Chapter 96. Mateless Damon

The cheers from the departing guests still echoed faintly behind them, but her heart was pounding for an entirely different reason.

“Mother,” Damon whispered, brushing a thumb along her cheek, “Elina did well in there. She held yourself together better than most female Alphas I know.”

Ella swallowed hard, trying to process everything—Theo’s downfall, Elina’s shocking ascension, Mina’s sudden madness, and Lambert’s punishment. It all weighed on her chest like a ton of stones.

“I didn’t expect this,” she murmured. “Any of it. How could a mother be so cruel to her own son’s future?”

Damon turned her to face him fully, tilting her chin up.

“But he wasn’t born for it, Mother. Whether you believe that or not.”

Her lips trembled, but before she could respond, a tiny figure came running down the corridor—Elina, her white dress fluttering like a ghost’s veil.

“Mother!” she cried, flinging herself straight into Ella’s arms.

Ella hugged her tight