Sean stepped behind Mark as Mark turned to face the doors of the van. They heard something unlocking and then the doors swung up, allowing the cold air from outside to blow into the van. It was so cold that Sean shivered. It was dark outside, and snow was drifting across a howling breeze that passed through the tick trees. Just outside the van, a bunch of armored Betas removed what looked like metal collars on poles that clicked open when they pressed something on the pole grip. They were menacing to look at and Sean instinctively backed up. While the Omegas behind him whimpered and huddled closer to the back. One of the armored Betas looked at a clipboard in his hand, before announcing loudly to the other Betas professionally over the wind. "Get them out and sorted by their colors! Check their tags! And let's get them inside out of the cold!" Without another word, one of the armored Betas lifted his pole and shoved the metal collar up against Mark's neck to clamp it on him.

Snarling, Mark grabbed the pole and used it to knock the Betas to the ground as he snapped out. "GET THIS OFF ME! DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?!" The Beta with the clipboard jerked his head up in surprise, asking Mark nervously. "Who you are? Should that be important?" The armored Beta tried to reign Mark in, but Mark overpowered him, snapping aloud. "How DARE you collar me!" The Beta with the clipboard stepped closer to sniff Mark, before uttering out anxiously as he peeked inside the van. "An Alpha... Oh shit... Someone's getting fired for this..." Waving the armored Beta away, the Beta unlatched the collar and told Mark curtly. "My apologies. This shouldn't have happened. Please come out. We'll get this resolved." Mark hopped out of the van, snarling at the man angrily. "What kind of operation are you running that you fuck up this badly?!" Sean was so distracted with watching Mark that he didn't notice another metal collar lunging in to clamp around his neck.

Yelping loudly, Sean dropped to his knees and tried to resist being pulled out. The armored Beta was strong though and easily began to drag him out of the van, causing Sean to scream out in distress. "MARK! Mark, please!" Mark whirled around, starting to head for him but the Beta with the clipboard informed Mark quickly. "It's alright! He'll be fine!" Sean thrashed and yelped as the Beta practically dragged him through the snow and away from the van. While Mark yelled out. "What are you doing?! You're scaring them!" The Beta hugged the clipboard to his chest, answering honestly. "It's a precaution. Have you seen some of these Deltas that come in? They can be pretty lethal. This is for our safety as much as theirs." Sean helpless let the man guide him over to an area where more armored Betas were circled around groups of omegas with separated colors. Shoving him in with the Omegas with blue collars, the armored Beta told a female Beta with a clipboard. "Check him! Is he the one missing from your group?!"

The female stepped up to him and pulled the blue collar down to scan something on it. After which, she answered in relief. "Yep. He's one of them. Must not have been room in the other van. They stuff these things so bad... Ugh. There should be one more." The armored beta unlatched the metal collar from Sean, answering flatly. "He's in there too. But turns out he's an Alpha!" Sean staggered back from the metal collar, rubbing his neck as the female blurted out in shock. "Oh, fuck. The omegas, ok?" The beta shrugged, replying honestly. "Not a clue. But they still have their cloths on... So... Maybe." The omegas behind him gasped when they saw him and pulled him into shivering hugs. Close to his ear Danny chattered out from the cold. "We were so worried about you! We thought they were... That they were gonna... Are you ok?" Sean nodded, his eyes a little teary when he shakily asked. "Are you? What happened?"

Arin huffed, pointing to another van as he timidly told him. "They shoved us in that one. Packed in like chew toys. A few of us almost had panic attacks... but we're alright. A few cuts and bruises." Sean huddled in with them to stay warm as the icy wind whipped over the clearing. The armored Betas worked quickly to sort and check tags to account for all the Omegas and Deltas. Then the Beta with Mark stepped forward toward the groups, yelling out. "Alright, Omegas and Deltas! May I have your attention!" All eyes turned to him, their bodies shivering almost violently from not being as heavily clothed. Taking a breath, the Beta announced quickly. "Stay within your color group! Follow our orders and you'll be taken care of! Disobey and you will be punished! Remember. Your pack leaders ANSWER to the Apex Alpha! So be on your best behavior!" Walking up next to the Beta, Mark yelled over the wind. "You wanna explain this inside! It's freezing out here! Look at them!"

