Chapter 9-The Moment Every Eye Turned on Me

Alina’s POV

The first thing I felt was heat. Not from the sun. Not from the courtyard torches. It came from the people staring at me like I was something dangerous wrapped in fragile skin. A creature they wanted to inspect. Probe. Break open to see what spilled out.

Every breath scraped my throat raw.

Keep walking.

Keep walking.

Keep walking.

But my legs didn’t feel like they belonged to me anymore. They felt borrowed. Shaky. Ready to fold the second I lost focus.

The twins walked beside me. Kael on the right, Kaden on the left. Their presence felt like walls closing around me, not trapping me but shielding me. The air shifted when they moved. Guards straightened. Council members fixed their robes. The courtyard fell into a hush that crawled up my spine.

And Cassandra stood at the center of it all.

Her hair gleamed like spun gold in the sunlight. Her eyes were wide and innocent, too innocent, the kind of innocent a fox wears walking into a henhouse. Her hands folded neatly in front of her waist as if she had no idea what chaos was curling at her feet.

Then she looked at me.

Her gaze flickered down my robe, then lifted to my eyes with a softness so polished it hurt to look at.

Something cold slid under my skin.

A Council member stepped forward. Elder Varron. Snow white beard. Sharp eyes. Voice like stone.

“Alina Rowan,” he said loudly. “Step forward.”

My stomach dropped so fast I tasted metal.

Kael stepped into his path before I could take a single step. “She stands with us.”

“This is not your decision,” Elder Varron replied. His eyes slid past Kael to study me. “A report was received this morning. Concerning the misuse of royal quarters. And the improper conduct of a contracted servant.”

Improper conduct.

Servant.

The words sliced deeper than they should have.

Kaden’s voice dropped, low and dangerous. “Who sent that report.”

Elder Varron did not look at him. “Its source is irrelevant.”

It was not irrelevant. Not even close. My throat tightened. Cassandra stared calmly at a rosebush as if she didn’t feel every eye shifting toward her.

Kael’s jaw flexed. “You demand answers. Ask your witness to speak.”

Hushed whispers rippled through the courtyard. Elders glanced at each other. Guards exchanged quick looks.

Cassandra finally stepped forward.

Slow. Graceful. Slower than necessary. Graceful enough to look fragile. Calculated enough to look harmless.

“Your Majesties,” she murmured, bowing her head slightly. “I only sent word because I was confused.”

Confused.

My breath hitched.

“I arrived as requested,” she continued softly. “But when I reached the royal wing, I found… unfamiliar signs.”

“Speak clearly,” Elder Varron commanded.

Cassandra lifted her gaze, filled with hesitant innocence.

“The royal bed was used,” she whispered. “But not by me.”

Heat flushed up my neck so violently I felt dizzy.

The courtyard exploded with murmurs.

Kaden took a step forward, voice taut. “Cassandra, you know nothing of what occurred last night.”

“I know what I saw,” she replied, her voice trembling with just the right amount of hurt. “And what I smelled.”

My heart stopped.

She did not.

She could not.

She did.

Kaden inhaled sharply through his nose. The air around him vibrated with the effort it took not to shift right then. Kael’s hand shot out and gripped his brother’s arm with enough force to dent steel.

Cassandra looked down at her hands. “I am not accusing anyone,” she said quietly. “I only reported what might undermine the Council’s trust in the royal household.”

Might undermine.

As though she hadn’t thrown a lit torch onto a pile of dry leaves.

Elder Varron stared at her for a long moment, then turned to me.

“Alina Rowan,” he said. “Step forward now.”

The twins shifted instantly. Kael placed an arm across my body like a barrier. Kaden moved half a step in front of me.

“No,” Kael growled.

“She is under our protection,” Kaden added.

Elder Varron lifted a hand. “Protection is not permission to break protocol. She will answer the Council’s inquiry.”

“I am not answering anything,” I whispered, though my voice shook so badly it barely came out.

Kael turned to me. His voice lowered, softer, cutting through the storm brewing in my head.

“Look at me.”

I lifted my eyes.

His stare pinned me in place. Hard. Certain. Steady.

“Do not be afraid of them,” he said quietly. “They only have the power you let them take.”

I nodded, but my insides were shaking like loose glass.

Kaden leaned close enough his breath brushed my hair. “We will not let them touch you.”

The moment felt like a heartbeat waiting to break.

Elder Varron stepped closer. “This girl must speak.”

Kael stepped forward at the same instant.

His voice thundered across the courtyard.

“She is not your prisoner.”

Cassandra’s expression flickered. Just a flicker. But it was enough. Enough to see the first cracks spiderweb in her perfect mask.

“She is cursed,” Elder Varron said coolly. “And the Council must determine the risk.”

Something inside me recoiled.

Cursed.

Again.

Always cursed.

My breath came faster. Shallow. Wrong.

Kaden saw it. His hand brushed my arm, light and grounding. “Breathe.”

I tried. My lungs refused.

Elder Varron lifted a small black stone from his pocket. It glowed faintly. Pulsed with a sickly blue light.

“This is a truth stone,” he said. “One touch reveals any concealed bond or illusion. If there is nothing to hide, she has nothing to fear.”

Kael’s voice dropped into a growl so deep it trembled the air. “Put that away.”

But Elder Varron ignored him.

And Cassandra took one step closer.

“I think it is fair,” she murmured softly. “If she has nothing to hide, she will be safe.”

My body reacted before my mind did.

I stumbled back.

Kaden caught me instantly, hands gripping my waist.

Kael moved in front of us, eyes burning silver.

“No,” Kael said. “She will not be touched by Council magic.”

“She must be examined,” Elder Varron insisted.

“She is not one of your experiments,” Kael snapped.

“She is not one of your queens either,” Cassandra whispered.

The words hit like a slap.

Kael spun toward her so fast the air shuddered. “You speak out of turn.”

Cassandra flinched but held her ground. “If she is innocent, why are you so frightened of the test.”

I sucked in a breath.

Frightened.

They thought the twins were frightened.

Elder Varron raised the glowing stone.

“Bring her forward.”

“No,” Kael said.

“No,” Kaden echoed.

The stone pulsed brighter.

Guards shifted closer.

Cassandra’s eyes locked onto mine.

There was something in them now.

No innocence.

No confusion.

No politeness.

Just hunger.

And a promise.

She wanted the truth, but only because she wanted to destroy me with it.

“Bring her forward,” Elder Varron repeated.

Kael snarled. “Do not come closer.”

Kaden pushed me slightly behind him, just enough to shield my body.

Everything spun at once.

The courtyard.

The whispers.

The glowing stone.

I could not breathe. My vision blurred. My wolf pressed against my ribs so hard I thought I might choke.

Elder Varron stepped forward.

One more step.

Then another.

The stone raised.

Closer.

Kaden’s body coiled.

Kael’s fist clenched.

Cassandra watched with bright, devouring eyes.

And just when Elder Varron reached out, the truth stone inches from my skin

a sound tore through the courtyard.

A long, low, bone-deep howl.

Every head jerked up.

Every guard froze.

Even the Council stiffened.

The howl echoed again.

Closer.

Louder.

And then a second howl answered it.

Kael’s eyes widened.

Kaden’s breath caught.

Because this sound

was coming from inside the palace.

And it was calling my name.