For a long moment, there was only silence as they looked at each other.
"Answer me," Keelion grounded out.
Alexis swallowed, fidgeting under him. She broke eye contact, unwilling to meet his gaze anymore.
"I'm a beta… I told you."
"You little shit." His inscrutable expression didn't change. "Females can't be betas."
"You wouldn't know that! Nothing is entirely impossible!"
He grabbed her chin in a rough grip. "Why are you pretending to be a boy then? If it's so possible, why aren't you comfortable being the female beta you claim to be? Why are you in heat like an omega? Betas do not experience heat or rut, you know that!"
Alexis blinked up at him, gulping. "This…this is all just a misunderstanding. I don't know anything about the heat, it also doesn't make sense to—"
"Are you going to keep lying forever?"
"What?"
"Do you think I'm stupid?"
She quickly shook her head at him.
Keelion's lips thinned. "Who do you take me for?" he said. "Do you know what you've done? Coming here in heat? Making me mark you and lying through your teeth?"
"That isn't my fault. I-it wasn't my fault."
The man stared down at her, grip tightening on her wrist. "We are mates, and do you know what happens when you're in heat, this type of uncontrolled heat?"
Alexis shook her head at him because she genuinely didn't know.
"I'm an alpha, not just any kind, but a supreme alpha, and you…you are in heat," he said in disgust. "Do you think I knew what I was doing or that I was even in my right mind? I never would have marked you even in that daze."
She swallowed.
"But then you begged for it."
"I'm sorry," she said softly. "I didn't know what I was doing either. I just wanted…"
There was no flicker of change in the displeasure in his eyes. The bluest she had ever seen before.
"What are you?" Keelion questioned. "I don't want to repeat myself."
Alexis waited with bated breath, but with every passing second, it was becoming increasingly obvious that she was done for if she didn't tell the truth.
Would he kill her if he knew the truth? Her father had always made it abundantly clear what would happen if anyone found out she was a female who had never manifested. Wolfless and could never even consider herself an omega, because no one could even perceive any scent that gave off the idea she was an omega.
That was why it had been easy for her to pretend to be a beta. They didn't have any scent or pheromones at all. But being wolfless and unable to manifest was unheard of. She was an outcast, and packs do not keep outcasts. They would get rid of her, and who would do it if not the man above her—the one who claimed to be her mate even though she didn't even have a wolf.
Alexis went motionless, not daring to look at him—not daring to breathe at all.
Keelion's long fingers carded through her short curls, grasping and forcing her gaze back on him. "I told you, I don't like to repeat myself."
She couldn't breathe.
The fingers tightened in her hair before yanking her head up. Hard blue eyes bored into hers. "I want answers. Now."
Tell or not, she was absolutely doomed.
"I…I don't know," Alexis said. "I don't know what I am, I can't explain it, but I'm not human, I swear."
The grip on her hair lessened, and she peeled her eyes open to find Keelion staring at her with clear confusion in his gaze. "Human? What do you mean by that?"
"I haven't…manifested into an omega since I was sixteen… It's been seven years now and still nothing." She took a deep breath.
The man gaped at her like she was lying, a freezing gaze scrutinizing her. He was peering at her as if she were some strange creature that didn't make any sense.
His fingers left her hair, and he got up and moved away from her towards the loveseat, where he sat down, running his fingers through his hair.
"You're not lying." It wasn't a question, but a statement. He tried sensing her wolf but was unable to, which meant she hadn't manifested at all. It made no sense. How was she forming a mating bond with him at first sight if she didn't have a wolf?
Alexis got to her feet, pulling her shirt over her head and down to her waist. The warmth in her lower belly was starting to build up again, which clearly meant her heat wasn't done with her, but she wasn't willing to get any more tangled with this man who had her life in the palm of his hand right now.
"I don't have a wolf and…I don't…have a scent too…" she mumbled.
"You do." Keelion shot her a look. "You have a scent. I can smell it, and it's not subtle."
Holding her breath, she asked, "Are you going to kill me? I know I'm an outcast and—"
"Is this your first heat?" he questioned.
She was taken aback for a second but nodded right after. "Yes. I've never been in heat before."
None of this was making sense to him. How could she possibly go into heat if she had never even manifested into an omega or even had a wolf? He rubbed his temple, asking without even looking at her, "Can you smell scents or pheromones?"
"No." Alexis shook her head. "You are my first."
That caught his attention, eyes locking on her. "You can only perceive my scent and pheromones?"
She nodded.
"Just mine alone?"
She nodded again.
He triggered her heat. He'd released his pheromones while coming into the foyer because if any of the omegas in there were his mate, they would heavily react to it. And she did, this strange woman, standing in front of him, all fidgety, reacted to it.
"What is your name?" Keelion asked, tone mild.
"Alexis. My name is Alexis."
He cocked a brow at her. "Surname? Who is your father?"
Alexis stiffened. Her father would skin her alive if she ever involved him in this mess. She could possibly ruin his life if she ever exposed a man like him as the one who'd brought an outcast like her into the world. Not to mention, his frustration and anger would be directed at her mother.
Her stomach twisted into knots.
"I don't have a father."
"What?" Keelion's jaw clenched. "How did you get into the gala—"
"I sneaked in," she blurted out. "I don't have a father, I don't know who my father is, so my name is Alexis. Just…." She breathed. "Alexis."