The Last Of Us

"In all the history of Werewolves," My short overweight, slightly balding history teacher began as the start of the final lesson of the day. Yes, he said "Werewolves". We are in a werewolf school after all. "Mates have been respected above all else, other than the Alpha bond. There has only ever been one recorded instance of a rejection, however the details surrounding the rejection have been lost to our archive since the Killian War."

That was when I zoned out. Being the "nerd" I am, I have already read the entire history textbook. I could ace this class with my eyes closed which I am already sort of doing. I gazed into the forest that lined the skirting of the school grounds that seemed to hold some sort of wonder.

I looked closely wondering what it would feel like to run free in those woods. Without the pack bearing down on me, or without any worries in the world. I wonder what it would feel like. I wonder what anything would feel like really. Sometimes I wonder if casting my emotions aside was really the best thing to do, but then the members of the Greystone pack would find me and make me realize just why I cast them aside in the first place.

I was born the runt of the pack. Smaller and weaker than the rest, but I soon grew in stature but not in power. I was still considered the runt. My father despised me enough to strip me of all titles. In his words, the title of Omega was more than I was worth so he took all titles away from me. I am the only title less wolf in the world. Even Rogues have titles, but not me.

I began to think what would happen later this afternoon as I knew it was time for me to shift. I am turning seventeen at exactly 16:43 this afternoon which meant one of two things. I would shift into my wolf. The second thing is only a possibility. I might or might not find my Mate. I wonder what having a Mate would feel like. Would I feel those spark things that I overhear from everyone. Maybe a new scent would captivate me. But I didn"t think it would happen to me.

I suddenly began to remember my past which took me by surprise since I thought I had suppressed those memories enough to let me live a relatively normal life. It was the day of my first beating.

I was eight. I was bringing the pack their food just before they arrived. I was almost finished when my brother, Hayden, decided it would be funny to trip me. Causing four plates of gravied rice and rare steaks with a peppercorn sauce to go crashing into the soft lush carpeting of the dining room. The plates smashed upon contact with each other causing an even bigger mess.

My father, Adam, with damn near perfect timing, came into the dining room just as the noise settled down. Hayden had already left the room by then. He was smart when trying to cause me trouble. My father is the Alpha of the Greystone Pack which is the sixth strongest pack in the world and the second strongest in the United States. Which is why he was so hard on me. His reputation held more meaning to him than the concept of being a father to me did.

"Michael." He said in a calm demeanor that frightened me slightly. I still hadn"t cast my emotions aside enough to deal with his current state so I could still feel the Alpha bond to him. "Care to explain what happened here?"

"Father, I-" I began but was cut off as I was thrown across the dining room and into the opposing wall. Causing it to crack slightly under my weight.

"Useless!" He shouted as I felt the anger literally peal off him. "How can you screw up something as simple as serving us our dinner?"

I kept quiet. I could feel myself losing my emotions. I began to not care about the situation as I slowly began to lose the ability to sense the Alpha"s mood.

"Gregory!" My father shouted and the Beta, a large man who stood roughly 6 foot 2 inches high with an impressive build and short blonde hair came jogging into the dining room.

"Yes Alpha." He said with a slight bow of his head before he noticed the mess and me sitting in front of a cracked wall, with blood staring to leak down the left side of my face.

"Take Michael to the dungeons. I will administer his punishment after dinner." My father said in an irritated voice.

"Pathetic." I heard the Beta say softly as he dragged me by right foot down the basement steps and into a small cell near the far back of the basement. It was a cell meant for rogues who held a clear threat to the pack. I could smell the faint hint of dried blood from the back wall, cell bars and the floor.

My father beat me with his belt until I passed out. It was one of his softer beating I would soon find out.

I was soon brought out of my recollection as I heard the school bell signalling for the end of the lesson and the end of the day. I slowly packed my unopened history textbook into my black backpack and stood up. I waited for enough of the students to have left the room before I made my way out.

As I exited the classroom I was pushed into the lockers just to my left. I let out a small groan from the pain still flooding my system from the "punishment" I had to endure last night from my brother and the Beta"s son, Andrew. They were close friends and sort of looked alike. Both had short to medium length brown hair with a hard set jawline. Both were well built that caused most of the girls in school to drool over them. I, on the other hand, have long pitch black hair that came down to my jawline. My eyes were a crystal white which was one of the reasons that most of the pack hate me.

My build wasn"t as impressive as my brother"s but I was well toned. All the work for the pack was a decent workout after all.

I looked up at the person who shoved me into the lockers and found a girl I have never seen before. She had long bushy curly red hair with the brightest blue eyes I have ever seen. I felt a small ping within me but it quickly faded. She wore blue jeans, a white tank top and a faded pink cardigan.

"You"re my Mate?" She said in disbelief. "How can that be?"

"Sorry, what?" I asked wondering if I misheard her. She couldn"t have possibly called me her Mate.

"I said, "You"re my Mate"." She repeated slightly confused.

"Seriously?" I asked. So I did hear her right. But I didn"t feel those spark things that the other"s spoke about nor did I smell anything out of the ordinary. I guess if she is telling the truth that that answers my question about if I could even fell a Mate bond.

"Can"t you feel it?" She asked taking a small step closer and placing her right hand on my forearm, which was covered by my long sleeve black shirt that I decided to wear today.

"Feel what? The sparks?" I queried her and she nodded her head. "No. I can"t feel anything."

