Chapter 7 - The Revelation of the Intercepted Truth
Cassian dismounted in a single, fluid motion, closing the distance between them with terrifying speed. His hand reached out instinctively, as if to touch her cheek, but Elara stepped back, her hand resting on her dagger.
“You’re alive,” Cassian whispered, his golden eyes searching her face, drinking in the changes—the maturity, the fierce independence in her eyes. “The trackers lost your scent at the river. They told me you froze in the mountains.”
“They lied to you,” Elara said flatly. “Just like Allaric lied about Elias.”
Allaric stepped forward, panic flashing across his old eyes. “Your Majesty, do not listen to her. She is a traitor who abandoned her pack—”
“Silence,” Cassian snarled, his Alpha voice cracking the frost on the nearby rocks. Allaric stumbled back, choking on his own breath. Cassian turned back to Elara, his chest heaving. “I received your letter, Elara. The one offering supervised contact. But when I replied... you sent word back that you wanted nothing to do with me or the crown.”
Elara froze. “I received your reply. You wrote that you refused recognition of any child conceived before my desertion.”
Confusion knitted Cassian’s brow. “I never received a letter about children. Isolda... Isolda handed me a blank refusal draft months later, claiming you had renounced the pack entirely and found a new mate.”
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Elara’s eyes widened as the puzzle pieces clicked into place. “Isolda. She intercepted my letter. She forged your response.”
Cassian’s face drained of color, replaced by a dark, murderous rage that made even his elite guards take a step back. He turned his head slowly toward Allaric. “You and your daughter... you lied to your king.”
