Chapter 150

Andy POV

“Mom!” I cried as I rushed into her room at the clinic.

I had been told that she was awake, and all better, but I hadn’t really been able to believe it.

Actually, I think I was scared to believe it.

Because if it wasn’t really true, I didn’t know how I could stand it.

Seeing Mom laying in a hospital bed, all pale and still like she was dead, had made my stomach hurt.

But now I saw her, sitting up and talking to Dr. Amelia and an older man Dad told me was my grandfather. And I felt so happy that I just started to run.

I couldn’t help it.

She really was awake!

“Mom!”

I jumped up onto the bed, with Dad hurrying over to help me, so I could wrap my arms around her neck.

Burying my face in her hair, I breathed in her familiar scent.

It was so good to see her, to feel her arms around me.

And her scent…

How had I never realized she was my mother??

I thought of all the times I’d demanded to be told who my mother was, or asked the fake princess Sabrina if she was going to be Sabrina, and couldn’t help but feel kind of ashamed.

My own mother had been right there the whole time, but because I thought she was an Omega that she couldn’t possibly be anything but the nanny.

Now I knew better, and tears filled my eyes.

“I was so scared, Mommy,” I said, unable to stop myself from crying.

“I thought you weren’t going to wake up at all. I thought you’d be asleep forever!”

Mom held me and rocked me like I was a baby.

But I didn’t care. It felt too good. And maybe I wasn’t so big that she couldn’t still hold me like that sometimes.

“It’s okay, baby. I’m awake now.

“Everything’s going to be okay.”

“For real?” I said, looking up at her. “You’re not lying, or just saying that to make me feel better?”

She smiled down at me as I sniffled, wiping tears away from my cheeks with her hand.

“For real,” she said.

I smiled back. “Ok, good. Can we go home now?”

Claire POV

“Can we go home now?” Andy asked, and I felt my heart simply melt.

Nathan and Andy had moved into the palace while I was in my coma, and when Nathan told me, I realized it was exactly what I needed.

What I wanted.

My family, all together again under one roof.

I was so grateful to Nathan for what he did helping me fight off Baldwin, and even more grateful for the way he stepped up to help run the Royal Pack.

But more than any of that, I was grateful to him for bringing our son here. For moving here.

Home.

Back at the palace, after Amelia finally gave me the all clear to leave the clinic, I relaxed in my sitting room.

And I was just so happy to be back.

Because for the first time, the palace didn’t just feel like my father’s house.

It felt like mine, too.

It felt like home.

Up in his rooms, I knew my father was sitting with his Beta in front of an early evening fire, catching up on pack business.

Andy was tucked into his own room, unpacking more toys and directing his new nanny on where to put them.

And in this room…

A fire crackled cheerfully in the hearth as the dusk deepened into night.

And my heart was so, so full.

I smiled up at Nathan as he sat beside me with his arm around me. I was tucked firmly against his side, snuggled up against the warmth from his body.

He smiled back at me, then leaned down and kissed me softly, gently.

It was a kiss we both lingered over, neither one of us in any hurry to end it.

Finally, after a long quiet moment of connection, I broke the kiss but only pulled back slightly.

I reached up to touch Nathan’s face, tracing the line of his lips, his jaw.

“I’m so glad you were there,” I said to him, thinking about that terrible night back at the clinic.

For a moment, that night, I’d been so afraid my power hadn’t reached far enough, that Nathan hadn’t heard me.

Or that if he did, he just wouldn’t be able to make it in time.

I’d been so scared that Baldwin could kill me before I even got a chance to fight.

In that moment, all I’d wanted was a single chance to live.

So I could see my son.

And be with my mate.

“I’m so glad you heard me,” I whispered, my eyes filling with tears.

Nathan leaned his forehead against mine, our breath mingling.

“I would have died if anything happened to you, Claire.

“It would have simply killed me.”

I closed my eyes, tears falling.

“Nathan, I…”

He gathered me close in his arms as I cried, letting out all the fear, shuddering with relief that I was finally, finally safe.

“I love you, Claire,” he said. “And god, I’m so sorry for everything I’ve ever done to hurt you.

“I was a fool.”

Wiping the tears from my face, I stared up at him, shocked and delighted to hear those words.

But also finally able to realize that I had been a fool too.

“Nathan, I’m sorry too. I let my pride get in the way of you and me. And that was a mistake.”

He stared down at me, his gaze burning hot.

“I want to be with you, Claire. I want us to be a family.”

My heart lit up like the sun.

“I want that too,” I said. “I want it so much.”

But in my heart, the old hurts and doubts tried to sneak in.

I’d had such a hard life as an Omega, and being kept a secret by my own mate was a pain that still continued to linger.

Even though I meant every word I said, I still struggled to set those old feelings aside.

And then Nathan said something odd.

“So, are you up for an interview tomorrow?

“I’ve arranged for a small press conference right here at the palace.”

I stared up at him, confused.

“You don’t have to, but I plan on giving a full personal interview.”

I shook my head, frowning.

“Why on earth would you want to have a press conference??” I asked.

“Because I need to set the record straight,” he said, a small smile playing at the corners of his mouth.

“It’s time I told the truth. The whole truth, Claire.

“It’s time I stopped acting like I’m ashamed of my wolfless Omega mate.”

I was stunned, unable to speak.

He took both of my hands in his.

“Because I’m not ashamed, Claire. I never was.

“But I was too scared to deal with how people might react. And that was wrong.”

He slid off the couch and knelt on the floor in front of me.

“I want to make it right. I want us to be free of our secrets.

“So we can be together, forever.”

My heart filled until it felt like it was going to simply burst with happiness.

“That’s all I’ve ever wanted, Nathan,” I whispered, tears once more spilling from my eyes.

He smiled at me, love shining in his eyes.

“Then let’s do it. Let’s tell the world our story.

“So we can be together. Forever.”