The Beta looked to Mark with narrowed eyes, belting out. "I have my orders." Mark growled. But the Beta ignored him, shouting aloud. "You'll go in one group at a time and-" The omegas whined, then yelped as Mark punched the Beta out cold. The other Betas snarled at Mark, but Mark growled back louder issuing a challenge to them. None of them stepped forward. The Omegas and Deltas all shivered and huddled closer together in fear of him. Steeping forward, Mark ordered in a stern voice. "Get them inside! NOW!" The Betas nodded with some reluctance but began ushering the Omegas and Deltas out across a long stone bridge that led to the castle doors. Sean could understand why Mark had done what he did. The storm was getting worse. Even with their wolf blood, they were not immune to the cold. Walking across the bridge was the worst part. It was set high with no trees to block the full force of the icy wind.

Even the Betas were desperate to get them across quickly, spurring their groups to walk faster. When a young man from a red collared group tripped, the armored Betas simply snarled in frustration and tried to coax the others to move but they refused. Causing more frustration among the Betas. One of the Betas jogged back to spur the Omega to get up, but the Omegas just shivered on the stones. When the Beta removed a rod, some of the older Deltas from the red collars tried to lunge back with barks and distress to stop him. Only to be shoved back but the other frustrated Betas. As other groups slowed to watch in horror as the rod sent out sparks, the Beta yelled out. "GET UP, OMEGA! I won't ask you again!" The Omega didn't appear to answer or even move. The Beta lifted the rob, when Mark shoved him to the stone ground. The Beta started to get back up, then yelped as Mark stomped toward him. Staying down submissively, the Beta conceded to Mark.

Despite shivering himself, Mark trudged back over to the young Omega. He couldn't have been any older than fourteen and was shivering violently as he stayed huddled up on his knees. Stepping behind him, Mark placed his hands on his sides and hefted him up to his feet. The boy barely got his feet beneath him and started to crumple back to the ground. Forcing Mark to heft him up into his arms. Starting to walk briskly onward, Mark called out to the other red collared Omegas and Deltas. "Move! I got him!" Reaching the doors, the Betas shoved them open with the help of the armored Alphas inside. The omegas and Deltas didn't bother waiting. They flooded into the massive hall that was far warmer than the outside. Not bothering to stay in their groups. Once inside though, the Omegas and Deltas naturally congregated to their familiar pack members. As the armored Alphas closed the doors, one of them called out. "Is everyone alright? We were just coming out to bring you in. Storm warning just came in."

Mark locked eyes with another Alpha who told him seriously. "Honest. Look." Mark looked over the data pad, then nodded to the other watchful Omegas. Holding up the young Omega, Mark told the Alpha seriously. "I think he needs to be looked at. He doesn't seem to be responding." A Delta from the red collared slipped the Beta guards, rushing over to ask in a panic. "Timothy! What's wrong with my brother!" The Alpha ignored the Delta, removing a small flashlight to shine over the boy's eyes. After a minute, he told Mark coolly. "He needs to get warmed up. I'll take him." Reluctantly, Mark handed him over and watched the Alpha carry the boy away, until he shot out after him. "HEY?" Every Alpha turned to look at Mark, when Mark asked the Alpha carrying the boy sharply. "Take his brother with you. Omegas should never be isolated from at least one of their own. Don't they train you to know that?" The Alpha said nothing and simply gestured for the Delta to keep up with him.

Sean watched the way Mark tensed around the armored Alphas. He didn't trust them. Sean could see it in his features. Which made Sean nervous. Had any Alphas or Betas from the other packs been let in here? Were they trained differently? They didn't seem to know how to handle Omegas and Deltas that well. Which was deeply concerning. The Betas rounded the groups of them up again and led them down the gorgeous hallways with high arched framing and huge stain glass windows. There were dark statues of wolves everywhere and they were even painted in gold along the white stone walls and pillars. It was quite a sight. Stepping through a set of doors with two wolves sitting proudly on them, they walked into a throne room. The floor was glossy and depicted a white wolf and a black wolf chasing each other around the earth. While light streamed in from huge windows. At the far end was a white marble throne chair with a massive circular backing that looked identical to a bright full moon. Beside the throne we smaller thrones with backing depicting other moon phases.

