Beta

Beta
By Invader-Hime

Biowulf had always been a Beta.  

Capable of leading, but wanting...longing for someone to follow.  It made him feel needed, wanted, and valuable.  Beta was the second highest position in pack hierarchy.  It was a rank of power, but not absolute power.  There was still someone to answer to, someone to obey, and someone to live for.

Perhaps it was the wolf in him...or the nanite interpretation of a synthetic wolf.

What had he been like before The Nanite Event?  It seemed so distant...so far and away that it was more like a misty, half forgotten dream.  The more he tried to remember it, the harder it became to decipher memories locked away and buried within the depths of his psyche.  Images sometimes decided to flicker across his mind's eye.  Nothing specific, really, just snapshots of an alien world without EVOs.  A steaming mug of coffee on a desk beside a computer.  A window left open with the curtains blowing in the breeze.  A collection of baseball cards.  It was all so meaningless and disjointed that he rarely paid it any mind.  Though sometimes, his crimson eyes would go soft and unfocused under his faceplate.  No one ever noticed, except for maybe Circe, but she never said anything.  She wouldn't.  None of the underlings would.  It was in bad taste to question the Beta of the Pack.  

The nightmares were worse because they were much more specific.  The months after the Nanite Event had been hell for everyone.  In his waking hours, he didn't  recall them often, but on some nights, his sleep was fitful with the gory details of his time as a lone wolf.  He wasn't born in the first wave of EVOs, the initial batch of mindless, half formed beasts had nothing in common with him other than they were in competition for the same food.  At some point, his nanites had activated and the person who had collected cards and drank coffee was swallowed up by something else entirely.  Strangely enough...fear had been a driving force in his world at that time.  Cold, icy, all consuming fear of everything drove him to survive.  To evade the feral EVOs and the forces of the law.  Both were out to destroy him.  That was all that mattered.  A lone wolf is a sitting duck.  It can only run so far without tiring and being overcome.  That's why lone wolves join packs, for mutual protection and...companionship.  

He'd howled at night, just like he'd read real wolves did.

He didn't know what to expect, but he'd howled...and nothing ever answered.

Until one day, his Alpha found him.

He still called him that in his mind, Alpha, not his name or proper title.  In conversation, of course, he referred to him as "Van Kleiss" or "Master" depending on the company.  The Alpha was bold, strong, and charismatic.  Van Kleiss had a plan and offered structure and organization.  The Master provided food, shelter, and companionship.  The Alpha gave Biowulf a place to feel valued, a place to belong.  He'd do anything for the Alpha.  He would do whatever his Master asked without question through a sense of blind devotion.  

He was loyal, just like a dog.  Van Kleiss' best friend.  Second In Command. Beta.

Until...The Bug Jar.

The EVO whelp, Rex had planted a seed of questioning into Biowulf's mind and heart.  He'd said The Master was looking for a new second in command, his replacement.  That wasn't possible.  Van Kleiss wouldn't do that.  The Alpha couldn't just replace a Beta.  That wasn't how it worked.  An underling had to surpass him and Biowulf would never let that happen.  He had never considered the idea that his Alpha would replace him.  It didn't seem possible and while it seemed unlikely now in the light of the faceless EVOs attack, Biowulf couldn't help but feel the painfully familiar crushing grip of fear in his chest.

He didn't like it.

It brought back too many painful memories and...loneliness.  A lone wolf has nowhere to go, no pack to run with.  A Beta had a role, they were important to the function of the pack.  He was important to The Pack...to the Alpha.

Wasn't he?