Cassandra’s POV
The Pack Doctor’s words rang through the air like a thunderclap, each syllable striking with a force I hadn’t braced for. The noise in the great hall seemed to fall away for a moment, swallowed in the wake of her confession.
But before I could react, before I could summon a retort or even collect my breath, Dorian’s voice crashed through the silence like a blade cleaving through flesh.
“Seize her!” he barked, his tone icy, final. “Take her away. Behead her after the wedding. I will not have this nonsense ruining my bride’s moment.”
My moment.
A quiet, satisfied smile curved across my lips. My spine straightened slightly, and for a heartbeat, I felt steady. Dorian, ruthless, decisive, and unwavering, had taken control, and for once, I didn’t have to speak. He stood beside me like a wall of steel, and I welcomed it. Loyalty like his was rare.
The guards rushed forward and grabbed the doctor by the arms. But she didn’t fight. She didn’t cry or beg. Instead, she laughed, a harsh, hollow sound that echoed unnervingly through the hall.
“You can kill me if you want, Cassandra,” she said, voice cracking with triumph, “but you cannot kill the truth.”
My smile faltered.
A flicker of unease crawled up my spine, but I forced my face into stillness, my expression a mask of cold control.
“You were never meant to be here,” she continued, louder now, her voice rising over the murmuring crowd. “You were switched at birth! The Luna commanded me to do it! I was the one who placed you in her arms, while the true heir was cast aside like garbage!”
A gasp rippled through the hall like a wave crashing against rock. Faces turned. Whispers ignited like wildfire. I could feel their stares piercing through me, eyes that once held admiration now clouded with doubt.
My limbs stiffened. I couldn’t turn to face them. Couldn’t even breathe.
My mind raced, trying to make sense of the words. Switched? Cast aside? The air in the room thickened, pressing in from all sides. My throat burned. My ears rang.
“And the cast-aside heir,” she shouted, her eyes sweeping over the stunned crowd, “is Katrina!”
My vision blurred.
“Lies!” I snapped, the word torn from my throat like broken glass. My voice was hoarse, strangled, but loud enough to silence the murmurs. “You’re just a desperate woman trying to crawl out of her own grave. Hoping that a little chaos might save her neck!”
The Pack Doctor didn’t flinch. Her smile was bitter, her eyes gleaming. “You can deny it all you want. But you know. You’ve always known. That Alpha you called father, he never treated you like a daughter, did he?”
My heart lurched.
She took a step forward, even as the guards held her tightly. “He never looked at you with love. Never gave you his trust. Because he knew. You weren’t his. You were never his. You’re nothing but a bastard in a borrowed crown!”
“Shut up!” I shouted, the words tearing from my mouth as my hands clenched at my sides. My nails bit into my palms until I felt the skin split. “You're lying!”
“Am I?” Her voice was quieter now, but somehow even more damning. Her expression changed, less triumphant, more knowing. Almost pitying. “You’ve always felt it, haven’t you? That hollow ache? That unspoken wrongness? That no matter how hard you fought, the Lunar Flame would never truly answer you.”
My stomach twisted.
“I said shut up!” My voice cracked. My breathing had turned ragged. Every breath scraped against my ribs like sandpaper. The walls were closing in, and still, she wasn’t done.
“You twisted the truth to protect your place,” she said, her voice softening. “You told them your grandfather corrupted the Flame, that your father killed your mother but that was never the whole truth. Not even close. You lied because you didn’t know the truth, Cassandra. You were trying to make sense of the puzzle you were never meant to solve.”
“ENOUGH!” I roared.
The room was dead still.
My chest rose and fell rapidly, and I realized my hands were trembling. I didn’t want them to see it, my pack, my guards, my enemies. But I could feel the crack forming beneath my feet, and no amount of pretending could patch it now.
And then, from behind the Pack Doctor, the shaman stepped forward.
He had been silent through the entire exchange, eyes watching, unreadable as always. But now, he raised one hand.
“Take her away. Now.”
The guards didn’t hesitate this time. They dragged the Pack Doctor from the hall, her head held high even as her fate was sealed.
But her words remained.
They clung to the walls. Hung in the silence like smoke.
You were switched at birth. You were never meant to be here. You’re nothing but a bastard.
And for the first time, I didn’t know if I was fighting her words because they were lies, or because I feared they were true.