My Twin Stole My Mate, So I Exposed Her at the Wedding

Elder Corbin struck the base of his heavy oak staff against the marble floor.

The crack echoed like thunder off the vaulted stone ceiling.

"Who are you to interrupt such a sacred hour?" Corbin barked, his gray eyebrows knotting over venomous eyes. "Step back, or face the judgment of the council!"

I sank into a low, mocking curtsy, keeping my head bowed so the hood shadowed my face.

"I am a bride robbed of everything by a thief," I said, voice cutting through the stillness. "I was told Alpha Adrian is a just ruler. I came to demand his judgment."

Elara's breath caught in her throat. She gripped the folds of her silk skirt with shaking fingers, struggling to keep her composure.

"Whatever grievance you hold," Elara said, trying to steady her quavering tone, "I will hear it as your Luna after the ceremony concludes. Sentries, guide our guest to the waiting hall."

"No," I replied, straightening my spine. "What I have to say cannot wait until the blood oath is sealed."

Adrian stepped forward, his dark eyes blazing with territorial fury.

"This is my mating altar," he snarled. "No rogue walks into my temple to dictate terms on the most important day of my life. Leave this hall immediately."

His voice pressed against the air, heavy with authority.

Along with his anger came his scent—crushed cedar and mountain frost. It washed over me, sharp and painfully familiar.

Deep inside my bruised chest, my dormant wolf stirred, whimpering against her chains. The bond hummed faintly, cracked and bleeding, straining toward the man who had promised to protect me.

*Alpha,* I thought, staring at the dark cloth of his tunic. *If you knew who truly stood beside you, would you look at me with such hatred?*

Only three months ago, those same hands had cupped my face beneath the pines. He had sworn nothing in this world could ever tear us apart.

Now, his fury felt like a dagger twisting in my ribs. But I refused to break.

"Drive me out into the snow, Alpha," I said, meeting his gaze through the hood. "Throw me to your sentries. But I swear, by nightfall you will drown in your own regret."

Elara turned sharply toward the guards flanking the aisle.

"Seize her!" she screamed, her polished facade cracking into jagged desperation. "Drag this lunatic out into the courtyard!"

Two guards lunged forward, reaching for my cloak.

"Stand down!" Adrian roared.

The guards froze instantly, retreating a step.

Adrian's chest rose and fell in heavy intervals. He studied the outline of my figure, the tilt of my chin, his anger giving way to a sudden, unsettling stillness. A faint flicker of pity touched his eyes.

"A rogue who faces an Alpha's wrath on his mating day does not do so for sport," Adrian said, his tone softening just enough to quiet the crowd. "Whatever burden brought you here must be heavy. Speak."

A nervous hush swept the sanctuary.

I took two steps toward the altar, letting my voice carry to the highest rafters.

"Once, there were twin sisters," I began, keeping my gaze locked on the trembling girl in ivory silk. "Born of the same womb, sharing the same face. But a cruel decree separated them at birth. One sister grew in the sunlight, surrounded by love and honor. The other was dragged into the dirt, rotting with bitter jealousy."

Murmurs rippled through the pews. Guests leaned forward, exchanging uneasy glances.

"On the night the first sister celebrated her betrothal," I continued, "the second sister returned from the dark. She feigned affection. She wept tears of joy. And then she lured the first sister into the black woods."

Elara swayed on her feet, the color draining entirely from her lips.

"She poured poison down her twin's throat," I said, my words dropping like iron weights into the silence. "She pinned her in the briars, carved a silver blade across her cheek to ruin her beauty, and left her to die in the mud. Then, the murderous sister washed the blood from her hands, put on her twin's gown, slipped her ring onto her own finger, and walked into the arms of the unsuspecting groom."

Gasps erupted across the pews.

"How monstrous," an elder's wife whispered loudly.

"Who could do such a thing to their own blood?" another voice muttered.

I glanced toward the front row.

My mother, Evelyn, had both hands pressed against her mouth. Tears streamed over her knuckles, her body shaking with silent, ragged sobs. Beside her, Alexander stood rigid as granite, his jaw locked, his eyes narrowed in cold calculation.

Then I looked at Adrian.

The blood had drained from his face. His lips parted, his gaze darting from my shrouded form to the shivering woman beside him. A terrible realization flickered behind his eyes.

Without a word, Adrian reached down and forcefully pried Elara's clinging fingers off his forearm.

"Adrian, please!" Elara cried, clutching at his sleeve. "She is spinning fairy tales to ruin our day!"

Adrian ignored her. His eyes remained fixed on me. "Who are you?"

I reached up to my brow, pinched the silver pin, and pulled the mourning veil away.

The chapel erupted into chaos.

Chairs scraped against the stone floor as dozens of wolves leaped to their feet. Shocked shouts echoed from every corner of the room.

"By the moon..."

"Her face! She looks just like Lady Elena!"

The jagged scar ran pink and puckered from my cheekbone to my jawline, a brutal ruin across the exact mirror of the bride's features.

Adrian recoiled as if burned. He shoved Elara away with enough force to send her stumbling against the altar railing.

"What is this?" Adrian demanded, his voice cracking with fury. He rounded on Elara, his hands clenching into fists at his sides. "Who are you? Why does she share your exact face?"

"Adrian, no! Listen to me!" Elara sobbed, sinking to her knees on the marble stairs. "She is a witch! She used dark magic to steal my likeness!"

Before Adrian could answer, Alexander stepped up onto the dais.

"Alpha, do not let this ghost deceive you!" Alexander shouted, planting himself firmly between Adrian and Elara. "This woman is an impostor. She carries none of my daughter's scent!"

The room fell dead silent.

Elara seized the opening. She scrambled forward, looking up at Adrian with tears streaming down her unblemished cheeks.

"Adrian, look at me," she pleaded, reaching toward his boots. "Does our mate bond mean nothing to you? Does my scent lie? Smell the pine! Smell the winter moss! It has never changed. I have shared your bed for three months—how could I be anyone else?"

My entire body went cold.

*Scent?*

The realization struck me like a physical blow. The venom Elara had forced down my throat three months ago hadn't just crippled my wolf—it had burned away my scent glands. To any wolf in this room, I smelled of nothing more than dead ash and forest mud.

"You claim to be the daughter of this pack?" Alexander sneered, pointing a calloused finger straight at my chest. "You claim to be my lost child? Where is your proof?"

I stood frozen in the center of the aisle, the eyes of three hundred wolves pressing down upon me like lead.

Desperation clawed at my throat. I turned my gaze toward the woman who gave me life.

"Mother," I choked out, taking a step toward the front pew. "Look at my eyes. You know me. Tell them."

Evelyn stared at me. Her lips trembled, parting as if to scream my name, but Alexander shot her a venomous glare from the dais.

Evelyn shrank back into her seat, burying her face in her lace handkerchief, choking on her own silence.

She wasn't going to save me.

Elara rose slowly to her feet, a wicked, triumphant gleam flashing behind her tear-streaked eyes.

"She has no proof," Elara declared, turning to face the assembled pack. "She is a rogue sent to desecrate this union. Guards, kill her where she stands!"

Two warriors drew their silver swords, stepping into the aisle to block my retreat.

The cold walls of the chapel closed in around me. My heart hammered against my ribs, empty, helpless, and completely alone.

Then, the heavy brass doors at the back of the sanctuary banged open.

"Proof?"

A woman's voice cut through the hall, sharp and clear.

"Of course there is proof!"