Chapter 97

As the dining hall gradually emptied out, conversations dying to uncomfortable whispers, I managed to pull myself together enough to attempt a dignified exit. The weight of everyone's stares felt crushing. I needed to escape before the humiliation became completely unbearable.

But what I didn't realize was that rage was overtaking Raymond with every passing minute following our conversation. Just as I reached the doorway, his voice cracked like a whip behind me.

"You haven't been excused!"

I froze mid-step, shocked by the raw fury in his tone. When I turned back, my blood ran cold at what I saw. Raymond's face had turned an alarming shade of red, veins bulging at his temples. But it was his eyes that truly terrified me—wild and unfocused, filled with a madness I'd never seen before.

The few pack members filing out halted. Some turned back, drawn by the Alpha's energy like moths to a flame. Others lingered at the hall's edges, pretending to clean while straining to hear what their Alpha said about his "unstable Luna."

Raymond's rage exploded swiftly and devastating, like a storm building for weeks. He fully absorbed Giana's version, the conditioning making him unable to question her narrative or consider alternatives.

"How dare you try to destroy my mate with fabricated evidence!" he roared, rising from his chair with such force that it toppled backward, clattering against the floor. "Have you lost all sense of dignity and honor?"

The accusation echoed through the dining hall, ensuring every pack member present and those who returned to witness would see my humiliation. I felt their stares burning into me, some sympathetic but most shocked by the Alpha's sudden fury.

"You can't just destroy everything without looking at it," I insisted, though my voice sounded weak against his overwhelming anger. "The recordings contain actual conversations—"

"Conversations you staged! Actors you hired!" Raymond's voice cracked like a whip, each word designed to wound. "Did you think I was stupid enough to fall for such an obvious manipulation? You've sunk lower than I ever imagined possible."

Each accusation struck like a physical blow, chosen to cause maximum emotional damage. His paranoia now saw conspiracy where none existed. Worse than Raymond's cruelty was Kane's continued silence. He stood like a statue, his face neutral despite the personal attack on our partnership.

Kane's professional composure remained intact even as Raymond tore apart everything we'd worked for. His silence felt like complicity, like agreement with Raymond's assessment of my character and motivations.

"You want to destroy evidence before examining it properly," I said, trying a different approach. "What Alpha makes decisions based on fear instead of facts?"

The challenge to his leadership hit its mark. Raymond's face darkened further, his Alpha pride wounded by the suggestion that he wasn't being rational or thorough.

"How dare you question my leadership!" Raymond snarled, his voice echoing off the dining hall walls. "You're the one who's lost all judgment, who can't see past your own wounded pride to accept reality."

The fact that he could twist my appeal to reason into another attack showed how completely Giana's magical conditioning had taken hold. No amount of logic would penetrate the supernatural barriers she'd erected around his mind.

"This goes deeper than Giana," Raymond continued, addressing the pack members witnessing the spectacle. "Aurora's been working against me since she accepted that appointment, using her position to gather intelligence and build a case for my removal."

Kane flinched almost imperceptibly at the accusation, but he didn't speak in my defense. His silence felt like a knife twisting in my heart, another betrayal from someone I'd trusted completely.

"Even her supposed partner sees through her lies," Raymond said, gesturing toward Kane with dismissive contempt. "A man of his reputation wouldn't risk his career supporting baseless accusations from an unstable Luna."

Raymond's reduction of our partnership to a professional arrangement, dismissing our bond as irrelevant, was nearly as painful as his main accusations. Everything we built together was stripped away, reduced to political calculation.

Kane's POV

Every fiber of my being screamed to defend Aurora, to tell Raymond exactly what we'd witnessed and heard in that forest clearing. The recordings were real, the evidence was solid, and Giana was exactly the threat Aurora claimed she was.

Tactical assessment overrode emotion. Raymond was too far gone, entirely under Giana's control to accept contradictory evidence. Magic had rendered him incapable of processing anything that challenged his beliefs about her.

Speaking up now would only accomplish two things: it would make Aurora look more guilty by association, and it would eliminate my ability to protect her by maintaining my position within the pack hierarchy.

Professional distance was the only weapon I had left. If I could maintain my credibility with Raymond while secretly working to keep Aurora safe, maybe I could find another way to expose Giana's conspiracy before it was too late.

But watching Aurora's face as I maintained my silence was the hardest thing I'd ever done. The betrayal in her eyes was like a physical blow, reminding me of every reason I'd tried to avoid emotional attachments in the first place.

This was exactly what I'd feared—love making people vulnerable, causing more pain than protection. My parents had died because they'd cared too much about their cause, and now Aurora was suffering because I cared too much about her to risk making her situation worse.

The logical part of my mind knew I was making the right tactical decision. But the emotional part of my mind was screaming that I was abandoning the one person who mattered most to me.

Back to Aurora POV

Giana watched the destruction with carefully concealed satisfaction, her expression a perfect mask of hurt concern. Her tears had dried completely now, replaced by brave resilience that only made her appear more sympathetic to the watching pack members.

"I don't want Aurora punished," she said with false magnanimity, placing a comforting hand on Raymond's arm. "She is clearly suffering from some kind of mental breakdown. I just want her to get the help that she needs."

The offer of mercy was actually another attack, positioning Giana as the reasonable victim while painting me as someone too unstable to be held responsible for my actions. It was psychological warfare at its most sophisticated.

Kane's attempts to maintain professional neutrality were failing because our connection ran too deep to ignore completely. The silver crescent marks hidden beneath our clothing made our bond impossible to dismiss, creating a constant undercurrent of tension that he couldn't suppress entirely.

"Kane knows the truth," I said desperately, turning to my partner with pleading eyes. "Tell him what we witnessed. Tell him about the security protocols she handed over."

Kane's response was devastating in its professional neutrality: "The Alpha has already reviewed the evidence and made his determination."

The careful phrasing maintained his credibility while offering me no support whatsoever. He was choosing his reputation over our bond, safety over truth, fear over love.

Raymond saw Kane's diplomatic response as complete vindication. "Even the Alpha King's own representative defers to my judgment in this matter."

The public humiliation was complete. I stood alone among pack members who saw me as an unstable Luna driven to paranoid delusions by jealousy. The narrative explained my behavior while destroying my credibility.

"Guards," Raymond called sharply, his Alpha authority cutting through the murmurs of conversation. "Confiscate any remaining 'evidence' Aurora might have hidden. I want every photograph, every recording, every piece of this fabricated conspiracy destroyed."

As guards moved to carry out his orders, I realized that my last chance to prove Giana's guilt was slipping away. All our work, all the danger we'd faced, was being systematically eliminated by direct order of the Alpha.

Kane watched the destruction of our investigation with professional detachment, giving no sign that it affected him emotionally. If the situation bothered him, he concealed it perfectly behind his neutral facade.

"I'm placing Aurora under house arrest until a full psychiatric evaluation can be completed," Raymond announced, his voice carrying to every corner of the hall. "Her delusions have made her a danger to herself and others."

The formal declaration sent murmurs through the assembled pack members. House arrest was just one step away from complete removal from my position as Luna, and everyone present understood the implications.

Giana's expression remained carefully concerned, but I caught a flash of triumph in her eyes when she thought no one was looking. She'd succeeded in neutralizing me as a threat while positioning herself as the reasonable, injured party.

As guards moved to escort me from the dining hall, I looked back at Kane one final time. For just a moment, his professional mask slipped, revealing the pain he was working so hard to conceal.

But it was too late for glimpses of his true feelings. The damage was done, and I was more alone than ever in a battle that seemed increasingly impossible to win.