ALPHA-BOTIZE

 “A,B,C, D,E, F—”

“Stupid infomercials, stupid phonics.” Marc flicked through the channels on TV, looking for something good to watch. His arms were crossed and legs spread out as he took up all the space on the couch. He wanted to make sure it was clear how much he didn’t want to be here. But even with his unzipped red hoodie and dark blue jeans he was so much more than your average moody teenager.

Marc didn’t hate babysitting, or even his cousin Oliver for that matter. What he hated was being Voluntold by his parents to watch a family member who was frankly too old, in his opinion, to have a babysitter. Why couldn’t his aunt and uncle just hire a babysitter instead of always taking up Marc’s precious time, like he didn't have anything better to do? Or just leave him home alone? What was Oliver going to do to burn down the house while streaming on Twitch?

They were always sneaky with it too, running to Marc’s parents instead of asking him directly. How lucky they were Marc happened to be suspended for a senior prank. How was he supposed to know they had hidden cameras in the back of the chem lab? And all he got for it was covered in gunk, a concussion, and temporary ringing in his ears.

His aunt and uncle came waltzing down the stairs, all happy smiles, bags back for an extended weekend getaway. Marc grinded his teeth, scowling, knowing they could see his side profile. But they didn’t care, they didn't even really look before waving him off and heading out the door. Once they were gone for good, Marc got up, slamming his hands on the couch. Sauntering over to the fridge. He threw the top twin doors open, something his aunt and uncle would have hated. Their fridge was an irritating distillation of their entire house, neatly packed Tupperware, all labeled and stored by size. His eyes drifted to a few of the cabinets above the sink labeled with small laminated scraps of paper in alphabetical order: SPICES, TUPPERWEAR, VINEGARS. 

Rolling his eyes, he grabbed for the Tupperware filled with grapes. He was welcomed to anything in the house if he played along to their stupid house rules. Not exactly fair when he had to be there. Why did he need to know the alphabet like an Etymologist to navigate a house, let alone a freaking kitchen? He ripped a grape off the vine as if he were bored with life, strolling to the front of the house. The entire family’s shoes were stored by the door in size order. His uncle’s, his aunt’s, then Oliver’s for every pair they owned. Their bookcase, organized by the authors’ last names alphabetically. It was too damn much.

But there was a saving grace.

Marc plopped down in the family’s window reading nook in the front of the house, watching the scene across the street. The universe must have empathized with Marc and offered him a boon, for as cursed as he was to be here, he was also blessed. There was a reason his aunt and uncle had to get away more frequently these days. Did it have something to do with the collection of hot young men all living across the street in one house? Hell, yeah it did! 

Alpha Tau Zeta.

Marc could never have expected when he saw the construction of the letters being put up, a year ago, what it would mean for his future. A fraternity had moved into the block and was not warmly received. At family gatherings, his aunt and uncle would complain. The frat threw parties, drank, and more generally caused quite a raucous during the day. All the neighbors wanted them out, but police would argue the young men did technically obey the noise laws. After 10 pm their music was at reasonable levels, and before 10pm the neighbors had no basis for complaints. Marc loved that his uncle and aunt had some cosmic retribution for making his life miserable.

The best part for Marc though was seeing the frat boys always hanging out in their front yard. It was a large yard for the largest house on the block. They’d chill and talk, some would suntan, others put out hammocks. Marc’s personal favorite was when they decided to play sports, tossing frisbee’s, throwing footballs, the shirts would come off, and the abs would come out. The frat boys were in amazing shape, some bulkier, some leaner but all eye catching. And thankfully they didn’t even need to be playing sports to go shirtless; it was most of their default states. But watching those v lines in action on the sluttiest of waists, always made Marc feel like he was going to faint. Even better, there always seemed to be more brothers to learn about.

This week was a slightly different flavor: this was pledge week. Marc had watched it build to this from afar, like tuning into his favorite show, but only catching certain episodes. He remembered the rushing, and a few of the special events when he came over previous times. Sadly, he had missed a majority of the pledging rituals this week, but his aunt and uncle had certainly had enough. Enough to leave their son and make their nephew watch their house. 

Currently the pledges were all lined up in the front yard as one of the frat brothers, Grayson, shirtless walked down the line saying words, muffled by the windowpane. Marc hated to admit it but he had learned all the brother names and even came up with fake backstories in his head for them to pass the time when babysitting. Deciding to be just a bit nosey, he lifted the window to hear what Grayson was saying.

 

 

“Don’t forget, We’re Alphas. And Alphas what?”

“Don’t lose!” The pledges responded in unison.

“Alphas what?” Grayson leaned in, hand on his ear.

“Don’t lose!”

“That’s what I thought, now get out there and complete that scavenger hunt.” Grayson commanded and the young men took off running in different directions up and down the neighborhood. Marc sighed, realizing he had picked the worst possible time to listen in. Defeated, he stepped away from the window and went upstairs. He gave three knocks and heard “Come in.”  Stepping inside, Marc knew he would never understand how such a spotless room belonged to another teenager like him. Old comic books were neatly stacked on the floor, toys that hadn't been touched in years were relegated to labeled bins in the corner, abandoned instruments like the clarinet and harmonica sat nicely perched on his dresser. It felt more like a show room than one where someone actually lived and slept.

“No, don’t go that way!” Oliver shouted at his two monitors, headset on; he was locked in. He was wearing a black sweater vest over a white dress shirt, along with khaki pants: his parents’ preferred attire. Chat scrolling on one side, his game running on the other. “Idiots!” He shouted at his team members.

“What do you want for dinner, dude?” Marc asked.

“Huh?” Oliver said before lifting his headset slightly off one ear. “Can’t we just have pizza again?” he asked, not taking his eyes off the screen.

“I think your parents will actually kill me if I order pizza again.” Marc smirked, walking closer to watch Oliver’s game. 

Oliver sighed, “Yeah…they would. They’re allergic to fun things.” He pulled his headset’s microphone close to his mouth, “You guys suck, I’m hopping off.”  Oliver spun up from his chair and gave his cousin a quick hug, before walking over to his bed and collapsing. “Everything sucks, my parents, my teammates.”

“Uh? We can still hear you, man.” A voice said from the computer.

“Am I wrong?” Oliver shouted back.

Chuckling, Marc reached over and muted Oliver’s mic. “Hey, I get it your parents are a lot, but it’s not all bad.” He nodded to Oliver’s window and the Alpha Tau Zeta house across the street. He took a glance out and caught Grayson in the yard tossing a football with other brothers, brown hair kicking up in the breeze. 

“Ugh, I’m not you. What’s so cool about a frat anyway? All they do is chant day and night and make the new guys say things like ‘sigma, tau, upsilon, phi.’” Oliver lowered his voice to really try and get their jockiness across.

“Why would they say those words? I know what ‘sigma’ is but those others?” Marc asked, not taking his attention from Grayson.

“I don’t know, it's like a test they’re practicing for or something. Day in and day out. It fades into the background eventually,” Oliver grunted. “I wouldn't even care if my parents didn’t constantly ask.”

“I think dems are just the breaks of home schooling, kid.” Marc walked away from the window to offer Oliver a grape, which his cousin took with a pout.

“Why can’t we ever hang out at your house?” Oliver asked.

“Oh god,” Marc almost choked on his spit, “Your parents aren’t religious, but I’m sure they’d freak out as if you were walking into the devil’s home.” He sat on his cousin’s bed and rubbed the boy's arm as Oliver groaned into his pillow. “Hey, it’s not all bad one day you’ll be in college like those frat boys and able to do all kinds of stuff without your parents knowing.”

Oliver squinted at Marc in disbelief, “Is that supposed to make me feel better, they’re so lame.”

“How can they be lame? They’re hot!” Marc stated.

“There can be lame hot people.” Oliver retorted.

Marc playfully rolled his eyes, “I don’t believe that.”

Oliver hopped up on his bed, “There definitely are!”

Shrugging, Marc closed his eyes, “Sounds fake to me.” 

Oliver moved closer, hands on Marc’s arm shaking his cousin. “I’m telling you, it’s the truth.” 

