Transition - Beta's Omega

( 2 )

( Decker )

Things had changed when Seff had dropped out of school. Not only had he ghosted Robin, but he had also pretty much been hiding from me and Luca as well. I wasn’t sure why this pissed me off, but it did. I think it also had to do with the fact that he wanted me and Luca to look out for Robin. Like, come on man, she is your mate, not mine. But being a dutiful friend, I did keep an eye on her and, clearly, she was struggling. Not only had she lied to Seff to make him jealous, but she had also been acting out more and more and she was extremely sneaky about it. So much so that neither Luca nor I were aware of it until it was too late. I knew that Seff wouldn’t be happy about it, but honestly, I was too busy trying to get Kayley to open up to me. I had already found out everything there was to know on the surface level. Kayley was adopted by her Aunt and Uncle when her parents had been murdered by a hunter. Wyatt was actually her cousin and he had moved to The Silent Warriors pack roughly four years ago while his parents dealt with the death of their family and Kayley. She was an omega, weak as hell with low self-esteem, and extremely shy. My sudden interest in her had not gone unnoticed and even now, as I glanced over at the stool Kayley was sitting on, Wyatt was once again eyeing me with suspicion. He hadn’t approached me yet, but I knew it would happen sooner or later. Wyatt picked Kayley up from school every day, bringing her to King’s Apple while he finished his shift. Luca didn’t mind tagging along as he entertained my silent obsession with the girl. She was a month younger than me, but she looked younger. It was all about her small frame, her pale complexion with her big doe brown eyes and dark brown hair.

“Why don’t you just ask her out?” Luca questioned, without looking up from his phone.

“Because…I have to be realistic about this,” I whispered. I did not doubt that Wyatt would be listening in.

“Huh?” Luca looked up and tilted his head to the side.

“I’m transitioning soon,” I said in a ‘duh’ tone to which he immediately nodded in understanding. Neither of us wanted to go through what Seff had gone through with Jena.

“Then…why are we here every day?” he then asked as he turned his attention back to his phone.

“I don’t know,” I admitted, even though I was more than aware of the fact that I was obsessed with her. She occupied my mind so much that it was borderline creepy. The fact of the matter was, that I knew her school schedule so well that I made sure that we passed each other in the hallways at least three times throughout the day. I even found out that she doesn’t really have friends and so she spends her lunchtime in the school’s library. I was still trying to figure out how to join her or have her join us. Luckily, no one had picked up on my crush except for Luca.

“Would you please just go ahead and say hi to her at least?” Luca once again tore his gaze away from his phone as he looked at me. “She isn’t stupid,” he added.

“No, I didn’t think she was,” I hurried to say in defense mode.

“Exactly, so…stop being weird about it and talk to her,” he said with a smirk. He had a point, so I took a deep breath and stood up. Although stalking my crush was odd and creepy, I had grown accustomed to the coffee they served here, and my favorite was the dark roast with vanilla cream. Wyatt eyed me as I made my way over to the station.

“Hey,” I greeted him awkwardly. Now, usually, Luca and I made it to King’s Apple before Wyatt and Kayley – which meant I was able to get my order before they arrived.

“What can I get for you?” Wyatt questioned with a look that let me know he wasn’t fooled.

“Large dark roast with vanilla cream,” I said slowly. With a quick nod, Wyatt got to work, and I glanced over at Kayley, who was busy doing homework. “Hey Kayley,” I said, lowering my voice. Kayley blushed a deep shade of pink and, with a shy smile, she looked up at me.

“Hi Decker,” just hearing my name come out of that sweet mouth had me feeling weak in the knees.

“So…ah…how are you?” someone kill me now! This was beyond awkward!

“Good, thank you and how are you?” she asked politely as she shifted slightly in her seat to get a better view of me, and suddenly, I felt self-conscious. Was my outfit, ok? Was my hair in place? Did my breath stink?

“Yeah…ahem…I’m good too,” I mumbled out as I kept an eye on Wyatt’s movements. He was almost done with my order. “So, ah…um…yeah,” she smiled again and then looked down at her homework just as Wyatt came over with my order. I quickly took the drink from him and handed over some cash. I had no idea what to say and I was already making a fool out of myself. Wyatt looked entertained as he looked between me and Kayley. I turned around and hurried away to avoid it getting even more awkward.

“That was painful to watch,” Luca stated when I sat back down.

“Shut up,” I hissed out as I glared down at the table between us.

“So painful…but we need to stop by the cabin on our way home and check up on Seff,” he turned his phone for me to see, and I quickly scanned the conversation between them and sighed.

“Seems like he has something on his mind,” I said.

