Thread: Alpha and Omega || IrishRose80 and Collector of Rarities

To the general public, being an alpha was glamorous. You were tall, powerful, fearsome and had the endurance of a wolf on the hunt just the way the alphas wanted the public to view them. The general public never got to learn about what it was like to go from being 5'6 one year to 7'4 the next. They would never know what it was like to suddenly be overwhelmed by scents and sounds that they hadn't had years of growth to acclimate to, to suddenly be forced to walk on digitigrade feet when previously their heels had always touched the ground. And certainly no one ever had to experience long, painful nights, whimpering in pain as their skeleton continued to grow and shift into a form that was almost entirely alien from the one they had been born with. Remus Bianchi had even spent the first two years of high school eating alone in his room because it had taken him a while to get used to eating with a snout instead of human lips and feared being a laughing stock in the cafeteria though none of the betas would have dared tease him unless another alpha did so first. So much was foreign to him, but he had to act like he was proficient in his new body, even as he was learning to use it, so as to keep up appearances and never give any of the betas cause to doubt his superiority. And, of course, there was the separation from his family just like every omega was shipped off to charm school when they displayed, every alpha was forced to leave home so that their raging hormones didn't drive them to clash with their father for dominance of the household. True, Remus had more than enough money to last him through college, including any luxuries he could want - alphas were expected to keep up a certain lifestyle, after all - but it did little to quell the loneliness he felt. Perhaps this was what had drawn him to the track and field team. Many of the older alphas preferred more direct physical contests in their sports wrestling, football or the martial arts. Remus, on the other hand, preferred the simple thrill of charging down the track, leaping during the various jumping events or hurling javelins, discuses and shot puts. Not only were such simple, almost primal displays of power exhilarating to him, but he also found that these simpler sports helped him become more coordinated in his new body. He'd managed to play off his initial clumsiness as over-eagerness or simple aggression, but with countless hours of extra practice Remus had become the rising star of the varsity track and field team at Wolfram Academy. Well... there was one other thing that helped him get through his early years of high school. Soon after he began taking classes at Wolfram Academy, Remus would find little notes addressed to him throughout the day. They would show up in his locker, on his desk or slipped under the door to his dorm. He was frustrated by the letters at first - each one seemed to pick up on all of the flaws he tried so desperately to hide - and he even tore some of the earliest ones to shreds out of anger, but he always found himself picking up all of the pieces and reassembling them back in his dorm. Whoever was writing the notes seemed to understand not only his awkwardness and insecurities, but also the profound loneliness he felt. He never learned who was writing the letters, but he always found himself searching for them throughout the day. He'd become quite good at discreetly picking the notes up, and his admirer had become adept at hiding them where only he would find them, as the other alphas would often tease him if they saw him reading one of the notes in public after all, looking forward to the companionship of someone he might never meet was just another item on the list of how Remus failed as an alpha. He didn't play a contact sport, he'd failed to develop much of a following from his fellow students and to top it all off, he didn't even show interest in fields of leadership. No, Remus's academic interests lay in building computers and writing software, not government or military leadership or even running a company. Finally, in his senior year, Remus had learned to accept his place in the world. He'd learned how to ignore the other alphas, who had quickly grown tired of teasing him when he simply didn't respond, he'd excelled in all of his classes, though Morgan was without a doubt a far better student than he would ever be, and he'd managed to find a measure of companionship in the school's computer club, as well as taking on a leadership role as captain of the track team. He still found the letters on an almost daily basis, and they still managed to boost his confidence, but more and more he was finding that he could hold his head up on his own. The letters were becoming less a crutch and more a pleasant reminder of the person he had grown and continued to grow into. Still, this didn't prevent him from having the occasional bad day, and the first day of his senior year was no exception to this rule. Regardless of how much confidence Remus had managed to build, conversations with his father never failed to put him in a foul mood. The Bianchi family was a proud lineage of alphas who had all accomplished great things, his father would always remind him. His older brothers were all studying business or climbing the ranks of the corporate, government and military ladders. A Bianchi man needed to lead! Not tinker away under someone else's supervision! It had been such a conversation that lit the angry fire in Remus's eyes as he stalked towards Morgan's table. Like all alphas, Remus was much taller than the humans around him. He was covered head to toe in thick, black fur and compact, toned muscles. Other alphas might have been built for bulk, but Remus's frame was all lean, hard muscle. His golden eyes, usually keen and analytical, glared at everyone and everything around him, seeking any excuse to take his frustration out on anything that happened to offend him. Even the teachers knew better than to provoke one of their alpha students even one of the milder ones such as Remus. He'd found a note inside of his desk that morning, but hadn't deigned to open it at the moment, he just wanted to brood. Remus had heard of Morgan - how could anyone not know the young man who beat out even the exceptional students of Wolfram Academy? - and might have even been pleased to work with him as a lab partner on a better day, but today was not a better day, so he spared his partner only a sparing glare before slouching into a seat and turning his attention toward the board.