Marc let the upper half of his body fall to the wayside of the bed, along with Oliver’s pushing. As Marc played dead Oliver hovered over him. Then, out of nowhere Marc jumped up, one arm reaching for the sky. “I have the answer: dinner tonight will be…Chinese food.” That made Oliver happy and had the added benefit of stopping Oliver’s slander of the hunks across the street. They were Marc’s only solace in these trying times. He couldn’t handle it if Oliver had something to actually say against them. 

Once downstairs, Marc put the grapes away, purposefully on the wrong shelf. His aunt and uncle could fix it later. He ordered the Chinese food before hopping back on the couch. The TV was on, but instead, he was actively looking to his right, watching the football get passed back and forth. Marc’s eyelids got heavier as he waited for his food to arrive until he was asleep. 

By the time Marc opened his eyes, it was dark outside. There was a knock at the door as he got up. He checked his phone and 2 goddamn hours later the Chinese food was here. Marc exchanged little words with the driver, pissed, but looking over the man’s shoulders, he spotted the boys of Alpha Tau Zeta in a similar formation that morning. The only difference was that fake candles were lit around them. There seemed to be a real song and dance going on over there.

“No, you got it wrong, repeat it again. When the presidents ask what will you say?” Grayson barked, more aggressively than he’d been that morning. Not wanting to creep out the delivery guy with his gazing, Marc took the food and closed the door. He strode over to the window, nook turning off the TV so he could listen back to the guys.

“Theta, Iota, Kappa, Lambda…” the voices drone on in unison, but then after ‘Lambda’ different voices fought to get various words out. Grayson wasn’t happy about it and instead of repeating themselves made them all do pushups. “You fail together; you succeed together. But when the time comes you must be able to recite it on your own. That’s the Alpha way. An Alpha does not drag his pack down but instead raises them up. Do you understand?”

“Sir, yes sir!” the pledges answered. 

Marc snickered to himself, what were werewolves or something? As hot as they were maybe there were some small lame parts about them, but then again maybe that was most frats. Standing up, food in hand, Marc headed for the stairs; Oliver was going to get a kick out of this. He knocked on the door to no answer. He stood for a minute before turning the knob and walking in “Food’s here, Finally! You’re probably starving.”  Marc froze looking ahead. Oliver was back at his computer, staring at an empty home screen. 

“Hey, time to eat. Let’s go downstairs!” Marc said, getting closer.” Oliver’s voice was mumbling words over and over. By the time Marc could see his cousin’s face he knew something was wrong. Oliver's eyes were deadlocked straight ahead, body stiff, and no amount of snapping, clapping, or even light slapping made him stop. Oliver wasn’t a jokester and Marc was finding a new reason to hate that fact. “Wake up, Oliver this isn’t funny!” he kneeled, shaking his cousin’s shoulders.

Oliver went on, “Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon, Zeta, Eta, Theta, Iota, Kappa, Lambda, Mu, Nu, Xi, Omicron, Pi, Rho, Sigma, Tau, Upsilon, Phi, Chi, Psi, Omega.” Marc’s head throbbed at the words, thinking he heard something else. The throbbing was similar to when he blacked out and got soaked in his own chem prank.

Marc paused as he recognized the actual words. It’s what the frat boys were repeating downstairs and even words Oliver said earlier: The Greek alphabet. But damn why didn't Oliver stress the important ones like Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and Omega sooner, the ones people actually knew.  Who even cared about most of the random ones in between?! Regardless, Oliver was on an endless loop, regurgitating the same words again and again. 

“Uh,” Marc looked outside at the frat still doing their punishment. “Just don’t go anywhere.” He set down the food and held his hands out cautiously as he slowly backed to the door. With one last look he ran downstairs and out the door, yelling across the street, “Hey, hey I need your help,” he waved his hand. Pledges' heads turned to look at him.

“I didn’t say stop.” Grayson commented. He turned to Marc, “How can I help you? I assure you we’re not breaking the noise laws.”

“No, not that.” Marc waved, bent over hands on his knees. “My cousin keeps repeating. That Alphabet you guys were saying earlier. Only he can’t stop.”

“What?” Grayson looked over at the house. His face pondered for a moment before saying “Can you show me?” Marc agreed and led Grayson away. 

Once back in the house, Grayson entered Oliver’s room, walking closer, squatting down, and mouthing words until his voice joined Oliver’s. As much as Marc wanted to ogle at the shirtless Grayson kneeling in the room, it was hard not to think Grayson was putting himself in the same predicament as Oliver. Grayson and Oliver’s voice fell into a pattern, matching each other. Their voices began to flow, timing exactly the same, no seconds wasted. Marc began to feel woozy listening to it as if the room was off kilter. There was a moment, their voices melded into one. Not a combination of voices, but a new voice, deeper than either Grayson’s or Oliver’s. It spoke with clarity.

“Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon, Zeta, Eta, Theta, Iota, Kappa, Lambda, Mu, Nu, Xi, Omicron, Pi, Rho, Sigma, Tau, Upsilon, Phi, Chi, Psi, Omega.”

Eventually, Grayson stopped speaking and let Oliver continue. The single voice was no longer as strong, but still way too deep to belong to Oliver’s vocal cords. Oliver’s mouth was moving but it looked like he was being dubbed in real time. 

The world became weightless for Marc as Oliver spoke. “Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon, Zeta, Eta, …. Phi, Chi, Psi, Omega.” Marc’s mind glitched in the middle, skipped straight to the end for no discernible reason. And once again, there was something else he’d heard, that wasn’t the words they were saying and conveyed so much more, but Marc couldn’t quite pick at it.

Grayson joined Oliver one last time and as they spoke, Oliver’s voice lightened until it was his own. Marc tried to focus on listening and hone in on what he heard. A snap of Grayson’s fingers after ‘Omega’ and Oliver blinked. He looked around at Marc and Grayson. But before either cousin could say anything, Grayson put a finger on Oliver’s chest. “You got an Alpha inside you. You are an Alpha. Like me.” He smirked.

Oliver winced, “Like those guys?”  He could hear complaining about pushups from down on the street.

“Pfft!” Grayson snorted. “That’s mostly for show, our brothers don’t often come to us, we gotta find them. Some alphas are born; others are…made.” Grayson nodded his head from side to side on the last word. “But the best, are a bit of both.”

“And that’s me?” Oliver asked.

“That can be you.” Grayson answered. “You should think about joining us.”

Grayson’s ass was right there looking firm as a peach, but Marc’s head was throbbing. What had he heard when they were repeating the alphabet? Also, this guy wasn’t making a lot of sense. How in the world could Oliver join them? He didn’t even go to their college. “Hey, thanks…. for your help…and all, but I think it’s time for you to go.” Marc's words struggled to leave his mouth. He had to hold onto the dresser to prevent himself from falling over. 

Standing up, Grayson turned to face Marc, a blank expression on his face. Words were exchanged between both of them, but Marc couldn’t process what was being said. While Grayson was talking, Marc’s eyes landed on his pecs. They were bouncing a bit, but the more they talked, the more active Grayson’s chest got. Grayson talked on as if he was completely unaware, while the world and the room unraveled and came apart for Marc. His body hit the floor. He was out cold.

A hint of a scent drifted in his nose, triggering a memory. There was the sensation of being pulled at light speed towards a foreign destination not through space, but time. Marc was suddenly sitting at a desk, his old teacher walking around. “A, B, C, stay with me, E, F, G.” A memory from kindergarten, how odd. His teacher kept clapping the tempo. The memory dissolved.

Marc's eyes snapped open as he shot up from Oliver’s bed, Oliver nowhere to be found. Haggard, Marc stumbled out of the bed and went to the stairs, holding onto the banister as he went down. He could hear the TV playing and, sure enough, Oliver was curled up on the couch eating canned peach slices from the can stored in Tupperware. His cousin had on a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt. Marc was used to his cousin dressing down when it was just them two, but he didn’t even know Oliver owned jeans.

“What happened last night? After I passed out, that is?”, Marc walked in rubbing his head

Oliver looked up at him and smiled, “You’re awake!” He set down the peaches and turned to face Marc. “Grayson, lifted you off the floor and put you in my bed.” Marc squeezed his eyes, groaning, “He had been in Grayson’s arms, and didn't even get to enjoy it?! Oliver went on, “he also said I should become an Alpha brother.”

