My heartless Alpha

The true

Jarem's POV

"Where is she?" I demanded, my voice sharp as I glanced at my Beta.

"She's waiting in your office."

I clenched my jaw, storming down the hall. The woman had some nerve showing up here. Zayra's mother. The woman who abandoned me as a child. The one who left me to fend for myself so she could run off with her precious mate.

I slammed the door open, and there she was. Standing tall, like she had any right to be here.

"And how can I help you?" I asked, voice dripping with contempt.

"I'm here for my daughter."

A bitter laugh escaped me. "Your daughter? You mean my mate? You lost any right to come here and ask for her the moment you left me behind."

She didn't flinch, her face set in hard determination. "I raised her. I'm her mother, and I won't let you hurt her."

Anger burned through me like wildfire. How dare she? The woman who turned her back on me for her new family now had the audacity to demand my mate? I stepped closer, my fists clenched at my sides.

"You have no idea what it's like to be there for someone!" I spat, fury coursing through me. "You left me. You abandoned me for your mate, just like my father said you did."

Her lips twisted into a bitter smile. "Your father said that, did he?"

"Don't act surprised. Everyone knows the story. You left me because you were ashamed. Because you found your mate, and you didn't want a reminder of your old life." The words poured out of me, each one laced with the bitterness I had harbored for years.

She took a deep breath, eyes locking onto mine with a pain that was too real, too raw to ignore. "You believe that, don't you? You believe every word your father told you. That I left you because I didn't want you. That I abandoned you for my mate."

"I don't need your excuses," I growled, trying to shut her out. "I know the truth."

"No, you don't." Her voice cracked, and for the first time, I saw tears in her eyes. "Your father lied to you, Jarem."

"Lied?" I barked a laugh, but it felt hollow. "He had no reason to lie. He told me you left because you found your mate, and you didn't want me."

Her eyes filled with sorrow, but beneath that, I saw anger—a deep, simmering rage that matched my own. "That's what he told you? That I left you for my mate?"

"Didn't you?!" The question burst from my lips, laced with years of resentment. "You left me. You found your mate, and you left me here, alone!"

Her voice trembled, but she didn't back down. "I didn't leave because I found my mate. I stayed with your father because I had no choice."

I blinked, thrown off balance by her words. No choice?

"My mate, the man I loved, was one of this pack's strongest warriors," she continued, her voice growing quieter, haunted. "But your father...  When he lost his mate, something in him broke. He became obsessed with power, and when he saw me with my mate, he... he killed him."

I froze, the room spinning. My father... killed her mate?

"I didn't leave you," she said, her voice growing stronger now, fueled by the truth she had held for so long. "Your father raped me, Jarem. He forced himself on me, and that's how I became pregnant with you."

My stomach churned, my heart pounding in my chest. No. This couldn't be true.

"You're lying," I whispered, my voice barely audible. "He wouldn't do that."

She stepped forward, her eyes blazing with a painful honesty that cut deep. "Do you think I wanted to stay with him? I stayed because I was carrying his child—you. And when I tried to leave, he threatened to kill me. He kept you from me, Jarem. He made sure I couldn't take you."

I shook my head, trying to make sense of it all. "He told me you left because you didn't want me."

"And you believed him?" Her voice cracked with disbelief. "He made me out to be the villain, and you believed every word. But I never stopped trying to get to you. He barred me from the pack lands, said you didn't need me. He told me you were better off without me."

I couldn't breathe. The floor felt like it was crumbling beneath me. I had spent my whole life hating her—hating the woman who had left me. But now... now she was telling me that everything I believed was a lie.

"The last time I came here, he told me you were dead," she continued, her voice trembling as tears spilled from her eyes. "He said you were killed in a rogue attack, and that your body was too damaged for me to see. He gave me permission to visit your grave, a grave that wasn't even yours."

I felt sick. The world around me was falling apart, piece by piece.

"I mourned you, Jarem," she whispered, her voice cracking. "I thought you were gone. But now, standing in front of you... I don't know what's worse. Thinking you were dead, or knowing you've become just like him. A heartless monster."

Her words cut through me like a blade. A heartless monster. Just like him.

"No," I whispered, shaking my head. "I'm nothing like him."

She wiped her tears, her expression hardening. "Aren't you? You've hurt my daughter. You've hurt Zayra, just like your father hurt me."

I stepped back, my heart racing. "I would never—"

"But you have," she interrupted, her voice full of pain. "You took out your anger on her, didn't you? All the hatred you have for me, you pushed onto her."

I couldn't answer. My throat was dry, my mind spinning.

"You're not my  boy ," she said softly, her eyes filled with sorrow. "You're not my son . You're his."

Her words hit me harder than any punch. I had spent my entire life trying to be different—trying to escape the shadow of my father. But here I was, trapped in it.

"I don't know who you are , Jarem," she said, turning away. "But I'm taking Zayra with me. She's not staying here with you."

"She's not going anywhere," I growled, finding my voice again. "She's my mate."

She paused at the door, her hand resting on the frame. "Go ahead, Alpha. Try to stop me. But if you ever touch her again, I will destroy you. No matter what, she loves you. But if you hurt her one more time... I will make sure you feel the pain you've caused."

With that, she walked out, leaving me standing there, my world unraveling around me.

And for the first time in my life, I wondered if the monster my mother spoke of was the one staring back at me from the mirror.