Dimitri’s POV
I wasn’t angry.
No. Anger wasn’t a word I would use to describe how I felt. I wasn’t sure if the word even existed. No one had ever probably felt the way I did the moment Skol told me that she had already hurt my mate so there was no need for a word to be invented. The feeling was completely new and I didn’t even try to name it. It was impossible anyway.
My own mother hurt my mate. My own mother hurt the most treasured part of my heart and soul. My own mother wanted to get rid of my mate. My own fucking mother hurt me more than anyone else ever did.
How was I supposed to feel?
I wanted to strangle her and watch life leave her pathetic body.
“I never hurt her!” my mother screamed. “Whatever she told you was a lie!”
Anger blinded me for a second. I grabbed her neck and squeezed, making her eyes pop out. I snarled at her and got into her face.
“Tell me what you did to her,” I spat out an order. “Tell me everything you said and did to my mate right the fuck now.”
I loosened my hold on her neck so she could speak.
“She didn’t do anything, Dimitri,” Maddie cried out, her voice trembling. “It’s okay.”
‘She is lying,’ Skol told me, his voice shaking with anger. ‘Skye told me what the bitch did.’
I knew that Maddie was lying, but I couldn’t figure out why. She should have told me. I would have protected her. She was my heart and I wouldn’t have let anyone hurt her, not even my own mother.
Why didn’t she tell me?
“Don’t fight the order, Mother,” I snarled. “I will only make it more painful.”
My mother whimpered and tried to get out of my hold. I took a few steps forward and pinned her against the wall.
“Tell me,” I repeated my order, making her body jerk.
It was painful and I knew it. I didn’t care. She hurt my mate and she would pay for it.
The door burst open and I heard a loud gasp. I knew it was Mike. He felt my mother’s pain and he rushed to her.
“Dimitri!” Mike shouted. “What the fuck are you doing?! Let her go!”
Grab him, Will. I mind-linked my Beta. I don’t want to hurt him.
I heard Will approaching Mike.
“What the fuck?!” Mike shouted. “Let me go!”
Both Will and I ignored him. I focused back on my mother who was whimpering in pain.
“Tell me,” I snarled into her face again.
“I hit her!” she screamed. “I insulted her! I tried to get her to leave!”
My heart broke. A tiny part of me was still hoping that she didn’t do it. A tiny part of me was still hoping that my mother cared about me.
“I didn’t want her here because she looks too much like her mother,” my mother continued talking. “I was afraid that she would remind Mike of his fated mate and that he would start questioning our relationship.”
I moved my hand from her neck and took a step back. She was panting hard and I could tell that she was still trying to fight the order. Little beads of sweat formed on her forehead.
“I’ve been trying to get her to leave from the moment she came here,” my mother continued. “It started with insults. I started hitting her when you refused to mate with Savannah.”
I didn’t think my heart could break even more. My mother knew that the child wasn’t mine the whole time.
“I helped Savannah come up with that plan,” my mother said. “It made me angry when it didn’t work. I noticed how much you liked Madeline even then and I wanted to make sure that you can’t end up with her no matter what.”
The room was completely silent the whole time. I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t fucking believe that my own mother would do something like that.
“Savannah would insult her and hit her too,” my mother said, making the rage inside me rise to a whole new level. “We would threaten to kill her if she told anyone.”
“Are you fucking serious?!” Mike screamed. “Are you fucking serious, Janet?!”
My mother glanced at Mike and sobbed.
“I am sorry,” she cried out. “I told you that I didn’t want her here. You should never have brought her here! You should have left her in her pack!”
Mike growled loudly.
“That is my daughter!” Mike screamed. “I couldn’t leave my child without a parent!”
“You did it once!” my mother screamed back at him. “You could have done it again!”
“Oh, you bitch!” Mike screamed again.
I could hear him trying to get out of Will’s arms.
“What else?” I asked, making my mother look back at me. “What else did you do to my mate?”
My mother gulped and shook her head.
“Nothing else,” she said, her voice trembling. “I did it for you, Dimitri. I wanted what’s best for you. She isn’t good enough. She isn’t worthy of…”
I grabbed her neck again, stopping her from talking.
“You are digging yourself a very deep grave, Mother,” I said, squeezing her neck again.
My skin was burning and I just wanted to wash my hands. I wanted to wash away the feeling of my skin touching hers.
“You are picking her over me?” my mother asked in disbelief. “I am your mother!”
Was she fucking crazy?!
“Of course I am picking her over you!” I exclaimed. “She is my heart and my soul. She is my entire world. You are not my mother. You are nothing.”
Her eyes widened and she tried to speak again, but I wasn’t going to allow it.
“You are going to the cells until I decide what to do with you,” I said. “You will never be free again. Your life is over.”
She sobbed loudly and started shaking her head.
“Take the trash out, Will,” I said with disgust. “Place her in the cell next to Savannah. We will decide what to do with them later.”
I took one last look at the poor excuse for a mother before I turned around. I immediately looked at my princess and my heart broke.
She was leaning on her desk, with her head bent down. I could see her trembling and I could tell that she was crying.
I didn’t say a word. I approached her, picked her up, and started leaving the office. Having her in my arms was keeping me from killing my mother. Having her in my arms kept me from screaming in pain.
