The Luna Alpha

CHAPTER TWO - APPLES AND ORANGES

They hadn’t locked the doors yet! Mr. Peterson was still waxing and swiffering the floors with his son. They were omegas too.

“Hey Parker!” Lindon called and waved. He rushed over. “You disappeared right after class. I thought those awful alphas did something to you.” He huffed with indignation.

“Oh they’re not so bad,” I said as I hurried to my locker. I opened it up and took out my backpack. It was a little heavy today which was good. I kept my 3 books in my left arm.

“Not so bad? Last week they you said they gave you a wedgie and the teacher did nothing!”

“I don’t think she knew. Besides that was just Aaron and it was just a joke.” What was I saying?

“Just a joke? Whatever you say, you’re too forgiving.” He shook his head and ran off back to his father. I couldn’t look him in the eye the whole time. I was too forgiving. But staying mad would only make me crazy and I had a mission. I had friends and little kids in that orphanage I had to take care of. I had a job in the kitchens. I had homework to do. I didn’t have time to stay mad.

Once I grabbed my bag and my other book from werewolf history I was on my way. The orphanage was 10 minutes away walking but the packhouse was 30 minutes away. I had to drop my things off at the orphanage asap cause if I didn’t make it to the packhouse by five to help with dinner I would catch hell with the head omega Agatha.

She wasn’t a bad sort of person but she was stretched to her limits. She was in charge of all omega work. She even had an office in the packhouse which technically put her as a high ranking member of the pack. She mostly spoke to the heads of each job like the cook in the kitchen or head janitor of the school, not the underlings. But if you were late or didn’t do your duties, she wasn’t very kind then.

I made it to the orphanage at a run at 6 minutes flat, I think. I counted in my head on the way. I was out of breath but I threw my backpack on my cot as the other children gathered around. I didn’t have much time to take inventory or split things up so I just opened my bag.

“You all know the rules,” I said puffing out. “No fighting and no pouting if you don’t get anything today.” They all nodded their heads quickly and there was a barrage of ‘Oks’ around the room. There were 32 kids looking at me right now as I took out the contents of my bag. The orphanage consisted of 68 children. About 12 of those were babies and toddlers but now most of the older children were already working.

I quickly pulled out 7 apples, 2 oranges and 3 cheese croissants. I had 4 hot dogs wrapped up and pulled those out. I used to steal these kinds of things from the lunchroom years ago but the lunch ladies got wind of it and started giving me the leftovers for free. They were a godsend.

“And you split everything at least in half.” I pulled my butterknife out from my hiding place under my bed. I quickly split everything in half and some in 3rds or 4ths and let them fend for themselves. Usually I did the doling out but I had no time today. A couple of kids got nothing but that’s what happened sometimes. This was all they would have for dinner except a scoop of beans or chowder.

Once they left my side, I ran over quickly to Cisely. She was 14 years old and had a bout of pneumonia a couple weeks ago. It was hard for her to get better with hardly any food to eat.

“Hey Cissy, feeling any better?” I handed her a whole apple and she looked at it greedily. Cisely was in 9th grade and I was in 11th. But I looked out for her just like I did the other kids. She was the closest thing I had to a real friend, at least since Amanda.

“Yeah, Mrs. Tuey said the doctor said I can go back to school tomorrow!” She excitedly took a bite from the apple as she gave a soft cough. Werewolves rarely got sick. We healed extremely fast and because of that our immune systems were better than anything you could imagine. There were no cases of cancer or heart disease or even stds in the werewolf community.

But children were a little different. We don’t get our wolves until we turn 18. Our wolves are the reason our immune systems are so strong and we heal fast. Children were still susceptible to colds and other things especially if they didn’t have their shots when they were little. But being born from werewolves made us less likely to get sick. Unfortunately for Cisely it was just a fluke that she got pneumonia.

“That’s great,” I said. “I’ll walk you in the morning. But I gotta go. Get some rest hon.” I waved and rushed out the door.

“Bye! Bye! Bye Parker!” All the children yelled and waved as I left. Goddess I loved my kids.

I raced to the packhouse and was sweating by the time I got to the kitchen entrance. Mrs. Willams was standing by watching the clock as I leaned my hand on the inside of the door trying to catch my breath.

“And just where have you been?” She eyed the clock with a raised eyebrow and turned to me. I looked at the clock. It was only 4:58.

“I was on my way, I had to drop my books at home.” I strode in still a little out of breath and walked to the dishes. I didn’t really cook in the kitchens, I just cleaned. The cooks started prepping the pack dinners around 4pm. The cooking started promptly at 5 so washing the dishes was important to keep it from being a total mess by the end. Dinner was usually served hot at 6:30 and I continued washing until all the plates had come back from dinner. My other omega friend Dimitri who was 14 was in charge of drying and putting away.

“Well you were almost late. You know we don’t tolerate that here. Early is on time. Remember?”

“Yes ma’am. I’ll be early tomorrow.” I smiled sheepishly and stood in front of the sinks as pots began to get thrown in.

