The worst position to be in is being the omega wolf. Omega wolves tend to become the focus of the other wolves aggression. This may be aggression may be normal social aggression, or it may be caused by the frustrations of the other adults in the pack, and the omega wolf simply becomes the scapegoat. Omega wolves may also leave the pack due to this treatment, especially if it has become more of an outcast then a member of the pack.
Leaving and establishing your own pack is not the only way to become an alpha wolf. A beta male could take over a pack by challenging the alpha male and winning the eventual fight. The challenge usually starts with both wolves bearing their teeth at each other; this is followed by some growling, and if a leadership change is truly on the beta wolfs mind, he will not back down and a fight will ensue. It is rare that a wolf is killed in such a fight, usually one will simply give up when it is clear that it cannot win the fight. This wolf is usually then driven off or in some cases become the beta male of the pack. The new alpha male may start breeding with the current alpha female, or he may drive her off, especially if the female is his mother, and if the beta female is not related to the new alpha male, she would take over as the alpha female of the pack. The death of an alpha wolf would also allow for a beta wolf of the same sex to become the alpha wolf of that sex. In these situations, the new alpha wolf will quickly begin to dominate the wolves beneath them.
Modern View of Wolf Hierarchy: .
The above definition of the wolf hierarchy was found to hold true over many experiments. These experiments were all done on wolves in captivity. It has often been observed that in captivity social behavior between individuals can actually change or the behavior will become much more extreme. According to David Mech, this may be the case with wolves, and that their behavior in the wild is somewhat different.