Chapter Seven

Gina. 

I had watched my mother suffer and get humiliated under the hands of alpha Brandon. Sometimes he humiliated her on purpose just to remind me of the power he held and what he could do with it. 

My mother was my only family and he knew she was my weakness and hurting her was hurting me. 

I thought my mom was going to be excited to get her freedom back, to stop working for the ungrateful Brandon and his pack,but that was not the case, her response surprised me. 

“I won’t go with you, Gina.”

The words hit harder than I expected, even though I’d rehearsed this conversation in my head a hundred times.

I stare at my mother as she stands by the fireplace, her thin frame stiff, her hands trembling slightly as they clutch the hem of her apron. Her eyes are tired more than tired. Worn. Hollowed out by years of servitude in Alpha Brandon’s packhouse. By years of being treated like nothing just because she’s an omega.

Just like me.

“Mom,” I say softly, stepping closer, “you don’t have to stay here. He gave me his word. Ryan said you can come too. He’ll give us both freedom. Real freedom. You won’t have to serve anyone anymore, you will get to finally live a normal life where no one is bossing you around.”

She shakes her head, her lips drawn into a thin line. “I was born in this pack, Gina. I have lived here all my life. If I leave now, where would I even fit in?”

“With me,” I whisper. “You’d fit with me mother, it will be just you and me.”

Her gaze flickers to mine, but she quickly looks away, moving to adjust a crooked chair instead. A stall tactic. She doesn’t want to talk about this not because she doesn’t care, but because she’s afraid.

“I’m used to this life. I know my place. And you… you have a chance to escape it. Don’t waste that on me.”

“Don’t say that.” My voice cracks, raw and aching. “You’re my mother. I’m not leaving you behind to be someone’s slave while I go off to.. ”

“To what?” she cuts in, her voice rising. “To play Luna to a man you barely know? Gina, he’s an Alpha. A real Alpha. You don’t know what you’re walking into. He is nothing like Alpha Brandon, he is ten times worse, he is more powerful”

I flinch, because deep down I know she’s right. I don’t know Ryan, not really. All I know is that he saw me. He saw how Alpha Brandon humiliated me in front of everyone, rejecting me like I was filth beneath his boots. And instead of turning away like the rest of them, Ryan stepped forward. He offered me something I’ve never had: a choice to walk away and have a chance at life. 

“He gave me his word,” I say. “He didn’t have to do that. He doesn’t want a real Luna, just a partner. A deal. One year, and then I’m free. We’re free. Can’t you see? This is our only way out.” I know Alpha Ryan had asked me not to disclose the details of our deal to anyone, but my mom was not anyone really. And I thought telling her that would convince her to come with me. 

She walks to the window, arms wrapped around herself as she stares at the bleak, gray sky. “I made my peace a long time ago, Gina. I belong here. This pack knows me. I know the rules.”

“The rules are what keep us in chains.”

“And chains are familiar,” she says, her voice almost a whisper. “Sometimes the known is safer than the unknown.”

I blink, tears blurring my vision. “That’s not living. That’s surviving. And I want more for you. For us.”

She turns to me then, her expression torn. “I can’t go with you. If I leave, Alpha Brandon will punish the others. The ones who are like us. Omegas. Slaves. He’ll take it out on them to make a point.”

My breath catches. Of course he would. But what I really wanted to ask her was why does she suddenly feel the need to take the humiliation on behalf of other omegas instead of choosing me, her daughter. 

“He already hates me,” I murmured. “I doubt it can get worse.”

“You don’t know Brandon the way I do,” she says. “He’s cruel. Vindictive. And if he senses weakness in Ryan.. ”

“Ryan isn’t weak,” I cut in. “He’s the Alpha of Alphas. He could crush Brandon if he wanted to in seconds”

“But he didn’t. He made a deal instead.”

I nod slowly, absorbing her words. She’s afraid, and not without reason. Brandon broke me, humiliated me, and discarded me because I wasn’t a Luna level she wolf. Just an omega. Just beneath him. But I survived. And now, I have a chance to get out. To heal. To be more.

Even if she won’t come.

I walk over to her and gently take her hand in mine. “Okay,” I whisper. “If this is really what you want… I’ll respect it. I hate it, but I’ll respect it.”

She nods, her lips trembling as she presses a kiss to my forehead. “I’m proud of you, Gina. For choosing yourself. I couldn’t do it, but you can.”

****

The next morning is cold, the sky is in thick gray clouds that threaten rain. I am also not really happy about going away and leaving my mother in the hands of Brandon. I knew he was going to take out his anger of me leaving on her. But she had made her choice and I had to respect it no matter how bad I wanted her to choose me. 

Alpha Ryan waits by a sleek black SUV at the edge of the pack border. His presence is a wall of quiet strength, arms crossed, dark eyes watching every movement around him. He hasn’t said much since arriving, and yet the tension in the air bends to him. 

I sling my bag over my shoulder and walk toward him, each step heavier than the last. I don’t look back, I can’t. I already said my goodbyes. My mother stood at the doorway and watched me go with tears in her eyes but steel in her spine. She made her choice.

But just as Ryan opens the car door for me, a voice breaks through the hush of morning.

“Gina!”

I freeze, heart stopping in my chest.

I turn, and there she is, my mother, running down the path, breathless, her apron flapping behind her like wings.

“Mom?”

She reaches us, panting, eyes wide with fear and something more determination.

“I changed my mind,” she gasps. “I can’t let you go alone.”

I stare at her, stunned.

“I was scared,” she continued, her voice shaking. “But watching you walk away... I realized I’ve been scared all my life. And I’m tired. Tired of bowing my head. Tired of watching you suffer. If you’re going to risk everything for a chance at a better life, then I’m going with you. I won’t let you face it alone.”

Emotions swell in my chest, thick and overwhelming. I throw my arms around her, burying my face in her shoulder.

Alpha Ryan steps forward. “She comes with us?”

I nod, not even hiding the tears running down my cheeks. “She comes with us.”

He offers my mother a curt nod, then turns and opens the passenger door for her.

And just like that, everything was starting to feel like it was going to be okay again. 

We leave the pack behind, two omegas walking beside an Alpha and for the first time in my life, I feel like I’m walking toward something more than just survival.

I’m walking towards freedom.

I had that nagging feeling at the back of my mind that my mom had put there. 

"You don't know Alpha Ryan and his family Gina, you don't know how dangerous those people are." she had said. 

What did she mean by that?