Getting up from the full moon throne, the Apex Alpha called out excitedly. "Ah! Here they are! Come, Clayton. Have a look." Sitting in a half moon throne, a man around Sean's age rolled his eyes and asked his father seriously. "Dad, please. Their people... not products." The Apex turned to his son, ordering in a low voice that even from a distance made Sean tremble with fear. "Get up and take a look." Slowly getting to his feet, Clayton walked regally past his father fearlessly, upon answering. "Very well." Sean and a few others yelped as the Apex snapped his fingers, causing the Betas to shove them out in a line before the steps of the thrones. Clayton scowled, looking to his father when he stated. "You should tell your men to be careful." The Apex rolled his eyes, telling his son flatly. "They are fine. Omegas and Deltas have always been a skittish bunch. Now pick one. We need pups. And lots of them."

Clayton frowned, dryly snarling out. "Replacements in case I die, you mean. How thrilling." Stomping down the steps, Clayton started at one end and simply walked down the line. To Sean surprise, he didn't look at them with distain or with attitude. Some he even touched to try and calm them. After touching a third, he told his father seriously. "They are shivering from the cold... Father, I can't sniff out my mate in conditions like this. They are... so frightened and the journey has probably made them hungry." A few Omegas perked up. The Apex scoffed, grumbling out. "Clayton, stop stalling. Just pick one. I don't care which one. Just so long as you get some healthy pups out of it." Clayton started to open his mouth, when Mark bellowed out from the back. "Do the Pack Leaders know that you treat them this way?" Clayton whirled around and the Apex's dark eyes rose when he asked. "Who said that?"

Fearlessly stepping through the group and out past the line of Omegas and Deltas, Mark retorted loudly. "I did. The next Northern Pack Leader of the Fischbach Pack! I'm an Alpha and from what I've seen... you've been lying to my father." The Apex rolled his eyes, stating carelessly. "I see. Mark Fischbach. The promising young Northerner that I've heard so much about." Clayton tensed, looking over Mark closely, when he asked curiously. "How did you get here?" Without smiling, Mark answered dryly. "I got mistaken for an Omega, when your men came charging in to round them up like criminals! Then you wonder why the Omegas and Deltas don't want to come here! You leave them out in the cold!" The Apex glared at Mark, stating defensively. "Tradition keeps order, young Alpha. Mind your tongue. Or I'll have it removed... and eat it." Clayton glared at his dad, before telling Mark and then to the Omegas and Deltas openly. "I'm sorry about that. We don't have Omegas and Deltas here in the castle, until events such as these."

Clayton walked the line of them to reach Mark, adding genuinely. "Our guards are trained specially for castle defense. Their treatment of you is... rough. That falls on me." Sean met Clayton's eyes and for the first time since arriving, he relaxed. Clayton wasn't at all like he'd expected. He spoke with vibrant elegance and compassion. Something he didn't hear in a lot of Alphas and Betas. Zetas talked like that though. Being older, they had a lot more wisdom and compassion to offer. Standing before Mark, Clayton told him firmly. "When I become the next Apex Alpha. This will change. I promise you." Stomping down the steps, the Apex shoved his son back with a bit more force than was necessary, before telling Mark casually. "Come. Sit. It's been an age since I've gotten to meet the leaders of the packs. My apologies for your treatment. Such a thing has never happened before, but you get a rare opportunity. So... let's talk." Sean tensed again. He didn't like the way the Apex had said that. It sounded oily and concerning.

Which was only made worse, when the Apex got Mark to sit in a throne chair, before turning to ask. "Check them. If they've had their Heats. They can stay here. If not... take them away for now." Betas then began tearing the clothes off the Omegas, causing them to scream. Clayton turned to yell something up at his dad, until the Apex shouted in a voice so commanding that everyone in the room fell silence. "ENOUGH! This is MY kingdom! OUR TRADITIONS! YOU WILL OBEY!" Without wanting to, Sean and the others fell into unified silence. Behind them, a Beta went down the line of them. She quickly stuck what looked like an intricate thermometer up between the legs of the Omegas and Deltas until it beeped. Then she'd tell another Beta with a clipboard they were clear. After every Omega and Delta, she'd remove a plastic cover and slip a new one on to check the next person.

When she finally reached him, Sean could only look at Mark, who was gripping the arms of the throne and trying to will himself to get up, but the Apex's command was hard to break from. Sean flinched as he felt the thin metal slip into his ass and when it beeped, she tsked and told an Alpha. "Take this one." The moment the Alpha removed him, Sean screamed and thrashed. A few others did the same as they too were dragged away from the throne room. To Be Continued...