There was a loud whistle from outside as Alpha Tau Zeta came jogging up the street. Or rather one of the brothers, Hector, was leading sweating fumbling pledges, all shirtless, while he dribbled a miniature basketball flawlessly in step. He was undoubtedly showing off to the underclassmen... Marc’s tongue rolled around his mouth. Those Alphas were really just built differently, such a disparity of bodies between Hector and the pledges. Hector was a Latinx, 6’2 god with the darkest tuft of hair that flopped in the front with every step, flowing down into his beard, framing his face with the perfect masculine—

“What?”  Marc said, realizing he had zoned out. “No, that can't be right. Why would he say that? That's stupid.”

“It’s not stupid!” Oliver stood up on the couch, Marc leaned back not expecting the aggressiveness. Normally, what would have led to simple teasing had genuinely angered Oliver, “Being an Alpha is serious.” 

Marc's eyes scanned Oliver, for some reason his cousin felt taller. “Okay, come down, but you have to admit last night was strange.”

Rolling his eyes, Oliver flopped down and grabbed his peaches munching, silently. 

“What, are we not going to talk about it?” Marc asked. Oliver shrugged, no answer. “Whatever,” Marc turned away to go take a shower. By the time he came back, Oliver was gone. The TV was still playing, but the peaches were gone. Marc looked around the house for him, but Oliver had dipped. Walking back downstairs, Marc went over to the bookshelf. If Oliver didn’t want to be found, Marc wouldn’t try. 

Scanning the books, Marc took a finger and swiped across their spines under the author’s names, “Alpha, Beta…” Marc stopped himself. He had meant to say “A, B” but the Alpha's words had come up instead. He groaned. He still had last night on the brain. Of course, he did it was freaking weird and Oliver didn’t want to talk about it at all? The same cousin who once prattled off about the original banana dying in the 1950’s, leading to the taste discrepancy between artificial banana flavor and bananas today? Even Weirder.

Well damn, if the frat was going to play mind games the least they could do was put on a good show for Marc. He slipped a book out of the line up and went to his favorite reading nook, for Alpha watching. Today was a good one. After that run, the frat had brought out four pull-up bars to test the pledges upper strength. Now the pledges themselves weren’t much to look at, but the Alpha’s standing on the side? Good enough for Marc. He didn't know how many the pledges were tasked to do, but the brothers were yelling for them to continue. As one set of pledges switched out, Marc’s mouth dropped when he saw Oliver lining up to do the next set. Before he could do anything, charging from his peripheral vision towards the house was Mr. Galtieri. 

Mr. Galtieri was another neighbor on the block. He was a mid-50’s portly man, who had a way of making even the briefest of greetings long winded. Marc did his best to avoid him when taking out the trash lest he have an hour of his life down the drain. But today was not the friendly older fellow Marc had come to know. It was a charging bull, yelling all kinds of things. It went on for a good 2 mins. Marc sly lifted the window to listen in on what exactly the man was yelling. 

“I can stand a lot but hazing on my block?! Unacceptable. The constant yelling at these poor young men.” Mr. Galtieri pointed at the freshman but stopped when he saw Oliver. “And now you're roping your neighbors into it? Oliver, go home.”

Hector raised his hands up, as if not wanting a confrontation, “Whoa, ese. This hardly counts as hazing. If they can’t hack it, they’re just not Alphas.”

“Also, our neighbor over here asked to join us. He was bored and we had a spot to spare. No harm done.” Grayson added in such a relaxed way, it was laced in condescension.

“No harm, done? For days you Alphas have been dragging these boys through the streets with your runs, and standing on your lawn yelling ‘Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon, Zeta, Eta, Theta, Iota, Kappa, Lambda, Mu, Nu, Xi, Omicron, Pi, Rho, Sigma, Tau, Upsilon, Phi, Chi, Psi, Omega’ stop asking them to get it, they’re never going to get it.” Mr. Galtieri exclaimed. 

Hector and Grayson exchanged looks with each other, something Marc couldn’t decipher. But damn he wished they would’ve kissed each other at that moment. Might have broken the tension. Instead, it only got heightened when Marc heard that rich silky voice break in.

“What’s going on here?” Skylar, one of the co-presidents of the frat, stood at the open front door. The only things he had on were jeans and a beaded shark tooth necklace. Marc almost passed out right there. No shirt, no shoes, but he was giving all the service. Blonde hair, blue eyes, Skylar looked like a jockier version of a surfer from a 90’s move. His chest was sitting two mounds of muscle, with the necklace nuzzled between. 
 

 

 

“Sky,” Hector said, grabbing his president’s attention, then nodded at Mr. Galtieri.

“I see...” The words rolled off Skylar's tongue tantalizingly slow, as if the frat boy himself were tasting them. He strode forward, his entire body in tune with his march, arms striding powerfully, accompanied by heavy footsteps down their walkway. “So, Mr. Galtieri, right?” His voice was casual and open, but not in the faux way Grayson had used. There was something that rang a bit truer in his presentation of friendliness. “Would you mind repeating the Greek alphabet for our pledges here? They could really learn something.” He slid behind the older man putting an arm on his back as presented him to the pledges.

Once again, Mr. Galtieri rattled off the words, though Marc wasn’t sure why. The man had just been yelling and now was complying. But the second time around Marc heard what sounded like another voice under the man’s words. As Mr. Galtieri reached ‘Omega’, Sky removed his necklace, holding the beads in his left hand as the tooth dangled in Mr. Galtieri’s face. “Again.” Sky said and Mr. Galtieri went back to the start. When the man ended that set, Sky roared “Again!”, as his necklace swung like a pendulum. A weird sight on its own but Marc’s eyes drifted to the pledges and Oliver who were standing there silently. Meanwhile, Grayson and Hector were leaning into each other, chuckling and pointing at Mr. Galtieri. Naturally, Marc’s eyes went back to Mr. Galtieri and he got a shock. Fat was burning off of Mr. Galtieri’s body at an impossible rate, the big belly he often carted around deflated in a second. And while it was hard to notice at first Marc certainly realized when Mr. Galtieri’s hair was suddenly all completely dark brown and healthy.

“Why don't you show the pledges, how it’s done?” Skylar pointed to the pull up bars. Mr. Galtieri or whoever had been Mr. Galtieri, walked himself over, clothes sagging on his body, jumped and grappled the bar. It was the first time Marc could see Mr. Galtieri’s face head on and now there was a sexier version of Mr. Galtieri looking back. A jolt ran through Marc when he saw the new Mr. Galtieri, and the teen fell off the reading nook, ass on the floor. He sat on the floor, not wanting to get up and confirm what he saw. Worst of all, how come no one else out there reacted to it?  Even Oliver stood like a statue, not reacting the slightest to it. 

Gathering his thoughts, and his courage, Marc stood back up, just in time to see Mr. Galtieri hop off the bar and be led inside the frat house by Grayson and Hector.  Skylar watched them go, then clapped, as the pledges appeared to come to. Before the nonsense could continue Marc ran out the door, headed to retrieve Oliver. “Oliver, come on, it's time to go.”  He said. Skylar turned to look at him, and those eyes were so blue, Marc almost stopped running. Almost. And he couldn't help that his eyes went lower. His mind begged him to shove Skylar up against a tree and plow him. But that was horny brain thinking and not the ‘WTF just happened here’ brain.

Skylar planted himself in front of Marc and Oliver’s path home. “Don’t you want to see how Oliver does?” His calm tone carried a tempting whimper. “He might work up a sweat like me.” Skylar raised his arm and Marc’s feet carried him forward. Marc pressed his nose into Skylar's pits. There was no B.O. Skylar smelled like sea salt and the beach, a warm summer afternoon. Marc got lost in it as his mind drifted to those crashing waves. 

Marc came to, standing in his aunt and uncle’s kitchen, over a boiling pot. “What was I looking for?” He opened a cabinet, “Sigma, Tau” Then shook his head, “Sea Salt.” He remembered he was in the middle of making spaghetti and wanted to add sea salt to the noodles' water. He took his finger and raced it along the cabinet labels. The front door opened as Oliver stepped in, caked in sweat, a sunset-sky behind him. Marc stared at him, “You got taller.”

