Cassidy's POV
My eyes had turned red, and my whole body was trembling, the pain still piercing through my spine; I was hoping that it was a Father who had opened the door; perhaps he was back to pick up a few items, but instead, it was Brielle standing before me.
"Mom!" She called, a flush of sympathy washed over her face as she hurried to my side.
"Get out of here Brielle!"
"I can't mom, she is my sister and I can't watch be in so much pain"
"Do you know how much disrespect I just got from her? She needs to be taught a lesson!"
Mother insisted, and just as she was about to pierce the iron through my skin, I shut my eyes tightly, but Brielle immediately went on her knees as she clutched on Mother's dress.
"Mother! Please— please —" tears immediately rolled down her cheek and seeing her like, it was so difficult for me to believe that someone like her would ever betray me.
Seeing the tears in her daughter's eyes, Mother finally slammed the iron on the floor and stormed out of there, and without hesitation, Brielle rushed to my side, helping me off the hook.
"Cassy, are you alright?" She asked, but my throat was dry; I was unable to gain any more strength and could not speak. Rather, I forced a smile on my face to show her how grateful I was.
Brielle asked the men to take me to my room, where she offered me some water and some food,, and by then, I was slowly starting to regain my strength.
"How are you feeling now?" She asked, and I nodded my head.
"I am so sorry that this happened, please Cassy, you should learn to stay away from mother's bad side, especially on a day like this"
"I know, and I promise not to," I assured her and a wide smile spread through her face; she slid over the bed and held my hands, her eyes lit up in excitement.
"Guess what?"
"What, did you already get your wolf?"
"It's not full moon already Cassy, but I bought us a matching outfit for today's ceremony!" She slid her hand to the side of the bed and brought out two flowery dresses, and as she handed one to me, the excitement on her face knew no bond.
At this point, I was starting to feel like everything that happened wasn't real, and somehow someone was trying to deceive me because tell me how a sister as sweet as Brielle would ever try to kill me or take away what is mine.
"Thank you so much, Brielle." I tucked her into a tight hug, and she wrapped her arms around me.
By nightfall, we started getting ready to leave. I stared at myself in the mirror once I had slipped up the dress Brielle gave me, but something was right; my skin started to inch as soon as I wore the dress, and next, it was burning.
"Ahhh!!!" I could not bear it any longer and quickly pulled off the dress; as soon as it was away from my skin, the pain immediately stopped, and as I stared at my reaction in the mirror, everything slowly started to make sense.
She had added some wolfsbane, that way, my skin would be damaged, and I wouldn't be able to attend the mating ceremony. Staring at my reflection in the mirror, there were big boils all over my skin,, shining bright red. And just then, Brielle walked in.
"Are you ready?" She was humming a sound as she walked in, dressed in the green flowery dress that hung perfectly on her shape. Her blonde hair was perfectly styled upward, and not to mention the fact that Brielle had perfect makeup like it was done by a professional.
"Oh, moon goddess! What the hell happened to your face?" She froze right at the door, her eyes at me with a mixture of shock and disgust, yet I remained calm as I turned to her.
"You don't have to look so scared"
"What! How can you ask me not to look so scared? Right now, you look like a monster; what the hell happened to your face!!"
She yelled out, her voice etched with concern. "I have no idea, I think that it must be some sort of allergy"
"Oh, I guess it is so. I can't believe that your face just got ruined on such a special day. It is such a shame that you won't be able to go to the mating ceremony"
"What, I can still go there"
"No, can't you see that you look like a monster, people might start running from you once they see you"
"Is it that bad?" I scrunched up my face like I had no idea what they meant, but in actual sense, I knew that she was trying to stop me from meeting my mate today because she was already having an affair with him.
"I guess you are right!" I let out a deep sigh and fell back on the bed. "You can go ahead Brielle, maybe I might be lucky to meet my mate on the next full moon"
"I guess so, but the next full moon is not the mating ceremony; you might have to wait till next year, and hopefully, your mate is not married to someone else then!"
Her last words held so much meaning than they looked. I knew her words were supposed to make me feel bad, yet I wasn't; for the first time ever, it felt like I had everything under control.
"I will be on my way now. Have a nice now," she smiled warmly and walked out of the door. I knew that just while she walked out, she must have thought that I had given up on this day, but she had no idea that the fight was just getting started.
I strode towards my wardrobe and began to shuffle through the dresses until my fingers came to a halt at the dress father bought for me last birthday. Seeing that it was still pretty, I knew that it had to be the choice.