Mrs. Williams sucked in a breath and walked off, looking into one of the cooking pots and going over the menu for tonight. We had an industrial kitchen like something you would find in a fancy restaurant. Sometimes the staff had to cook for hundreds of people for special events.

It was a cruelty to have to work in the kitchens and not have food to eat at night. My diet consisted of a good breakfast provided by the orphanage of eggs, toast, and oatmeal or cereal. Sometimes there would be sausage or bacon if the kitchen omegas had any left over. Lunch was nonexistent. We had to fend for ourselves.

Since the budgets had gotten cut, free lunch at school for omegas had ceased to exist unless you had a meal ticket. The meal tickets were given to parents for their kids if they had a job in the pack. I didn’t have parents so it didn’t work out for me. It was an oversight that happened several years ago but that never got fixed. Mrs. Tuey had gone to the pack financier and told him about it. He promised to get right on it. That was 3 years ago.

There was barely a budget for dinner for orphans. We would either have a scoop of corn chowder or beans and sometimes not even that. We made do and Mrs. Tuey and Mrs. Branford, the other lady over the orphans, tried to stretch breakfast as much as they could but it often wasn’t enough. Even they stretched out their own rations to help us. I was going to fix this when I got older.

The babies and toddlers had enough food and snacks. We basically gave our budget to them so at least they could survive. I had gone over it with the house mothers and it was decided that was for the best. I tried to keep the spirits of the children up and at this point we were all used to starving so we did our best to think of the future when we would again be given rations like other omegas.

The regular omegas in our pack, even though they didn’t get paid, got rations. They were given small homes that were built well, meek clothes, and food rations. If they worked in the kitchens they got to eat the food they made. Unless you were under 18. Then your parents fed you. So again….

“Are you daydreaming again?” Dimitri asked with a smile on his face as he dried the big pot that had been filled with broth before being poured into another pot to make a stew.

“No, just thinking, I guess.” I smiled at him and bumped his shoulder.

“Well you’ve washed that pot 3 times already.”

I looked down at the pot I was scrubbing that had green beans in it only moments ago. It was quite clean. For the 3rd time.

“Well it still looked a little dirty to me.” I grinned. Even though we washed and dried and cleaned for 3 hours straight we still got to talk and have fun. I took in a deep breath. I could smell the beef stew as it was being delivered to the Alpha’s table.

Dinnertime in the pack was bustling as usual. Most of the people who lived in the packhouse were high ranking member and their families, the head warriors and their families and omegas who were high ranking. There were also some people who didn’t have homes built yet like newly formed mates who didn’t have their own places or 18 year olds who were looking to move out of their parents home. It was always a temporary stay. But pack dinners were open to all of them. I wish they’d invite the orphans.

I could hear them out there, at least 30 of them sitting at the long table that was able to fit 50 people. Laughing, talking, clinking spoons against bowls. I could hear Alpha Anton asking his sons how school was. They said it was fine and then talked about basketball practice. It was basketball season again. Axel wasn’t as good as the other two. His game really was football.

“Parker you’re doing it again.”

I made a confused face then looked down to see my self scrubbing the mixing bowl with a mixing spoon instead of a cloth. “Whoops?”

We both rang out with laughter then realized our mistake when Mrs. Williams came in and gave us a stare. “Maybe you two would be done by now of you weren’t playing around so much! Get back to work and stop making so much noise!” She went back through the double doors and let us be. We snickered lowly still wanting to remain in a happy mood.

After I dried the counters the final time and Dimitri had swept the floors he looked up at me thoughtfully. “What do you wanna be when you grow up?”

It didn’t take me long to answer. “I wanna take care of the omegas in the pack.”

He looked at me puzzled. “That’s not a job.”

I shrugged my shoulders. “It could be. I just know I wanna help other people. I mean working in the kitchen isn’t a bad job or anything but I just wanna do more to help. Maybe I could teach or tutor kids. I dunno. Something.” I shrugged again.

“Well I wanna be a warrior.” He stood his broom up and puffed out his thin chest.

I grinned at him. “But you’re omega. They won’t let you will they?”

“I went to the head warriors last week and he said I could train after school until it was time for me to go to work. I’m starting tomorrow.” He smiled with pride and I couldn’t help but smile back.

“That is amazing. You’ll do great cause you really want it. And our head warriors will teach you a lot.” It was unlikely that Dimitri would become a warrior. His father was one of the fry cooks here. It was inevitable that you followed in your parents footsteps. Cooks were cooks, warriors were warriors.

Omegas grew up learning the trade their parents did since they were put to work at a young age. And training started early for warriors. Warriors were usually Deltas or higher and had the build of their parents which was usually tall and broad shouldered. What your parents were born to do you were born to do, mostly.

But I was born an omega, the son of two warriors. My father was an omega so it was a fluke that he was strong enough to be a warrior. My mother was born from a Delta family so it wasn’t as strange. I was thin and short and couldn’t fight to save my life.

