(pay attention to eye colors)

Gabriel continued bleeding from his nose as he laid on the ground not daring to get up. His right eye now becoming hard to see out of due to the swelling around it but he wasn't concerned about that, he was concerned about what his father might say or do to him once he saw it.

"Now that is the proper technique on disarming your opponent and striking them while they are still down, well done Nicholas." The training instructor praised another student, leaving Gabriel to bleed in shame.

"Alright pups, that's it for today's lesson, you have the rest of the weekend off but do not forget your training over the weekend unless you want to end up like Gabriel here," The instrutor said, motioning the the motionless Gabriel still lying on the ground refusing to face anyone in his class.

Now that Gabriel was 11 he thought training was going to be exciting and fun but all he was greeted with was pain and embarrassment for the past few months, it was like the other children were purposely targeting him because they thought of him as weak and useless.

As everyone walked around and over him, leaving the junior training center, leaving Gabriel alone with the instructor. He wanted to cry, he wanted to release the tears that were building up in his eyes for so long due to the pain in his face hurting so bad but he remembered the last time he cried during class, the rage in his father's eyes and the rage in his fist as he first disciplined him.

"Come on Gabriel," He felt the instructor grab his arm and pull him up to the standing position.

"Matthew sir, I don't want to fight anyone anymore," He finally said as he stood up with his head hung low to the ground.

He handed him a towel to wipe the blood off his face knelt down to Gabriel's height and sighed.

"Gabriel I like you, you're a sweet kid but that's not what we need from you right now, you can be sweet outside of training but in training you must be strong and merciless especially since you are the son and first born of the Alpha, all eyes are on you to be above and beyond your training and right now you're leaving a standing impression and it isn't a very good one," He explained to him.

"But all the kids call me the pack runt," Gabriel muttered.

Matthew looked at him for a second, unsure of what to say. He was a little smaller than most but he was okay with it, that's just how he was born and that was what he embraced about himself.

"Prove to everyone that you're strong and fearless. Don't let them leave you on the floor bleeding." He shook his head and then dismissed him from the training center.

Gabriel grabbed his backpack and slung it over his shoulders and walked out the junior training center with such a defeated spirit. It was another weak of being beat down by the other kids, mocked by the kids and made fun of by everyone else. This was the type of training he was excited for, he was sure what he was looking forward to but this was Hell.

"Gabriel!" He looked up to see his friend James waving at him. James was the son of the Beta in this pack and next in line to take over once he became of age just like Gabriel so naturally they became best friends because they understood each others struggles. He was a darker skinned little boy with jet black hair and light brown eyes that shined in the sunlight, he had a more broader nose than Gabriel and more of a confidence in his walk as if he were sure of himself.

"I'm so embarrassed." Gabriel said as he walked over to him rubbing the back of his head trying to make light of the mood.

"It's okay, I had a black eye too from Dennis last month remember? I did kick his ass a week later though," He grinned.

Gabriel frowned and looked down at the ground as they both walked away from the junior training center together.

"Aww come on Gabriel, you'll get better soon, we all don't learn at the same pace anyway." James patted his back trying to cheer up his friend.

"I know, I just don't want to disappoint my dad, I want everyone to know I'm capable of being Alpha." Gabriel said saddened as they began walking toward Gabriel's home.

"Come on Gabriel we're only 11, we still have some time before we become Alpha and Beta. We'll have plenty of time before then to prove ourselves," James tried calming him down.

"Yeah." Was all Gabriel could say or even think of saying. To him it felt as though he had no time at all to prove himself, it was like there was a heavy rain cloud hovering over him just waiting to rain down bad news on him and destroy his dreams but he wouldn't let that happen no matter what. No matter what it took, he was going to make his dreams come true and be an Alpha in the history books.

The Bloodshed pack was one of the most respected and fiercest packs on the east coast, weakness was not something they took pride in or even pitied. If you wanted to move up in this pack or even be recognized you must be strong with a strong will.

Outsiders called this a cut throat pack, the ones that didn't understand, the weak ones but Alpha Michael and his wife called it the way of picking out the weaklings and strengthening the fierce.

"Nicholas's older brother got de ranked last week that's why he's been fighting harder and tougher this week, it's not you," James continued to try and make Gabriel feel better by reassuring him.

It wasn't helping.

"Aren't you scared of being de ranked?" Gabriel questioned as he nearly whispered as if it were such an ugly thing to talk about.

"Not really," James shrugged his shoulders, his hands buried deep in his front pockets.

As they approached the house, Gabriel stopped and turned to his best friend.

"Ill see you tomorrow morning?" He asked as he shook his hand.

"Of course big guy," James smiled and then sprinted away towards his own home.

He walked into his home and noticed his mother and sister sitting on the couch watching tv.

"HI GABE!!" Gabriella yelled the moment she set eyes on him and ran up to tackle him into a hug. He caught her in his arms and couldn't help but smile at his sister. She was one of the things he always looked forward to whenever he came home, if there was one person who constantly showed their support to him it was definitely his little sister even if she didn't understand much of what was happening.

