grimaced as she whizzed past me, jogging to the front of the room with her hands thrown high into the air, her long wavy blonde hair bouncing behind her. My hands clapped together so hard that they hurt. Despite my new-found dislike of this woman, I could not give my true feelings about her away. Sasha was the new female alpha now, and I'd have to treat her with respect and kindness.

“
Alphas get to live in the houses on the outskirts of the housing community. They enjoy all the luxury items and get thirty free job points a month,” John announced while the woman in the gray jumpsuit placed a rhinestone tiara on Sasha's head.

“
I want yours.” She turned to Emmett, snatching his crown from his head and putting it on while shoving her tiara into his hands.

The crowd guffawed at her bravery, and Emmett only laughed nervously, allowing Sasha her way to keep the peace. His disturbed expression quickly faded in camaraderie as he grabbed her by the hand and held both of their fists in the air to show their victory. Another round of applause surged through the crowd, and John found himself having a hard time breaking through it to speak again.

“
We also have an honorable mention,” he said, raising his voice to demand the silence of the crowd. When all was near quiet, John cleared his throat and continued, “Ms. Taya Raveen, who participated in the hierarchy trials out of sport. You placed second in the hierarchy trials.” For a brief moment, I thought that was a good thing, but then all the werewolves looked at me and began laughing. When John began speaking again, I wanted to crawl under the table and die. “You're lucky you're not a werewolf, Ms. Raveen. You were one place away from being omega. Let's give Ms. Raveen a round of applause for being a good sport, shall we.”

Everyone clapped, but all I could think about was how I wanted to run away—didn't want their eyes upon me. I was so embarrassed, and now they all thought I was weak, or stupid, or a combination of both. If this is what it felt like to be an omega, then I would rather die than ever be one. Poor Devon. Now I really felt for him.

“
As usual, refreshments and food are being served in the recreation room. Results for the hierarchy trials are posted on all four walls in the recreation room for those of you who are curious about how you placed. This concludes our thirty-fifth hierarchy trials. You guys don't get too rowdy now.” John smiled before stepping away from the microphone.

“
Are you ready?” Chris asked, but at the same time I saw John approaching.

“
I'll be along in a while,” I told him, trying to force a smile.

While he might have stayed with me if food wasn't involved, thoughts of the feast carried him on through the crowd to join the other werewolves in the recreation room. To be honest, I was kind of glad. It would probably take a few minutes for me to lick my wounds and mentally prepare myself for the derisive stares that I was sure I'd receive from some of the werewolves for my poor performance.

“
Well that was fun, now wasn't it?” John said as he stopped in front of me.

“
Perhaps if I wasn't on the bottom,” I replied.

“
Ah well, it just happens like that sometimes.” He brushed it off.

“
I suppose.”

“
Are things still treating you well here?”

“
Yep.”

“
And how about Chris, how's he getting along? I hear that you two have been spending quite a bit of time together.” There was a strange tone to John's voice, something speculative that I didn't like.

“
He's doing well.”

“
I hope he doesn't get too attached to you.” He shoved his hands in his pockets, averting my eyes. “I wouldn't want it to be hard on him when you leave.”