Chapter 5
The break came after two hours of shooting. Piper excused herself to take a call from her father, leaving Cameron and me alone in the grand hall.
I busied myself adjusting a light stand, my back to him. But I felt his approach like a storm front—the air pressure changing, his Alpha presence pressing against my carefully maintained shields.
"Raining."
His voice held an edge I recognized. Suspicion wrapped in forced casualness.
I turned slowly, camera still in hand. "Yes, Alpha Joshua?"
He moved closer, too close for professional distance. His eyes searched my face—what little he could see above the scarf, behind the dark glasses.
"Your scent," he said quietly. "It's... familiar. Underneath the blocker."
My heart hammered against my ribs, but I kept my voice steady. "Many photographers use similar products. Occupational necessity when working with territorial Alphas."
"No." He stepped closer still. "It's not the blocker. It's what's underneath. I know that scent."
I could run. Should run. But six years of swallowed words and buried rage wouldn't let me.
Instead, I leaned in.
Close enough that my breath ghosted across his ear. Close enough that he stiffened, his wolf rising to meet mine through the manufactured distance.
"Do you remember," I whispered, "the first time we met? By the river, under the full moon?"
His entire body went rigid.
"You told me," I continued, my voice barely audible, "that the water looked like liquid silver. That you'd never seen anything more beautiful."
A pause. Then softer, crueler:
"Until you saw me."
Only Cameron and I knew those words. I'd never told another soul. They were sacred—the moment before everything, when we were just two wolves who'd found each other under the Moon Goddess's light.
Before the lies. Before the poison. Before he chose power over the bond.
Cameron's face drained of color. His hand shot out, gripping my wrist with enough force to bruise.
"Elora?" The name came out strangled, disbelieving.
I pulled back sharply, breaking his hold. My wolf snarled at the contact, at the mate bond trying to sing beneath my fury.
"Raining," I corrected, my voice cold and professional again. "And you're wrinkling my sleeve, Alpha."
Footsteps echoed from the hallway. Piper's voice carried ahead of her return.
Cameron stood frozen, his eyes wide with dawning horror. His mouth opened, closed. The calculations were visible on his face—the impossibility of what I'd just revealed, the implications, the threat.
"You—" he started.
"Your fiancée is returning," I interrupted smoothly, adjusting my scarf. "Perhaps you should compose yourself. You look like you've seen a ghost."
Piper swept back into the room, all smiles and oblivious energy. "Sorry about that! Daddy wanted to confirm details for tomorrow night's banquet."
"Perfect timing," I said, raising my camera. "I was just telling Alpha Joshua about the Grand Reveal."
Cameron's jaw clenched. Sweat beaded at his temples.
"Grand Reveal?" Piper asked, linking her arm through his.
"The photos," I explained, my tone bright and professional. "I always present my work at a formal event. It allows the subjects to see themselves through my lens, to understand the truth I've captured."
I met Cameron's eyes over Piper's head.
"The soul of the wolf," I continued. "That's what my work reveals. Everything hidden, brought into the light."
"That sounds amazing!" Piper clapped her hands. "Daddy will be there tomorrow night to finalize the alliance anyway. It'll be perfect!"
"Indeed," I murmured. "I'll prepare a slideshow. Every moment we've captured today, presented for the whole pack to see. For Alpha Martinez to witness. For everyone who matters."
Cameron's face had gone from pale to gray. His wolf was probably screaming at him, the mate bond recognizing me even as his mind scrambled to understand how this was possible.
How the broken, suppressed Omega he'd hidden away had become the legendary photographer standing before him.
How the woman he'd erased was about to expose everything.
"I should go," I announced, beginning to pack my equipment. "I have much to prepare for tomorrow night."
"Wait," Cameron said hoarsely. "We need to—"
"Discuss the presentation?" I smiled beneath my scarf. "Don't worry, Alpha Joshua. I have everything I need. The truth always develops beautifully in the darkroom."
I shouldered my camera bag and headed for the door.
"Tomorrow night," I called over my shoulder. "Don't be late. I promise it will be a revelation."
The last thing I saw before leaving was Cameron's stricken expression and Piper's confused frown.
Let him sweat. Let him panic. Let him realize that the ghost he thought he'd buried was very much alive.
And she was coming for everything he'd stolen.
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