Lyra's POV
The silence in the cathedral felt suffocating, like the air had been sucked from the room. Every guest stared at me with expressions that shifted from joy to confusion to something much darker. I stood frozen at the altar, my face bare and exposed, while Kaelen held my crumpled wedding veil in his clenched fists.
"You are not my bride."
Those words slammed into me with the force of a physical blow. Kaelen's voice cut through the vast space, cold and razor-sharp. His eyes, which had held such warmth just moments ago, now looked at me with pure disgust.
The whispers began immediately.
"Wait, isn't that Lyra Sinclair?"
"Where the hell is Daphne?"
"What kind of sick joke is this?"
"Someone better explain what's happening here."
The murmurs spread through the crowd like poison, growing louder with each passing second. My name echoed from every corner of the hall, each repetition sounding more accusatory than the last.
"What is this deception?" Kaelen demanded, stepping closer.
His presence, which had felt protective before, now seemed threatening. The mate bond I'd felt forming between us twisted into something agonizing, like barbed wire wrapped around my heart.
"I asked you a question," he said, his voice booming. "What is this deception?"
I opened my mouth, but no sound emerged. My throat felt raw and tight. What could I possibly say? That my sister had run off with my fated mate and left me to pick up the pieces? That my stepmother had orchestrated this entire charade? That I was trying to prevent a war between our packs?
"Answer me!" Kaelen's roar shook the cathedral walls. "Is this your pack's declaration of war against mine?"
War. The word hit me like ice water flooding my veins. I looked around frantically and saw the Ironfang wolves rising from their seats, their faces dark with rage. Several had their hands resting on concealed weapons. This was exactly what I'd been trying to prevent. This was why I'd agreed to wear Daphne's veil in the first place.
"I can explain," I stammered, my voice barely audible.
"You will explain," Kaelen snarled. "Where is my actual bride? Where is Daphne Sinclair?"
Before I could respond, my stepmother shoved through the crowd like a woman possessed. Helena's face was ghostly white, her eyes wild with what appeared to be genuine shock and horror.
She marched straight up to me and delivered a slap so vicious that my ears rang. The sound cracked through the silent cathedral like a whip.
"What the hell, Lyra?" she screamed. "What is this madness? Where is your sister?"
I stared at her in complete bewilderment. My cheek throbbed from the impact, and my vision blurred from the force of it. This was the same woman who had dressed me in this gown just moments ago. The same woman who had told me I needed to save our pack.
"Mother, what are you talking about?" I whispered.
She struck me again, harder this time. Stars exploded across my vision and I stumbled backward.
"You have always been jealous, but this crosses every line!" Helena shrieked, her voice cracking with hysteria. "Tell me right now where my daughter is. Where is Daphne?"
The world seemed to tilt beneath my feet. She was acting like she had no memory of our conversation. Like she hadn't been the one to orchestrate this entire plan.
"Mother, you're frightening me," I said, my voice trembling. "Didn't Daphne run away? Isn't that why you told me I had to..."
The words died in my throat when I saw her expression. Her face showed nothing but pure, convincing confusion mixed with unbridled fury.
She raised her hand to strike me again, but Kaelen's fingers wrapped around her wrist, stopping her mid-swing.
"You had no knowledge," he said slowly, studying Helena's face intently, "that the woman you escorted down the aisle was not your daughter Daphne?"
Helena collapsed to her knees as if her legs had given out. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she looked up at Kaelen with desperate, pleading eyes.
"I beg your forgiveness, Alpha Kaelen," she sobbed. "This should have been the happiest day of my life. My daughter marrying into a pack as honorable as yours. I had no idea when or how this terrible thing happened."
My mouth fell open. She was lying through her teeth, but she sounded so believable that I began questioning my own memories.
"When I left the bridal chamber after preparing my daughter, Daphne was still there," Helena continued, her voice breaking. "I stepped out for just a moment to handle some last-minute details. When I returned, she was veiled and ready to proceed. I never imagined that Lyra, consumed by jealousy toward her sister, would commit such an insulting betrayal."
Jealousy. She was painting me as a jealous, vindictive sister.
"Please spare our pack," Helena begged, still on her knees. "We had no part in this girl's madness."
Kaelen studied her face for what felt like an eternity. When he finally spoke, his voice was deadly quiet.
"The problem is, I don't believe you."
Helena's face crumpled. "Alpha, please, I'm telling the truth..."
That's when the cathedral doors burst open with a thunderous bang.
Daphne stumbled into the hall, and I gasped at her appearance. Her face was covered in bruises, with a dark purple mark spreading across her left cheek. Her lip was split and bleeding. Her dress was torn at the shoulder, and she moved like she was in agony.
"My mother speaks the truth," Daphne declared, her voice carrying clearly through the hushed cathedral.
Every head turned toward her. She looked like she'd been brutally beaten.
"Lyra came to my chamber," Daphne continued, limping forward dramatically. "She attacked me viciously and tried to steal my place."
The words hit me like a sledgehammer. I stared at my half-sister in complete shock, struggling to process her accusation.
"That's not what happened," I started, but my voice came out weak.
"She knocked me unconscious," Daphne said, gingerly touching her bruised face. "When I regained consciousness, I was locked in a storage closet. I've been fighting to escape for ages."
The cathedral erupted in outraged voices. People shouted for justice, demanded answers, called for my punishment. The sound crashed over me like a tsunami, but I couldn't focus on individual words. Everything merged into a deafening roar of accusation and rage.
My mind reeled like I was spinning out of control. I remembered Cyrus calling to reject our mate bond. I remembered the letter in Daphne's handwriting. I remembered Helena dressing me and telling me to save the pack.
But looking at Daphne now, battered and broken, hearing her story, I started doubting everything I thought I knew.
Had I somehow blocked out attacking her? The mate bond rejection had been excruciating agony. Maybe the pain had driven me temporarily insane. Maybe I'd done something unforgivable that I couldn't remember.
"I would never," I tried to speak, but even I could hear how unconvincing I sounded.
"Look at her face," Daphne said, pointing at me. "Look at that guilt written all over it. She knows exactly what she did."
Did I? I touched my own cheek, wondering what expression I was wearing. My hands shook uncontrollably.
Kaelen stepped closer, and the mate bond between us pulsed with his anger and revulsion.
"Is this true?" he asked, his voice low and menacing. "Did you assault your own sister to steal her place at this altar?"
"I... I don't..." My voice failed me completely.
The crowd pressed closer, their faces twisted with outrage. I saw my father pushing through the masses, his face gray with horror and shame. When our eyes met, he looked at me like I was a stranger.
"Lyra," he said, his voice breaking. "Please tell me you didn't do this."
But I couldn't tell him anything. My mind felt like it was shattering into fragments. Everything I thought I remembered was being rewritten before my eyes.
Daphne moved to stand beside Helena, who wrapped protective arms around her injured daughter.
"She always resented me," Daphne said quietly, just loud enough for everyone to hear. "She couldn't bear that I was chosen to marry an Alpha while she was stuck with a mere sentinel."