Zion opened the door without knocking.

"Abel. Mum says to get up for breakfast...."  he blabbered before even having the door fully open.
He stopped dead to register the motions and groans from the bed.

"Abel! Fuck!" He grumbled  and heard his brother's frustrated huff. A female leg and some blonde bits of hair were visible from where he stood.

"Gimme a moment, okay?" Abel asked with a quick twist of his head towards the door. His eyes gleaming with irritation at his three years older brother.

"Five minutes. Or I'll send mum up," Zion said evenly.

"Just get the hell out!" Abel snarled.

"I'm going! See you later Nia," Zion said with a small wave at the embarrassed blonde who squealed and tried to hide her face under the covers.

Five minutes later, Abel emerged, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt walking next to Zion towards the family kitchen.

"Nia?" Zion asked and saw his brother shrug.

"Are you seriously screwing every unmated female in the pack?" Zion teased.

Abel tucked his tongue between his teeth in a satisfied grin.

"So would you if you looked like this," Abel grinned with a hand gesture to his own well developed physique.

"Apart from your ugly face... I do!" Zion grinned back.

"Nope. Real females want shifters. Not halfies" Abel teased with a pointed finger towards Zion's furry wolf head.

"My mate won't care..." Zion shrugged.

"Your mate is going to go: naww cute puppy, and then hook up with this," Abel smirked with his moviestar good looking human face, flexing his shoulders in a playful manner.

"Shut it, Abe!" Zion mumbled.

Despite his little brother being the undoubtedly better looking and his incessant teasing about Zion's half man, half wolf looks, there was nobody in the world Zion loved more.
Not that he'd ever admit it, but Abel was his best friend and the one person he'd die for.
And from the way Abel would happily throw a punch at anyone else who had the dumb impulse to tease Zion, Zion knew Abel felt the same about him.

"How's that going by the way?" Abel asked.

"Dunno... there is this weird pull from the north. If Gerry would let me off pack turf I could visit North moon or Silver woods..." Zion mused.

"You too? I mean.. it feels like someone needs me! In the north!"  Abel smiled.

Zion nearly stopped and stared at his brother.

"You feel the matepull and you still fuck around? I mean... Nia today. Ellie last week... Lucie has been following you around since you did her in wolf shape..." he mocked.

"It's a buffet out there... and if these females want a piece of the Shadow mountain Beta, Abel Krystoph Connor, I'm not going to turn them down, am I?" Abel grinned.

"You seriously are the pack slut," Zion mumbled as they entered the kitchen to be greeted by their mother.

"On the name of the goddess... Abel Connor you stink!" She reprimanded before frog marching him back out of the dining area with strict instructions to shower before he'd start attracting flies.

"I sometimes wonder why I made him beta..." Alpha Gervais shook his head from the end of the table where he was sat with their father, the retired Alpha Archer on his right and his own mate, Luna River to his left.

"He needs his mate!" Zion mumbled and received a grateful smile from River.

"So do you," she said.

"I know... but I worry she'll reject me... I mean... I don't shift and I look like this!" Zion mumbled with an indication of his wolf face.

"Awwe... I think you're cute," his younger sister Diana giggled giving his fluffy ears a tug.

"Would you kiss me?" Zion frowned.

"Sure!" She grinned.

"You really sure?" Zion teased and grabbed hold of her licking her cheeks like an over exited dog would, just as he had when she was little.

"Zion that's disgusting. Sit down and eat!" Their father chuckled making them stop their sibling horseplay.
Zion sat in his designated Delta prime seat and helped himself to some pancakes, making sure the last bacon rasher landed on Diana's plate.

"So?" He asked.

"Well.. We might as well start the day by telling you we'll be going to town today," Gerry smiled holding his Luna's hand.

"Okay?" Archer grinned.
The whole pack knew the Luna and Alpha had been locked up during her last heat. Zion could smell her changed hormones.

"Yeah. We need it confirmed so we're going to see Doctor Dixon," River smiled.

Zion's face lit up and his tail whipped around behind him.

"You're not going, Zi. I know you want to see Auntie Allie, but not today," Gervais ordered.

"But... it's the only place outside the territory border I can go!" Zion complained.