“I hope it works out Dimitri.” I sincerely did. I didn’t think it was right that you had to do what your parents did. You should have a choice. You should be able to have a career or go to college but those were just my stupid thoughts.

“Hey, you want some of my dinner?” Dimitri offered. “I’m sure Dad’s put it in the fridge again.”

I thought about having a bite of that savory stew but I didn’t wanna take away from Dimitri’s dinner. It was almost 8 o’clock. I’d better hurry if I wanted my scoop.

“No I’m fine, I'll have dinner when I get home.”

Dimitri looked at my frail frame. “No come on, just a bite, it smelled so good!” He always offered and I usually declined but it did smell tasty.

“All right but just a bite. I gotta get going.”

We walked into the main dining room with long wooden table. The main kitchen staff had gone home. There were only a couple still there cleaning the tables off. There was a kitchenette at the back so pack members, mainly those who lived in the packhouse, could get what they wanted at any time. What a luxury.

Dimitri pulled out a covered tray and bowl. I could smell the stew and it overflowed my senses. He opened the tray which had mashed potatoes, corn and 2 biscuits on it. My mouth watered. He heated up the tray and stew in the microwave and shoved a spoon at me. I tried the stew. My goodness Annalie the head cook knew how to make beef stew. It was the most meat I’d had in 6 months.

I took a bite of mashed potatoes and put the biscuit in my jacket. Right then I heard someone behind me.

“Just what do you think you’re doing? Stealing from the kitchen again?” Mrs. Williams had a fiery look in her eyes as I turned around. She had caught me taking a piece of cake two years ago to take to the orphans and she never let me forget it.

“No ma’am!” I protested in a loud whisper. Dimitri came forward to speak.

“He just, I gave him –

“Never mind lying, Ms. Agatha will hear about this. You have dinner at home and you steal from the packhouse?” She shook her head as if disappointed in me.

“But it’s my dinner, Mrs. Williams!” Dimitri protested. “My dad left it for me and I was just sharing!” He had raised his voice a little at this point and Mrs. Williams' eyes got wider.

“What’s all the yelling about?”

We all turned to see a figure I wish I could run away from. Axel Anderson was at the foot of the stairs coming into the kitchen. We all stared and bowed our heads. Dimitri and I kept our heads lowered and our mouths shut. Mrs. Williams pointed at me.

“He’s been stealing Alpha Axel. Stealing food. But don’t worry, I plan to let Ms. Agatha know. It won’t be a problem again.” She smiled proudly.

Axel was now looking in the refrigerator largely ignoring her. All of us really. He seemed curious at first and now more bored of the retelling. He closed the refrigerator after grabbing an individual bottle of apple juice. Then he uncovered a chocolate cake on the counter. After he cut a slice and put it on a plate he looked at Mrs. Williams shrewdly.

“How can he steal something that belongs to him?”

I was in shock. What?

It seemed to have taken Mrs. Williams by surprise as well. She stumbled over her words. “Well he ..doesn’t live in, in the packhouse. The food belongs to –

“Everyone.” Axel took a bite of cake and looked at Mrs. Williams until she looked down. He cut three slices of cake and put them on 3 plates. He gave them to us. “This packhouse and everything in it belongs to everyone in the pack including him. He’s not stealing his own food.” I could feel Axel looking at the three of us when we didn’t reply or move.

“Well? Eat.” He sat at the counter and ate his cake.

Dimitri looked up at me and started eating his cake, standing up. He didn’t have the courage to eat at the same table as an alpha. He did squeak out a barely audible “Thank you.”

“That’s very nice of you Alpha Axel.” Mrs. Williams sat at the counter and smiled after bowing her head.

With a full mouth Axel said, “It’s just cake.” He swallowed. “If he wants a few bowls of stew to take home, there’s plenty in the fridge.”

Mrs. Williams audibly gasped. Dimitri smiled with his head down. If anyone had noticed I was still frozen in place with a plate of cake in my hands and my head down no one had said a word.

Axel popped his last piece of cake in his mouth and washed his plate and fork in the kitchenette’s small sink. He opened the refrigerator again and pulled out 3 medium sized Styrofoam takeout bowls. He popped them in the microwave for a minute each. The stew was probably still warm from dinner.

Dimitri and Mrs. Williams sat silently realizing what he was doing. When Axel was done he pulled out a grocery bag and put each bowl in.

“Don’t be so uptight Mrs. Williams,” Axel said nonchalantly as he handed the bag to me. I still hadn’t moved from the position I’d been stuck in since he walked down the stairs. I barely opened my fingers to hold it. “It’s just some stew. By the way, if I hear of you talking to Agatha about “food stealing" around the packhouse I’ll have to approach my father.” He walked up to Mrs. Williams then and gave her a peck on the cheek. She in turn blushed. “Good night.”

He headed toward the stairs and I finally lifted my head. He was staring back at me! I was trying to get a reading on him when I realized I had been staring back at him for too long! I bowed my head again and froze to the spot until I heard no more footsteps at all.