Page 103 of Labor of Love

“They were the ordinary and plentiful. The unwanted. They craved a true pack, which society only recognized as a pack consisting of alpha-made bonds. Few betas ever found a packwith alphas and were therefore unable to receive the mate-bond. When they formed family groups amongst themselves, they were called mock packs. They resented omegas because alphas wanted them, and they wanted alphas. Their scents are my favorite—floral and/or herbal.”

“Excellent. Marhi—designation fluid.”

“Designation fluid was unrecognized as an official designation because they were genetically beta. However, their genetics also allowed them to exhibit traits of alphas and omegas. They could growl, though it wasn’t as potent as an alpha’s. Purr, though not as distinctly. Bark, though it was more of a surprise response than true obedience. They couldn’t produce knots or bonding bites. They could also whine like an omega, though it was at a different pitch. They did not go into heat. Their scents, though beta in foundation, could also become sweet or robust, like an alpha or omega, in response to other designations. Alphas often treated them like omegas, or as a stand-in omega.”

“Senn—theta.”

Senn sighs. “Theta is a blank canvas. Their designation genes were never ‘turned on,’ so they weren’t any designation at all. They were created in the lab by mad scientists attempting to alter the genetic code to create people with the ability to choose their own designation. It backfired, though a thetacouldreplay your scent back to you as a way of learning you.”

“Very, very good,” I comment. “You’ve learned all this far quicker than my previous classes. I’m proud of you.” Smiles greet me in response. “Second question—How many designations are there now?” Hands rise into the air, and I make a play of contemplating who I’m going to choose. “Alcub.”

He flashes me a bright smile. “There are two. And to answer the question you’re likely going to follow with, there are now breeders and breedables. No, they aren’t the same as any ofthe previous designations, though they exhibit some similar traits. Our breeders can be seen as alphas because they can both growl and purr, though they’ve lost their bark. They can bond-bite and they can knot. Their scents are similar. Our breedables are a combination of betas and omegas; arguably, the designation fluid is what took over and wiped out both beta and omega, though. They whine, and we suspect they have the same allure that an omega had. But they don’t have heats. And, of course, the biggest difference is in procreation. As their designations suggest, breeders aren’t breedable and breedables aren’t breeders. Only one conceives and one creates.”

“Overachiever,” Rinly mutters under his breath. Alcub twists to look at him, giving him a grin and a wink.

I smile. “Good. Let’s talk about population. Who knows the breakdown of designations from a thousand years ago?”

More hands. I choose someone without their hand up. “Frez.”

His eyes widen. “Wait. I know the answer. You’re just making me panic!”

The class grins. This is a common response from Frez when being called on. He knows all the answers, always, but he’s shy and doesn’t like to talk. I don’t pick on him much, but I do require him to participate in class every day.

Beside him, Marhi pats his arm. This right here is a true show of a breeder and breedable. Our breedable, Frez, is under duress. Our breeder, Marhi, innately tries to comfort him. And it works. Because that’s how we’re biologically programmed. And also, they’re good friends.

“Okay,” Frez says. “Alphas made up twenty percent of the entire world’s population, though most of them were male. Female alphas were like… three percent of the alpha population. Omegas made up three percent of the world’s population, and less than one percent of them were male. Betas made up the rest.There are no actual statistics on thetas or designation fluid since they were never recognized as official designations, though it’s guesstimated that designation fluid made up half a percent of betas when they were first noted and rose to a whopping thirty percent before the entire genetic code began rewriting itself. Thetas obviously began very small because they were created in a lab. We can argue that they ended up taking over the entire species since it’s theorized that, due to their genetic mutation being incredibly dominant, they wiped out the others. And the new species today derived from thetas.”

“Love this. Fantastic answer, Frez. Does anyone have something more to add?”

“To Frez? Nah,” Shino says.

Frez blushes, but he’s smiling all the same.

“Let’s move on to the last question, then. What is the biggest evolutionary change we see now that wasn’t present a thousand years ago?” More hands. Again, I choose someone not raising their hand. I know my class. They all know the answers. “Senn.”

Senn gives me a pout. “That boys can carry babies,” he says, flashing me a big smile.

“Correct. Expand. When did this take place?”

Senn sighs. “The first recorded male pregnancy took place five-hundred-and-thirteen years ago. Then it was like a sudden boom where males were conceiving. Scientists arestillworking out why this happened and what caused the change, but because the breedable gene is always on the female chromosome, X, and all males have an X, they suspect that it somehow got turned on, and under the right circumstances, conception took place. There’s also the fact that chromosomes cross and jump, effectively changing the formation and codes from one to the other. While we can’t actually see the moment this happened in history, since the breeding gene is now flipped to the ‘on position’ on the male Y chromosome. Having jumped fromthe X, it makes breeding males possible. It’s not easy, and it’s definitely not common, but itispossible under the right circumstances.”

My heart skips in my chest. All of this information is pertinent. It’s important that we know it. It’s part of school, and growing, and knowing what lies ahead. But knowing I’m in the small percentile that technically has the ability to breed but may not conceive leaves me feeling… well… shitty.

“Good,” I say. “Let’s talk about one more thing. We discussed how common the prior designations were. How does that translate into today’s world? Jorn.”

“Breedables are less than a fifth of the population. Male breedables are a tiny portion of that, though the number fluctuates between ten and twelve percent in any given year. The rest of the world is made up of breeders.”

“Everyone stand up,” I say, and my twenty-eight students get to their feet. I join them. “All my breeders, on the far side of the room. Breedables, join me in the front.”

The room splits, and as in any given place, there are very few breedables. Twenty-four of my students are standing opposite me, with only four at my side. “This is a very accurate representation of the world on any given day. But who can tell me why it’s not a true sample of the population?”

“We have no girls!” several yell and they fall into laughter.

“I saw a girl once,” Frez says quietly. “They’re so pretty.”

I grin, nodding. They are.

“How would the room look if there were girls mixed in?” I ask.

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