Page 35 of Howl For A Kiss
"You're pack leadership," she continued, her voice rising with each word. "You enforce the very laws that destroyed my sister's life. You're part of the system that treats hybrids like abominations. And all this time, you've been pretending to care about our cause?"
The betrayal was so complete and so devastating that Elena felt something fundamental break inside her chest. This wasn't just professional deception—this was personal. This was the man she'd been falling for, the man who'd seen her at her most vulnerable, who'd held her while she cried, and kissed her with enough passion to make her believe in possibilities beyond her rebellion.
All lies. Every single moment.
"You watched me break down about my father's lies," she said, her voice shaking with barely contained rage. "You comforted me about discovering I'm a hybrid. And the whole time, you were lying to me just as completely. You're no better than him."
That seemed to hit its mark. Damon flinched as if she'd struck him, his green eyes flashing with something that looked like genuine pain. But Elena was beyond caring about his feelings.
"Get away from me." The words came out low and deadly, filled with enough venom to poison the air between them.
When he didn't immediately move, something snapped inside her completely.
The first blow caught him across the cheek, her palm connecting with his angular jaw with a sharp crack that echoed through the cavern. He absorbed it without moving, his eyes closing as if he'd expected it, as if he'd been bracing for this exact moment.
"You bastard!" The words tore from Elena's throat as she struck him again, her fists pounding against his chest, his shoulders, anywhere she could reach. "You lying, manipulative bastard!"
Tears streamed down her face now, hot and bitter, carrying with them every ounce of pain and humiliation she'd ever felt. Every moment of being unwanted, unworthy, and different. Every time she'd been discarded or betrayed or made to feel less than enough.
"I trusted you!" she screamed, her voice breaking as she continued hitting him. "I let you in! I let myself believe?—"
But Damon just knelt there, taking every blow without resistance, his face a mask of guilt and self-recrimination that only made her angrier. He wasn't even fighting back, wasn't even defending himself, and somehow that made everything worse.
He knew this was coming. He's been preparing for this moment for three days.
The realization sent another wave of fury through her, and she struck him harder, her fists connecting with his muscled chest and arms with enough force to leave red marks. But physical pain wasn't enough. Nothing would ever be enough to match the devastation he'd caused.
Finally, when her arms grew tired and her sobs threatened to choke her, Elena collapsed back against the cavern wall, her whole body shaking with the force of her emotions. Damonslowly stood, his skin marked with red welts where her fists had connected and took several steps back to give her space.
The guilt and shame written across his features was unmistakable, but Elena was too consumed by her own pain to find any satisfaction in it.
"I'm sorry," he said quietly, his voice rough with emotion. "Elena, I am so fucking sorry."
But sorry wasn't enough. Sorry would never be enough to undo the damage he'd done to her heart.
Damon retreated to the opposite corner of the cavern, giving her the space she'd demanded. He didn't say another word, didn't try to defend himself or explain further. He simply settled against the stone wall with that infuriating silent intensity that made Elena want to scream all over again.
Elena tried to sleep by the small fire, wrapping herself in her tactical jacket. She wanted nothing more than to shut down her emotions, to build her walls back up, and push this betrayal into the same dark corner where she kept all her other hurts. It was what she'd always done—survive by feeling nothing.
But sleep wouldn't come. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw the guilt written across Damon's angular features and heard the rough sincerity in his voice when he'd said he was sorry. Her wolf prowled restlessly inside her mind, refusing to let her retreat into emotional numbness.
Fix this,her wolf demanded.Fix this now.
Elena squeezed her eyes shut tighter, trying to ignore the persistent voice.There's nothing to fix. He lied to me. He betrayed me. End of story.
You're missing something,her wolf insisted, pacing back and forth like a caged animal.Missing something important.
I don't want to think about it,Elena shot back mentally.I didn't break this. This isn't my fault. I did nothing wrong. Damon's the bad guy here, not me.
But her wolf wouldn't be silenced. The primal part of her that had recognized something essential in Damon refused to accept such a simple explanation. There were layers to this betrayal, complexities her rational mind was too hurt to examine.
Elena shifted restlessly on the hard ground, her wounded thigh throbbing in rhythm with her heartbeat. The fire crackled softly, casting shadows on the cavern walls, but sleep remained elusive. Her emotions were a storm inside her—rage and hurt and confusion all tangled together until she couldn't tell where one ended and another began.
Hours passed before she finally gave up the pretense of sleep. When she opened her eyes, she found Damon exactly in the same position, still awake and still watching over her with that silent vigilance that had become his trademark over the past three days.
Even after everything she'd done to him tonight, every cruel word and physical blow she'd delivered, he was still protecting her. He was still positioned between her and the mouth of the cavern and still alert for any sign of danger.
Why?
