Exchanging Vows: The Swapped Wife Is a Top Shaman

Chapter 113: Chapter 113

Alpha Alaric’s Point of View

I strode into the fragrance-filled reception hall, my boots clicking against the polished floorboard like a ticking clock counting down to an execution. My own sister sat gracefully upon her chaise lounge, as her handmaids fanned her gently.

"Alaric," Aithusa spoke softly, a sweet, practiced smile spreading across her beautiful face as she tilted her head. "You rarely visit the capital palace without an official summons. What brings my brother to my quarters today?"

I didn’t answer her with pleasantries. I reached into my tunic, pulled out the thick parchment, and slammed it flat onto the table between us. The parchment slid across the wood, stopping right against her tea tray.

"Read it, Aithusa," I commanded, my voice dropping to a low, guttural tone that made the fanning handmaids instantly freeze.

Aithusa arched a perfectly groomed brow, her eyes scanning the lines of the scroll. As her gaze caught the name Physician Kane, her breath hitched slightly, but she quickly forced a calm, unbothered expression back onto her face.

"A physician’s confession? Alaric, what does this nonsense have to do with me? The lower healers are notoriously corrupt. He is likely fabricating lies to save his own skin from the Criminal Department."

"Do not play the fool with me, sister!" I roared. "Physician Kane has confessed everything down to the last copper coin. He was heavily bribed by your personal agents to slip the Frostbane into Dominic’s medicine logs to keep my son in that unhealable coma!!! I am asking you face-to-face right now—why did you harm my son? Why did you attempt to destroy your own nephew’s life?"

Aithusa stood up quickly, as her eyes flashed with a sudden, defensive anger. "I did no such thing. This is a frame-up orchestrated by your political rivals to drive a wedge between the Silvermoon Pack and the throne. You cannot bring a treasonous accusation against me based on the rambling words of a dying prisoner."

I delivered a cold, final threat. "If you continue to lie to my face, Aithusa, I will not wait for a royal trial. I will immediately draft a formal request to the high council, recommending your precious son to the far North—to the frozen waste garrisons where the rogues skin young lords alive for sport. You know the King will grant it to please the Silvermoon Pack. Speak the truth, or your boy leaves by midnight."

Hearing the name of her son being sent to the brutal Northern execution grounds, Aithusa’s poise shattered completely. Her face turned a sickly shade of ash-gray, as the terrifying reality of her situation collapsed upon her.

"You wouldn’t dare, Alaric..." she gasped, her voice trembling before she finally snapped, revealing the ugly truth. "Fine! You want to know why? Because you forced my hand!"

"I forced your hand?" I growled softly, my fists clenching.

"Yes!" Aithusa yelled, all her hidden bitterness and jealousy pouring out of her mouth like venom.

"Look at how you have ruled the Silvermoon line. I am your sister, yet when I begged you for support to help me ascend to a higher seat of power inside this capital court, you chose to remain completely neutral. You refused to use your power to back my leverage. And look at your precious son, Dominic. I brought my boy to your pack territory, wanting them to forge a political alliance, but Dominic refused to get close to my son! He treated my boy like an outsider and utterly refused to be his lifelong companion on the battlefield"

"Dominic chooses his own companions, Aithusa," I spoke out flatly, my tone cutting through her screaming.

"But Bastian didn’t refuse!" Aithusa laughed bitterly, her eyes wide with a manic intensity. "Bastian was obedient. He immediately agreed to approach my son, to serve our branch of the family, and to align his future with ours. So when the opportunity arose, I designed a tactical plan to ensure Dominic remained entirely unconscious in his bed, allowing us to smoothly support Bastian as the true crown prince of the pack after the accident."

I paced aggressively at the edge of my mind as the full scope of her betrayal was laid bare. "You sacrificed your own nephew for a title."

"But I did not cause his fall, Alaric!" Aithusa suddenly added, as she held her hands up. "I swear to you, I denied that I was responsible for falling. I had absolutely nothing to do with that. I only discovered he was returning in a coma, and I simply used the perfect opportunity of him being unconscious to deploy Physician Kane! The initial strike belonged to someone else."

The realization that another snake was still lurking in the dark doing the dirty work didn’t ease the crushing hurt in my chest. I stared at my sister, feeling a profound disgust for the greed that had entirely rotted her soul.

"You are completely blinded by your own toxic ambition, Aithusa," I scolded her fiercely. "You sit here plotting crowns, yet your own son’s virtue and martial skills are completely worthless. He isn’t worthy of leading a single scout unit, let alone commanding a kingdom’s army."

"Hear my words carefully—this is your one and only warning. If you ever dare to lift a single finger to harm my family again, I will personally ensure your name is permanently expelled from our ancestral temple, and you will be left as a nameless, homeless rogue!"

I didn’t wait for her to weep or beg. I turned on her heel, grabbed the handle, and opened the door to leave in a flash, wanting to escape the suffocating poison of her presence. But the exact second the door swung outward, my heart did a leap inside my chest, and I froze dead in my tracks.

Standing directly in the center of the corridor, flanked by four armored imperial guards, was the Alpha King himself. His face was set into a mask of pure, unyielding stone, his dark eyes burning with a terrifying silence. He stood there rigidly, his posture proving that he had just heard every single word of her treasonous confession.

I locked eyes with the sovereign, keeping my expression entirely steady. I was not surprised by his presence. I offered a brief bow.

Aithusa’s eyes caught the King’s imposing silhouette standing in the doorway, and she became very scared right on the spot. I did not leave the room... instead, I stood by the table, remaining in place as a witness to the unfolding judgment.

"Your Majesty. My King." Aithusa wailed hysterically, as she crawled toward his boots. "Please, you must listen to me! What I said earlier... it was all a complete lie. I was only speaking nonsense to my brother to make him angry. I would never commit treason against your crown or harm the Silvermoon line. It was a lie."

I stood silently, listening to my sister’s begging. The Alpha King didn’t drop his gaze to look at her form, nor did he reach down to lift her from the stone.

"I have listened to your words for years, Aithusa," he spoke out. "But the ink on a physician’s confession does not lie, and the words of your own mouth have just sealed your fate. I do not believe a single breath you take anymore."

"You have to believe me." She begged.

"Effective this exact second, I am officially issuing a royal decree to completely demote your status," the King commanded flatly. "Strip her of her royal privileges, lock her inside the cold northern tower, and let her spend the winter freeze in isolation.

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