“Yeah, I think we should stop by to see him,” Luca said as he stood up. “Come on, let’s go,” I nodded as I quickly took out my phone and shot a text to my mom to let her know our plans. By the time I stood up, Luca was already waiting outside.

“Here,” I froze at the sound of her soft voice and glanced down at her hand that was barely touching my arm. “Use it, don’t use it, whatever,” she said in such a rush that it took me a moment to process that she was holding out a folded piece of paper. I carefully took it from her and smiled when I saw that it was her number.

“Thanks,” I said as I shoved the note in my pocket and smiled. Kayley blushed and hurried back to her spot and as much as I wanted to hang around and be even more creepy, Luca was waiting for me. “I need to put a stop to this creepiness,” I said as I unlocked the ranger.

“Glad you said it,” I heard him mumble out, but I paid no mind to him nor his comment as the engine roared to life. The drive up to the cabin was slow as the roads were still wet from the snow that had fallen and by the time we did get to the cabin, we were both freezing. I parked the ranger in front of the cabin and Luca was the first one to jump out and rush inside. I was a lot slower as I climbed out and made my way inside.

“Eh, you may have to heat it a little bit,” Seff was saying to Luca as I closed the door behind me.

“Hey,” I greeted him as I slowly made my way over to him.

“Did I miss something?” Seff immediately asked and I wanted to shrug and not give anything away, but I was still annoyed with him.

“Not yet,” I said as I sat down next to him. Seff frowned in confusion.

“Not yet?”

“My transition…” I offered and the realization came crashing down on him as he lowered his head in shame.

“Right, when is that again?” he asked, and I could hear the guilt in his voice.

“Next week,” I reminded him as I relaxed against the sofa.

“I’ll be home by then,” Seff promised, and I smiled in gratitude. Seff may be a lot of things, but he wouldn’t break his promise.

“Yo, Decker! You want some?” Luca called out from the kitchen.

“Yeah, yeah,” I said as I stared at Seff. He looked like a mess. A tired mess. “How are things going with Robin?” I decided to ask as I watched him closely. He tried to hide behind his mug, and I smirked. He may be looking like a mess but things with Robin must have improved.

“Good, slow but good,” he finally admitted. Once Luca had joined us – after giving me my own mug of hot chocolaty goodness – Seff brought up The Hillside pack and how different they were from The Silent Warriors pack. The rules were brought up and that ultimately led us to talk about whether or not Marric was a good leader. I didn’t think so. I had heard my parents discussing pack things on more than one occasion. My dad was a good beta, hands down, but his loyalty was starting to waver, and I didn’t blame him. Of course, I didn’t say that even when Seff admitted to his desire to change things and I had to agree with him on that.

“And I think you should,” I said slowly. “I mean, it’s clear that Marric has changed the pack to something more modern, but that photo says a thousand things and I want that life,” it was easy to say as I stood up and went over to the fire to warm up a bit more. “Honestly, this makes a lot of sense to me,” I added casually.

“What do you mean?” Luca asked and I decided honesty was the best way to go.

“I’ve heard my parents talking about Marric’s decisions over the years, but I never really thought much about it because, well…you know…I have my own stuff to worry about, but this, this is kind of a wake-up call,” we weren’t just kids anymore and with Seff obviously wanting to make changes, it meant we would all have to step up.

“And that makes me think about how Robin got the title of a troublemaker in the first place,” Seff growled out. Luca and I both agreed on that, which then led to another discussion which resulted in us staying for dinner as Seff placed an order on his phone. I took out my phone and quickly saved Kayley’s number before I sent her a message so that she would have my number.

✉Decker: Hey Kayley, it’s me, Decker! Thanks for giving me your number ?

“A chance for what?” I asked as I turned back into the conversation.

“A chance to be heard,” Seff explained. “I’m not sure why everyone is just so willing to follow my father like this, but we have to enforce some sort of change. Now that Robin has been banished, who do you think is going to be titled the troublemaker now?”

“Good question,” Luca said, and Seff nodded. That was a good question and I somehow immediately thought about Kayley. With her being as weak as she was, she may not get the title of a troublemaker, but I somehow knew that her being an omega would be the next focal point. Well, not if I could help it.

“Well, let’s hope Marric doesn’t latch onto some other poor member of the pack,” I muttered as I sat back down on the couch.

“Yeah, let’s hope not,” Luca agreed as Seff finished cleaning up in the kitchen as he prepared for the arrival of our pizza. When my phone buzzed, I hastily checked it.

✉Kayley: Hi, this should be easier to talk, right?

I smiled at that. She wasn’t only adorable, but obviously extremely sweet too. I was in a lot of trouble.