Collared
Julesmonster

Chapter 1

Justin awoke slowly, by small increments, to the sound of beeping and softly whispering voices. There was pain floating somewhere just beyond him, close enough to make him aware of its presence, but far enough away not to touch him. He was sort of glad he couldn't really feel it. It took almost all his strength just to lift his eyelids to see what was going on.

His eyelids fluttered open slowly, and he was surprised by how dim the lights in this room were. He could see soft light filtering through slatted shades and the silhouettes of two people standing beside the window talking quietly.

"Mom?" Justin croaked out in a voice he didn't recognize.

One of the shadows moved towards him. "Justin honey. Thank god."

"W-where am I?" Justin asked. "Wha- what happened?"

"You're in the hospital," Jennifer Taylor said and Justin saw the tears in her eyes fall down cheeks that were already stained by tears. "You were hurt, but you're going to be just fine now. No one will ever hurt you like that again."

"Dad?" Justin asked through lump in his throat. He somehow already knew the answer. His memory was fuzzy, but he knew that it had been Craig Taylor who had done this to him.

Jennifer couldn't look her son in the eye, so she turned her head away. "He won't hurt you again."

Justin nodded once and let the darkness carry him away once more.

BJBJBJBJBJ

"I still don't know how you can be so sure," Daphne was saying one after noon a few days later. She had been to see him at the hospital every day after school. Today's topic of conversation was the same as it had been every day this week. "You haven't even been with anyone, so how could you really know?"

Justin sighed. "When you think about sex, when you fantasize and touch yourself in bed late at night, what do you think about?"

"Justin! I'm not telling you that!" Daphne shouted in outrage. "That's way too personal! Even for you!"

Justin chuckled to see his friend so flustered. "Okay, okay. You don't have to tell me details. But I'm betting that it has something to do with some sort of equal relationship, give and take and all that shit. Maybe, in your dirtiest fantasies you take a controlling part, dominating your partner, but only as a once in a while thing. Am I right?"

Daphne scowled at him for a full minute before she relented. "Okay, fine. You're right."

"Well, when I think about sex, I'm always being dominated. Always," Justin said. "There is no testing my alpha skills or vying to be a better beta. I want to be collared and controlled and cared for. That's the only thing I want out of life besides my art."

"Alright," Daphne sighed. "I guess I can understand that. Maybe I could be your Dom?"

Justin laughed at that. "Some how I don't see that working. I love you, but you are a beta through and through."

"So?" Daphne pouted. "Some beta's have subs."

"Some," Justin agreed. "But not you. You want to be cared for as much as you want to care for someone else. Like I said, you're going to find your happy ending with another beta. That's just not me."

"Only an alpha for our little sub?" Daphne teased.

"Only the best alpha," Justin agreed wholeheartedly. "Not some wanna-be alpha."

"You'll get him too," Daphne said. "So when are they letting you out of this joint?"

"Tomorrow," Justin said with a genuine smile. "I can't wait to get some real food. You'd think I was dead and came back to life with all the tests and crap they've been running."

"Justin," Daphne scolded with a small frown. "You were unconscious for three days. And you had three broken ribs. Not to mention the fact that you weren't breathing on your own for the first two days because your lung collapsed. You did almost die."

"Yeah, well," Justin sighed, his good mood gone again. "I'm alive now. And bored."

"Tell me what's happening with your dad," Daphne asked as gently as she could. Justin hadn't wanted to talk about it before, and she hadn't felt right asking his mom.

"They've put him under observation," Justin said. "Psychological tests to see if he's gone rogue."

"Rogue?" Daphne asked. She had led a pretty sheltered life and didn't know much beyond her family and school.

"You know, when an alpha or beta gets violent and starts bashing at poor subs for no reason?" Justin said. "If he's rogue, he'll be put into a psych ward for as long as it takes to get him better. A lot of rogues never do. If he's sane and just a bigot against his son being a sub, he'll face criminal charges. Since my mother and the cops were witnesses, it's pretty sure if he goes to trial he'll go to jail for a long time."

"Either way, you'll be safe," Daphne said quietly.

"From him," Justin chuffed. "But not from all the wanna-be alphas out to show how tough they can be. The only safe sub is a collared sub. Makes me wish I was an omega."

"A switch?" Daphne said with confusion. "Why?"

"Because then I could choose!" Justin practically shouted. "Because then I wouldn't be vulnerable to all those assholes! After this everyone's going to know what I am and school's going to be hell with all those hormone driven betas sniffing around."

"Well, just because you're a sub doesn't mean you can't learn to protect yourself until you find your alpha," Daphne said with a huff.

Justin calmed down almost immediately. "You're right. Daph, you are absolutely right. As soon as these quacks let me out of here, I'm signing up for self defense lessons. I may be a sub, but that doesn't mean I have to just roll over and take whatever shit some asshole wants to dish out."

"Good," Daphne said. "I'll go with you. We'll learn together how to defend ourselves."

BJBJBJBJBJ

They had more than a month after Justin was released from the hospital before school started back in September and they used that time wisely. Every day, the two friends went to self defense classes or practiced what they were learning on each other. By the time the first day of their senior year rolled around, Justin felt a little more confident in his ability to protect himself from his peers. It wasn't that he was the only sub in school, though he might be the prettiest. Hell, if statistics held true, there were probably thirty or more out of the three hundred students who attended St. James Academy. But just because they were there didn't mean they were out yet.

