[IRIS POV]
Suddenly, I felt Caius's eyes on me. I blinked in surprise, almost in disbelief. My heart began to race with fear and anticipation. Surely he should not have recognized me. Then, I saw him scoff before tearing his gaze away.
Hmph. He was simply trying to flaunt how many women wanted him as his mate. Arrogant prick.
Caius walked to the front, raising his voice. "Can I ask all the unmated women to form a line in front of me, so that I can find my fated mate?"
His words caused a mini stampede. I plastered myself against the wall to get out of the way as they eagerly lined up, jostling each other for a spot at the front. It was ridiculous how much effect he had on the shewolves of our pack. All these prideful, powerful women were dangling for a scrap of his attention. I scowled at their desperation.
Woman after woman stood in front of Caius as he stared them down. The blondes were eliminated almost immediately, but he spent a longer time examining the brunettes and those with even darker hair, even leaning forward to sniff them. However, his face grimaced in disappointment every time.
The line of eligible women got shorter and shorter by the minute. I could sense Caius getting more agitated with every failure, and once again, I felt his eyes dart in my direction. I couldn't help but smirk. Of course he wouldn't be successful, I thought snidely to myself.
"Call every unmated woman in the pack to come in front of me," Caius said with a glower. After shooting one last look at me, he addressed the women. "I don't care if they are omegas. Call everyone here."
After a moment, there were more women gathered in the dining hall. All the omega servants who worked the kitchens and cleaned the household appeared in their work uniforms, while Caius continued to look for his fated mate in the crowd to no success. Meanwhile, the other pack members lingered by the sides, hoping to witness the lucky woman who would become Caius's mate and their pack's future Luna.
Well, they'd be waiting for a long time. I had no plans to reveal this particular truth.
"Why isn't she queuing?" One young child asked her friend, pointing a discreet finger in my direction. "She's a girl too. Maybe she's his fated mate!"
Heads turned to me at her innocent question, and I was faced with a barrage of disdainful expressions.
"Are you crazy? She's his half-sister. There's no way she's his mate," her friend scolded her and pulled her away.
Even a child knew it was impossible between us.
Caius's eyes once again darted to my face. I could see his mouth twitching, as though he wanted to say something.
"Iris, come here," he ordered.
My mouth fell open, and I pointed to myself in confusion. Caius had never addressed me by name since he understood who I was. It was always a rude 'you' or 'idiot girl' or 'this bitch'. He seemed as surprised as I was to hear my name emerge from his lips.
"Yes, you," he said with gritted teeth. The crowd began muttering to themselves.
"Come on, Caius can't possibly think she's his mate."
"Maybe he's making fun of her."
I didn't want to approach him, but the longer I stayed plastered to the wall, the more people's eyes turned towards me. I had no way to escape.
'Let's get this over with,' I thought with dismay, my heart thumping like a jackrabbit. I walked towards him, my feet feeling like lead. He leaned in close enough to whisper in my ear.
"Don't misunderstand. I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing this for Atlas."
Atlas? His wolf?
Did Atlas know I was his fated mate all along? In that case, wouldn't Caius also know― no, if he had, there was no way he would have remained this calm.
Caius reached out a hand to my neck and dragged me closer. I held my breath, forcing my eyes to stare down at his shoes. I didn't want to remember the last time we were in such close proximity, the happiness and desire that threatened to drown me. He leaned down and sniffed my neck. I prayed that my scent would remain concealed.
"Are you done?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper. Caius tightened his grip around my neck, and I let out a little gasp, grabbing his hand. "Let go of me!"
"Stay still!"
Just as I thought I was done for, I caught the whiff of a familiar scent floating through the doors.
It was my own scent.
But it wasn't coming from me.
Instead, it was coming from a woman who wore the same dress I had worn the previous night. To complete the look, she had even taken my cheap mask and worn it.
It was her. This was the woman who burgled my room!
"It's you," Caius's voice emerged with a reverent whisper. He turned to look at me, an expression of vehement disgust and disdainful satisfaction in his eyes. "I knew it wasn't you. Atlas was wrong."
With one strong push, he shoved me to the side as though I was nothing more than a sandbag. I fell to the ground in a crumpled heap, wincing at the impact. No one bothered to help me up, but I caught a few pitying glances shot in my way.
Everyone else's attention was on the mysterious woman. The crowd of women parted instinctively, giving Caius and me a perfect, unobscured view of her as she strolled towards him.
In Caius's eyes, she was the girl who got away. He won't let her escape a second time. He reached out and grasped her hand tightly, affection overflowing from his face.
The tenderness I saw in his eyes was almost unbearable for me to stomach, especially when contrasted with his earlier disdain.
"Who are you?" Caius asked eagerly. The room held its breath as it waited for her answer.
"Silly, don't you recognise me?" The woman made a grand show of undoing her mask, letting it fall away from her face in one graceful motion. She shook out her dark hair, and it shone under the sunlight.
Caius and I both sucked in a deep breath, but it was for vastly different reasons.
It was Yvette, the beta's daughter, who had stolen my identity. She was Caius's fiancée, and I knew the pack elders had been hoping for their union.
My blood ran cold when I noticed she even dyed her hair to match my own. She had her customary gentle smile pasted on her face, but I knew her gentleness was a lie.
Yvette, with her sweet, ladylike demeanor, had successfully rendered me a social outcast among the girls, spreading all sorts of rumours about me that destroyed my reputation further.
But of course, Caius wouldn't care about that. He only saw Yvette's enchanting smile, and when she leaned forward to flick at Caius's hair, I could have sworn he fell in love all over again.
"Who else could it be?"
"Yvette! It is you!" Caius exclaimed, pulling her into his arms. He buried his nose in her hair to breathe in the captivating scent of his fated mate. Yvette wrapped her arms around him tightly, a demure, yet blissful smile on her face.
But when her eyes met mine, she shot me a look of smug satisfaction and curled her hand around Caius's neck, pulling him down into a kiss.
The pack let out hoots and hollers, clapping for their new future Luna. Beta Basil, Yvette's father, was also present. He was beaming with delight, eagerly shaking Alpha Rufus's hand. My father, whom I had never seen smile in my direction, was ecstatic beyond belief.
Suddenly, I felt a sharp, biting pain in my chest, and I found it hard to breathe. My breath came up in short, sharp gasps, and it seemed like no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get enough air into my lungs.
I wheezed, trying to get help, but no one paid me any attention. Their focus was on the celebrating couple who couldn't keep their hands or mouths off each other, and with every tender caress made me feel as though I've been struck in the chest with a silver baton.
The last thing I saw was a blurry vision of their embrace. Then my world went black.