"You need to be here. To help Abel," Gerry instructed.

Next to Zion Diana's leg was bouncing. He turned to look at her cheeky smile.

"Yeah. You need to keep Abel's dick in his pants," Diana muttered making Zion burst into giggles.

"I can imagine. My hand on his fly to keep his zip from spontaneously ripping open at the sight of a female," he grinned, sending Diana into another fit of laughter.

"Oh Goddess... his jeans just automatically disintegrate on female proximity!" Diana laughed.

"I feel sorry for his true mate..." Zion laughed.

"Guys..." Gerry ordered, trying to hide his own amusement.

"But seriously... he's such a slut!" Diana grinned and Zion nodded.

"Zion! Don't encourage her!" Archer smirked.

"But..." Zion grinned.

Ever since Abel had discovered his male anatomy, there had been trouble.
And it only increased when he at 16 understood his appeal to the female population.
Zion's job as Delta was more often than he'd like a case of mediating between Abel and the families of the numerous females he had slept with.
And the females kept coming back for more.

The dining room door opened and a furious Rayleigh entered leading her youngest son by an ear over to his seat at the table.

"But muuuum," Abel whined.

"Nia? You have really gone too far! I did not raise you to be this disrespectful! She's 16, Abel!" Rayleigh steamed.

Abel looked sheepish, trying to catch Zion's eye for his usual moral support.

Zion slowly shook his head. This one he'd have to deal with on his own.

"Don't you dare ask Zion for help with this! You're a grown man and a Beta! You should know better than to use the pack members like you do," Rayleigh fumed.

Gerry stared at his brother in shock.

"Nia?" He asked as River's face tightened.

"The Luna's sister?" Archer asked.

Abel seemed to shrink under his family's anger.

"She could be my mate..." Abel muttered.

"She's 16! Not even of age. Not an adult for another two years!" Gerry snapped.

"But... she came to me..." Abel tried.

"And you, as a responsible 20 year old man should say no!" River snarled with venom.

"Not like she was a virgin either..." Abel muttered and received a resounding slap over the back of the head from his mother.

Luna River stood from the table with a scowl at Abel before she stomped out of the room.

Gerry sighed and looked at his brother.

"Zion meant you would be a better Beta than him... but I'm beginning to have my doubts," he said seriously.

Abel looked between his brothers in confusion.

"But..." Abel stated.

"When you turned 18, Zion gave up his Beta position to you... because you can represent us in the human world," Archer explained carefully.

Abel sat back staring at Zion with his mouth open.

"I'm beginning to think that was a mistake. I can't have a Beta who sets his own gratification above the pack's best interests," Gervais said seriously.

"But..." Abel objected.

"Is this just because it was Nia? Because she's been after him for months," Diana asked in support of her brother.

Gervais shook his head.

"Nia should never have happened. But it doesn't change the fact that every week I have someone in my office asking if Abel will claim someone..." Gerry sighed.

Zion looked at his younger brother who looked ready to crack.

"Not like you were innocent when you mated River..." Abel scoffed at the Alpha.

"No. But I never went for underage girls!" Gervais snarled at Abel.

"What do you want me to do? Claim Nia?" Abel asked defiantly.

Gervais exchanged a look with their father. Rayleigh looked ready to strangle her own child.

"One more. If I hear of one more... you're out," Gervais said.

"Out? Banished?" Abel asked in panic.

"Out of the Beta seat!" Gervais explained.

"For now... if there are more or you continue this stupidity... We'll reduce you to Echo status," Archer nodded.

"Echo?" Diana asked.

"Below Delta... peasant," Zion mumbled quietly.

Abel pinched he bridge of his nose before he stood from his seat with an aggressive screech. Without pre-warning he walked up behind Zion and tugged his seat back.

"Swap!" Abel ordered.

"Why?" Zion asked with a teasing smirk.

"You're Beta. You were always Beta!" Abel muttered and grabbed Zion's plate moving it and his coffee to the seat between Gervais and Archer.

Slowly Zion stood, seeing the way his brother fought tears of humiliation.
He nodded and went to sit in the Beta seat, watching his brother crumple over the table in defeat.

"Meaning there were more young girls?" Gervais asked in a friendly big brother voice.