“I don’t think so.” Oliver closed the door. His khaki shorts were riding up to his mid-thigh, and he had on an oversized tank top, clinging to his skin, showing burgeoning muscle beneath. Where Marc’s studious younger cousin once stood was a much wilder looking teen. Oliver’s carefully brushed hair was matted with sweat, strands flying every which way. The boy’s cooped-up pale gaming skin had seemingly lost its sun-sensitivity and taken on a healthy tan shade.

“That wasn’t a question,” Marc scratched his head, partly to confused as to why he wouldn’t let him go. The smell of sea salt boiling in the pot grew stronger. Marc felt compelled to finish cooking, but he wasn’t done talking. Especially not after Oliver ignored him and strolled to the couch, hopping over the spine like a heathen. Oliver’s parents would kill them both if shoe marks got on there.

Flicking off the stove light, Marc charged into the living room and snatched the remote from Oliver’s hands. 

“Hey!” Oliver cried.

“Where were you before now?” Marc asked. 

“With the Alphas.” Oliver gave a divisive snort, as if the answer should have been obvious.

“Is that where you got that outfit?” Used the remote to point up and down Oliver’s body.

“My shirt ripped while doing pushups, and one of the brothers gave me one of theirs. No big deal.” He leaned his arm over the spine, legs spread apart, sitting like a cocky little shit. 

Marc dragged a hand over his face, tempering his response. “Dude I’m pretty sure your parents curate your wardrobe, you think they won't notice. They’ll see that and think I gave it to you.”

“As if you could wear something this cool, you’re not even swole.”  Oliver flexed the arm at his side and surprisingly there was a hill of muscle that inched higher the longer he stayed flexed. However, Oliver wasn't exactly filling the shirt out either. The damn thing looked like property of one of the beefy guys in the frat. Oliver saw that Marc was not impressed, “Why are you even riding my ass? Skylar said you’d be cool now and wouldn't care.”

Marc’s left hand slammed over Oliver’s mouth, eyes darting around the room. The chances his aunt and uncle had the place bugged were too high. He could imagine them, the nuts that they were, having trigger alarms for curse words. He breathed a sigh of relief when nothing went off. Oliver, annoyed, removed Marc’s hand. By then Marc had actually processed the words Oliver said. “Wait, what did Skylar say?”

Oliver let out a grunt, sat forward and dragged his hands on his face, “Nothing.” He got up and went upstairs. Marc had no idea when Oliver became such a brat, but turning his head towards the frat house he had a pretty idea why. Staring out, he saw two guys sitting on the porch steps, sharing beers illuminated by the porch lights. Marc leaned closer; he had made a habit of remembering every brother in the frat. A good pastime in this boring neighborhood.  And while Marc knew Asad, from any angle, he had no idea who the newest shirtless white dude with the hairy burly chest was. Good view though. As he went to turn away, his mind pinged with an image of Mr. Galtieri from that afternoon. There was no fucking way, right? Marc let it go from the sheer absurdity of it. But now he had a new hot guy to add to the roster. So, it really was a win for him anyway.

When dinner was done, he called for Oliver. His cousin came jogging down the steps with nothing but a towel around his waist, having freshly showered. Marc stared at him in disbelief from the dinner table as Oliver walked very collectedly–no it was more than that. Oliver was strutting around, hips swaying, as he whistled a tune. His loud footsteps slapped onto the kitchen floor. He loaded his plate with lots of noodles and extra meat sauce, then headed to the couch.

“Aht, Aht! Sit here.” Marc pointed at the chair across from him at the table. It was like Oliver completely forgot how annoying his parents were about everything. And for some reason decided now was his chance to have a modicum of rebellion when Marc was stuck with him. 

Oliver turned on his heels, plate in one hand, a smug smile on his face, as if he’d almost gotten away with it. He walked to the table and plopped down, his ass colliding with the seat with a strong force. Marc was surprised to hear the thud, having not expected the landing body weight. The more he stared though the thicker Oliver looked. As in, Oliver actually had water droplets, dripping off his pecs. Pecs! When did that chest come in? Then the bulked arms that sat down Oliver’s plate. 

“Where are your clothes?” Marc asked. In truth, he didn’t give a shit what Oliver wore, dress code wasn’t in his job description but paired with Oliver’s behavior it was concerning. 

“Alphas, don’t wear clothes, when they don’t want to.” Oliver stated, digging into his spaghetti.

Marc scoffed, If that were the case he should have seen a lot more dicks and asses, or at the very least naked mud wrestling. Lord knows those Alpha boys were screaming to be undressed with more than Marc’s eyes. Marc watched Oliver devour the food on his plate shoving it into his mouth and down his throat. For a boy who normally ate like a mouse he was packing it away like a rat. The food didn’t even seem to hit his gut, but Marc would have sworn his pecs had doubled in size. Oliver stood up from the table, taller than we he sat down and Marc clocked that shit. But he wasn’t going to be gaslit this time. Oliver came back with his next plate and kept stealing glances at Marc while he whistled that dumb tune again.

Homing in on the cadence, and intentional pattern, Marc realized it wasn’t from one of Oliver’s games. It was the same way the Alphas chanted that stupid alphabet. The thought only popped in his mind because he recalled how his old teacher clapped the ABC’s. There was a pattern for the Alpha’s too. Marc’s head got a bit woozy as he gripped the table, and Oliver kept going. An annoying buzz was in Marc’s head, attempting to make the world fade away. And suddenly Marc remembered the sensations from Grayson and Skylar. However, Oliver's attempt was too weak, like a gentle breeze trying to affect where a storm had plowed through. Marc closed his eyes, feeling the world sow back together for him. He kept them closed, listening to the tune, taking it in. Then he heard it, even without words; a message that was communicated as clear as day to him now. Not the Greek alphabet, but the words underneath that promised more. Marc honed in on what he heard repeating it back, but what left his mouth was, “Upsilon, Phi, Chi, Psi, Omega,” as he matched up with Oliver’s whistling. Oliver hitched for a second, but started right at the beginning, this time speaking the words.

Marc opened his eyes and found Oliver matching his pace. Oliver’s forehead was sweating fiercely, face scrunched. In their words the message was clear to Marc: DOMINANCE, POWER, SUPERIORITY. They were questions and a promise. Alphas seeking, Alphas wanting, Alphas transforming, Alphas becoming. They sought their brothers and others like them. The reverse existed as well, demanding all others who could not hear the true cry fall in line.

But even though Oliver was saying the words, he didn’t seem to be connecting with them how Marc had. Not even Grayson, nor Skylar seemed to truly get what they were doing. Grayson’s tits, Skylar’s smell, Oliver's whistling. Marc’s mind raced. They hadn’t spoken the words because they didn’t always need to. Every Alpha was an embodiment of it. It was in their blood, their pecs, their faces, legs, their asses, and no doubt their cocks. Had the phrase become so embedded into the Alpha’s Fraternity’s being, they didn’t even recognize it? Even though they were performing it in multiple ways. When Skylar swung that necklace, Marc could hear it, buried, cutting through the wind, but it was there. 

So, Marc tried something, instead of Alpha’s message baked into the words, he pushed something new. His mouth spoke the Greek alphabet, but Marc’s mind was on Oliver behaving and not being a pain in his ass. “Omega.” They said in unison. Oliver didn’t move. Marc snapped his fingers like Grayson had done that first night. Oliver woke up and resumed eating. No more annoyed or smug signs of body language. He got up normally, washed his plate, thanked Marc and disappeared upstairs. Marc walked to the bottom of the stairs listening to Oliver talking to friends, over discord. 

