Chapter 120

Aurora's POV

The Grand Assembly Hall felt thick with tension. Pack leaders gathered in corners, whispering about anything except the evidence Kane and I had worked weeks to compile.

"We should regroup," I said as we found a quiet alcove. Stone walls muffled the constant buzz of political scheming. "Come up with a different approach before tomorrow's vote."

Kane nodded but his jaw stayed tight. I could practically feel the frustration rolling off him in waves.

As we prepared to leave, Raymond suddenly appeared in the corridor. He smiled a predator’s smile that couldn’t fully distract from the dark circles under his eyes or the way his hands intermittently shook. Whatever Giana's magic was doing, it was destroying him piece by piece.

"Kane," Raymond said with fake friendliness that made me flinch. "I was hoping we could chat privately. Alpha to Alpha."

My gut screamed danger.

"Kane, don't—"

But Kane touched my arm gently. "It's okay. Maybe I can get through to him."

I wanted to believe that it was still possible to reach Raymond, but doubt and worry nagged at me. What if Raymond was beyond help and this was just another trap? But my hope won out, and I didn’t stop Kane from talking to him.

"I'll wait right here," I said, watching them vanish around the corner.

Twenty minutes dragged by like twenty hours. When Kane came back, something terrible had happened. His face was completely blank. Shut down.

"Kane?" I moved toward him carefully. "What did Raymond say?"

His answer sliced through me. "Nothing important. I need air."

That dismissal hurt. After everything we'd survived together? Kane was shutting me out again.

"Talk to me," I begged, trying to touch his arm. "Whatever he said, we can deal with it together."

Kane pulled away like my touch burned him. "There's nothing to handle. I just need space."

"Space?" The word came out harsher than I meant. "Kane, tomorrow is the biggest day of our lives and you want space?"

He was already leaving. Walking straight toward the tavern like a man heading to his execution.

My feet chased after Raymond before my brain could catch up. I found him in a meeting room, looking at papers with pure satisfaction written all over his face.

"What did you say to him?" I demanded.

Raymond glanced up with fevered eyes. For one second, he looked wild, unhinged. Then his face morphed into something resembling fake concern.

"Aurora," he said with syrupy sympathy, standing up. "You seem upset. Maybe sit down. I know how... delicate your mental state has been."

That patronizing tone made me want to hit something. "Answer my question. What did you say to Kane?"

Raymond laughed. Sharp and bitter, like glass breaking.

"I told him what caring for you actually costs. How it weakens him. Makes you both targets."

He stepped closer, backing me toward the wall.

"But more than that," Raymond went on, "I reminded him you belong to someone else. You're my mate. My responsibility."

Before I could move, he had me cornered. His hands pressed against the wall on either side of my head.

"You belong with me," he said with that possessive intensity that made my skin crawl. "I've loved you since we were kids, Aurora. Doesn't that mean anything?"

The words were so ridiculous, so divorced from reality, that I started laughing. Not polite laughter. Real, shocked amusement at how delusional he sounded.

"Love?" I gasped between laughs. "You think this is love?"

Raymond's face went dark.

"You might have loved me once," I said, wiping my eyes as the laughter died. "When we were children, playing in the gardens. But you haven't loved me in a long time, Raymond. And you definitely don't love me now."

My voice got steadier. "Whatever's happening with you—it's not love. It's possession. Control. Obsession. All created by Giana's magical manipulation."

"Giana isn't controlling me," Raymond snarled. His hands turned to fists. "She loves me. She supports me. She knows what a Luna should be."

The way his voice got intense when he said Giana's name made my stomach turn. This wasn't a man defending his mate. This was someone repeating programmed responses.

"Real love doesn't involve threats," I said quietly. "It doesn't require tearing people down to build yourself up. And it definitely doesn't need magical interference."

Raymond's face twisted with rage. The civilized Alpha mask fell away completely.

"Don't lecture me about love," he spat, getting so close I could feel his breath. "Giana makes a better Luna than you ever did because she knows her place. She understands respect. Submission. Loyalty."

Each word was meant to hurt. But they only proved how completely corrupted he'd become.

"She doesn't question my authority or embarrass me with crazy accusations," Raymond continued. "She doesn't run around with other men, destroying our pack's reputation."

I looked him straight in the eye. "If that's what you want in a mate, then you never deserved me."

Raymond's expression changed to wheedling persuasion. "Things could go back to normal. If you'd just accept your place, Aurora. Go along with the story that you've been mentally unstable. Come home to recover."

"Accept my place?" I repeated in disbelief. "My place isn't whatever cage you and Giana want to lock me in."

"Your place is next to me," Raymond insisted. "As my mate. My Luna. The mother of my children. Stop fighting what's natural and right."

"What you're describing isn't natural," I shot back. "You want a puppet, not a partner."

Raymond's look turned calculating. Dangerous. "You think Kane is your partner? Your equal? He's using you, Aurora. Playing on your loneliness and confusion to advance his career."

"At least Kane sees me as a person," I replied. "Not property to manage."

"Kane will dump you the second your relationship becomes inconvenient," Raymond said with cruel certainty. "Men like him don't sacrifice their careers for anyone. Especially not for a Luna with a reputation for instability."

That attack stung because it hit too close to my own fears about Kane's emotional barriers.

Raymond slammed his hand against the wall next to my head, making me jump. His face was inches from mine. I could see the fevered desperation in his eyes. Part obsession, part ownership. Nothing like the affection we'd once shared.

"This is about you forgetting your place," he growled. "Forgetting who you really belong to. You're my mate, Aurora. Mine. That's not something you get to just change."

"I don't belong to anyone," I said firmly, pushing against his chest. "And between the two of us, only one is showing signs of a mental breakdown—and it's not me."

I ducked under his arm and headed for the door. "The only thing I regret is not seeing sooner how far you've fallen."

I left Raymond fuming and rushed toward the tavern.

Kane sat at the far end of the bar, already deep into what looked like an attempt to drink his demons away.

"Kane," I said softly, taking the stool next to him.

He looked at me with empty eyes. "He knows exactly how to hurt you through me," Kane said without any lead-up. His words slurred slightly. "Every weakness. Every way caring about you makes you vulnerable."

"That's what abusers do," I said gently. "They find your fears and turn them into weapons. Doesn't make the fears real."

Kane laughed bitterly, throwing back another drink. "What if Raymond's right? What if my feelings for you really do make you a target?"

"Maybe I should've kept professional distance," Kane continued. His voice cracked. "Instead of falling in love with someone I can't protect."

We talked while Kane kept drinking. But every word I said seemed to push him deeper into believing our partnership was dangerous. That loving me put us both at risk.

His trauma was taking over. All the progress we'd made, all the walls we'd broken down together, were crumbling under Raymond's psychological attack.

When we finally parted for the night, I knew something awful was coming. Kane's expression carried that desperate determination of someone who thinks he has to destroy what he loves to protect it.

The next morning, I found out Kane had spent the night with another woman.

Alpha Sarah's daughter made sure everyone at the council meeting heard exactly what happened. She delivered the news with perfect timing, clearly calculated to destroy both our partnership and my credibility.

Kane had chosen. His fear had won.

The price would be more than just our shattered hearts.