Forced to Become

Ch 19 authority

I saw the despair in the eyes of my fellow guards as, once more, I led them into repeating the rules loud enough for Alpha to hear. I tried smiling, but it felt more like a grimace. I hated the words as much as they did.

I hated the hours of pain every morning as we were commanded to change to our four-legged form. I didn't even want to call it being a wolf, because the thought of a wolf running in the wild was so far from what we were. Thinking of myself as dog didn't work either, it was just too dangerous. It was almost impossible to hide your emotions as a four-legged beast; and I couldn't help resenting being treated like a dog.

Afternoon brought more pain, as we struggled to become human once more. Alpha and our young lord changed so quickly compared to us. Even the other two unbitten guards changed with way more speed than we did. The difference between being born or bitten, we were told. They were royals, we were mutts.

I hated our boring routine, marching around the edges of our small territory again and again, first on four legs, then all afternoon on two. I kept telling myself it was better than being chained. At least we were getting exercise. Supposedly we were guarding our walls, which only served to confirm we had no way to escape. It made me wonder just where our young lord and his two original companions disappeared to so often, and if that might be a way to escape. I squelched the thought as soon as I had it, knowing the mere hope of escape would cause conflicting emotions in me that Alpha might question.

"Guards, dinner is ready," a young voice squeaked out. I turned to smile at the five-year-old omega, carefully clearing my face to a more stern visage as I lifted it up. The boy scurried back to his brother's side in the kitchen area.

I was shocked the first time I saw what Alpha called omegas. If we were little kids, those two were still practically babies, they were so young. There was a grown-up man as well, maybe in his twenties?

I tried to make friends with the kids at first, and got beaten up for it. My side still hurt, and was a mottled yellow and blue as the bruise worked its way out from my ribs. It didn't excuse me from having to change forms though. I cried out more than I had in awhile every time my body readjusted bone and muscle as I changed form. Every time, I was scared something would go wrong, that because I had been hurt to the bones, that my body wouldn't go together right. The thought of becoming a misshapen monster terrified me.

I hated myself even more as I resolved not to do anything, anything, that would cause me to get beaten like that again. I winced every time I was called The Good One. The name our boy lord gave me made Alpha expect more from me, and hit me more often because of it.

I glanced at the closet that was the omega's room as we made our way to the kitchen. Alpha had a habit of beating the grown omega almost every time they were let out. The two small boys would always cower down and cry. Alpha would rant while he threw the man around the room, going on about how he had captured the omegas. It drove home the reminder that we should never talk about our previous life, or being captured. It was better calling this hell-hole our home, like our young lord wanted. None of us wanted to be omegas.

I thought about the rank of omega as the older little omega, a roughly seven-year old boy, set a plate before me. Serving, yes, but Alpha mostly left the two little kids alone, venting his fury on the grown man-omega. Where we knelt before our lords, the omegas had to lay flat on the ground with their heads tucked in. Maybe it wouldn't be so terrible if the bad one accepted this low position. He would at least live.

Whatever had happened to destroy our lord's previous pack had resulted in these three being left behind, captured, and made to serve. It didn't make sense to me, these two children being here from the enemy side during some war. I watched the grown omega carefully load the heaps of pasta into serving bowls, and wondered what the truth was. The two boys struggled with the weight of the dishes, but I had learned better than to obviously reach to help them.

Our young lord showed up as the little omegas waddled toward the table with the heavy-for-them bowls, earning him a growl from Alpha. Our lord ignored Alpha, sitting down regally at the far end of the table; his two personal guards on either side of him, as usual. We all just sat there, waiting for Alpha to give the command to eat. The silence drew out, and I slid my knee out a little to help steady the bowl being held by the littlest one, keeping my hands folded on the edge of the table where Alpha could see them. I felt the weight of the bowl on my knee as I sat with head bowed, feeling the tension between our leaders rise.

"Eat," Alpha finally growled. I immediately scooped some spaghetti onto Alpha's plate, then my own, lightening the load the young omega held. We managed to fill our plates with nothing getting dropped on the floor, which made me give a small sigh of relief. Still, none of us dared even pick up a fork, waiting for our two leaders to eat first. I saw Alpha's hand grab his fork, and move up. My eyes slid down the table, where our young lord's fork was still sitting on the table.

After waiting just long enough that Alpha was about to say something, our young lord finally picked up his fork and took a bite. His two personal and constant guards following right after. The rest of us took hesitant bites, waiting to make sure everything was okay, before eating some more.

I caught our young lord's eyes with an errant glance, catching his nostrils flaring and the slightest twinkle in his eyes, a knowing little smile graced his lips as he caught me looking at him, before he schooled his features into lofty arrogance once more.

Desperate hope filled me, knowing our young lord hadn't given up. He was still trying to prove to Alpha who was in ultimate command of this pack. Our young lord kept making small challenges, exerting his authority over us just enough, giving in before Alpha could really complain or have reason to attack. It made me realize how Alpha saw everything we did. Our smallest mistakes and slip-ups were probably viewed as a challenge to his authority; that's why he always beat us for screwing up.

This epiphany of understanding, this moment of enlightenment, made me glance at our abusive leader. I understood suddenly just how to survive here.

I lowered my head as Alpha's started to turn my way, showing him my submission, hiding my slight smile in the process. I would have to test my theory, which could be dangerous for me. I hoped the sound of the sigh that slid out of me was covered by the sound of forks scraping plates in the otherwise silent room.