"Hi Gabby, how are you?" Gabriel asked his little sister as he bent down to her level even though she was pretty tall for her age, then again she was the daughter of the Alpha and was meant to be as big as she was.

"I'm good I missed you Gabe." She grinned, her two front teeth missing.

She looked closely at his face and then frowned, reaching her hand up to lightly caress his swollen eye.

"What happened to your pretty face Gabe?" She asked as her face furrowed up into an angered expression.

"I'll kill them," She said angrily and cutely.

"Calm down Gabby it was during training, the swelling will go down eventually," He chuckled and patted the top of her head, messing up her blonde hair. She grinned and ran off to sit back on the couch and continue watching whatever she was watching.

"Gabriel darling your father wants to see you in his office," His mother walked up to him hugged him as she said quietly so Gabriella couldn't hear the conversation.

Gabriel hung his head low, he knew what his father wanted to say to him and so did his mother, the instructor must have mind-linked the Alpha and told him what happened to Gabriel in class today.

He nodded to his mother and made his way up the stairs with his head hung low in shame, the embarrassment for shaming his family was nearly unbearable.

The Alpha and Luna house was an extraordinarily large home filled with family photos hung all over the walls and hand painted pictures by the Luna due to the complaining from the Luna herself about the dullness of the house.

Gabriel walked past all the grey and black walls, hoping everything in the world would slow down and it would take longer for him to reach his destination until he was face to face with his father's office door.

He raised his fist to knock on the door but the door swung open before he could, revealing a very pissed off and agitated Alpha Michael.

"Sit down Gabriel," Alpha Michael growled as he closed the door behind him, motioning for him sit in the seat right in front of his fathers desk.

Gabriel sat down and watched carefully as his father sat down behind his desk and looked deep into Gabriel's vibrant hazel eyes.

"I instructed for your combat instructor to give me a weekly report on your combative progression," Michael said as he studied over Gabriel's face with his dark almost black eyes, his eyes lingering over the black eye laid upon Gabriel's face.

"The first couple of weeks I didn't get riled up because I thought you just needed more practice and time. Now Gabriel you're not even trying," He growled.

"Im sorry Dad-" Michael raised his hand and cut him off mid sentence.

"You will start referring to me as Alpha, you may call me dad around your mother and sister but other than that you will refer to me as Alpha, as the son of Alpha and Luna you will have to start using formalities and acknowledging them," Michael explained.

In this pack, formalities were important and had to be taught to children at a early age so that they understood the importance of rankings within this territory and understood that strongest always came in on top.

"Yes Alpha," Gabriel responded.

"Why have you stop trying in training?" Michael asked rather calmly which was unlike his character.

"Da- I mean Alpha, the kids are a lot stronger and bigger than me, they've start-," Gabriel considered telling his father about how the kids have been calling him the pack runt but he didn't want to seen weak and whiny especially from his father's point of view. The last thing that Gabriel needed was for his father to know that even mere words were enough to wound Gabriel, not even just physical attacks.

"That just means you try harder Gabriel! You are the son of the Alpha and Luna Aquila and we do not lay on the ground bleeding out in shame after we've been knocked down!" Michael shouted and slammed his fist against his desk causing Gabriel to flinch.

"Do you know how embarrassing it is to hear that a child of yours just lays on the ground bleeding when he is supposed to be the strongest child in the pack?!" Michael continued to yell.

This pack was unlike any other pack, they looked down on weakness, they were looked at as one of the strongest packs, they trained their children at an early age so from then on there was competition between the children and pressure was put on them, especially the children of the Alpha, Beta and Gamma families, even competition between siblings to be the higher ranking tore relationships apart.

"I'm sorry," Gabriel said quietly as he tried hard to fight back tears stinging his eyes.

"Sorry isn't good enough! I need you to try harder or the pack children won't be the only ones making you bleed!" Michael snapped at him.

Gabriel wasn't sure if that was a real threat or just to intimidate him but it did the job to scare him, he didn't want his father to make him bleed, he wanted his father to be proud of him. To be proud of the person that he was becoming and acknowledge that he was going to be the one to change this pack around for the better.

Gabriel nodded his head but didn't dare look his father in the eyes.

"What did I do to deserve a son like this?" Michael mumbled to himself but Gabriel caught every word and it left a little crack in his fragile little heart. He felt like a disappointment to his family and he felt weak. If only he could go back to the days when he spent the times running around chasing the butterflies in the garden, chasing after his little sister and not having a care in the world. If only he could go back and tell his younger self that training wasn't all that it was cracked up to be, tell him that he shouldn't worry about being an Alpha yet and to prepare for the hardships that he would face from both the outside world and his family.

If only.

"You are dismissed," Michael growled.

Gabriel bowed and quickly ran out as tears threatened to fall from his eyes. He ran down the hall and burst through his room door, the tears finally breaking past their barrier and spilling down his face. He slammed it shut and collapsed on his bed, sobbing into his pillow.

Maybe he truly was the pack runt, doomed to be looked at as weaker than those he was supposed to surpass.