Chapter 225: Chapter 225 The Photograph
Author
Alpha Zack had been digging for weeks.
He wanted proof. One piece. That was all.
Something that would prove Alpha Dominic had set the whole thing up.
That he had orchestrated Elara’s disappearance. That he had manipulated their breakup and played Alpha Zack for a fool.
But he found nothing.
Every lead went cold. Every wolf he questioned gave him the same blank stare. Every file he pulled came back clean. Too clean.
He was starting to wonder if he had been looking in the wrong direction. Maybe he had been chasing the wrong timeline. Maybe the truth was older than he thought.
That was when the invitation arrived.
His old school, the Alpha Academy, wanted him to come back for a visit. Something about a new research building dedication. Funded by Blackwood Pack, of course.
Alpha Zack almost said no. He was not in the mood for handshakes and small talk. But the thought of spending another day locked in his study, staring at the same dead ends, made his skin crawl.
He said yes.
Not because he cared about the building. But because he needed to get out of his own head for a day.
--
The campus hadn’t changed.
Same stone walkways. Same grand hall. Even the air smelled the same. Old wood and lingering magic, just like it did years ago.
The dean escorted him personally through the newly completed research center. A small crowd followed behind. Photographers. Note-takers. People who kept saying flattering things.
"Alpha Zack, this is the smart assistance device our students developed this year. It just won an international innovation award. The equipment you donated made a real difference. The students keep asking when they can thank you in person."
Alpha Zack nodded. He made the appropriate sounds of approval. But his mind was elsewhere.
He did not care about the device.
He did not care about the award. He did not care about the flattery. It all felt like noise.
Then something caught his eye.
A photograph on the corridor wall. Group shot. Big frame. Gold border. The kind of photo they hang in hallways so visitors can see how important the school used to be.
His gaze swept past it.
Then snapped back.
He was in that photo.
Front row, left side. Dark gray suit. That perfectly practiced smile he had worn back then, before everything went wrong.
Next to him stood a few other Alphas from other packs.
His eyes moved right.
Elara stood beside him. She had been his girlfriend back then. She had come to support him.
She looked a little stiff in the photo. Not used to events like this. But her eyes were bright. Her head tilted slightly toward him, like she was looking for reassurance.
Alpha Zack’s throat tightened.
Then he saw the other person in the photo.
Alpha King— Dominic Wolfe.
Standing in the center of the front row. The spot they saved for the most important guest.
And his eyes — they were not looking at the camera.
They were looking at Elara.
Alpha Zack went cold.
"Dean," he said. His voice came out steady. "What year was this taken?"
The dean stepped up beside him, beaming with pride. "That was three years ago. The Alpha Academy’s annual distinguished alumni event. You and Alpha King were both guests of honor that day. It was one of our most successful events. The turnout was remarkable. "
Three years ago.
The words hit him like a punch to the chest.
Alpha Zack remembered that day.
He remembered convincing Elara to come with him. He remembered her hesitation. He remembered her smile when she finally agreed.
He remembered introducing her to people, keeping her close, feeling proud to have her on his arm.
He did not remember Alpha Dominic being in the room.
But the photo told a different story.
Alpha Dominic had been there the whole time. Standing a few feet away. Watching. Not watching the event. Not watching the crowd. Watching Elara.
Alpha Zack stared at the image. At the angle of Alpha Dominic’s gaze. At the way his attention was locked on her, even while the cameras flashed and the crowd posed around them.
That was not a casual glance.
That was recognition.
Alpha Dominic had seen Elara that day. Three years ago. At the Alpha Academy. Standing next to Alpha Zack.
And Alpha Zack had no idea.
He had been too busy smiling for the camera, too busy feeling important, too busy being the rising star to notice that the Alpha King was looking at his girlfriend.
His hands curled into fists at his sides.
He thought about what happened after that.
The small things he had ignored. The signs he had dismissed.
The way Elara started getting restless. The way she said she felt watched sometimes, even in places where no one should be watching.
He had told her she was imagining things.
He had told her she was just stressed from studying.
She had believed him. She had always believed him.
And all that time, Alpha Dominic had been somewhere . Already fixing her face in his mind.
Alpha Zack’s jaw tightened. His teeth ground together.