There was no way in hell he did that right? He turned his head out to the Alpha Tau Zeta frat house. Could he really get in tune to their secret phrase thanks to a botched chemistry prank? Was it from the chemical reaction or the brain injury, both, did it even matter? He continued eating, finishing his first plate, thinking. When Grayson and Skylar whammied him he’d gotten the transmission: SUBMIT. That led to him sleeping and back in the house. So, it wasn’t like he was immune to it, but its effects seemed limited. He didn’t think he was supposed to be able to break from their phrase or notice things like Oliver’s and Mr. Galtieri’s changes. And with that in mind the frat was able to change people at will and could apparently do it over time, or in the moment. Did they get a kick out of it? Or was it like washing their hands; a natural occurrence, they didn’t think twice about. A body shiver travelled through Marc.

The next morning, Marc walked from the guest room, yawning, to his cousin’s room. He scratched his stomach, as he gave a quick knock, opening the door, “Hey yo, it’s time to get—

Oliver was asleep in bed, face down, head turned to the side of his pillow. His body was bulkier than last night, another 20 pounds having snuck onto him, back filling up the mattress. Marc however was rendered speechless, by the massive bubble ass staring back at him. Oliver’s covers had been pulled down to his knees, and he was completely naked. All skin from Marc’s view. Marc walked backwards, closing the door. His cock tented his pajama shorts. He couldn’t fucking believe it; the first Alpha he’d seen naked and it was his cousin in the process of becoming one. The universe didn’t just have cosmic retribution; it had a sense of humor.

Though that did leave a horny question in Marc’s mind as he walked away. If that’s what an Alpha in process looked like, what did the actual Alpha’s asses look like. And what were they packing in the front? Now maybe that wasn't the proper thing to think, but what else did he have for entertainment in this suburb? There was no way watching TV or reading a book was more compelling than this.

Perhaps a little too overconfident, Marc stepped outside, with some morning hot chocolate in his hand drinking it up. “Ah!” He took a sip gazing directly across the street, no shame. He knew the frat’s game now. In fact, he knew it more than they did. Those Alphas thought they said a phrase, wiggled their fingers, etc. and stuff happened, but Mark knew the intricacies of what they were really doing. Almost like he was dissecting a superpower. There was currently only one frat brother outside. Lean body, shooting hoops as it stopped letting the basketball bounce and roll away. The Alpha brother turned. But Marc already knew it was Trey, the other Co-president of the frat. Smooth black skin, a body chiseled from stone, and a face card that never declined.

 

 

Trey gave a wave, and Marc waved back. As an Alpha he didn't seem to mind being watched and resumed his single game. Marc, however, had to step back into the house. He admitted to himself he overstepped because for a second, he could have sworn the way Trey looked at him was like an Apex predator sensing prey. But then Trey’s face was harmless and disinterested as if realizing it was just the dude across the street. Still though, Marc had gotten rocked. He may have known some things, but false Bravado was not it. The reading nook was the safe spot for him.

Around 10 am, Marc heard the thumping of his cousin upstairs, drawers shuffling about. Marc was currently crouched down by the front door randomizing his aunt’s and uncle’s shoes. “Psi, Omega.” He finished placing down the last shoe and blinked. Why had he said that dumb phrase? His eyes scanned the brand names. He had placed them in Alphabetical order. He slapped his forehead. “Fucking hell.” A large thud shook the house, from Oliver’s room. Marc raced upstairs. Throwing Oliver’s door open, Marc found his cousin floundering on the ground, legs kicking as he tried to pull up Khaki pants.

Marc leaned on the doorframe, crossing his arms, “What are you doing? Is this what homeschool kids do for fun?”

“None of my clothes fit!” Oliver stated as it was shocking information. “And the Alphas are playing tackle football.”

“What? How do you know that?” Marc scoffed.

“Grayson texted me.” He pointed at his phone, sitting near his computer.

“You got his number?” Marc strolled over in disbelief, picking up the phone, “Why didn’t you tell me?” He unlocked it, scrolling through a text message chat of memes between not only Grayson but other brothers too. They called it the Alpha Chat. “This is so unfair.” he kept scrolling up, the Alphas were even sharing body photos. Marc flicked the phone onto the desk. He’d get their numbers himself.  

By now Oliver was sitting on the bed, pants at his thighs, trying to put on a shirt. The purple polo had managed to somehow go over his head and neck without tearing but refused to slide down past his chest. Those knockers were not having it, sitting out proudly and bodacious. It was like an even sluttier crop top. “Gah!” Oliver ripped the shirt in half and yanked his pants off, going for a pair of shorts in his closet. The new clothes did make it past his thighs, but his ass was not cooperating. Too much junk in the trunk.” Grrnnh help please!” Oliver begged. Marc wondered if this was the nonsense the Alphas got up to in their house. He did try to help though, grabbing the pants at the waist as Oliver jumped up and down. Marc’s eyes were drawn to the ass bobbing up and down. He sensed the Alpha’s chant in this movement. Intentionally or not, it was trying to lull Marc. But Marc could finally hear the real words under it: SUBMIT, BE DOMINATED.  He wasn’t interested. Perhaps it was a combination of Oliver not meaning to do it and one understanding the Alpha’s power made it less effective? Not ineffective, part of Marc was curious to drop to his knees and dive into the globes. Just hearing the words meant for people like Marc, non-Alpha’s, ‘SUBMIT, BE DOMINATED’ out right was less appealing than being unknowingly conscripted by a Greek alphabet chant. It was one thing for the brothers to use it on you, but to willfully let it happen? Not in Marc’s world.

Oliver’s ass defeated its greatest enemy by slipping inside, then ripping out the back, cheeks barreling out. The end of those shorts, “What’s going on?! I don’t have time for this.” He ran downstairs with Marc behind him. Once downstairs, he tried to put his shoes on, but his feet weren’t having it. They had outsized the shoes by far, the attempt was comical for its pure absurdity. 

Voices came from outside; The Alphas were picking teams of pledges. 

“Forget this!” Oliver stormed outside, ass in the wind, feet on the concrete sidewalk, marching to the Alpha frat. Marc sighed, locking up and heading behind him. As they approached, Marc spotted Grayson, Skylar, Hector, and Trey.  They were divided into two teams respectively, the pathway up to their house serving as the dividing line, while the larger half of their front lawn served as where their team congregated. 

“My man!” Hector said, giving Oliver a high five and chest bump. “Knew you wouldn’t miss this.” He gave Oliver a once over. “Let’s get you some usable clothes though!”  He made a nod to Grayson as the young men took off disappearing into the house, yet again. Marc wanted to follow, but the two frat presidents cut off his path, like knights. 

“I thought I sent you home.” Skylar's chin rested in his hand as he contemplated Marc’s appearance. “How are you back?”

Marc shrugged,” It's a new day. I didn’t think it was that big of a deal.”

“Hmmm.” Trey’s voice pondered, “Typically when an Alpha gives a command it’s not something that can be ignored.”

“Command? I thought it was more of a suggestion.” Marc said.

“Maybe you’re losing your touch.” Trey smirked at Skylar.

“As if,” The blond boy rolled his eyes before landing back on Marc. “Just help em out with this one, yeah.” Skylar and Trey moved in unison toward Marc, bodies up on him, sealing the distance. They raised their arms trying to bury Marc in their pits, and skin. Marc’s face got rubbed all over as the smell of sea salt and the beach hit his nose. This time it was aided by the scent of blacktop, memories of playgrounds, summer heat, playing on abandoned streets, ice cream on the sidewalk, distilled fun. However, now Marc could tell the message by racking his senses.  “Alpha, Beta, Gamma…” he whispered to himself, unable to compete with the president's overwhelming presence but if he could just nudge them.  He whispered the entire alphabet and because they had huddled him only those three heard. Skylar and Trey pulled away.

“Alright little dude you can stay, but don’t get in our way. Stay on the porch.” Trey stated.

“And don’t go in the house.” Skylar added as Marc scooted past them.

Marc held his breath until he was sitting on a porch chair, surrounded by workout equipment the young men had just dropped when they weren’t using it. The presidents had returned to diving up the pledges. He unclenched his butt once he sat down. They had wanted him to go home and leave the frat alone, but when Marc chanted back, he knew ‘NO’ wouldn’t work. He had to convince them he wasn’t important enough to send home and could stay. They hadn’t even noticed it was an act of Mark’s own word: DEFIANCE.

