Sean walked slowly down the dirt road that led into the dark thick woods of Romania. The night was clear and starry with the brightest full moon of the season. While walking, he struggled to fight off the urge to turn around and go home. Part of him really wanted to go to the Harvest Party and enjoy it with his friends, but another part of him didn't want to process what this party represented. A mixture of graduation and the maturity of the pups into adulthood. The three graduating schools of Alphas, Betas, and Omegas would be here to mingle for the first time since their scents came in to define them as one of the three types of Loup-garou. A special breed of werewolf that changed at will. Most of the Omegas had already had their first Heat or two, but a few like himself were still waiting. Slowing to a stop, Sean took a deep breath to steady himself. He had to keep himself together. He'd seen the Alphas around town and chatted with them from time to time, but this was different. The Alphas would be looking at him like... a possible mate. It made him nervous.

Mustering the courage to approach the wicker arch decorated in red silk with pinecones, acorns, and colorful fall leaves. He stopped again to take in the open clearing. Music was blaring throughout the woods and the party was well underway. Alphas were dancing with both Betas and Omegas. A few were sitting at the picnic tables and laughing or chatting loudly. The adult Betas were on guard in the shadows. Monitoring the event to keep things from getting out of hand. Everyone was dressed up in some animal costume for the harvest season. It was meant to be fun, but on some of the Alphas it was intimidating. He couldn't believe how muscular they'd gotten in just a few years. Even the Betas had enough muscle to set them apart from the leaner and softer looking Omegas. Pulling his wool hood up to hide his face a bit, he headed toward a picnic table with some of his Omega friends.

When Danny, who was dressed as a bird, spotted him, he hopped down from the picnic table and yelled out over the music. "Sean! There you are! We thought you got sick or lost or something! Look at you!" Sean blushed, stuffing his hand into the pocket of his tan leather jacket as Danny circled him. From the table, Arin, who was dressed like a raccoon, teased out playfully. "Aww, you look cute!" Rolling his eyes, he shoved Arin, causing his friends to burst out laughing. Danny tugged on one of the sheep ears attached to the white wool hood, chuckling out. "The Alphas are going to eat you alive dressed like that! How dare you show us up!" Shoving Danny away, he couldn't help chuckling back. "I just liked the jacket! I didn't do it to make a statement." Arin composed himself to shoot back sarcastically. "Sure. I believe you're not trying to snag a particular Alpha." Shoving his hands back into his pockets, he avoided their eyes with reddening cheeks.

In avoiding their looks, he scanned the dancefloor for said particular Alpha. He was a bit disheartened when he didn't see him. It was so hard to figure out who was who with all the masks. Draping an arm over his shoulders, Ethan pointed to a group in the back corner as he shouted by his ear over the start of the next song. "He's over there! See him?" Sean's heart skipped a beat when he saw him. Mark Fischbach. The Pack leader's son. Seeing the way he was dressed made him tingle all over. Mark wore a pair of tight black leather pants with a black vest that hung open to reveal his muscular abs and showed off his powerful arms. He wore a black wolf mask to match complete with a long bushy tail. Sean's eyes lingered on the leather fingerless gloves he wore as he gripped the neck of a dripping beer bottle. He'd had a crush on him since he was a pup. He'd never wanted an Alpha so badly. Danny touched the corner of his mouth, making Sean jerk away from him. Showing his fingers, Danny teased innocently. "Sorry. Thought I saw you drooling."

Sean's cheeks burned so badly that to hide it, he tackled Danny to the ground. Wrestling with Danny, they burst into giggles. A few Alphas took notice of them with amused glances. It wasn't uncommon for Omegas to break out into play fights. Sean almost had Danny pinned, before Arin tackled him to join in. Teaming up against him, they pinned him down, before Arin told him firmly. "You should go talk to him. This is your chance." Shaking his head timidly, he blurted out. "I can't! He doesn't even know I exist!" Danny scoffed, shrugging out. "So... Go make yourself known." Sean shook his head, mumbling out weakly. "He's busy." Ethan laughed heartily from the table, chiming in dryly. "He's surrounded by horny Omegas and Betas. All hoping to snag him. What's one more?" Danny shot Ethan a disapproving glare, before correcting. "Sean isn't just some horny Omega. He is THE ONE who will make that Alpha drop to his knees and drool for him!" Sean burst out laughing with Arin at how ridiculous that was.

