Chapter 22

Royal Alpha POV

I stood in the waiting room, the crowd around me slowly drifting away. Part of me was shocked, not only at the scene I had walked into, but something I glimpsed as the Alpha led Claire out of the room…

Talk bounced around the room as everyone else also processed what had just happened.

“The new healer - an Omega??”

“So they say, but you saw what she did. Her powers are miraculous!”

“And so rare. How could she be an Omega if she has powers only a few royals have ever had?”

Surrounded by the whispering and excited conversation, I thought about the scene that I had walked into. The guards surrounding my daughter, the Silverfang Alpha - with gentle young Claire at the center of it all.

The poor girl had clearly had a hard road to walk as an Omega in this pack. The mystery of her powers, her late-emerging wolf, her true origins were swirling in my mind.

And that glimpse I had of her neck, with the crescent-shaped birthmark - one my own wife had, and one she said was common in her family - had just deepened that mystery even further.

I needed to know the truth of Claire’s heritage, and how she had come to be here.

“Alpha, are you alright?”

I looked up into the patient eyes of my Beta, Garrett. And I recognized the look on his face. He was wondering if I was slipping into one of my episodes.

Those episodes had been getting steadily worse since losing my wife, and I knew how difficult it was for my Beta to see his Alpha slipping into madness.

Almost as difficult as it was for me myself to feel me slowly disappearing into the frenzy.

But at the moment all I felt was confusion about what had just happened, and a guilty suspicion that my daughter had been at the root of the entire thing.

“Garrett, I believe my daughter had a hand in orchestrating this mess. She spoke to me before of a rival for Alpha Nathan’s affections. It turns out that the rival she spoke of was none other than poor young Claire.”

Garrett looked surprised, then thoughtful. “I’m…not surprised, Alpha. If Princess Sabrina thinks of Dr. Claire as someone standing between her and what she wants, then…”

I nodded. “Then she would be absolutely ruthless in trying to get her out of the way.”

I had raised her to be determined and confident, able to tackle any challenge that she faced. But I was also perfectly aware of her struggle with jealousy, and her inability to accept defeat.

Garrett raised an eyebrow. “Indeed. Still, she did apologize.”

“Yes. Making a public apology to Claire should go a long way toward making amends in the eyes of the pack. But I’m worried she hasn’t quite learned her lesson.”

A smile quirked at my Beta’s expression. “Your daughter can be quite…ferocious. What do you have in mind?”

I looked around the clinic, at the waiting room full of pack members seeking care, and the nurses and doctors coming and going.

This was a good place, with people doing good work and truly serving their pack. It was inspiring.

And perhaps my daughter could learn a few lessons about humility and helping here.

“I believe Sabrina could benefit from doing some charity work. I want you to see about having the clinic take her on as a volunteer. Then she’ll see just how much good Claire and the other doctors here do.”

“An excellent idea, Alpha. I’ll do that today. But… If you don’t mind me saying, you still seem distracted. What else is on your mind?”

I smiled ruefully. My Beta had known me for a very long time, and it was hard to get anything by him. He was keenly aware of all my moods, and could read me like a book.

“No, Garrett, it is not.”

Stepping closer, taking care not to be overheard by anyone around us, I told him about the birthmark I had just seen on Claire’s neck, and that it was exactly like the one my wife had.

Garrett blinked in shock. “How could a member of this pack have a royal birthmark?”

I nodded. “That’s exactly what I intend to find out. After you’ve arranged with the clinic for Sabrina to volunteer, I want you to deepen your investigation. Claire may be a missing member of my wife’s family, and I want to resolve the mystery of her true identity once and for all.”

Sabrina POV

I slipped out of the waiting room after the stupid apology my father made me give - in front of everyone!

How dare he?

Having to lower myself like that in front of Nathan, that stupid Omega Claire, the guards, all those common pack members in the waiting room was beyond embarrassing. Rage burned like acid in my belly.

I hurried out of the waiting room and ducked into an empty exam room, seething. My breath came in ragged gasps, and I forced myself to take deeper, slower breaths.

Everything in me told me to attack Claire, to get rid of her once and for all. Inside, my wolf urged me to find Claire, sink my teeth into her, scratch her eyes out.

But would that really get me what I wanted? Attacking the pack’s supposed “savior” and magical healer?

If I did what my wolf and my instincts were crying out for me to do, would only get me further away from marrying Nathan and becoming this pack’s Luna.

I needed to calm down. I needed to think, and be smart about what I did next.

As I stood in the room slowly bringing myself back under control, I saw Nathan stalk by, holding Claire’s arm and leading her back the hall.

What were they doing?

Peering out into the hall, I saw them walk into another exam room and shut the door. After carefully checking that the hallway was clear, I left the room I was in and walked on my tiptoes to the door of the room Nathan and Claire went into.

And was immediately frustrated when their voices were too low for me to overhear.

I was going to have to open the door if I wanted to see what was going on.

Moving slowly, and as quietly as possible, I turned the handle on the door carefully. Then I pushed open the door, a mere centimeter at a time.

As I’d crept down the hall, my mind had filled with possible scenarios about what was going on in the room. Maybe Claire would admit that she was a fake. Maybe Nathan would reject their fated mate bond, so I could have him all to myself.

What I didn’t expect to see was Claire in Nathan’s arms.

Or Nathan kissing her like he was drowning and she was his only source of air.

Stunned, I stumbled away from the door and the sight I’d found on the other side.

In a daze I hurried away, blindly rushing down one hallway and then another, until I found the back door of the clinic. Outside I blinked in the bright sunlight, my shock finally giving away to something far more familiar, and far more comfortable.

Anger.

So Claire thought she could get him back, did she? She thought she could undo all my hard work, making Nathan just throw me to the side?

I drew in a deep breath and clenched my teeth.

We’d see about that.