The New Adventures of Raptor Trainer

To Be a Trainer

"Alright, chow time!"

"Whoa, whoa, back up!"

"Take it easy. Jeez, there's plenty of food. You guys been eatin' sugar or something? You're hyper today."

I was running around the nursery, looking to snatch any and every morsel Alpha threw as my sisters did the same. I promised myself I'd get the most this time. I didn't want Gamma to take it all for herself, like she had last time.

Speak of the devil; we collided with one another as we went after the same piece of meat as it flew across the room. One end ended up in my mouth, the other in Gamma's.

{This one's mine, Gamma,} I snarled at her, holding steadfast onto my prize. {You go find another one.}

{I had it first, Omega! Let go!}

She shook her head wildly; something I hadn't expected her to do, and it hurt my neck when she did. But I still refused to let go.

{Gamma, let go! there's plenty on the ground!}

{No, you let go!}

She was getting mad now. I didn't know what the big deal was. There was plenty more for her to take instead of the one I had.

"Hey, you two, what's going on here?"

Alpha's voice came from above. Gamma finally let go of my meat and turned to face him, and her gaze washed over with submission when she looked into his.

"Quit stealing from your sister, Charlie," he ordered as he pointed down to another piece of meat on the ground. Gamma seemed to forget all about me and my piece, and she grabbed her own and ran away, satisfied.

"She hurt you?" Alpha questioned, running his hand down along my neck to check for injuries. "Doesn't feel like anything's wrong. You guys can get awful rough sometimes, you know...?"

He patted me on the head and stood back up, and I watched him tend to Gamma again who was now fighting with Delta over another piece of food.

{Is your neck alright?}

This time, it was Beta speaking. She had come over to make sure I wasn't hurt.

{It's fine,} I replied. It wasn't a lie; the pain had begun to subdue. Besides, I didn't want to look weak in front of her...Not now. {Why does Gamma act so mean during chow time?}

{She's always hungry. She would probably eat everything if Alpha wasn't here to stop her.}

She nudged another piece of meat on the ground toward me.

{I'm full. You can have it.}

She gave me a quick nuzzle before turning away. I never understood why Beta was so nice to me, especially after...the incident between us. I was at the bottom, and she was just below Alpha. Delta and Gamma were never nice to me; they always bullied me, and they bullied each other, too, when they got the chance.

Delta and Gamma...

What did Alpha call Gamma? "Charlie?" Odd. Me and my sisters always called her Gamma, since she ranked right below Beta in our pack. "Charlie." It didn't actually sound too bad.

But if Gam-Charlie got a special name, why didn't the rest of us?

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