Chapter 95

I didn't sleep that night. The weight of what we'd discovered pressed down on me like a physical burden, making rest impossible. Giana was planning our deaths while systematically destroying my relationship with Raymond and isolating me from any potential allies.

By dawn, I'd made my decision. Evidence or not, magical conditioning or not, I had to try to reach Raymond before Giana discovered our surveillance. Every hour I waited was another hour for her to strengthen her position.

I found Kane in the strategy room, reviewing our recordings with professional detachment. Dark circles under his eyes suggested he'd gotten as little sleep as I had.

"I'm going to Raymond," I announced without preamble.

Kane looked up from the audio transcripts, his expression carefully neutral. "That's inadvisable. I’d suggest trying to find a time when he seems most receptive to information outside of the magical conditioning."

"I have to try," I said firmly, gathering the evidence we'd collected. "These recordings prove she's planning to kill us. Whatever Raymond has become, he needs to know his pack is in danger."

Kane stood slowly, his movements carrying the weight of exhaustion and resignation. "I'll accompany you for security purposes," he said, his voice carefully neutral.

I located Raymond in his office, hunched over council meeting preparations. The man before me bore little resemblance to the boy I'd grown up with. Dark circles shadowed his eyes, his hands shook slightly as he shuffled through documents, and his overall appearance suggested someone under enormous stress.

"Raymond," I said, stepping into the room with Kane trailing behind like a professional shadow. "I have something you need to see. It's about Giana."

Raymond looked up, his expression immediately shifting to suspicion and hostility. The transformation was instantaneous and complete—whatever warmth might have remained between us was extinguished the moment I mentioned her name.

"More lies about my mate?" he asked coldly. "How desperate are you going to get, Aurora?"

"These aren't lies." I pulled out the photographs we'd taken, spreading them across his desk with deliberate precision. "This is proof that Giana is selling pack secrets to rogues."

For a moment—just a moment—confusion flickered across Raymond's features. He stared at the images, his brow furrowing as he processed what he was seeing. I could almost see his rational mind struggling against the magical conditioning.

"She's meeting with enemies of the pack," I continued urgently, pressing my advantage while his defenses were down. "Giving them intelligence about our security, our movements, our vulnerabilities."

The confusion in Raymond's eyes deepened. I could see him struggling against invisible chains, some part of his rational mind trying to process the evidence before him while the magical conditioning fought to maintain control.

"These pictures..." he started slowly, his voice uncertain. "Why would she..."

Hope flared in my chest like a flame in the darkness. Maybe some part of the real Raymond was still fighting beneath the surface.

Kane remained silent by the door, his face carefully neutral. I wished desperately that he would support me in this crucial moment.

"Listen to the recordings," I pressed, pulling out our audio equipment. "Hear it in her own words. She's planning to have us killed, Raymond."

But before I could play the recordings, Giana entered the office with perfect timing. Her expression shifted immediately from surprise to hurt concern as she took in the scene—evidence scattered across Raymond's desk, my urgent posture, Kane's silent presence.

"Aurora, what are you doing?" she asked with wounded innocence.

The moment Giana spoke, I could see Raymond's confusion evaporate like morning mist. The magical conditioning reasserted itself, wiping away any doubts the evidence might have raised. His expression hardened, suspicion replacing uncertainty.

"She's trying to frame you again," Raymond said, his voice gaining strength as the conditioning took hold. "More fabricated evidence to support her paranoid delusions."

Giana moved to Raymond's side with graceful concern, her hand finding his shoulder in a gesture of comfort and support. "Oh, Raymond. I'm so sorry she's putting you through this again."

"Tell him what we heard," I said desperately to Kane, my last hope for support. "Tell him about the plans to eliminate pack members."

Kane's response was formally neutral, devastating in its careful precision: "The audio confirms the visual evidence."

His refusal to elaborate felt like another betrayal. He was giving Raymond the bare minimum while maintaining his emotional distance.

"Audio can be faked," Giana said dismissively. "Digital technology makes it so easy to manipulate recordings these days."

Before I could explain the technical impossibility of faking such detailed conversations, Giana was already moving to her next strategy.

"Raymond," she said with perfect timing, "there's something I need to tell you about Aurora. Something I've been too afraid to mention before."

The setup was so obvious, but Raymond was already leaning toward her with concerned attention.

"I've been trying to protect her, but her behavior is becoming increasingly erratic," Giana said, tears beginning to form in her eyes with practiced ease. "She's been following me, taking pictures, trying to create fake evidence because she can't accept that you love me instead of her."

The lie flowed from her lips like poison, rewriting the narrative in real time. She was taking our investigation and turning it into proof of my mental instability.

"She's so consumed with jealousy that she's lost all connection to reality," Giana continued, her voice breaking with emotion. "I'm worried about what she might do next."

Raymond's expression shifted from confusion to protective anger as he absorbed Giana's version of events. The magical conditioning made him immediately receptive to any explanation that painted Giana as the victim.

I looked at Kane desperately, silently pleading for him to contradict her lies. But he remained silent, his professional neutrality intact even as Giana systematically destroyed my credibility.

"These recordings..." I started, but Raymond was already standing up, his decision made.

"Enough," he said firmly, his voice carrying the authority of an Alpha who had reached the end of his patience. "I won't listen to any more of these fabricated accusations."

He moved toward the evidence I'd spread across his desk, gathering the photographs and recordings with deliberate intent. I could see the destruction of our work in his determined movements.

"You're destroying evidence," I said, panic rising in my voice as I watched him feed our carefully gathered proof into the paper shredder.

"I'm destroying lies," Raymond replied coldly, the mechanical sound of shredding paper punctuating his words. "Pathetic attempts to undermine my mate because you can't accept that your own marriage is over."

As I watched him systematically destroy everything we'd worked for, I felt something break inside me. All our work, all the danger we'd faced, all the proof of Giana's guilt—reduced to ribbons of paper in seconds.

Kane stood silent through it all, his face a mask of professional detachment. Even as my last hope crumbled, he maintained his emotional distance, choosing career preservation over truth.

Giana watched the destruction with obvious satisfaction, her tears drying as quickly as they'd appeared. She'd won this round completely, turning our evidence into proof of my instability while strengthening her position with Raymond.

"Aurora needs help," she said with false concern, placing a comforting hand on Raymond's arm. "Professional help, before she hurts herself or someone else."

Raymond nodded grimly, the magical conditioning making him completely receptive to her suggestions. "I'll consult with the healers about how they think we should proceed. "

The threat was clear and immediate. If I couldn't prove Giana's guilt, I'd be declared mentally incompetent and removed from any position to oppose her.

As I left Raymond's office with Kane trailing behind in professional silence, I realized that having evidence meant nothing if no one was willing to believe it. Giana's magical conditioning and psychological manipulation had created an impenetrable fortress around Raymond's mind.

The conspiracy was winning, and I was running out of time to save not just myself, but everyone I cared about. The truth was there, documented and real, but truth without believers was just another form of silence.

Kane's fear had already cost us our partnership. Now it might cost us our lives. I was truly alone in this fight, facing an enemy who had already proven she could manipulate anyone—even the people I'd once trusted most.

The weight of that realization settled over me like a shroud as we walked through the pack house corridors. Tomorrow, Giana would begin implementing the final phase of her plan. And there was nothing I could do to stop her.

At least, nothing I could do alone.