Rise of the Omega

Responsibilities!

DANIKA

I spent the rest of the afternoon contemplating the insane plan Alpha Christian and my father had come up with. Even more, I was regretting the insane terms they set forth. Finding my mate meant everything to me, it always had because I knew they would be the perfect compliment to me. The Yin to my Yang so to speak. Joslyn and Vivian are too young to even feel the pull of their mate bonds yet so they wouldn't be able to even start to reject the bond, let alone reject it all together. It didn't matter though, Vivian would likely be crowned a Luna to an neighboring pack's Alpha. Vivian, the pride of our fathers eye. He would never do anything to jeopardize all the hard work that's been put into her upbringing. Joslyn was too valuable to the pack as well, she was on track to take over as the hospital's top doctor when she was older. That just left me in the family, the one who's been taught duty to the pack takes president above all else.

It didn't make sense to me why one of the boys, Graham or Korey couldn't give up their fated mate to choose one of the Alpha of Mountain Woods’ daughters. Korey was nineteen years old and Graham was eighteen like me. Neither one of them was mated yet either and it would have made much more sense to secure an alliance for one of them. Especially Korey, he's the Alpha's son for crying out loud, an alliance would have made more sense with him instead of me.

I tried to not put too much thought or effort into trying to figure out their insane plan. Maybe it was a request from Mountain Woods, yeah, maybe that's it, maybe the Alpha on that end has said something to my father or my Alpha. I hoped that was the case, I hoped that this was just a gross oversight. I had a sinking feeling I was dead wrong, but knew that if I let myself think and believe that I would fall further into the rabbit hole and that wasn't something I wanted.

I knew we wouldn't be gone for too long. 72 hours at most was what they planned for, 72 hours to find my fated mate and secure my independence.

My normal suitcase would do nicely for the moment anyways. I started throwing necessities into the bottom of the suitcase. Things like deodorant, make up, bras and of course my toothbrush. I then focused on the rest of my packing. I hated packing, but especially this time.

I knew I couldn't get away with just packing the normal t-shirts and jean shorts I was accustomed to wearing. Summer in Maryland was beautiful, especially where we live down by the water; it was extra nice to be around. I packed a few nice blouses and some dark jeans as well as a few pairs of shorts, a couple camisole tank tops and two or three sundresses in case I needed to dress up at any point. I suspected I would need other things, at least something slightly more formal but I didn't really care about making the best first impression at the moment.

Once I was finished packing, at least the best that I could. I placed the suitcase filled with clothes I may or may not need by the bedroom door and went back to figuring out what else I should be bringing. Deciding not to leave my bedroom for the rest of the day. I picked up the book about different tactical maneuvers I had been reading up on to teach in the upcoming weeks’ training classes.

Our warriors trained rigorously, the regime they focused on is what makes our pack one of the physically strongest in the state of Maryland. I never failed to be on the field with them making sure our warriors were the best. I loved what I did, I loved helping with the classes, the different maneuvers and tactics used to take someone down fascinated me. With both dad and I gone away with the Alpha for a few days it will fall on Graham and his dad, the Gamma of our pack, Brenden to continue running the training classes. I hoped they were up to the task.

Graham trained hard, being the future Gamma and all, but it took more than just training hard to be able to lead others and Graham wasn't quite there yet. He was nice, friendly and just like Korey, strong, tall, and insanely good looking. He had sun kissed bronzed skin, caramel coloured hair and light brown eyes. Graham was probably 6' 3" tall which was about average, Korey was 6' 4" and they both towered over me. We were friends, all of us but Korey and Graham were buddies, brothers, they didn't always want me hanging out with them which was fine with me. As long as those two managed to not burn the pack down in our absence I didn't really care.

"Come in!" I said as I heard a knock on my door pulling me out of my own thoughts and bringing me back to reality. My mother came walking into my room with a warm smile on her face. "I'm so proud of you Danika." She said cheerfully. "Mom, what happens if I meet my mate beforehand?" I asked her. My mother took my hand and led me to my vanity. She had me sit on the stool in front of the mirror as she began running a brush through my blondish colored hair. "Then that would be wonderful and the Moon Goddess will have blessed you truly." Mom said and I took her words to heart. Either way, my pack will gain a Beta and I will gain my mate, whether fated or chosen.

"You're worried, aren't you Dani?" My mom asked as she slowly put the brush down on top of the vanity. I turned my head to the side and sighed. I was worried, she wasn't wrong. "Mom, I know this is best for strengthening the pack; this alliance anyways, but it doesn't seem fair, it doesn't seem right why me? Why am I the one forced to give up the Moon Goddess's gift? Why couldn't it be Korey or Graham, they aren't mated either?" I mumbled in frustration. "Well, sweetie, it's because they can both take their roles in our pack with or without a mate by their side. Unfortunately, you know our laws honey, and having you mated off to a warrior would guarantee this pack having a strong Beta male to match our strong Beta female." She said trying her best to cheer me up. I had to admit, it was nice knowing my mom wasn't totally with this idea and that at least she felt the Moon Goddess's gifts were important too.

Mom and I talked for a little while longer before she decided it was time for her to head down for dinner. She knew I was in no shape mentally to come down and face everyone. "I'll bring you up a plate, okay?" Mom said before she closed my door behind her. Finally I was left alone in my room with a lot to contemplate. My mother made a lot of sense as to why I was chosen over one of the boys, or my sisters. Even though I knew the reasons for both made sense, I was still distraught and wound up even thinking about it. I guess this was my fate right now, whether I liked it or not. It didn't seem like my mate was just going to fall out of the sky and land in my lap and I was running out of time to find him myself. It was going to take nothing shy of a miracle to make this problem go away on its own.

My thoughts started to drift back to Dominik. Maybe there was a reason we were so close as children, maybe that's the reason my Alpha...my father sent him away, maybe he felt something we couldn't and decided to put an end to it before it even began. That's how I rationalized their behavior, their stance on Omegas mating with anyone besides Omegas was never one I shared so it was tricky to see an upside to it.

There were just too many unanswered questions regarding me being chosen for this mission. That's what I was going to call it, a mission because that's exactly what it felt like. I didn't feel like I was meeting my mate, this held a certain grimness over it. I silently said a prayer that I would not have to break the mate bond before it even got the chance to develop. It didn't seem fair, but then again responsibilities never usually did. I laid down face first on my mattress and let my body sink into the cloud which was my bed.

Tomorrow morning we will be leaving for Mountain Woods. As of tomorrow, my fate had a countdown timer on it. If my mate wasn't a member of that pack, I will be forced to reject the mate bond before my return and accept whoever this person that the Alpha has picked to be my chosen mate. I hoped that Dakota was right, that this was all part of the plan the Moon Goddess had for me because right now, I was scared shitless.