Despite Craig's response to Justin telling his father he was a sub, being a sub wasn't a bad thing. Subs were normally cherished and there were laws in place to protect them from being harmed. However, being a sub in a school full of mostly alpha and beta students going through hormonal changes was not easy. It was for this reason most subs waited to declare themselves until after high school.

The comments started almost as soon as Justin walked through the front doors that first day. The wolves had smelled fresh meat and were hungry. They weren't threatening, per se, but they were explicit. Male and female, the alphas would come up behind him and whisper what they could do to him, for him. Justin wasn't interested and tried to ignore them. But that proved impossible when two or more alphas—and even a few of the more aggressive betas—would begin to fight for his attention. By the time school was finished, there had been four brawls both in the halls and in classes, and fifteen students had been caned for their inappropriate actions.

"I really hope that the punishments will start to discourage them," Mr. Brody, the school's vice principal, said. Jennifer had been called to go over the events of the day and the three of them were in his office. "Otherwise, I'm afraid we're going to have to find some way to get you through your senior year away from your peers."

"I don't want to leave school," Justin said.

"I'm sure it won't come to that," Jennifer said uncertainly. She turned to Brody. "Will it?"

"It may," he sighed. "Justin isn't the first sub to be exposed while still in school. In all the instances I have found during my research, it was very difficult to bring the other students under control. Their hormones simply override their good sense. We will do what we can to protect Justin. Starting tomorrow, Justin, you'll be taking all of your courses independently. Your instructors have agreed to give you private tutoring."

"But…!"

"But he should be safest in classes," Jennifer objected. "The damned teacher should be able to protect him!"

"Unfortunately, that wasn't the case today," Brody sighed. "Most of the teachers are betas and when an alpha, even a teen alpha, gets a bee in his bonnet, a beta will usually back down. Two of the altercations actually started in class. I'm sorry. This is the only alternative I have other than to suggest home schooling. Justin isn't our only concern. Several students, innocent bystanders, were hurt during the incidents today. We have to consider the welfare of all our students."

Jennifer looked at Justin who was beside himself with anger. He didn't want to be singled out. It wasn't fair.

"We'll try the individual classes for the time being," Jennifer sighed.

BJBJBJBJBJ

Two weeks later, Justin sat on the front stoop of the small townhouse his mother had bought after selling off their old house. He was watching the sun set while he waited for Daphne to pick him up. His father was now in prison; he received a fifty year sentence for the attempted murder of a sub—double what he would have gotten for the same crime against an alpha or another beta—and wouldn't be eligible for parole until Justin was in his sixties. The house had been sold along with Craig's business, both of which had been legally turned over to Jennifer upon his incarceration. She had since filed for divorce and was working as a real estate agent to stay busy.

Things at school hadn't gotten any better. In fact, they had gotten worse. Since he was kept out of sight for most of the day, when he was spotted by any of the other students it became a huge brawl to get his attention. He had been accosted and dragged into more bathrooms and broom closets than he could count. Though he had always been able to get away so far, he didn't think his luck could hold out forever. He'd seen some of the football players eyeing him lately and knew if one of them got their hands on him, he'd be in trouble.

Taking all of that into consideration, Justin had finally given in and told Mr. Brady he'd stay home. The school would send tutors to his home to help him complete his work. Justin wasn't happy with the arrangement, but he was going to live with it. It was only a year and then he could go to college. College was when most subs came out, because by then, most teens had better control over their hormones. And those who didn't were kept in line by those who did.

Daphne pulled up to the curb in her mom's car and waved. Justin smiled and waved back. He grabbed his overnight bag and climbed into the passenger seat.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Daphne asked even as she turned the car towards downtown. "This could be really dangerous."

"Hey I'm the best student in our self defense classes," Justin said defensively. "Besides, I just know that I'm gonna find my alpha. Maybe not tonight, but soon. And I know that Liberty Ave is where I need to be to do that."

"Well, maybe I should stay with you," Daphne offered for the tenth time. "I mean, just to protect you. I'm a beta."

"You are a petite little beta whose bite is even less effective than her bark," Justin teased. "I'll be fine. I'm sure that it isn't as bad as you seem to think. It's just where people go to party and find a mate."

Daphne eyed Justin skeptically before turning the car towards their exit. "Stay away from the drugs. You know you have no tolerance for anything. Even aspirin gets you giddy. And don't go anywhere alone with anyone. Promise me."

"I promise," Justin sighed and rolled his eyes. "No drugs and I won't go with anyone unless I trust them."

"Justin…" Daphne said in her warning tone.

"Seriously, Daph," Justin argued. "I won't go with just anyone. But part of the reason I'm down here is to find my alpha. If I do, I'm not going to just let him walk away because I made a promise to you."

Daphne sighed. "Alright fine. But only if you are absolutely positive that the guy can be trusted and you are sure he's the one. No on else."

"That I can promise," Justin said. They rolled up to the curb along the main strip of Liberty Ave and Justin unbuckled his belt. "If I haven't found him by midnight, I'll get a cab back to your house. If I find him, I'll text you."

Justin climbed out of the car and watched Daphne drive away. Somehow, he got the feeling that this night was going to change the rest of his life.