The Beta’s Ugly Daughter

[Gail’s POV]

The fork clattered against my plate as Mother's voice sliced through the morning silence like a whip crack.

"Try not to embarrass us today, would you, Gail?" She didn't even lift her eyes from her correspondence, her perfectly manicured fingers gripping her pen like a weapon. "Sit up straight. Your posture is as revolting as the rest of you."

I jerked upright in my chair at the far end of the dining table, my spine snapping to attention. The movement sent my orange juice sloshing dangerously close to the rim of my glass.

"Careful!" Mother's ice-blue eyes finally found me, narrowing with disgust. "Must you be clumsy on top of everything else?"

My hand trembled as I steadied the glass. Even at forty-five, Vivian Raymond commanded the room with her ethereal beauty—silver-blonde hair swept into an elegant chignon, skin like porcelain, lips painted the color of fresh blood.

She was a perfection incarnate, and I was the living proof that even goddesses could birth monsters.

"The Sullivans are hosting an engagement celebration tonight," she announced, her voice dripping with false sweetness. "Your cousin Mira is marrying the Alpha's heir."

Wyatt Sullivan. The boy whose smile had haunted my dreams for five years, whose very existence made my pathetic heart race every time he passed me in the corridors.

"How... how wonderful for Mira," I managed, my voice barely above a whisper.

"Wonderful indeed." Garrett looked up from his breakfast, his handsome face twisted into a cruel smile. "Though I have to wonder—should we really subject poor Wyatt to the sight of our dear sister tonight?"

Father finally joined the conversation, his deep voice rumbling with amusement. "What do you mean, son?"

"Well," Garrett leaned back in his chair, savoring his moment, "one look at Gail might make him reconsider marrying into the Raymond bloodline entirely. What if he thinks our genetic pool is... contaminated?"

The dining room erupted in laughter—Father's booming chuckles mixing with Mother's delicate, tinkling laugh like broken glass. I gripped the edge of the table until my knuckles went white.

"Stop it," I said, my voice shaking.

"What was that?" Garrett cupped his ear mockingly. "I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you over the sound of your sniveling."

"I said stop it!" The words exploded from my throat, louder than I'd ever dared speak in this house.

Silence crashed down on the dining room like a guillotine blade.

Mother's face transformed into something arctic and terrifying. "How dare you raise your voice at this table."

"How dare I?" The words tumbled out before I could stop them, five years of suppressed rage finally breaking free. "How could you talk about me like I'm not sitting right here!"

Father's chair scraped against the floor as he stood, his massive frame towering over me. "You will apologize to your mother immediately."

"For what?" I shot to my feet, my chair toppling backward with a crash. "For existing? For being born? I'm sorry I'm not perfect like precious Garrett! I'm sorry I don't look like Mother! I'm sorry I'm such a disappointment that you can't even look at me without cringing!"

"Gail—" Father's voice carried a warning that made lesser wolves submit.

But I was past caring. "You want to know why I embarrass you? It's because you taught me that's all I'm good for! Every breakfast, every dinner, every family gathering—it's the same script! 'How can we make Gail feel worthless today?'"

Mother rose slowly, her beauty transformed into something predatory and deadly. "You ungrateful little wretch. After everything we've given you—"

"Given me?" I laughed, the sound harsh and broken. "What have you given me besides reasons to hate myself?"

"A roof over your head!" Father roared. "Food on your plate! A place in this pack!"

"The storage room you call my bedroom? The scraps you toss my way when you remember I exist? The pack members who whisper about whether Mother cheated on you to produce something as hideous as me?"

The slap came so fast I didn't see it coming. Mother's palm connected with my cheek with a sound like thunder, sending me staggering sideways into the wall.

"You will not speak of such filth in my house," she hissed, her composure finally cracking. "You will attend tonight's celebration. You will smile. You will congratulate your cousin. And you will remember your place."

I touched my burning cheek, tasting blood where my teeth had cut my lip. "My place. Right. The family disappointment. The cautionary tale. The proof that even Betas can breed failures."

"Get out," Father's voice was deadly quiet. "Get out before I do something we'll both regret."

I looked at each of them—Mother with her perfect face twisted in fury, Father with his hands clenched into fists, Garrett watching with gleeful anticipation.

"I'll be in my room," I whispered, starting to rise.

"You'll attend tonight." Mom's sharp voice froze me mid-stand. "And you'll try to look presentable. Mira specifically requested your presence, though I can't imagine why."

Her pause was calculated, designed for maximum impact. "Perhaps she enjoys having you there to make her appear even more beautiful by comparison."

"Where do you think you're going?" Mother's voice followed me.

I paused at the bottom of the staircase, my hand gripping the bannister so tightly the wood creaked.

"To get ready for tonight. After all, we can't disappoint the Sullivans by having me look anything less than perfectly wretched."