Expectations.

It's funny how they sneak up on you and suddenly you're hoping for an outcome you don't always get. Or maybe never, but you keep on expecting it to happen.

My father expects me to succeed in his place as Beta of the pack.

But that is not guaranteed just because I'm his son. It's the Alpha who chooses the Beta. And though I was practically raised together with Felix, I'm lucky we turned out to be best friends. A lot of times being in the same place together isn't enough.

He could have not liked me or we could have not hit it off. Who knows, he could even discriminate me over the fact that I like both boys and girls. But he would never do that. It's not in his character.

Just like it isn't in mine to give up.

I will have Elliot Lockwood, even if I have to spend the rest of the year wooing him.

Granted, I never had this much difficulty before getting anyone - girls or boys - but I guess there's a first time for everything in life. Lesson my best friend just learned after his second loss to the omega. Damn!

Honestly, that just makes me want him even more. Not to mention Elliot is seriously hot. When I saw him naked inside the locker room for the first time, I drooled. Not even exaggerating. Hot and handsome, what a terrible combination.

When I got home from school after dropping off Ash, I put my stuff down in my room, made a sandwich, ate it and went over to the pack house to talk to Felix. At this point, no one gets surprised by my presence over there. Like I said, I was practically raised in that house.

"Are you okay?" - I asked him once I entered his room. I'm the only person he allows to enter it without knocking first. Ashley comes here too, but his parents don't allow him to close the door when they're together in here under any circumstance.

Not that it prevents anything, to be honest. It just makes it a little more challenging, but teens are nothing if not resourceful. And there's a lot of empty places available for those who need.

"I'm fine. You didn't need to come all the way here just to ask me that." - He replied with a sour mood. He was laying on his bed, so I sat down on a chair next to his desk. He looked absentminded when I entered, but I know he's thinking about the confront earlier at school. I can read him like a book.

"Ouch. Sorry I care about my best friend." - I snickered. I can see that he's peeved about losing today. It's written all over his face.

"I don't know how he does it! He's not even stronger than me! It just baffles me even more." - He exclaimed, deeply affected by all of it. He is certainly not used to losing fights.

"You do know that wrestling is not necessarily about strength, right?" - I argued with a soft tone.

"Yes, of course I know. But still, how does he manage it? How? And it's not just me, every boy he fought he won." - He ranted, sounding inconsolable.

"I'm guessing he had a lot of training. My dad told me that he never saw warriors like his parents. His dad took out 3 of ours in his try out in less than 10 minutes. He told me he never witnessed anything like it!" - I'm mesmerized by all the Lockwoods.

"Yeah, I know. My dad told me that too. He said that even his mom went trough her try out knocking down male warriors twice her size." - He said in awe, admiring the woman he never met.

"It's no wonder he's so good at it. And I thought my dad was demanding... I can't imagine what he must've gone trough to get this good. And he's been training since 4 years old. That's ridiculous!" - I gasped, sincerely shocked at this fact.

"Yeah... I thought he was just boasting when he said that. But now I do believe him." - He conceded, realizing the scope of his extensive training.

"Anyway, you don't need to be unbeatable to be Alpha. Being Alpha is about leadership, not strength." - I told him in a firm tone.

"I know that, Beta. I just never saw it coming, that's all." - He spoke sounding defeated.

We talked about other subjects to distract ourselves, then we got downstairs for dinner. My parents don't mind that I stay over for dinner here, as long as I text them where I am and when I'll get back to our house.

"So, how was school today?" - Alpha Hollingsworth asked as we ate. As usual, it's just the Alpha family and me at the table. When Ashley comes here, I try to give them space and keep to myself at home.

"Aside from the beating your son took, it went fine." - Jessica snickered, making all of us gasp in shock, especially the Alpha.

"What beating? Who hit you, son?" - He asked while turning to check on Felix's face for signs of assault. His tone was severely distraught. And so was the Luna at Jessica's words.

"There's no beating. She's exaggerating, dad." - Felix said as he glared daggers at her. Zach laughed at this.

"I fought someone at wrestling practice and he won. That's it." - He told his parents, sulking.

"Yeah, for the second time. He won yesterday too." - Zach chimed in, laughing at his older brother.

