So now that you've all met Age, it's time to meet his love interest. Kate is on the prowl, but Humphrey and Garth are close behind her. But Age has a little secret that he's not told anyone yet. And that secret will explain how he was able to dodge Eve's pounce. In short, this chapter will be about Age and his love meeting for the first time, and soon after she'll find out a few surprising things about him.

Better Than This

Chapter 3

I've Got a Secret

Age's mouth hung open as he stared at the girl he bumped noses with. He had hoped he wasn't freaking her out by his apparent affection for her. He was smiling and trying to be polite of course, but she seemed as though she was a little nervous.

"Hi…again. Who are you?" She tried saying to him.

"Uh…sorry miss, but you've…well, sort of…" Age couldn't think of anything to say. He was rendered speechless by the wolf. But in a quick action of mental reconstruction, he pulled his thoughts, and his nerves back together. "I'm sorry, my name is Age." He said and bowed his head forward like a gentleman. She took a liking to his sudden calmness, and answered him back.

"Hi…Age. My name is Hayley, I'm an Omega." Age looked up from his bow and asked her,

"Omega? I've heard these wolves call each other Alphas and Omegas, but I'm not really sure what all that means." Age told her. She realized he was from outside the park and figured she'd help him out.

"Oh, you're not from here are you?" Hayley asked him, and Age shook his head 'no'. "Well then why don't you walk with me? I'll explain everything." Age smiled at her request and he joined her at her side and they walked down a path and passed a few other wolves, but they seemed proud and sturdy.

"I'm guessing those were…Alphas?" Age asked her.

"Yep, Alphas are the ones that do all the hunting and take care of the pack. Omegas like me keep the members of the pack entertained with jokes, games and other activities." Age seemed intrigued by the thought of this organized system of leaders and servants, or at least that's how he interpreted it. "If you're not from around here, that means, if you are gonna become part of our pack, you've gotta take the test to see if you'd be classified as and Alpha or an Omega." She finished, and he immediately fired back.

"I actually am wondering why you have this whole social class thing. From where I come from, everyone was equal. There were no Alphas, or Omegas. There was, well, just us." Age explained to her.

"You didn't have a system of ruling? That's a little strange…" Worried she just offended him, she defended herself. "Not that you're strange it's just, I'm not use to meeting someone who has no…I mean it's weird to…I mean….!" Hayley was throwing statements all over the place, Age knew what she meant, but she was struggling to get it out. He'd thought he'd be the bigger wolf and help her out.

"I understand Hayley, you don't have to say it." He said to her giving her a warm smile.

After a sigh of relief, she said, "Thanks…" The she tilted her head and gave him a smile, and their eyes locked. Age stared at her with his own head tilted, and he was still smiling. The two found a bond in that moment, but at the same time it didn't last. Hayley broke away from the gaze, and she was blushing like crazy.

"Age, where you come from, do you…howl?" She asked him, a little shy.

"Of course, I'm a wolf. Only I have a feeling that we howl differently."

"That's probably true. How do you howl?" She asked him, curious and eager at the same time.

"Well, since I'm from New York, I actually howl, and talk at the same time." He said, proud of his statement.

"How do you do that? That sounds hard." Hayley said, shocked at his technique for howling.

"No, it's not, I'll show you." She sat back and watched.

When you're gone

I'll never be the same

And when you're gone

I know that you'll miss me

Too

Hayley's mouth was hanging open at his howling/talking. She was utterly dumbfounded by his skill. "How did you do that?"

"Maybe I could teach you sometime. It's…sort of hard to explain in a short time." Age mumbled sort of embarrassed.

"May I show you the park? I got a feeling you'll like it." She offered.

"I know I will, but not as much as I've come to like you." He said, making both of them blush, and she giggled.

After that, the two walked around Jasper, and Hayley showed Age all the important sights to see around the park. Age was amazed at how beautiful the park was, in fact, after a point, he wished he could stay. As they walked around, they talked the whole time, and grew very close. By the time the sky was orange and purple, Hayley had shown him the whole park, and when they arrived back at the lead den she had a few final questions for him.

"So Age, what do you think?" She asked him about the park.

"Your home is absolutely stunning! I wish I didn't have to leave." This sent a jolt of depression through Hayley.

"Wait, what? You're leaving?"

"Well, I'm only gonna stay here for the time being, until my brother gets kicked into line. But that'll be awhile, so I guess I'll be here for a time, long enough anyway." Age told her. She breathed a sigh of, half relief and then asked him more questions.

"Well then in that case, are you an Alpha or and Omega? I know you haven't taken the test yet, but what do you think you'll be?"

"I don't know, I'm not really all that advanced in hunting and fighting, I'm actually very basic." Her eyes lit up at the thought that he'd be an Omega like her. Not that it mattered much now that Alphas and Omegas could be mates now.

"That's great Age, by the way, where'd you get that name? I like it, it's very unique." Hayley asked curiously. Age sighed and answered her question.

"I forget actually. I don't really know where it came from." Hayley's color seemed to vanish a little at the statement but she didn't seem to mind too terribly. "Oh by the way, where I come from, I was known as a peripheral wolf."

"What's a peripheral wolf?" She asked with sneaky eyes.