"What?" She said as I noticed a sad expression start to creep up onto her face. "You can"t feel it? Why not? The sparks are there. You have to feel them. And the smell. Can"t you smell me?"

"I seriously don"t feel a thing and no, I don"t smell you." I responded honestly which caused more sadness to cross her face. "But then again, I haven"t felt anything for over nine years, so maybe that"s why." I said trying to console her. Why am I even trying? This is so confusing.

"What do you mean by you can"t feel anything?" She asked still holding my left forearm.

"I haven"t felt anything for nine years. No emotions." I said in a dead voice as a few memories crept their way into my head.

"How can you have no emotions?" She said in almost a shout.

"It"s just who I am." I replied as I noticed my brother and Andrew coming our way.

"Rose. There you are." My brother said in an excited voice before his eyes fell on where her hand was currently positioned. I could see he didn"t like it at all. Rose turned to look at my brother and did a double take between me and him. I should have mentioned we"re identical twins. The only difference is our hair, eyes and our weight. But the facial features were all there.

"Twins." I tell her as she looked a little confused. She looked up at me with a small smile.

"You"re a Hayes?" She said with an excited voice.

"Sort of." I replied. I didn"t want to tell her the truth. It was kind of fun having someone to talk to who didn"t know who I was exactly. "Michael Hayes." I added.

"Rose O"Brien." She replied with a smile.

"Rose. We need to go. My father is waiting for us." Hayden said with slight irritation in his voice. "It"s best we"re not late. Michael." He said as he looked up at me. "Father needs to talk to you first. You should hurry." He said with a smile. Ok. Something is wrong. What did I do? I wondered as I began to turn and walk away.

"Wait, Michael!" I heard Rose call out behind me. "Why don"t you come with us? We"re going in the same direction." She said and I could see that Hayden wasn"t happy at the comment. the death glare he gave me was evident of that. Just who is this Rose that has him acting this way? This isn"t like him.

"I need to get there quicker and I am assuming Hayden will take you the scenic way. Goodbye Rose." I said as I turned once more and walked away. I felt that ping in my chest just like before but it disappeared just as quickly.

It took me about thirty odd minutes to walk home through the path in the woods and I quickly ran up the stairs to put my backpack in my room. Maybe I should just call it the attic, which it really was. Afterwards I made my way to my father"s office.

"Alpha Hayes. You called." I said with a bow of my head. I have only ever called my father "father" once and the beating he gave me afterwards ensured that I never did again.

"The Alpha, Luna, Beta, and their children from the Limerock Pack, will be visiting our pack for a short while. I need you to quickly set up the guest rooms and ensure dinner runs smoothly. You are to serve dinner, but not attend. Understand." He added as he looked up, trying to survey to me the importance of what he said.

"Yes Alpha." I said and with another bow of my head, I set out to get everything ready. Well that explains Rose then. She must be the Beta"s daughter or maybe the Alpha"s daughter. she held power but I couldn"t really distinguish just how much power she held.

I served dinner which consisted of roast beef with a thick peppercorn sauce, steamed vegetables and a boiled potato with a small amount of butter melted into it. When I finally set the table I noticed the one thing I should"ve noticed earlier. I haven"t shifted. Why haven"t I shifted?

The dinner went by smoothly while I kept out of sight in the room just off to the side of the dining room which was designed for me alone. It was the room I was to wait in until the pack meals were finished. It was a small room with pale white walls and a small lightly coloured brown stool.

I could hear the conversations taking place which was my only source of entertainment really. Until the conversation became serious.

"Alpha Murray. As we have discussed earlier. I think it is about time we announce the joining of our packs." My father said in a serious tone which brought a few gasps from some of the other pack members.

"Rightly so, Alpha Adam. As discussed, my daughter, Rose O"Brien, will marry your son, Hayden Hayes, and join our two packs." The other said. His voice definitely held more power than my father"s.

"What?" Rose shouted. "You can"t do that!"

"Be quiet Rose." Her father said lacing his voice with his Alpha tone.

"No I won"t." Rose said almost challenging her father. "I have already found my Mate. I will not marry someone else."

"Who is your Mate?" Her father asked with anger seeping into his voice.

"Michael Hayes. The other Hayes son." Rose said with excitement in her voice. Was she really that happy to be my Mate? What did she feel to make her this way? I had to admit, I was curious about this whole Mate thing.

"Impossible." My father said. "An Alpha cannot mate with a nobody. A title less." His voice laced with anger.

"What do you mean title less?" Rose asked a little frustrated at how my father spoke about me.

"He is a runt. A nobody. Not worthy of a title." My father shot back lacing his voice with his Alpha tone. Not like it made made much difference. "You will marry Hayden and join our packs. It is already decided."

"No I won"t do it." She said as she stood up, causing her chair to fall backwards.

"Rose!" Her father shouted. "You will. Find this Michael person and reject him. You belong to Hayden and that is final." He added with a serious tone.

"What?" She asked with a pained filled voice. Did her father just tell her to reject me? Am I going to be the second wolf in history to get rejected? I wonder what it feels like. What would happen to me? I guess there is only one way to find out. I thought as I opened the door to my little room and turned into the dining room. Rose was in tears when she looked up at me. Was the Mate bond really that strong?

I guess I will find out what happens to a rejected wolf now. Should be fun.

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Author"s Note:

Hi All,

Please comment/vote. I would really appreciate your views on this and whether or not I should continue it.

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