A Bottom Feeder

Indrik

Beta Green fixed me with a cold stare that caused my smiles to wilt as I was consumed with a premonition that he was about to deliver a very bad news.

"What did you just say?" He asked the question like I had just suggested that we pull down the palace and build a cattle shed in its place. I wasn't going to be so easily discouraged though. It had taken me so much time, effort and sacrifices to get here. I wasn't about to be forced to give up by a tone, however cold it might sound.

"I said..."

"I know what you said!" He snapped in irritation. "I was hoping you wouldn't repeat it so I wouldn't have had to tell you this but it is obvious that you are still so young and naive. Perhaps, I ought to enlighten you."

My heart sank to the bottom of my stomach as every muscle in my body strained to run, to avoid the verdict he was about to pass. But at the end, I had to stop and listen to what he had to say even if everything within me warned me that I would not like it.

He smiled warmly as he patted me on the shoulder. "Come with me, will you?" I didn't want to come but, of course, it was not a request. He led me back to the table from which I had just got out, where I had to sit even if that was the last thing I felt like doing at the moment. Since the seating arrangements were set in a way that only one person could use one table, he had to take a perch on the table which got me looking into his eyes more times than I would have liked. When we were fully settled, he gave me that uncomfortable smile that people usually reserved for the times when they were going to break your heart. Like, I am terribly sorry I have to break your heart but someday, you will come to understand that it is for the betterment of the world.

He reached for my right palm and started to massage it which felt rather weird. "It seems like just yesterday when you were born. It is amazing how time flies. I always knew the time would come when we had to have this talk but I chose to believe that by pushing it forward, we would never get to it." I swallowed, my throat extremely dry. "In life, everyone has their own destiny. Some are meant to be rulers, some are meant to be servants and no matter what, no matter how hard they try, no one can ever rise above their destiny." He paused, looking into my eyes like he was waiting for it to sink in. That was not happening.

I frowned as I stared at him, trying to make sense of his words. "Are you trying to say that my destiny is to be a servant?" I couldn't tell whether to start weeping or burst into laughter at what I was listening to.

"I am trying to say that your destiny is to get married to Veronica, unite our packs and take us to greater heights. I am saying that your destiny is to have children who will carry on the lineage of your father. I am saying that you should give up on training your wolf because it is not in your destiny."

I noted that he did not deny that it was my destiny to be a servant. I laughed bitterly. "I can't marry Veronica. I don't love her."

"Love is not everything, son. Sometimes, you have to put duty ahead of everything else."

"Like you did?" I had meant the question to be a rhetoric one but the hurt that flashed across his features made it obvious that he had indeed done something like that in the past. I tried to imagine this man as a lovestruck individual. It didn't seem possible.

"You would understand someday but for now, you have to listen to me."

"No! I refuse to accept a destiny that would doom me to be a slave. You have to help me. My wolf has finally been freed. I am still weak due to having been separated from my wolf for so long but with your teaching and training, I am sure that I will be able to learn very quickly. Please!" My heart was pounding heavily in my chest and my eyes were heavy as I pleaded. There was no way I was meant to be a slave. Even if I was, I refused to accept such a horrid fate.

The Beta sighed as he rose to his feet and let go of my arm. "Elder Matthew should not have freed your wolf. Now, he has left you confused. Just listen to me and everything will be fine." His eyes softened. "You know you are like a son to me, don't you? I would never want anything but the best for you. The same that I would want for Ulo."

I considered his words for a moment before shaking my head. "No! I refuse. Even if I am going to be a failure, I still deserve a chance to try. You owe me that much. All my life, I have been shunned from all activities of the pack simply because I had no wolf. I have been the butt of everyone's joke. The one who would never get to be more than the bottom feeder of society. The one who is a disgrace to his entire lineage. The bastard son of the Alpha." I noticed his eyes flash and his nostrils flare but I ignored it. "Now that I finally have my wolf, I am not going to be held back by some destiny. Not now, not ever." I declared. I was breathing heavily and a tear had escaped from my left eye but I was feeling much better than I had in ages.

Beta Green narrowed his eyes. "I have tried to speak to you like a father would but since you choose to be obstinate, then I have no choice than to break it to you. You would never be more than a, "bottom feeder" like you called it so you had better get used to it."