Abel nodded.

"Hydra," Abel nodded.

"Hydra? Black Forest Beta's daughter? But she's your age!" Archer frowned.

Abel shook his head.

"She was 16. I was 18..." he muttered.

Gervais looked at Zion in question.

"Don't look at me... my dick is clean..." he shrugged and got a smack from his mother.

"Really? Really?" Abel snapped.

"What?" Zion asked.

"You're going to play the 'I'm a freak. Nobody wants me'-card?" He frowned.

"Nope. I'm gonna play the 'waiting for my mate'-card..." Zion grinned.

"Yeah... because Ida was your mate?" Abel grinned.

"Nothing happened," Zion mumbled in embarrassment his face tightening with an unwanted memory.

"Because Ida was a bitch!" Diana muttered.

"Diana!" Rayleigh warned.

"She is! But she ended up with bulbous Pete, so I guess karma got her," Diana muttered.

"Bulbous Pete?" Gervais asked with a confused frown.

"Yeah. Delta Peter. He's got this weird lumpy nose..." Diana nodded.

Archer huffed loudly.

"It's not a beauty competition! Abel! You're suspended from Beta duties. Diana, you're Delta prime," Gervais ordered and left the table.

"But... she's 16!" Abel groaned with a gesture to his sister.

"Yes! And therefore you will act as her guardian!" Gervais said and left to join his mate.

The silence around the table allowed the sound from the hallway to drift through.

"But what if he is?" Nia was pleading.

"You're 16! You won't find your mate until you are at least 18! I found Gerry when I was 22!" River said angrily.

Nia mumbled something.

"It's a crush, Nia! It's not for real," River nearly shouted.

Zion looked at his brother's shameful face.

"Go do perimeter check!" He ordered.

"But..." Abel objected with a terrified look to where he would have to walk past River and Nia.

"Now!" Zion ordered.

"Yes... Beta...." Abel muttered followed by something about power-hungry maniac.

Zion watched him open the door.

"Abel! Tell her. Tell here it wasn't a mistake? Tell her you're waiting for me and we'll be mated once I'm older?" Nia begged in a high pitched girlie voice.

River must have given him a very scary look because Abel shrunk three sizes.

"Umm... No. Nia... there is a mate out there for you. I'd be honoured if it was me but I doubt it," Abel cringed.

There was a loud sound of a slap as Abel's head whipped to the side.

"You... made.. me... believe.. it... was... real!"  Nia snarled through tears.

"But it was!" He said, back on his charming mode.

"No!" Nia screamed.

"Nia. Everything last night was real... it's just not ... We're not mates," Abel excused himself.

"Abe! Perimeter!" Archer shouted at him.

"Gotta go. The perimeter doesn't piss on itself," Abel shrugged at Nia and went towards the back door where all the guard gear was stored. Not that he'd need any of it.
A moment later, Abel's dark wolf Krystoph, ran out of the village towards the territory borders to join the other plain deltas in what he had always thought of as the morning piss-round.

In the kitchen, a defeated Nia looked at the table in surprise seeing Zion in the Beta's seat and Diana as a Delta prime.

Diana patted the seat next to her before setting a plate out for her friend.

Wide eyed Nia looked around before she understood.

"He lost his position? Because of me?" She asked suspiciously.

Archer nodded.

"But.. why?" She asked.

"A Beta should treat his pack with respect," Archer explained.

"But he didn't do anything wrong..." Nia defended.

"He's been a dick to a lot of girls,"  Diana grinned.

"Sure... but he's a good Beta..." Nia said with the wide eyed reverential look of a teen who had just taken one step closer to her long time crush.

"Abel needs to slow down and look for his mate rather than pissing the pack off by sleeping with everybody," Archer explained.

"Oh... like that..." Nia nodded, the reverent look on her face reducing to disappointment.

They sat in silence for a moment before Nia looked up and around the table.

"So? You're not judging me?" she asked.

"Nah. You're sweet little Nia. You didn't do anything wrong," Zion said with a conspiratorial wink.

"This is the weirdest walk of shame I've ever done..." Nia muttered under her breath, ignorant of the way Gervais had to put a reassuring hand on his Luna's arm to stop her from saying something she would regret.