2 hours in, the afternoon sun blazed while Marc sat comfortably shaded by the porch, feet resting hiked up on the banister. The pledges played a tough game. Instead of whatever footballers screamed, these dudes were fixated on that damn Greek Alphabet. A set of three words each time. Oliver, who Marc had never seen pick up a ball in his damn life, was playing like a pro, adding a spin to the soaring football. What the pledges didn't notice is that some of them were getting thicker and more ripped. The ones destined to be Alphas. They bend over and Marc would just see how much ass they were packing. Like some of them were trying to get away with robbing a bakery they had so much cake. Shirts came off and chests meatier than a steak dinner came into view. The unlucky ones were just fortunate not to be squashed into paste. 

“Having a nice day?” Eric came walking out the house. Marc’s heart melted, he hadn’t seen this beautiful face in a bit. He definitely remembered when he saw the tall Asian walking out the frat house with his thunder thighs in skimpy shorts. 

“It’s… okay.” Marc stated like he wasn’t openly lusting over the pledges in a manner similar to watching bread rise in the oven.

“Is that so? Your pants say differently.” Eric grabbed some of the workout equipment on the porch, after easily calling out Marc's throbbing erection. “But it’s all good, Alpha's love attention.” He cooed teasingly.

A thought crossed Marc’s mind; he turned to Eric and whispered the Greek alphabet. Eric got a strange look on his face as he caught Marc repeating their mantra.

The look didn't last long, as the message was received. Eric pulled off his shirt and continued working out in front of Marc. Reaching over, Marc pressed a finger into the dude’s abs then pulled away quickly as if he expected to be burned. But it was just regular hot guy’s skin and muscles. Sadly, Marc didn’t get much time to enjoy it as he noticed one of the changing pledges was getting into a fight with Oliver.

“Alphas am I right?” Eric chuckled. 

Marc hopped up, no one was allowed to bully his cousin. A small huddle formed, Marc pushed past through them squished by hard Alpha bodies, but not in the fun way he dreamed of. When he got to the center, the pledges booed him Skylar and Trey weren’t even watching. Oliver was rolling around on the ground; It should have been insane the pledge and he were the same size. Their limbs were entangled but the pledge managed to get on to and free an arm. Marc could already see what was coming, he ran towards the two just as the pledge drew his arm back. Marc was out cold. He had a quick sharp of pain and one last intrusive thought:

Why didn’t I just do the damn mantra?

When Marc woke up, he thought he was in heaven or on his way there, surrounded by four gorgeous men. He knew them all Aarav, Ravi, Kalpanath, and Pandu. The one give away that it wasn’t the afterlife was the rest of the frat missing. Not to mention there was a ceiling and not a glorious light or whatever people ramble on about. More importantly they should have been mid-orgy in his mind. Half out of it, Marc recited the mantra and off came the boy shirts as they began flexing for him.

 

“What are you guys doing?” Trey asked, stepping between the group, ice pack, in hand. Skylar strolled in behind him, as both their faces started to scowl.

“Just showing off for our guests!” Kalpanath said probably seconds from pulling down his red sweats. 

“Alphas don’t put on shows for free, we make people beg and plead to see and even then, we still don’t give it to them, unless we want to.” Skylar said, resting an arm on Trey. Marc was starting to realize quickly this was not a dream. The co-presidents were getting quite upset and their brother's callousness was not appreciated. The air in the room was turning hostile against him. 

“What did you do to them?” Skylar asked.

“Huh?” Marc squeaked, backing up on the couch.

“I’m not stupid, both Grayson and I tried to get rid of you.” Skylar walked towards Marc as Trey stepped off to the side. “I even told Oliver how to get you off his ass but here you are. And now Alphas are stripping for you. You’re NOT an Alpha.”  Skylar leaned over and threw his arms out on the sofa, caging Marc in. Skylar pressed his body closer and the beach smell was still there. Marc took a whiff despite being threatened. “So, what makes you so special?”  Skylar finished.  The frat’s co-president’s pink lips hovered inches from Marc’s face. Oh, how Marc wished for any other reason he could be in that position so close to Skylar.

Trey came and stood above Marc, one hand behind his back. “Doesn’t matter, we get hard cases too, just means we gotta go harder.” Marc looked up from the arm of the couch, and Trey’s bulge was very close to his face. A pair of shorts and underwear were all that were keeping Marc from nudging his face forward. Well, that and whatever the Alphas had planned for him. And for as much as he wished for it to be two-way, the universe wasn’t that generous. Trey popped out a hat and forced it backwards on Marc’s head.

“Best for people like you to just be Alpha’s,” Skylar smiled smugly, before pulling away.

Marc’s brain was under assault. The goddamn hat had the same effects as everything else the frat did, but much more intense. But this was worse. While the Alphas were typically searching for others, the hat was a call to action. Marc could hear the Greek alphabet running in his brain and underneath it all: DOMINANCE, POWER, SUPERIORITY. This was not a question of bringing out what was inside of him but rather placing it there. Marc's brain got flooded and it felt like gasoline filling him up and flowing down into his body. A spark of change flickered and Marc ignited. He began to sweat profusely. His chest billowed higher and greater as his spine travelled down the couch. Limbs on fire, his arms and legs shot out as he bucked larger and wider. 

Across his body clothes were tearing and forced apart by rising muscles. Marc’s thighs drummed with strength, rocketed straight from his glutes, and flowed into his calves before erupting into his feet. The material of Marc's shoes was forced apart as his feet emerged, climbing in size. Burning shoulders reforged themselves, denser, back broader, more equipped for generating power. Next, Marc got his true Alpha mark by getting branded with abs that formed grooves in his mid-section. Marc roared with pleasure, not realizing how far his voice had fallen. Facial hair crawled along, defining his jawline as it met the new mustache resting above his lips. His hands slammed down gripping the couch, rough and athletic, equipped for grappling men and the balls they tossed at him. 

Lastly, there was Marc’s cock. It drummed on the inside of his shredded pants like a battering ram, the throbs getting thicker and longer as it morphed into a massive missile. With a weapon like that there was only one thing left for it to do: explode. Marc nutted harder than he ever had in his life before. Like a true Alpha his jizz soaked his pants, the wet spot growing larger. His body collapsed, spent.

The transformation was not over, as Marc’s mind began to fade, his pants grew loose. The material bleached to white as his shoes began restructuring around his feet. His nipples poked through his shirt, like tiny mountains before his torso split it for good, releasing his upper body to the world. This was a much more thorough and aggressive Alpha process than the subtle ones influencing Oliver and the pledges. The Geek alphabet continued to play in his head, “Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta….” A chorus of unspoken deep male voices resonated, “...Lambda, Mu, Nu, Xi…” but by now Marc knew their tune, “...Phi, Chi, Psi, Omega.” Marc drifted off the chanting never ending seeing through it all.

Later, Marc woke up to the chanting in his ears. He opened his eyes, finding himself in a different room. Touching his ears, he was met with hard plastic, his head was sporting headphones. He pulled them down and the world didn’t quiet. If anything, it sounded like a party was going on. Head turning, it looked like the party had been through here while he slept. But he could tell he was still himself.

A smile crossed his lips as he sat up. He did more than just look over his body, his hands travelled all over. He didn’t have to look at the Alpha’s anymore; he was one, physically anyway. That said, looking at other Alphas would still be worth it. But then reality gave him a hard smack in the head. He hadn’t seen Oliver since before he first passed out. Walking over to a window, he saw the sun was long gone. It was well into the night.

There was a pounding at the door, “Bro get your dumbasses up it's time for the initiation ceremony.” Marc listened as the footstep and pounding travelled down the hall repeating the same line. Doors opened, and Marc heard males grumbling, complaining, shooting the shit as they charged to the stairs. When it quieted down, Marc opened his door and stuck his head out. No one was by the steps as he stepped out of the room. He turned back down the hall and almost screamed. Standing there was a face Marc had seen, but never so young and never shirtless. Well, that wasn’t quite true. Something over the torso. An open blue and white letterman jacket adorned Mr. Galtieri, hairy torso, Fur covered tits on display. Despite aging down, he looked like a super senior or was perhaps just too genetically gifted to visually resemble a lot of the other brother’s, rocking a full beard.

“Mr. Galtieri?”

