Chapter 28

Nathan POV

I tossed the report down on my desk with a sound of disgust.

My campaign workers had been out talking to people all over Silverfang territory, spreading my main talking points and positions on critical issues, as well as getting a feel for just where people stood in terms of my candidacy.

The latest polls on that subject were in, and they were incredibly frustrating.

I looked up at Sabrina when she handed me a cup of coffee, one I knew I wouldn’t drink. I didn’t like the way she made it. But I didn’t have the heart to tell her, since she obviously tried so hard to get it right.

It seemed nobody could, though. At least, nobody but Claire.

I pushed my thoughts and complicated feelings about my mate away and picked the report back up.

“Have you seen this report?” I asked, showing it to her.

“No, darling, I haven’t. Bad news?”

“More like annoying.” I opened the front page of the report. “Look: the overwhelming majority of people polled all say they think I’d be a good Alpha President, and that they’re already strongly considering voting for me.”

“That’s wonderful! I expected no less,” Sabrina said, rubbing my arm. “So what’s the problem?”

“The problem is on page two,” I said, turning to the next page.

“A large percentage of people - and many in the first category, who think I’d be a good president - are also concerned about the fact that I don’t have a Luna.”

And never would, unless Claire came home. And I was also able to drastically change the culture of every werewolf in the realm.

In my heart I knew my mate would have made a good Luna. She was smart, kind, thoughtful and apparently quite capable. She was also a miraculous healer.

But she was still an Omega. So for many people, none of those other facts would matter at all.

Sabrina pursed her lips, but I saw her quick succession of expressions. Surprise, then pleasure, then quick calculation.

Subconsciously, I knew what she was going to say before she even said it.

“Well, darling, that’s an easy enough fix. You and I can announce our engagement - purely for political purposes, of course - ”

“Of course,” I murmured, knowing that wasn’t the whole truth of it.

“And that’ll solve your little problem in no time. The pack will have its Luna - or so it thinks - and you’ll have an official marriage agreement with a powerful royal ally. Me!”

Her laughter rang out merrily, and I couldn’t help but join in. Sabrina had always had a head for politics, for the planning and strategy that went into it, and took a lot of joy in turning potential problems into opportunities.

And she was right: an alliance between myself and the royal family in the form of the Royal Alpha’s endorsement had already put my campaign for Alpha President miles ahead of the other candidates.

Announcing my engagement to a member of the royal family, cementing our alliance while also positioning Sabrina as the future Luna, might just be enough to secure the presidency.

But I wasn’t foolish. I knew Sabrina had designs on more than just a political alliance.

I knew she wanted to renew our relationship. Rekindling our past romance had obviously been her plan for coming to the Silverfang pack, and for working so hard on my campaign.

It was clear to me that she regretted leaving me back in college.

I would have to be careful not to encourage her in that direction, since I had no intention of getting back into a relationship with her. We were well matched in many ways, but we weren’t fated mates.

And my relationship with my actual fated mate was in such chaos that I couldn’t even think about starting a different relationship.

Or if I even wanted to.

Underneath it all, despite the pain of her rejection and the disappointment on seeing that she’d taken back her gifts to me, I still wanted to be with Claire.

Sabrina was watching me, a frown on her face. “You’re thinking about her, aren’t you? You’re thinking about Claire.”

“Yes,” I admitted. “I am. Even a fake engagement feels like a betrayal of our bond.”

“Oh please - you’re not the one who’s betrayed your bond. She’s the one who left! But you know what? Maybe a fake engagement will be just what she needs to wake up and see what she’s lost.”

Considering, I raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, if we announce our engagement, make it a big splashy deal and plaster it all over the news, Claire will hear about it. And, if she truly loves you, it will make her come back to you. And if it doesn’t… Well, either way, you’ll finally have your answer about whether or not your ‘mate’ is really the right match for you.”

I thought about it, turning the idea this way and that, trying to consider it from all angles. Finally, I reluctantly had to admit that Sabrina was right.

A fake engagement could potentially solve a number of my problems.

Sabrina POV

I struggled to contain myself in Nathan’s office when he finally agreed to our “fake” engagement.

It took everything I had not to shout with victory!

At last, at long last, everything I wanted was going to be mine.

Because there was no way this was going to be a fake relationship. Now that I’d talked him into an engagement, all I had to do was bide my time before talking him into marriage.

After that, it would be a simple matter to convince him to consummate the marriage, and produce a legitimate heir.

For the good of the pack, of course.

He couldn’t keep claiming Andy as his heir, not when he refused to make public who the child’s mother was. It would be a simple matter to start a few rumors questioning the legitimacy of Andy’s parentage - that should be enough to get the brat out of the way, and take his place with my own child.

But all of that was in the future. I had a good start, but I needed to secure the foundation of all my plans.

Reaching for my phone, I began to text every single friend I had in my contacts.

I needed to start spreading the news of our engagement.

In less than a week I met with every single one of my girlfriends - making sure to meet with the ones who loved to gossip the most first.

Between lunch and shopping, coffee dates and gossip sessions over dinner and wine, I very quickly had word of the engagement between a Royal Princess and the Silverfang pack’s Alpha spreading all over the realm.

And then I submitted an anonymous tip to each and every local newspaper and television station: the Alpha was, at long last, engaged. And Silverfang pack would finally have their Luna.

Soon every conversation I passed on the street, and every news report I saw on the television, was all about the Alpha’s engagement and impending wedding.

Already my phone was blowing up with texts and emails and phone calls. Everyone wanted to know the full story, and if they were invited to the wedding.

I said yes to every single person. Because there was definitely going to be a wedding.

And it was going to be the wedding of the century.