Chapter 46 Chater 0046
•CASSANDRA•
"I believe you," Mason answered as he looked at me. "You healed me, Dr. Frost. You gave me another chance when I almost thought I'd die the same way my father did."
The room was instantly quiet. The elders shared looks while Nadia and her father were in disbelief.
'It's the first time he has defended us,' Lyra murmured. 'But he probably wouldn't have done the same thing if he knew about our true identity.'
"If your people believe there's someone I'm working with, they should investigate the person and bring him here before they point fingers at me after I saved your life."
"Dr. Frost is right," Mason said as he turned and looked at them. "She saved my life when everyone else couldn't. Instead of accusing her falsely, we should be grateful that she was working in the hospital when we arrived."
"That's bullshit, Mason, and you know it," Nadia sneered as she leaned forward. "I saw how shady she was when she asked for privacy to 'heal you'. She knows something, and she's not leaving until we know what she's hiding from us."
'I can't believe we once thought she was our friend,' Lyra murmured. 'She has probably wanted to be Luna long before we married Mason. Do you think she's this defensive and arrogant because she knows something about the nightshade?'
I thought about what Lyra said for a moment. She was right that Nadia’s actions were suspicious. She was so desperate to lay the accusation on me as if she were running from something.
"Don't all doctors ask for privacy when diagnosing their patients?" Mason asked, and Nadia suddenly stopped, looking stunned. "Why did you want her to act differently and allow everyone to be in the room while she was figuring out what was wrong with me?"
"All I'm trying to—"
"Do you know the pain I went through after I collapsed in my office?" He turned to her. "I thought about my son and wondered who would look after him since his mother is gone. I thought about this pack and wondered what would happen if I lost my life."
My chest tightened when he mentioned Rowan. There was nothing I wouldn't give to see my son and tell him how much I loved him.
There wasn't a day I never thought about him, hoping Nadia was taking care of him and making sure he had everything he wanted.
He scoffed. "I almost died, Nadia. Ragnar couldn't even heal me," his voice was firm. "So, how could you stand here and so boldly accuse someone of giving me back my life?"
"We don't know her, Mason," she answered, desperately trying to push me under the bus. "What if you fall sick again?"
"Darius was bitten by a hybrid," he scoffed. "And how long has that been? We both know the poison in their teeth is deadly to us. But Darius has been vibrant for a year now. So stop trying to find fire where there's no smoke."
"How could you be so sure that—”
"Do you know her, Nadia?" Mason glanced at me before returning his attention to her. "Have you met her before?"
She hesitated before answering, looking at me as if she were searching for a reason to make Mason believe her word.
"No," she replied. "I have never met her before."
"So, how could she have planned my death when we don't even know each other?" He huffed.
"No, but—"
"This meeting is adjourned, everyone," he said through tight lips as he looked at her. "You've all heard the truth. Dr. Frost has no reason to harm me. She wouldn't even be here if you hadn't taken me to the hospital."
"We apologize, Alpha," Elder Orin said as he stood up from the chair. "And we apologize to Dr. Frost if we might have misspoken to her."
It was funny how those elders were the same people who had handled my banishment. I couldn't even look at them without feeling my heart snap.
Four elders, but none of them could see me, not even Elder Mira. She was the one I spent a lot of time with when I was the Luna.
She was there to advise me whenever I felt conflicted and didn't know what to do. She was so much like the mother-in-law that I had never had.
"This is bullshit," Nadia scoffed. "I won't stand here and pretend she has never tried to harm my husband." With that said, she turned to the door and left.
Noah, Mason's beta, leaned forward. I so much expected him to agree with Nadia and call me a fraud, but he remained quiet throughout the entire meeting.
He didn't want Mason to see that he didn't like me as well, which made me wonder what he and Nadia were up to.
There had to be something going on there, but then I remembered I didn't belong there anymore, so whatever was going on, Mason had to work it himself.
"Should I get the car ready for Dr. Frost?" he asked when he reached our side.
"Yes, please," Mason replied. "Please call Darius and he will drive her. I want her to get home safely."
"Of course, Alpha." Noah slightly bowed his head before he walked away. But I saw the tension in his eyes.
He was disappointed that the meeting had not gone as planned. I was probably supposed to sleep in the dungeon for conspiring against the Alpha.
To think it was the same thing I was banished for.
The irony was funny.
"The college you went to has saved my life as much as you did," he muttered as he led me to the door. "I will visit it sometime and show my appreciation to them as well."
"It's California Medical Center," I answered with a warm smile. "I'm sure they'd appreciate the visit."
When we got outside, heading to the door, I stopped when I saw Rowan running toward us.
For a moment, I thought of the time he was running toward my direction, but went straight to Nadia.
The memory still burned in my mind. I had never felt so much pain before.
"Daddy, daddy!" He shouted when he reached Mason, and he lovingly looked down at him.
"Is everything okay, son?"
The world around me stopped tilting, and the air froze. My heart beat slowly as I took in all his new features now that he was eleven years old.
He still had my eyes and nose, but his face was Mason's. The voice had slightly changed as well, and he was growing tall, almost under his father’s shoulder.
"Did you hurt my Mommy?" he asked, referring to Nadia. "Why, Dad, what did she do?"
My heart stopped. Nadia had successfully stolen my ex-husband, but it didn't hurt as much as her stealing my son.