Chapter 36

Nathan POV

I hit the mat with a thud, grunting from the impact.

My sparring partner wasn’t taking it easy at me.

Standing up, I swiped a hand across my forehead to wipe away sweat, then winced when the motion caused a burning in my arm.

Or maybe I’d just been too slow.

“You’re bleeding, Alpha,” my sparring partner, an enforcer named Mark, noted. He leaned his quarterstaff against his chest and put his hands on his hips.

I help up my arm, examining my forearm. There was a long gash, running from my wrist almost to my elbow. It must have happened when I tried to block his last blow.

It didn’t hurt much, but it was embarrassing. Like so many other things in my life, I had been neglecting my training and conditioning.

“It’s fine. We can continue.”

Mark came closer to take a look himself. “I think you might need stitches. It would be best if you saw a doctor.”

Looking at it again, realizing just how quickly the sleeve of my shirt was being stained with blood, I couldn’t help but agree.

“Alright. That will be all for the day. Send for my Beta on your way out.”

By the time Evan arrived, I had wrapped a makeshift bandage around the wound.

“Take me to the clinic,” I told him. “I’ll get this taken care of, then I can get on with my day.”

Despite being frustrated at having my schedule knocked off track, I also felt a bit of anticipation.

Because Claire would be there?

Yes. I could admit that to myself. Despite everything that had happened between us, and everything that was still so much up in the air, I wanted to see her.

I couldn’t deny that constant pull to be with my mate, like a rope buried deep inside of me, connecting us, tying us to one another.

But Evan frowned, hesitating to obey my order. “Alpha…are you sure you don’t want to go somewhere else?

“Or I can call a private physician, have him come to your office,” he added. “I’d feel better about him treating you.”

I stared at him. “What are you talking about? Why shouldn’t I go to the clinic?”

His expression turned to one of surprise. “You haven’t read my report yet? There’s been an outbreak of some kind at the clinic. Over a dozen people have fallen ill, under very mysterious circumstances.”

I thought of the pile of reports and requests currently waiting for me on my desk. Then I thought about the other pile of work, waiting on my desk in my office at home.

These days there always seemed to be more work than there was time to deal with it. I felt like I was falling more and more behind.

My campaign to become the next Alpha President was far more consuming than I had thought it would be. Add in the fact that my personal life was in shambles, and I just hadn’t been giving my duties as Alpha the time and attention they deserved.

An Alpha was supposed to be tuned into his pack, always keeping an eye on its physical and emotional well being. I’d been neglecting that.

And that needed to change.

Starting with figuring out what was going on over at the clinic.

When I arrived at the clinic, I found the waiting room in chaos.

“This is outrageous!” one person shouted, pointing a finger at the nurse on duty at the reception desk. “I am a high-ranking member of this pack, and I wasn’t informed that I was being treated by an Omega? A wolfless Omega?!”

“She’s been seeing my family!” cried another. “She’s had her filthy Omega hands on my children. It’s disgusting!”

My stomach sank.

They knew about Claire.

I stood in shock at the edge of the crowd for a long moment, their fear and anger washing over me in waves.

This was exactly why I’d tried to hide her all these years, protect her. I knew people could be cruel to Omegas, especially traditionalists like these people. But the hierarchy of rank only served the people at the top.

It was the people at the bottom who suffered. People like Claire.

I’d wanted to protect her from this.

I’d failed.

“Alpha Nathan! I’m glad you’re here.”

Amelia, the head physician, circled around the crowd. “I need to make an announcement. Can you get their attention for me? Please - what I have to say should help Claire.”

I studied Amelia for a moment, wondering what she could possibly say that would sway a crowd like this.

“Alright,” I said eventually. “I hope it does.”

I raised my voice over the noise of the crowd, calling for attention. It took a moment, but once everyone realized their Alpha was in the room, they all turned in my direction. With a nod, I handed the floor over to Amelia.

“Thank you, Alpha,” she said, then turned to everyone else. “I know you’re all alarmed about what’s been going on here at the clinic, and with good reason. But I am happy to officially announce that we have found the cause of the illness, and can now cure every single patient affected.”

“Oh we know all about that ‘mysterious illness’ that’s been going on,” a man said, pushing his way to the front of the group. “And we know what really caused it. We know it was poison! And we know it was Dr. Green’s fault!”

I had read Evan’s report on the way over to the clinic, and now understood more fully what had been going on here at the clinic. And I knew Claire couldn’t be to blame.

But the crowd didn’t have that same belief.

“She’s a wolfless!” one of them shouted.

“An Omega! She shouldn’t be allowed here!” yelled another.

Amelia held up her hands for quiet. “I assure you that Dr. Green does indeed belong here. She is a trained and gifted healer. In fact it was Dr. Green herself who identified that the medicine in question had been tampered with.

“She has since personally checked every single vial in our pharmacy, and found the poisoned vials by smell. This is being confirmed by our lab as we speak.”

“She could smell the toxin??” the man said in disbelief. “How could she do that, if she doesn’t have a wolf?”

“She couldn’t,” the woman beside them answered, obviously his long-suffering wife. “I told you it was just a silly rumor, Harold. Can we go now??”

A few other people muttered. “She must have a wolf, she couldn’t identify the toxin otherwise. It really was just a rumor.”

“Eh, I don’t know,” said a younger man. “She could have figured it out another way. She could still be lying.”

“That’s right!” the woman behind him said. “She’s an Omega - they lie all the time!”

“Enough!” I called, pitching my voice over the murmuring and debates. Personally I was very confused as to how Claire could identify the toxin just by smell, since I knew for certain she didn’t have a wolf.

Maybe Amelia had made it up, to help Claire out of this sticky situation.

Whatever was going on, I knew enough was enough. It was time to take control of the crowd.

“Dr. Green is a talented healer. I think many of us have seen that first hand,” I added, looking from face to face. “Chasing around silly rumors is a useless waste of time. Yours, and mine.”

People began to shift their weight under my stare.

“We all know that Dr. Green played no part in this alarming illness. And rest assured, we are going to find out who is responsible.”

I held up my injured arm. “Now I suggest you all go home, so I can let Dr. Green treat my sparring injury.”

After a moment the crowd began to thin out, many people still muttering to each other, clearly still wondering about Claire and the fact that she didn’t have a wolf.

Despite what I had said about not believing it, people were going to continue to believe Claire didn’t have a wolf.

Add in the fact that they now knew for certain she was an Omega, and Claire was in a very dangerous situation.

And I knew how easily things like this could get out of hand.

What if I hadn’t been here to talk to them? How quickly could things have spun out of control?

Worry began to worm its way into my mind.

If this rumor continued to spread, especially among the higher ranking members of the pack, Claire could end up in some very real danger.

How on earth could I protect her from that?