 

The Alpha brother snickered, “Mr. Galtieri? Nah, my bros call me Enzo.” He strutted up Marc.  The man’s pants were unzipped, and he didn't have any underwear on either. Marc was sure normally he’d be weak in the knees, but thankfully his new body’s legs were made of tougher stuff. Still though, young Enzo was moving like he was ready to fuck, eyes staring at Marc lusting for…something. “Ready to head downstairs?” A sobering thought entered Marc’s mind Enzo wasn’t a horny guy; he was an Alpha. He wasn’t inviting Marc in; he was willfully teasing. Skylar had said Alphas practically did that purposefully. Enzo was lusting for attention. From anyone would do, but what better attention was than another Alpha’s.

Enzo, stopped in front of Marc, furry tits bouncing still, with a strong scent of charred wood and whiskey wafting off him. Marc hadn’t had alcohol before, but he knew that smell now, he associated it with late nights chugging down three beers. Or at least his body did. Before he could even stop himself, his hands were on Enzo's pecs. A dangerous combination An Alpha body with Marc’s horny mind. These outdoorsy, sporty, athletic, bro-boning boys thought he was one of them. Enzo, shocked only for a second, dragged his tongue over his teeth, smirking. He bounced his pecs as Marc gripped them to assure it was real. Pounds of muscle were certainly manipulated; it was no dream. Enso curled his head back, letting out soft moans. “Feels good to be appreciated by another Alpha.”

For a terrible moment I felt like a wolf in sheep's clothing inside the frat’s house, able to walk among them. But then he realized the frat was the wolf, walking and luring in sheep to convert them into more wolves. Then what, they were stuck performing homoeroticism without the ability to actually engage it? 

LAME. 

ASS.

A frat he could watch, but certainly not be a part of. Begrudgingly though, he took Enzo’s tits. But then his hand shot straight into Enzo’s pants and grabbed a wrangling member. Marc’s hand stroked down fully, as if something leaked onto it. Pulling his hand out, his palm and fingers were covered in Enzo’s precum. Tongue flat, Marc licked it up in full view. Enzo’s breathing increased, watching the display turned on. 

Marc had not meant to do that. It was a slight intrusive thought that his body immediately reacted to. But such was the life of an Alpha. Perhaps more recognizable for Alphas making out randomly with girls at parties, slipping a finger up their skirts to tease. To make a sexual partner theirs was to be an Alpha. Marc was just unconsciously making it work for homo ends, not that Enzo seemed to mind.  But reality came back to him: His cousin was probably in this house with the Alphas.

“We should get downstairs.” Marc galloped down Enzo at his back. The living room was alight with half-naked men roaming around, drinking and competing. A banner had been placed over the kitchen’s door frame haphazardly: WELCOME ALPHAS. Skylar and Trey stood in the middle of the large room clapping their hands.

“Alphas huddle up!” They said in unison as the young men’s activities died down and they congregated in a half circle. Marc stayed on the steps watching as Enzo walked past, grazing his cock’s outline on Marc’s thigh, before joining the pack. 

“As you may know our time with the pledges has come to an end. We've found Alphas,” Trey smirked. “Or made them."  Enzo raised a fist, as deep laughs filled the room. Marc watched Nauesous. “Which means we’ll be adding new brothers to our ranks.” Trey said.

“Woop woop!”

“Alphas!”

Cheers and fists rose in the air, and it was time Skylar said his peace. “Meet your brothers!” A door leading down to the basement flung open. Guys in hooded cloaks stepped into the living room perfectly in line. A great dwindling of the pledges Alpha Tau Zeta had before. Now only 5 people remained. Marc gripped the handrail already assured Oliver was one of them. He didn't have to wait to confirm as the first hood pulled down by Skylar was Oliver’s grinning face.

“I can’t wait to unleash my greatness as an Alpha. Such a shame for it to have been contained in a weak body. Thank you, my brothers, for awakening me.” Oliver’s words were spoken in a playful yet commanding tone, Marc didn't know what to make of it. Trey and Skylar alternated pulling down hoods, revealing the guys underneath and allowing them to say nonsense about joining the frat. One thing was clear: this ceremony was THE main event. Marc figured the entirety of the pledges’ recruitment was always leading up to this. Alphas could change people like Marc or even another destined Alpha like Enzo, but the pledges seemed to be special. Marc could see it across the Alphas’ eyes: hunger.

“Let us begin our brother's acceptance.” Trey said then turned to the pledges. “What are the words in the Greek Alphabet?”

“Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon, Zeta, Eta, Theta, Iota, Kappa, Lambda, Mu, Nu, Xi, Omicron, Pi, Rho, Sigma, Tau, Upsilon, Phi, Chi, Psi, Omega.” The pledges plus Oliver gave a regular recital.

Skylar held his ear, “I don’t think the other Alphas understand you.”

The pledges repeated the words louder and Marc heard all the promises laced underneath. The usual suspects: Domination, Power, Superiority, but now joined by perfection and unity. A request for the pledges to be made whole. The Alphas response was to begin chanting back, amplifying the pledges' voices. A choir preaching the word of Alphas. Marc watched every single Alphas’ eyes begin to dilate and disassociate; They were all hypnotizing each other. 

The pledges soaked it in as their bodies grew in response. Some were getting bigger pecs with leaner bodies, others wider shoulders with thick builds, Oliver, however, was getting taller and denser. Even this final transformation was not a flash in the pan, but another purposeful slow cooked change. Marc thought it was the perfect opportunity to sneak in and pull Oliver out of there. As he went to move off the staircase, the pledges dropped to their knees, as their clothes started to stretch. What made Marc pause though was watching each Alpha brother begin to undress, throwing their shirts off and kicking their pants to the side. The chant of the Greek Alphabet was going strong as the Alphas grabbed their cocks and began to stroke all while staring at the pledges. 

Marc couldn’t fucking believe it; out of all the times he could see the Alphas naked it was for a bukkake he had to stop. He cursed himself under his breath, Why did he get granted awareness? It should have been him getting blasted with loads. The pledges were so fucking lucky. He rolled his eyes, moving off the steps, but burning every ass and dick into his brain. He wasn’t quite safe from the unified voices chanting in the room, once he stepped into the middle of it. His brain was hazing over, and his mouth was joining the brothers. However, Marc’s voice didn’t carry the same convictions and fervor as the others. His voice had its own tune, a trumpet blaring off in a sea of string instruments. It helped keep his own mind in check, sowing discord and his own words into their sacred ritual. Marc walked by unnoticed, his own chant heard by all, but ignored by the frat’s union. 

Pushing out into the front, Marc spilled over, having squeezed between model-Esque bodies, and collided with the floor. The naked guys were like jerking statues, refusing to be moved. Marc's own chant helped him resist but didn’t make him any less horny. His desires were undoubtedly being transmitted to the entire frat unrestrained. But those hot sexy fucks didn’t care they were deep into their weird bullshit. Marc stood up, stumbling towards Oliver, shaking his body, but Oliver was deep in his own chant.

Squatting closer, Marc leaned into Oliver’s ear whispering the Greek alphabet, but with a message, instructing Oliver to wake up. Oliver’s face faltered, but only for a moment, before losing himself again. The other brothers had him in deep, the allure of being an Alpha was too strong. Frustrated, Marc decided it was time to put his new muscles to work, he took a deep breath and lifted. Oliver was heavy as shit and growing, but shockingly to Marc’s surprise his muscles were for more than show. He took a hard step forward, but he did it; he moved.  Clothes were shredding off the pledges, and the frat brothers walked closer, priming themselves for the grand finale. None of them had registered Marc, even as he waded through them again. This time shoulder checking them; If he had the strength, why not use it? He continued to chant to Oliver’s as he went through.

Then finally Oliver stopped chanting. He didn't snap awake or talk, still blissed out, but some part of Marc’s message reached him. That, however, was perhaps Marc’s biggest mistake. The Alphas were both the conductor and musicians in their own little orchestra. Marc’s tune made them incapable of sussing him out, but taking away a voice they knew should have empowered their numbers was noticed quickly. The frat brothers turned in sync as Marc opened the door, hand pausing on their throbbing cocks. Despite their situational awareness, the thousand-yard stare denoting their entranced state remained. 

