Chapter 2 The ultimatum

Chapter Two.

Gina. It had been a few days since our altercation, I hadn't seen or heard from Brandon, not even to check in on me. Until today when I was summoned into his office, a part of was scared but I was also glad he had summoned me. After losing my baby, and him making it clear he wanted nothing to do with me I had also made a decesion. I was leaving the pack. I was marked by him so no one in this pack will ever be interested in me and I wanted to find love still and have a family of my own. And my only option if I wanted to find that was by leaving the pack I sat stiffly in the wooden chair across from Brandon's desk, my hands clenched so tightly in my lap that my nails bit into my palms. He hadn't looked at me once. Not since I'd been called in like some disobedient servant. He flipped a page in the report he wasn't reading, pretending I wasn't even there. Pretending I hadn't just lost our child. Pretending I didn't bleed on his floor while he drank himself into oblivion. I hated him. The thought came with startling clarity. I hate him. "You should start preparing for the mating ball," he said finally, voice low, casual, like he was talking about the weather. I blinked, my body jerking like he'd slapped me. "What?" He finally looked up. His eyes were cold, distant. "Two weeks. All unmated pack members are required to attend." I felt like I couldn't breathe. "You think I'm going to parade around like some desperate omega while I'm still bleeding from the baby I just lost?" Brandon leaned back in his chair, smiling faintly. "You're an unmated omega again, Gina. It's time you remember your place." My fists trembled. "I'm not going." He raised a brow, amused. "You are." "I want to leave the pack." I finally said. The smile in his face immediately dropped. "I don't belong here anymore," I said, standing. "I'll be gone before the moon turns. I'll go quietly. I won't tell anyone what you did. I'll disappear." "No." The word cracked across the air like a whip. I stared at him, my chest heaving. "You can't keep me here." "Oh, but I can." Brandon stood now too, circling the desk like a predator. "You think you can run? After everything you know? After what we've done?" "What you've done," I snapped. "You lied to me. You used me. You killed everything we had." He chuckled darkly. "We had nothing, Gina. You were a distraction. A pretty little thing to break in. And you were so eager for it. Don't act like a victim now." I wanted to rip his face off. My nails dug deeper. "You will never touch me again." He stepped closer. I didn't back down. "You think you're strong now, huh? Because you finally grew a spine? Let me remind you..." He paused, smiling coldly. "You're still just an omega. And I still hold all the power here." "I don't care," I spat. "I'll find a way out." "Oh? And what about your mother?" I froze. "Leave her out of this," I said, voice shaking. He grinned, teeth flashing like a wolf about to tear into flesh. "You forget, she works in the kitchens. Cleaning up after the alphas. You leave, Gina, and she pays the price." My knees buckled slightly, but I stayed standing. "You wouldn't." His gaze sharpened. "Wouldn't I? You know what I'm capable of. You've seen it." Tears welled in my eyes before I could stop them. "Please. Don't hurt her." "Then don't give me a reason to." I swallowed, my throat burning. My mother. The only person in this world who had ever loved me without condition. Who'd stayed when everyone else turned their backs. I couldn't let him touch her. I couldn't. "Stay in the pack," he said smoothly. "Attend the ball. Be good. And maybe maybe your mother keeps her job. Keeps her health." I felt like I was falling. The room tilted. The pain I thought I'd buried surged up like a tidal wave. He had me cornered. Again. "No," I whispered. "I won't be your toy." "Oh, sweetheart." Brandon leaned in close, breath hot against my face. "You've always been mine." Something inside me cracked then snapped. How could he be so inconsiderate and cruel to me when all I ever did was love him. He wanted to attend the mating ball where he was going to publicly humiliate me by announcing Ashley as his true mate, and he wanted me there to watch. "I will stay, for my mother but I will not come to that mating ball and I will not be your anything. You rejected me and chose Ashley, so go be with her." i yelled at him, tears threatening my eyes. I was feeling like my heart was literally being ripped apart. And then he hit me, I didn't even expect it until his palms connected with my face and I let out a cry of pain mixed with surprise. He then went ahead to punch me I landed on the floor, my whole body in pain as he kicked me again. "Don't ever disrespect me again Gina, I am your Alpha and it seems like you have forgotten that." he said angrily, "I am sorry, it won't happen again." I said in tears. "Good. Now get up and get out of here and prepare for the mating ceremony. And you better be on time." he said before he sat back down. I was on my way out in tears when I saw my mom coming in to serve him his morning coffee. Our eyes Locked and I tried to look as straight faced as I could. I didn't want her to see me crying on my bruised face.