“Congratulations, you’re an Alpha.”

Magnolia felt her face turn pale. She could feel the blood draining from her cheeks, dropping down fast towards her toes. The woman behind the counter, her doctor, did not notice the change in her expression. In fact, the woman perched her glasses up the bridge of her nose and offered a warm, encouraging smile. This was too much for her, the woman’s smile that is. The doctor did not know that her life would be ruined just by those four words. She wanted nothing more but to jump across the counter and wipe the stupid grin off the doctor’s face.

Magnolia could not, but she wanted to. Shakily, she scratched her cheek, her eyes scanning the folder that was placed just in front of her. It sounded like a mistake, her being an Alpha. Deep in the corner of her mind though, she knew the truth. Being diagnosed as an Omega during her youth when the majority of the members of her family were Alphas is truly out of the norm. It was pure luck, she thought, that she was an Omega.

Then everything changed when she had met him.

“A-are you certain?” Magnolia stuttered, her voice cracking on the ends. Clearing her throat, she tried again, repeating the question. Her anxiety was not missed by the doctor in front of her, however, the doctor did not take it in a way that she had felt. Perching her glasses up her nose again, the doctor walked around the counter. Standing close to her now, she hands out a bunch of brochures. Everything on the brochures, she had already known. It was taught during her classes back in university, after all. It was something that she just did not understand. Of all people that would be struck by luck, why could it not have been her? “I’m really an Alpha?”

The doctor smiled, pushing the brochures on her hand when she was stuck just staring at it. The papers had felt like heavy rocks when she held it. The different colored papers almost mocking her. Pictures of women and men wearing suits and standing at the top of a pyramid did not at all ease the frustration that was slowly making its way up her head. She was never the one to cause a scene, never the one to show anger. Just this once though, she could feel the familiar twitch of her lip, indicating that she was almost close to doing something she might end up regretting.

“Yes,” The doctor nods, grabbing the folder that was right in front of her. Her full name Magnolia Franzen stamped across in big black ink. It looked as if it was teasing her, mocking her. “I know such changes would seem too good to be true but rest assured. All personality tests, I.Q. tests, as well as blood tests, showed that you truly are a hundred percent Alpha. That is the reason as to why the pills are not working, Miss Franzen. It’s not suited for you.”

The doctor grabs a notepad from the pocket of her white lab coat. Magnolia was dazed, no longer looking at what the woman was doing. She was still stuck staring at the folder that was in front of her, looking at the results of the exams. Narrowing her eyes on the boxes that were ticked in every piece of the exam that she took. Alpha, check. Alpha, check. Surprisingly, the doctor places another piece of paper in her hands.

“Here,” The doctor starts, stepping inside Magnolia’s space, enough to make her uncomfortable. She could feel the woman’s warm breath. That, and the rancid smell of tuna sandwich, probably the woman’s lunch. Squinching her nose, she did her best to hide the fact that for the next few seconds, she would be breathing through her mouth instead. “I listed other medicines that would take effect on you. The reason why your pheromones smell too much for other werewolves and the reason as to why you have not encountered your heat yet is that you were not an Omega in the first place. Alphas have powerful pheromones, something that would smell intoxicating to both Beta and Omegas. Plus, the pheromones you emit also have something to do with your emotions. Unlike with Omegas and Betas. You could emit a scent that could make an enemy tremble with fear if you wanted to. Omegas only release pheromones when they are in heat, they could not control it too. You, could.”

Dropping her head down, Magnolia finally asked the question that had been boggling her mind ever since the examination started. The question that she knew, she would hate the answer. “Does that mean the medical certificate I had for the one week off, won’t work anymore?”

“Ah!” The doctor exclaims, snapping her fingers. She opens the folder and flips through the pages, stopping on a scrunched-up piece. The paper had tears on the corners and lines that indicated that it had been folded, unfolded, and used. And it truly had been used, it had been used quite well, as a matter of fact. And much to Magnolia’s disappointment, it seems as if it would not be used much anymore. “Since all your records will be changed to that of an Alpha’s, your assumption would be correct. The only wolves that needed to have a week off would be Omegas after all. Despite the advancement of some of our technologies, there are still some pills that just have no effect on them. Like your case before when you thought you were an Omega. It’s great that we finally found your correct classification, Miss Franzen. At least now, you won’t need time off work.”

Magnolia felt her heart break into two uneven pieces. And if it could be heard, the sound could have probably made birds fly off trees.

It had been years when the great werewolf council knew that they had to move on from their animalistic ways. And the fact that there had been a huge leap in genetics when it was shown that the majority of the Betas are somewhat like humans now. They could not shift into their wolf counterpart, they do not emit pheromones, and they are not able to mark or be marked. Due to this, it was easier to merge with humans. The Betas were pretty much human, after the centuries.

Alphas and Omegas were a different story. They both emit pheromones, could both mark and be marked, and both could form soul bonds. A soul bond that could either be fated or by their own choosing.

Pups were first classified into their werewolf type during their kindergarten years. The next and final examination would be after they graduate university. Magnolia had been classified as an Omega on her first and second examinations. The only reason as to why she had to be re-examined was when her company requested a certificate to prove that her pills did not work for her. With this certification, she would be given a week off, fully paid.

Not anymore, she thought. Goodbye to her long naps, goodbye to her comfy bed, goodbye to her lazy days.

Since she was no longer an Omega, she will no longer undergo the monthly weeklong heat cycle. Not that she ever did experience it in the first place. She always thought the reason was that she was just a late bloomer, apparently, she was a late bloomer. Just not the type that she had expected. All her life, she had imagined that when she hit 25, she would be settled down with a rich Alpha or a middle-class Beta. She would have a small suburban house, the type with the white picket fence, and the apple tree right by the gate. She had always imagined that by that age, she would be content with her life, with her job, and with her one-week paid vacation every month.

She was now 27, without a pair, and had just been classified as an Alpha.

An Alpha that will be given responsibilities she never wanted to have. Coming from a family of Alphas, she knew just how much of a pushover Alphas were. They took on jobs that required you to stay up late, they took on jobs that made you work even on weekends, they took on jobs that made you skip breakfast. The type of job that Magnolia hated with a passion. She was content with her job now, as a simple secretary to the Vice President of Hermosa Publishing House Corporation.

Magnolia looks down on the folder again, her results mocking her once more. The doctor would be updating her records and sending the results to her company. When the board realizes that they had hired an Alpha as a secretary, there would be a ruckus. A scandal. Alphas were always situated high up the pyramid, after all, they are only supposed to be given managerial positions. A secretarial position was mainly for Betas and Omegas.

She would either be fired or instantly promoted.

And Magnolia knew that both of the options would annoy the hell out of her.