“Oh shit,” Marc huddled out the door. His powerful legs carried him halfway down the walkway before the Alphas descended on him; wolves chasing meat. They descended on him, pulling Oliver out of his hands. Marc may have been blessed with a new body but that could only provide so much against an army. The swarm of Alphas chanted louder, not knowing their words were falling on deaf ears for Marc. Marc cursed his luck that this was how hot naked guys would descend on him. 

“...Zeta, Eta, Theta, Iota…” Marc continued to fake chant along with the brothers, while trying to get them to release him. That didn’t happen; however, the tugs and grapples became gentler, hand swipes, a graze across his abs here and there. Marc’s lust had wormed its way into his words, and made the Alphas capture him in a more sexually charged way. He was led to the center of a new naked huddle formed outside as the Alphas patted his ass and grabbed at his cock. He was the only person fully dressed, as by now the pledges and Oliver had broken free of their clothes. Even no longer chanting love was changing as his face restructured, trimming away soft edges of hardlines.

Marc was brought to his knees, standing between a naked Skylar and Trey. And holy hell the Co-presidents had twin schlongs they’d been hiding in their pants. The damn things were bobbing in the night wind, inches from Marc’s face, yearning with a need to soon release. A release that Marc had denied him.

“Brother’s, one last Alpha has yet to join us, in welcoming the pledges,” Trey spoke, having stopped his chanting, but left his hypnotic state. His voice was off cadence, lacking a certain edge behind it. Marc kept chanting, yelling against the frat. 

“I think we gotta go nuclear!” Skylar added, also not quite there.

Dumb goofy grins game over the frat brother’s face and many of them cheered this development. “Alpha him up for good!”, “Brother for life!” They cheered before the chanted started up again. Skylar stepped in front of Marc, sticking a leg forward to fist bump Trey for their amazing solution. Completely naked, Skylar’s hard cock grazed Marc’s face. The scent of the beach and sea was back. Marc nudged his head forward to huff the balls sitting in his face like plums. Neither of the hypnotized presidents cared about Marc's actions, committed to their ritual as Skylar stepped back into place chanting again.

“Well, fuck this,” Marc could tell his time was up, but he was going to go out his way. He took Trey down by the knees and the hypo-prez toppled easily. Marc was going to have at least one of his dreams come true as he swallowed Trey’s cock to the hilt. There was no last stand or secret move. If Marc was going to go out it’d be after tasting an Alpha’s cock. But if Alpha's could send their chants non-verbally, through their body language, their movements, then perhaps Marc could too. Marc focused hard on the one thing he could truly want it this moment and put it all into his eyes. Those, yearning, begging, lustful eyes communicated only one thing to the hypnotized Trey: CUM. Trey roared, unable to chant as he hosed down Marc’s mouth. Alpha seed poured into an Alpha throat. Loads continuously pumping out Trey manage to grip Marc's hat and turn it forward. This had to be the nuclear option as Marc's mind was flooded with the damn mantra and Greek alphabet worse than before.  The last thing he saw were Alphas descending on the pledges and Oliver as their own cocks had been stroked and the climaxed were coming. 

The world went white and reeked of potent Alpha seed.

Marc woke back up; in the room he had been earlier. His hands grazed his body, he had remained hot, remained an Alpha. That much he expected, but it didn’t appear the forward had been the obliterating change the Alpha’s thought it was. He was himself internally at least. Oliver probably hadn’t fared as well. And as far gone as the other brothers were there was probably no way to change him back. At least he got the ultimate ‘fuck you’ off to the brothers for constantly teasing and tempting people. “Mmmmm,” he thought back to Trey’s load entering his throat and coating his tongue; Alphas had quite the exquisite taste.  A cool breeze rolled between his thighs as he sat up and looked down.

His pants were gone, leaving him in his underwear. An annoying sensation was tapping at his brain that ‘this was a more freeing way to exist’. Walking about the frat and showing off the goods. He had tried to solidify him as a himbo slut in the frat, but Marc couldn’t be swayed so easily. Marc wished it hadn’t worked cause now he had to live with knowing he failed to save Oliver. Though maybe there was a silver lining if Oliver didn't have to be stuck with his parents anymore. The frat house would be more fun than home that was for certain. Throwing caution to the wind, Marc slid his shorts off, what did it matter anymore and stepped outside the room.

When he entered the hallway, he expected to see angry glares or hear the other brothers whispering about him. Instead, what he came upon was Enzo and Hector making out in front of another door. He stood staring, even coughed a bit, but neither Alpha cared he was there.  Further down the hall, another Alpha was nursing Grayson's nipple, while Grayson held his head. Marc watched it all as if one of his fantasies of the frat had come true. The brothers weren’t fucking with him or playing it up they were all genuinely going at it with each other. There was even moaning echoing from downstairs as he heard video games going.  Marc recalled his endless chanting while they were all in a hypnotic state. He may have had some thoughts when he saw a bare butt, brushed up on skin, and saw the circle jerking. And perhaps his dissuasion had a strong underlying ‘do gay shit instead’ message. 

“Good to see you’re up.” Enzo started breaking away from his kiss. “I think you should go check on your boyfriend; I think last night’s pledge initiation was insane!”

“Boyfriend?” Marc asked.

“Uh duh!” Hector answered, “Oliver, who else?”

Marc took off, his body carrying up another level of stairs in the house, moving as if he’d been here for years. Another floor, and all Marc could hear were manly grunts and moans behind various doors. Definitely not the Alpha house he was in before. His legs walked him to a room in the far back, the only one without noises leaking out.  He knocked, opening it up to discover an empty bedroom, no one was inside. He stopped in and as the sexual groans faded, he heard a running shower stop behind another door. Marc walked up to the doorknob and paused. Just what had he communicated to Oliver with the chant? Perhaps he had a lingering thought that Oliver's Alpha body was hot, but that couldn’t have influenced what the frat had planned, right? He turned the knob. The door wasn’t locked. Stepping inside, he spotted Oliver facing the bathroom mirror and wrapping a towel on his waist. Alpha Oliver spotted Marc through the mirror's reflection.

 

The ass alone and the way it sat in the towel was enough to make Marc go feral. Distracted, Marc was late picking up on Oliver spotting him. When their eyes did meet, it didn't last long as Marc found the body Oliver was sporting. Oliver was a stud, oversized pecs, built shoulders, and trained arms. Then there was that face. Marc had no idea who that MAN was looking back at him but it damn sure wasn’t his Oliver. And at that point Marc noticed how Alpha Oliver had situated his thumbs under the towel, teasing more, because he knew Marc would come in here. According to the frat brothers they were boyfriends after all. Oliver knew exactly what he was doing to Marc.

Oliver turned around, leaning back on the sink, temptingly keeping his ass from Marc. “Thought I heard you coming.” he smirked, “Heard I was taking a shower and had to get to me.”

Unable to will his cock down tenting his briefs, Marc managed to say something coherent. “Look this might not make sense...ahh.” Oliver’s pec popped and precum dripped into Marc's underwear, “We should get out of here before Skylar and Trey realize what I’ve done.”

“What you’ve done?” Oliver asked, then pondered before answering, “Oh yeah, last night. You sucking off Trey was some wild stuff, but Skylar felt so left out, but they've been 69ing each other all morning.”

“What?” Marc paused. The presidents were blowing each other while he was there. He had only dreamed of Trey and Skylar going at it. Not even the presidents were immune to Marc’s horny chanting. The whole frat probably got a good earful of it ending up with their newest Alphas but a healthy dose of Marc’s desires as well. Then the realization struck Marc. He’d done it. He’d won. Not the saving anyone part but, making the frat reach their greatest potential by turning their homoeroticism into full on attraction.

Oliver stepped away from the sink approaching Marc, “Alphas, don’t wear clothes, when they don’t want to.” he pointed to Marc’s underwear then gripped at this towel.

Marc was sure he’d somehow learn to love being a brother here. “Alpha, Beta, Gamma…” he said, matching each word with Oliver's footsteps. Knowing the alphabet to navigate a house wasn’t so bad after all.