Chapter 7: The Truth Comes Out
855 Words
The pack archives were dusty and disorganized, five years of neglect evident in every cobweb and scattered document.
Sera spent hours going through old records. Patrol logs. Visitor registrations. Communications between elders.
And then she found it.
A transfer request. Dated three months before her wedding.
*Incoming visitor: M. Corvus. Shadow Fang Pack. Purpose: Trade negotiation.*
Trade negotiation. With Magnus Voss. Alpha of Shadow Fang Pack.
The request had been approved by Beta Cassia.
Sera stared at the signature at the bottom of the page. That elegant, flowing script. The same signature she'd seen on a hundred official documents during her time as future Luna.
Cassia had let Magnus in. Cassia had been working with him from the beginning.
*Why?*
The answer came to her with cold clarity.
Dax.
Cassia had wanted Dax. Had been competing with Sera for his attention for years. When Sera became the obvious choice for Luna, Cassia had seen her chance disappear.
So she'd brought in Magnus. Let him orchestrate the frame job. And watched as Sera was torn away from the man she loved.
Five years. All because Sera had been the one Dax was going to choose.
She brought the documents to Dax. Watched his face as he read.
His expression didn't change. But she saw his hands tighten on the paper. Saw his knuckles go white.
"Cassia," he said. The name was flat. Final.
"Cassia."
"She was my Beta. My right hand. She was at the wedding, standing at my side when—" He stopped. Took a breath. "She's been with me for seven years."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be." He looked up. His eyes were hard. Cold. "Are these copies?"
"Originals. I thought you should verify them yourself."
He nodded. Stood. Walked toward the door.
"What are you going to do?"
He paused. Looked back at her.
"I'm going to end this."
He left.
Sera stood alone in the archives, surrounded by five years of lies.
*It's starting*, she thought. *The reckoning.*
*And I'm going to watch every moment of it.*
Pack court convened at dawn.
The great hall was packed — every wolf in Ironcrest territory crammed into the stone chamber, their whispers filling the air like a hive of disturbed bees.
Sera stood at the back, Lumi asleep in her arms. She'd promised Garrett she would stay out of sight. Let Dax handle his pack. Let him prove he was still capable of justice.
But she wasn't going to miss this.
Cassia stood in the center of the hall, her posture rigid, her expression composed. She looked like a woman attending a formal dinner, not a prisoner awaiting judgment.
Dax descended from the dais. His face was unreadable.
"Cassia Drake." His voice carried across the silent hall. "You stand accused of treason against the Ironcrest bloodline. Of conspiring with enemy forces. Of facilitating the exile of an innocent Luna."
Cassia's composure cracked. Just for a moment.
"That's not—"
"Silence."
She obeyed. Her mouth snapped shut.
Dax laid the documents on the stone table. Transfer records. Gate logs. Letters. His archivists had already authenticated them — it had taken less than an hour.
"All dated before Sera Vale's exile." He didn't look up from the table. "All bearing your signature."
Murmurs rippled through the crowd.
Cassia's eyes darted around the room. Looking for allies. Finding none.
"Dax." Her voice was honey again. Soft. Pleading. "You have to understand. I did this for you. For the pack. She was going to take everything from us — your legacy, your future, your—"
"She was my mate."
The words cut through the air like a blade.
"She was going to be the Luna of Ironcrest. The mother of my children. The partner at my side for the rest of our lives." Dax stepped closer. "And you destroyed that. Not for the pack. Not for me. For yourself."
Cassia broke.
"You were supposed to choose me!" The scream tore from her throat. "I was there first! I loved you longer! And then she appeared out of nowhere and suddenly I didn't matter and I couldn't — I couldn't just—"
She was crying now. Ugly, wrenching sobs that shook her whole body.
"I did it for us," she choked out. "For me. Because I couldn't lose you. I couldn't let her take you away."
The hall was silent.
Dax looked at her for a long moment. His expression unreadable.
"Beta Cassia Drake," he said finally. "By order of Alpha Dax Ironcrest, you are hereby stripped of your rank. Your position. Your place in this pack."
He turned away.
"Take her to the border. Let her choose her own territory from now on."
Guards grabbed Cassia's arms. She was still sobbing as they dragged her away.
The hall erupted in noise — cheers, gasps, arguments. Sera watched it all with cold detachment.
*Five years*, she thought. *Five years of exile. Five years of running. And this is how it ends.*
Not with a bang. Not with a confrontation.
Just an ending.
She turned and walked out of the hall, Lumi still sleeping in her arms.
- Writer