Letting him up, Danny lightly kicked his leg and scolded through a smirk. "You don't know unless you get your ass over there and say something." Sitting up, Sean shrugged out meekly. "What would I even say? He's an Alpha! He's not like us. He's all..." Sean gulped, and Arin finished off smugly. "Muscle? Hot throbbing meat?" The others laughed, but Sean couldn't bring himself to laugh. His heart was racing in his chest. A dread filling him when he glanced at Mark. Mark took a swig from his beer bottle as an Omega chatted with him. Yet, he looked... bored. He was hiding it well behind his smiles and occasional laughter... but he could see it in his eyes. Suddenly, Danny pulled him up to his feet and began to push him toward Mark. Sean dug his heels into the dirt, pleading desperately. "No! Danny, don't! Please!" Continuing to push him toward Mark, Danny told him stubbornly. "It's for your own good, Sean!"

Getting in range of Mark, Danny yelled out. "MARK?! Look what I found!" Sean yelped as Danny shoved him, causing him to stagger just short of crashing into Mark. Mark turned to face him, but Sean couldn't bring himself to look up at his face. He wanted to fade into the background. Behind him, Danny told Mark in a rush. "Do us a favor and eat him, Mr. Wolf! His jokes are so baaaad. Besides, he heard you're a descendant of one of the Magyar princes that started the Loup-Garou bloodline. Care to educate the poor pup?" Sean glanced over his shoulder, his eyes flicking to a wolfish gold as he glared at Danny's smug face. Waving to him, Danny trotted off, leaving Sean to scared to move. He started thinking he should walk away, when his eyes saw Mark's abs from under his hood. He'd never stood this close to him before. Seeing him breathing was making him weak in the knees. Mark switched his beer to his other hand, before reaching out to touch his arm.

Sean hated that his jacket had sleeves. His breathing abruptly stopped, when Mark asked him in a calm deep voice. "Are you alright?" Sean nodded but could do nothing else. Mark's hand fell away from him, then told him with amusement. "A wolf in sheep's clothing? Or just a going for the sheep aesthetic?" Forcing himself to straighten up, Sean gulped as his eyes wondered up Mark's broad exposed chest. He barely got his voice to work, when he answered. "Right now? I feel more like a sheep..." Mark snorted, and the sound made Sean's breathing start up again. He had liked his answer. He wanted to keep him talking and laughing... but his mind went blank. Beside him, a female Omega added with playful flourish. "Are you a descendant from one of the Magyar princes? We learned about them in Pack history. Doesn't that make you... royalty among Loup-Garou?" Mark's reply was swift and so calming, when he answered. "Unfortunately, no. I'm descendant from one of their bastards. The Apex Loup-Garou that sits on the Burcharest throne presently. HE is a direct descendant."

The female bit her lip, reaching out to stroke Mark's arm as she purred out. "How special you are. The milk of the great Luna Mother runs through your veins. Whoever you pick as your Luna will be one lucky Omega." Sean suppressed the urge to growl at her. Mark moved his arm away from her to take a swig from his beer, mumbling under his breath. "Ya..." Sean thought he imagined it, but Mark seemed so distressed about that. From the other side of Mark, another Omega asked excitedly. "Speaking of your Luna. When is your father going to present the Omegas to you? You're in your prime and everyone is curious who you will pick." Mark took a nervous step back from them, but his voice was charming when he said coolly. "That's for my father to decide." Sean started to open his mouth but closed it as an Alpha from the dancefloor called out. "MARK! COME HERE! Stop hogging the Omegas!" Without hesitating, Mark strolled over to her, excitedly snapping back. "Then look more impressive!"

The female Alpha huffed with joking offence, before clapping her hands and yelling out to the other Alphas. "You hear this shit?!" An Alpha man grabbed Mark around the neck with his arm, dragging him out to the dancefloor as he shouted aloud. "You heard the man! Omegas and Betas clear the floor!" The Omegas and Betas stopped dancing and scrambled away as the Alphas paired up. Sean watched with curiosity as the Alpha shoved Mark into the fray and yelled at him with uproarious excitement. "We'll show you impressive!" Sean didn't understand what they were going to do, but a soft distressed whine left him upon seeing Mark pair himself off with a female Alpha that was dressed up like a black cat. The music started with a thunderous beat and the Alphas began to dance in synch with each other. Every Omega became transfixed with watching them. Their moves were wilder and more sexual than anything they were used to. They spun and flipped their partners around their bodies recklessly in time with the music. It was almost as violent as it was alluring.

