Sous

It was another lonely day for Jacob at school. He didn't have any friends really, maybe a couple of associates and class mates whom he spoke to but no one he could truly call a friend. He had never been invited to a birthday party nor a howling. When he ate lunch, he ate lunch either by himself or maybe with a few other wolves who were also known for loners but that was simply because they were what they call a 'lone wolf'. Jacob wasn't a lone wolf; he was an Alpha that no one paid attention to. An Alpha everyone thought was weak and they chalked it up to him being mixed with human; that's what he tried to tell himself but there were other wolves who were mixed with human and they were treated much better than he was.

The older he got, the more he thought things would change based on his age but that didn't seem the case now that he was fourteen. So he walked him by himself seeing the other wolves with their groups and cliques, and here he was alone, except there was one wolf that seemed to fancy him. An Omega who was the young son of the Alpha and the Omegress of the pack. He was two years younger than Jacob.

They had first met when they were much younger at a block party down at the local park the pack put on four times a year. Jacob had been about eight years old and was being scolded by his father for not going out to make friends. His mother; on the other hand, was more understanding and allowed Jacob to stay by her side.

The little Omega was six and came walking to Jacob who sat at a picnic table with his human mother. Jacob looked at the boy as the boy made himself at home and sat on the bench.

"Hello, Derrick," his mother had said, apparently knowing the child.

"Hi!" He turned to Jacob. "I like the way you smell."

Jacob's mom started laughing but Jacob didn't understand what the Omega had meant by that.

Jacob entered his house and walked to his room. He placed his school bag down and walked down the stairs to the kitchen where his mother usually was after he got home from school. She gave him a kiss on the cheek as he asked what he could do to help. Cooking was something he actually enjoyed doing, something his father said was only for Omegas but Jacob found solace in it and simply enjoyed being with his mother.

"A letter is on the kitchen table for you," she said, washing the chicken in the sink.

"For me?" That surprised him. He walked to the kitchen and saw the little letter. When he opened it, he smiled wide, turning to his mother. "I got accepted as a messenger!" He had applied for the role some time ago when one of his teachers recommended it. Jacob had good attendance, excellent grades, and showed himself to be reliable when calling given tasks.

He started missions quickly, something he quickly began to love. It allowed him to get out of the house and explore the community. Since he didn't have any friends and since he didn't involve himself in any type of sports, he often found himself in his home even on the weekends.

Him becoming a messenger actually allowed him to catapult his popularity at school. Apparently it was a big deal to be accepted as a messenger because then it led to the next step of being a scout, an assassin, then an elite.

The new found popularity caused a little bit of unrest for Jacob since he wasn't used to it but he didn't mind the fact many of the Omegas were starting to look at him compared to before. He felt like a stud; however, things changed when he got his first mission across the train tracks. When he had told the kids he got his first mission across the tracks, they told him about the other species. They told him about the mutts, people mixed with who knew what ranging from wolf, vampire, elf, pixie, etc.

Jacob wanted to see that but he didn't let them know because they seemed disgusted by the 'mutts' and as he crossed the tracks, he wondered what it would be like to meet an elf, a vampire, or hell, even a mutt.

It was a day when he needed to go to a trailer park, a park filled with trailers, huts, and shacks that were all downtrodden and broken.

"You don't seem 'round here," said a girl with wild blonde hair, fangs, dirt filled skin and clothes.

He didn't know what she had said. Her accent was thick.

"Um…excuse me?"

"I SAID YOU DON'T SEEM 'ROUND HERE!"

He gulped, little sweat beads starting to form on his forehead.

"Sous, take the fruit and run on home," said a man. He was tall with vibrating colorful wings, pointed curved ears, fangs, and large hands that showcased his canine nails.

"Whoa!" Jacob said.

The man walked to Jacob, his smile warm and inviting. "I think that letter is for me. Puimo, right?"

Jacob looked on the letter and yes, that was the name on the letter. Puimo. When Jacob looked at him, he looked to be mixed with a wolf and one of the fae creatures like fairy or pixie. Jacob handed him the letter. Normally he would have to check identification but often the people across the tracks didn't have any. It was like many of them were in limbo: not in the pack yet not with the humans. It must be a difficult way to be.

"Sorry about my daughter, Sous. She's been acting since her mother-hey, you're a messenger. You hear things. Has anyone said anything about a woman missing? A woman that's part human, vampire, and witch? I know, that's one hell of a combination but…she's been missing for a while and I don't where else to turn."

Jacob was silent. He didn't know how to even approach that. He had no idea about those who were missing. "There's a missing unit in Apex. Have you gone to file a report?"

Puimo laughed, shaking his head. "Never mind, thanks for the message."

The man seemed so sad that when Jacob went back to the pack, he went to the city hall to report in from work and to clock out from his role for the day. He went to the missing unit that was on the second floor of the city hall and knocked on the door. The door opened revealing a pretty Omega who smelled simply gorgeous. She was curvy with tan skinned and curly dark brown curls.

"Can I help you? Oh, Jacob? How do you like being a messenger?"

"You know my name?"

"Yes, of course, we're a big family around here, plus becoming a messenger is a big deal. So what brings you here?"

Jacob thought for a moment. "I want to report a missing woman."

"Oh!"

"She's part witch, human, vampire."

"Oh." She paused. "Well, Jacob, we don't file missing persons on people like that. We only file for those in Apex and I already know this woman isn't an Apex member."

Jacob crunched up his nose. "But she lives across the tracks." Him saying that caused the woman to give him a disgusted look.

"Jacob, I'm sorry but that's not our responsibility. I have to go down." And with that the conversation ended.

When Jacob entered the elevator, there was another messenger who was about sixteen, a female Alpha. "Don't worry about those mutts. Just focus on sending out those messages. It's a big deal that you got this gig. Don't fuck it up," she said.

Maybe if Jacob had been liked, had been popular, maybe he wouldn't care about the mutts but since he was disliked, he was made fun of, and looked down on, maybe that allowed him to be empathetic to the people across the tracks. Besides for the blood that ran through their veins, they were about the same.