"Get out of my house." Mr. Ruderth stared down at the mother and daughter in front of him with no tinge of sympathy in his eyes. "NOW!"
The woman, Eleni Ruderth, fell to her knees at his feet, begging, "Honey, please, you can't do this. You can throw me out, but not her. Alexis will never survive out there, you know that. You know her condition, and even if you hate her for it, she is still your daughter, please."
The middle-aged man pinned her with a pissed-off gaze.
"You don't realize how much I've done for the both of you, do you, Eleni? She is twenty-two now, and she should have manifested at eighteen, but she hasn't, never did. Do you understand what it means to harbor a daughter who might as well be considered human? No wolf, no scent, nothing at all, she's like an empty vessel."
He shook his head and stepped closer to her. "You know we never should have let her live, hiding her all these years, but I did—for you. For five years, we lied that she was a boy—a beta, so she'd have a chance to live. But if they find out—if anyone finds out she is a woman, what do you think will happen?"
Eleni blinked at him, lowering her gaze to the floor, her teeth nervously biting into her bottom lip.
"How long do you think we can hide her? Lie?" he asked. "How long before someone will find out she isn't beta but a woman that can't even be considered an omega? We'll all go down to nothing because of her, and I won't let that happen, Francis. I've done my best, but this is where it ends."
Eleni shook her head pleadingly at him. "Honey—"
Alexis dropped to her knees in front of her father. "Dad, please. I—I can keep pretending to be a boy, I've been able to convince just about anyone that I'm a beta. And I've never complained about it. I know it's for my sake, so please, you can't throw us out there. Mom, she'll never make it out there. I don't have anything, and neither does she. And—"
"So you think you can forever pretend to be a beta and no one will find out? Do you think you have the chance of ever manifesting into an omega? Of ever shifting?"
She stared at him, lips trembling and parting like she had something to say, but nothing was coming out of her mouth.
Mr. Ruderth scoffed. "Even a rogue wolf has a better chance of living than you do at this point. Besides, if your mother would like to stay, sure, she can. But not you."
"I'm not abandoning her!" Eleni snapped at him.
He glanced at her, scoffing and shrugging. "Fine! You made your choice." He snapped his fingers at his men waiting by the side, ordering, "Throw them out."
His men, without question, acted, four of them matching over and grabbing both mother and daughter, dragging them towards the gate and throwing them out.
Alexis fell to her hands and knees, gasping. She ran back to the gate to slip in, but it was shut before she could, and she resorted to banging on it. "Please, open the gate. Dad, please, you can't do this. We don't have anywhere to go."
The bubbles of tears that had been threatening to fall broke, streaming down her face.
Her mother, Eleni, rushed over to her, grabbing her arm. "Alexis, wait, let me talk to your father myself. I should be able to—"
The double door of the gate rolled open, and a lady who looked just a tad bit older than Alexis stepped out, dressed in an ankle-length red dress, blonde hair combed lusciously to fall to her bottom.
She glanced at the both of them.
"Eve." Alexis rushed over to her, grasping her hands. "Please, say something to our father. I beg you, anything at all. You know that we can't—"
The girl, Eve, pushed her, dusting off her gloved hands as if she disgusted her. "Don't ever touch me again. Ew."
Alexis blinked, swallowing, eyes wide in confusion. ""Eve, w-why are you being like this? I don't understand."
"Do you think I want you to infect me with whatever is wrong with you?"
She was bemused, furrowing her brows. "I-infect you? But you've never minded that I'm different, you—"
Mr. Ruderth's Escalade drove out of the compound, stopping right across from Eve. One of the guards hurried over, opening the door for her. Eve shared one last look with her, a scowl on her face, and got into the car; the door slammed shut.
The driver drove off, and Alexis never took her eyes off the car, not until it was completely out of her sight. She turned towards her mother, who also stood, staring in shock.
"Did you two…fight?" Eleni asked.
Alexis slowly shook her head. "No…" She pinched herself to make sure this was reality, and sure enough, it was. "Mom…they are going to the Gala, aren't they?"
"Of course they are. Every omega was invited, your father wouldn't let that opportunity pass, Eve could find her mate there. She's twenty five, she needs to."
"And they are not going to be back for hours, right?"
"No. Not even in maybe five or six hours. Why do you ask?"
Alexis stalked her way over to the shed in front of her father's mansion, dragging out her bicycle that she always left parked over there, not unless she had an errand to run.
Her mother frowned. "What are you doing?"
"I'm going to find him," she said, ruffling her very short black curly hair and putting on her helmet. "He can't just throw us out. If I have to force him to let us stay, then I will."
"Wait, what good is that going to do?" Eleni looked at her like she'd gone mad. "Alexis, this is dangerous. There will be alphas, betas, and omegas there. What if something goes wrong? I don't feel good about this!"
Aleixis mounted the bike and looked at her. "Mom, the only thing that could go wrong is someone finding out I'm a woman. Which they won't. My hair is well cut, my boobs are well tied, and it's not like betas have scents, so I'll be fine. No one will know."
"Alexis—"
"We can't stay out here! Where are we going to go? Who will help us? We have no one, okay? And it's not as if I ask you to stay with him, you—"
"I'm not abandoning you!" Eleni snapped at her. "I will never do that."
"See?" She sighed. "I know this is risky, but there is nothing else we can do. I have to talk to him, and if it means going there, then I will." She breathed, stepping on the pedals to ride off.
"I'll be fine! Just wait here for me!!"