"I thought he was different."
My mom's voice carried something sharp now.
Not sadness.
Not love.
Something colder.
"I thought he understood me."
I stayed still, my chest tightening with every word.
Leona remained silent, but her eyes flickered briefly,
like she had heard this story before… but it still affected her.
"At that time," my mom continued, "he didn't treat me like an enemy. Not like a witch."
She laughed softly.
A dry, empty sound.
"He treated me like someone he needed."
I frowned slightly.
"Needed?"
She nodded.
"He wanted power. Knowledge. Control over things even his pack didn't understand."
Her gaze sharpened.
"And I gave him that."
The realization hit me slowly.
"You helped him become stronger."
"Yes."
Her answer was immediate.
"And in return… he gave me something I never expected."
She paused.
Then looked directly at me.
"You."
My heartbeat pounded loudly in my ears.
The room felt smaller.
"He knew about me?" I asked.
"Yes."
"And he accepted it?"
For a brief moment… she didn't answer.
Then
"No."
The word hit harder than anything else.
"He already had a family," she said. "A mate. A child."
My chest tightened painfully.
"So I was just;
what? A mistake?"
"No," she said quickly. "You were never a mistake."
Her voice was firm.
But there was something else beneath it.
Pain.
"He just didn't want me," I said quietly.
She didn't correct me.
And that silence said everything.
"But rejection wasn't enough for him," she continued.
A cold feeling crept up my spine.
"What do you mean?"
Her eyes darkened.
"He saw you as a threat."
My fists clenched.
"A threat?"
"A child born from a witch and an Alpha…" she said slowly. "Something that had never existed before."
Leona finally spoke.
"To them, that kind of power is unpredictable."
I looked at her.
"And dangerous."
I turned back to my mom.
"So what did he do?"
This time, there was no hesitation.
"He betrayed me."
The word echoed through the room.
Heavy.
Final.
"He told his pack I had manipulated him," she continued. "That I was trying to create something powerful to destroy them."
My jaw tightened.
"And they believed him."
"Of course they did," she said bitterly. "He was their Alpha."
A long silence followed.
Then
"He sent them after me."
My heart dropped.
"To kill me?" I asked.
Her gaze softened slightly.
"To kill us."