Chapter 200 Chapter 200

Chapter 200 Chapter 200
DAMON POV
The morning after finding my mate should be filled with nothing but mindblowing sex, energy bars, and water; nothing else, and certainly not this fucking bullshit. Not a blood-curdling anger that consumes every inch of my soul, one that seems to last forever now that I am marked to Elle.
When Andrew and Matt interrupted my wonderful morning to tell me what had happened, I almost didn't believe them. There was no way my father would reject my mother. No, she was his entire world, and I believe in the bond because of them. Walking into the cell to see both my parents sobbing and somehow on the verge of unconsciousness.
After getting the abbreviated version from my father while my mother remains silent, the rest of the world blows away as I fall into the black pit of wrath. I barely understand what I am saying, words of unintelligible hatred being spewed at my mother. I barely sense her fear, so lost in my anger, my father whimpers as he tries to manage the pain fueling me further into oblivion.
Only one voice can break through the fog, bringing me back to reality as the pain of my mother's betrayal settles into my bones only one voice bringing me back to reality. My grasp is tenuous as I explain the situation to Elle, scarcely hearing her questions as images from her past scurry through my mind. The pictures move so fast that I can't hold onto one long enough to make sense of it, but whatever it is, a shiver of terror runs through me.
"You knew everything?" Elle asks, her voice sounding more broken than I had ever heard before; for the first time in my life, I had heard her be weak. "You knew about the shed?" As the question leaves her mouth, things I never wanted to witness slam into me, our untamed emotions making it hard to control. Images of a young Elle standing in front of a hanging man with his eyes gouged out while a scolding voice corrects her on the proper way to remove a man's eyes.
I almost crumble under the weight of the memories pouring in, swimming into the frame of Elle, shivering in an icebox while disarming a bomb without protective gear. The sound of bombs and guns played in the background while her mother screamed orders through an intercom. Another memory of Cyntihia gripping Elle's face between her fingers, a sneer on her face, "the Goddess should have never rewarded such a weak child with the responsibility of being a Luna Born, now fight!" She shoves her away, and Elle stumbles away, clearly exhausted and starving, as she returns to the fighting position.
"I was the daughter of a Gamma," my mother replies, her eyes meeting Elle's, no remorse hidden in her eyes as she takes in my mate, her breathing shallow. My father's sobs quiet as he listens to my mother, energy rolling from him I had never felt before. "I designed it and helped her track the rogues. Your mother did everything to keep you safe, making you a woman to fear. Untouchable."
If I thought the hatred coming from my father was something to fear, I choke on the fury emanating from her, adding to mine as we listen to my mother's little speech. It's enough to break all my restraints as I stalk toward her like she is a piece of prey. I am nearly on her when Elle's cynical laughter peels through the small space.
"You're fucking naive, Olivia," she replies, her laugh suddenly stopping, her entire demeanor changing, her voice rough like stone. "Or your obsession with her has made you stupid. My mother did none of that for me but herself. She only cared about power. She didn't care whose life she had to ruin to get it, yours, mine, my father's, Simon, Theo, Charles, and countless others included. She has been the puppeteer behind your entire life, and she would have never risked the same for you. Knowing the difference between loyalty and manipulation could have saved your life."
Without wasting another breath, Elle did the last thing I would ever expect; she walks to my father, an air of pity still hanging around her words. Helping him stand, I am shocked to see him slowly recovering as my mother continues deteriorating. Her coughing shakes her frame like she is fighting to take simple breaths.
Circling at the door, Elle's voice more assertive than I had ever heard it in the past, "I was chosen to be a Luna Born for a reason, a fact that my mother could never come to terms with. I am great because of who Scarlett and I are. Good luck in hell, Olivia. You'll need it there." Without another word, she helps my father climb the stairs, her heartache leaking into me like a tsunami. Elle loved my mother like she was her own.
I don't know if she realizes it, but her walls still show me an entire movie of Elle's dark home life, the one she kept locked away. The longer the images flash, the hotter I become, my whole body coloring red as raw anger courses through my body. Faces of rogues tickled at my memories until it finally clicks.
Spinning towards my mother, I no longer see the woman who took me on fun outings in the human towns to see a movie or play mini golf. No, now they are tainted by the knowledge my mom used them to find rogues for my future mate. "Did you know we were mates?" I demand, my voice eerily calm as I kneel to look into her eyes.
"Since you were young," She wheezes, trying to sit up, her arms so weak she falls again, and I make no moves to help her. "But I was bound to honor the blood pact I had made, so I played the part to perfection. It wasn't supposed to turn out this way." She cries out as another wave of pain squeezes her chest.