Felix glared at Zach with rabid glowing eyes. Now, he's seriously pissed off. I gulped and took a drink of water. That's as awkward as I expected, but it's gonna get much worse.

"Wow! Who is this wonderful fighter? I got to meet him." - His dad asked in an amused tone. Suddenly, he looks intrigued and bemused at his son's downfall.

"It's the Lockwood omega. He wrestled me to try out for the team." - Felix reported looking down in embarrassment. Though he has nothing to be embarrassed about if you ask me.

"You lost to an omega?" - His dad questioned in disbelief, turning to face Felix with a shocked expression. Luna looked bothered as well, but I'm guessing not at her son judging by the frowned gaze towards her mate.

"He's not a normal omega, okay?" - Felix snapped, slamming the table in anger. His eyes glowed with rage, looking at his father. Everyone else stopped eating and looked startled at the both of them, who stared down at each other.

After a moment in silence, Felix got up and left tearing up. I excused myself and went after him. I've seen this scene before plenty of times. And it's never pretty.

His dad puts so much pressure on him that he feels it's impossible for him to be anything other than perfect all the time. It's fucking exhausting. I found Felix crying copiously inside his room.

I spent half an hour holding, comforting and reassuring him that it's okay to lose some times. No one is all powerful, not even an Alpha. It took a while but he finally calmed down. Shortly after, I went back home before my parents reprimand me for being late on a school night.

It's funny that sometimes a Beta's job is to be there for his Alpha, in a way that only he can.

When I got home, it was just under 9 p.m. and I told my parents what happened at the pack house. They had just put my little brother down. I have a much younger brother and a baby sister. But because of the 8 years age difference between me and him, Felix grew up being like a brother to me.

Even so, I can't complain. I have a great life and awesome parents.

My dad hit the jackpot in the mating pool. My mom's family owns the largest dairy farm of the South. So not only she grew up with money, I grew up with it as well. My dad works and his job is very important, but if he wasn't Beta he would probably be working at the family business too.

Fortunately, he is very comfortable in letting mom pay for good things to us and doesn't resent her in that regard. My mom wished me to work on the family business as well, but she understands the importance of me being Beta. There's no way I could pass this up, I just can't let my dad down.

In the next morning I arrive at school with Ash as usual, but I didn't tell her about yesterday. I figured it wasn't my place. But I couldn't help but ask my best friend how he's doing.

"How are you?" - I asked, choosing my words carefully around Ash.

"I'm fine. My dad talked to me after you left yesterday and he apologized." - Felix replied, shocking me to the core.

"The Alpha apologized?" - I gasped in surprise. Felix looked content, thankfully.

"Apologized to what?" - Ash frowned in confusion looking at him.

"Yes, he did. I'm guessing mom had a hand in it." - He smirked. Felix was in a good mood and I'm so glad for him.

"Good for you, Alpha." - I winked at him, grinning.

While he took the time to explain to his girlfriend what happened yesterday, I looked around for my possible mate and found him talking to his new friends of the omega club. He was smiling and I couldn't help but admire his beautiful shining smile.

In fact, I went in a daze staring at him that I was only awaken by the school bell ringing. Felix and Ashley caught me staring at him and laughed at my silliness because that's what friends are for, am I right?

"Good morning, mate. How about that date?" - I asked Elliot just before the class starts.

He glared at me for a minute.

"I don't know how many times I need to tell you this: I'm not your mate. And I don't want a date with you." - He replied with a low growl. I can hear Ashley laughing at me from her seat. I think she has some sort of sadistic pleasure seeing me being rejected. I really can't imagine why she keeps laughing at my misery.

"Fine. Fair enough. But I'm not giving up on us." - I insisted, making him growl loudly.

"There is no us!" - He shouted at me. The teacher entered the classroom and asked if everything was okay with him, to which he replied it was. I went back to my seat next to Felix.

I'm not giving up at all. I'm playing the long game. And I can wait.

In the mean time, I spent the weekend with my family as my dad took us to a carnival in a nearby town. My little brother had a blast. And so did I. We played, we ate, we walked. The baby came as well, of course, but she just stayed in my parents' arms.

It's important to make time for your family and any werewolf would tell you: we're family oriented creatures. No wonder a pack is a dynasty. And I love my family with all my heart.