Sean licked his dry lips, watching Mark spin the female Alpha around before yanking her back up against his chest. They swayed together in a way that had Sean wanting to be her. Then the next moment she was spinning in his arms and trying to force him down to his knees, causing Mark to spin away from her before yanking her close to his chest. Where they playfully tried to overpower the other in time with the beat. He'd never seen Alpha's act like this. They were so wild and confident. They'd been holding back a lot with the Omegas and Betas. Omegas whistled and Betas howled in excitement watching the Alphas dominate the dancefloor. Through it all, Sean's eyes never Mark. Watching the way his body moved and they way he flipped the female Alpha around like she weighed nothing. It made him crave him more than he already did. Biting his lip hard, he couldn't stop imagining Mark pressing himself up against his back like that. Holding him by his hips and resting his head over his shoulder.

Sean began to feel hot and breathless. He desperately tried not to get hard, but he could feel his slick starting to run down his thighs. Forcing him to shove his hands into his jacket pockets to push down the front over his crotch. When the song ended, the alphas were sweaty and panting heavily. They smacked each other and laughed loudly. Completely unaware of what they'd done to the Omegas. Backing up quickly, Sean forced himself to flee to the farthest corner of the woods. Slumping behind the tree, he tried to breathe and looked over wet blue jeans. He had hated when this happened in Omega school... but now. In front of Alphas, it was humiliating. Sliding down the tree trunk to sit, he cursed softly. His desires were getting stronger, and his body was producing more slick. He guessed it wouldn't be too much longer before his first heat hit. He dreaded it but just wanted it to happen already. He couldn't take supplements to deal with these symptoms until AFTER his first heat.

While wallowing in his own internal torment, he heard Mark call out to his friends breathlessly. "Hang on! I need some water! I'm dying!" The Alphas laughed and a few Omegas tried to rush to fetch him some water, but he beat them to the coolers. Peeking around the tree, he watched him dig into the very bottom to fetch the coldest water he could. Pressing his head against the tree, his heart ached for him. Yet, he knew that unless Mark scented him out that he had no hope of being claimed by him. His body wasn't ready yet... and Mark appeared to show more interest in that female Alpha than him. Or anyone else he'd seen talking to him. Hearing footsteps, he tore his eyes off Mark to see Mark's father come strolling into the clearing. Beckoning to his son with a sudden serious expression. Mark obeyed and Sean shrank back to stay hidden as he listened to the Pack Leader tell his son. "I need to tell you something."

Mark scoffed, starting to turn away as he retorted a bit bitterly. "Don't bother. Mom let it slip this morning." His dad grabbed Mark's wrist, yanking him back to face him as he told him sternly. "I need you to listen!" Mark's eyes flicked to a wolfish golden color, but he remained submissive to his dad's tone of voice. Sighing, his dad cupped his shoulders and told him openly. "The herds have moved up from the South. The Southern Pack will starve this winter. They have no choice but to go to war with us or... present their daughter to you. To unite the Packs and end the bad blood between us." Mark stepped back out of his dad's grip, checking to make sure no one was eavesdropping before replying unhappily. "I don't know anything about her! What if she isn't supposed to be my mate? Can you doom me to a life like that?" His dad straightened up, telling him seriously. "In your condition you may never find your mate, Mark. They are coming up tomorrow morning. I expect you to be there."

Mark shook his head, grumbling back. "I don't want this..." His dad sighed, then defended gently. "If we can avoid more war and bloodshed... I'm taking this opportunity." Bowing his head, Mark mumbled out sourly. "Then why don't YOU claim her!" His dad raised his hand like he was going to hit Mark, but instead softened his hand to place on Mark's cheek, telling him affectionately. "I genuinely tried to avoid this union. I really did. But it is the only option the Southern Pack will accept. She knows your problem and is going to overlook it. Just give her a chance." Pulling away from his dad, Mark sneered under his breath as he stormed away. "You told them...? I guess, it doesn't matter what I want. You've clearly made up your mind about this." Sean gawked at them; his heart crushed as he let their words sink in. Although, a tiny part of him still had hope. He couldn't wait anymore. If he wanted him...He'd have to do something about it before it was too late.  To Be Continued...