Tetsurou knew he was going to present as an Alpha since he was a pup. In the world he lived in, there was no other option. If he presented as a Beta-- or worse, an Omega-- his life would have been snuffed out early. Gangs. Street wars. Fighting for scraps. Stealing to survive. In the shitty side of town, it was a constant battle to earn your keep. His good-for-nothing Sire wouldn't have defended him from the violence that littered his neighborhood; all he cared about was searching for his dead Dam's face at the bottom of the bottle.

Tetsurou knows from his Sire's drunken ramblings that his Dam had been his "Fated Mate." He scoffed at the idea, but it was all his damn Sire would talk about. The man, once an imposing Alpha who was feared in this side of town, was reduced to this pathetic mess when his Dam died. It wasn't even preventable. She was sick. Tetsurou barely remembers her, so it doesn't hurt. Not anymore.

I'm not meant for bullshit like that, the young Alpha thinks to himself, his face stony as he beats down on another Alpha who had tried to challenge Tetsurou's territory. Around him, his gang-- his pack-- is in the midst of an all-out brawl. This opposing gang doesn't even pose a challenge. It allows his mind to wander. If having a Fated Mate is going to make me end up like my Sire, then I hope I never fucking meet mine.

As Tetsurou straightens, he catches a whiff of something that has him tensing. Around him, the other Alphas falter, both ally and foe. Tetsurou's head whips around, eyes honing in on a stray Omega that stood frozen at the corner of the street. She's wearing a uniform from that private Academy on the rich side of the city, looking lost and frightened at what she's walked in on.

No, his heart squeezes, the air leaving his lungs. I didn't want to meet you, he thinks, gritting his teeth as their eyes meet, his instincts screaming MATE! MATE! MATE!

"Fuck," he growls, cursing the irony as he puts himself between his Fated and the violence. "Stay behind me!"