"Well, in New York, since I was part of a zoo, a peripheral wolf was a wolf that kind of sat around and didn't do anything until he was asked to. In short, he was kind of like a mix between an Alpha and an Omega." Hayley suddenly got worried that if he became an Alpha, she'd feel sort of bad about not being able to do any hunting for him. She wanted to talk him out of it, but she still knew that it would be wrong and she'd feel guilty afterwards.

"Oh, so…you could go either way, huh?" She said with sadness in her voice. Age noticed the drain of light from her mood and thought something was wrong.

"Hayley, is something bothering you? You seem upset right now."

"Well…it's complicated; it's not really something I can explain at the moment." She said with her head down.

He smiled, and leaned down and licked her cheek; she picked her head back up and stared at him. "Are you feeling better?"

"Yes…very much." She said shying away a little, but she was smiling nonetheless. Out of nowhere, Hutch came up to the two of them and demanded,

"Is one of you Age?" He growled. Age looked bold, and not scared whereas Hayley back up a little.

"Who's asking?" Age said sternly.

"Don't test me Omega, where is Age?" He was looking for him for some dire reason he wouldn't share, so he figured he'd stay safe.

"I saw him walking around the park with some girl, I don't know where he went." With that, Hutch smiled and sat down, nodding his head in approval. Hayley came out from behind Age and sat next to him and stared at Age with confusion. After Hayley was done staring at Age looking for an answer to their strange encounter, Hutch when back to his old, non-aggressive self.

"Congratulations Age, I knew it was you. This was a test from the lead female herself Eve, she wanted to see if you dodging her was just a fluke. And it without a doubt wasn't; if I didn't know this was you, you would've certainly had me fooled. The way you stood up to me, the calmness you showed when you lied, with these qualities, minus the lying of course, you'll be a fine Alpha." Hayley started to get nervous again, and she let her ears down. Hutch didn't noticed, "In fact, if you passed, I was told to bring you before her and Winston, whom you've already met." Hutch concluded. Age lit up at the opportunity to talk to the head Alphas of the pack.

"I would be honored…" He said standing up straight to show some courtesy. The two began to walk away, but Age noticed Hayley started walking away, and she seemed really sad. "Wait…" he said to Hutch, then he turned back around and ran back to Hayley. "Hayley?" She turned her head back around and looked back to him, "Would you like to come with me?" He asked smiling. Hutch seemed to disagree completely.

"I don't think that's a good idea Age."

"I don't care, I'm not just gonna leave her behind like that." Age said to Hutch, he looked back and Hayley was slowing picking her head up, and then she nodded. Age smiled and then gestured for her to follow.

"I don't like this. But caring for others is a good quality to have, nicely done my friend." Hutch said and continued to lead them to the den.

Along the way, Age heard talk of a herd of caribou that lived a ways up the canyon in the northern section of the park. The thought scared him, yeah it was good for hunting, but what if there was ever a stampede? How would you get out in time, Omegas clearly weren't trained runners. Then he heard rumors that Alphas and Omegas could be together, course this was of no importance to him, he didn't understand the concept. Finally, he heard the wolves speak of a death that had taken place that day. From what he heard from the conversation, a wolf with a funny accent was 'just playing roughly' with a few other wolves, and one ended up in a fatal condition. Shortly after, the wolf died from blood loss, and the wolf with the funny accent was nowhere to be found. This aroused some suspicions in Age's mind. Sure his brother was known for causing mischief, but he was sure he'd never kill anyone. It was a thought that was extremely unsettling, but Age shook it off so he could focus on the meeting with the head Alphas. Upon arrival, Hutch signaled for Hayley to wait outside and escorted Age through the entrance. When Eve saw him, she acted like she was a formal woman.

"Ah, there he is…" She said smiling, but then hurled herself across the cave and attacked. Age stood his ground and watched her fall on her face in front of him.

"You misjudged the distance, and the amount of force you would've needed to propel yourself across the den and get me in your jaws. There was no need for me to move." He said and walked past her and sat down across from Winston. "You wanted to see me?" Winston tried to talk, but he was still just sitting there with his mouth hanging open and his eyes big.

"But…she, how did you…? Oh never mind, I've called you here because of…well that!" He said pointing to his mate who was just getting off the floor. Age was going to answer when he saw Hayley starting to leave.

"Um…I'll talk to you about this later, I have a friend in need right now." He said and darted out, with a very silent step Eve noticed too.

Age came out and went after Hayley. "Hayley, where are you going? I don't want you to leave." He said to her. She turned her head and smiled again.

"I don't either, but I was just spoken to by my Mom, I have to go home now." She said and continued walking away, "Bye."

"Wait, Hayley…" She turned around and anticipated his statement. "Will you go on a date with me?" He asked her, acting very shy. She walked up to him and licked his cheek.

"Of course I will, see you then." She said and walked away. Age just grinned from ear to ear, and fainted on the spot.

Keen, yes, faint hearted, also yes. So that's Hayley, Age's romance for the story. I'll explain his huge amount of awareness and quick eyes later, for now, just focus on the wolf that died from another wolf with the funny accent. It'll be very important later on. Also, the next chapter will be more about Humphrey finding Kate, but perhaps Age's senses would come in handy?