Chapter 41

Sabrina POV

I signed in for my volunteer shift at the clinic feeling excited.

True, the plan to frame Claire for poisoning patients with wolf venom hadn’t worked out quite as I’d hoped - but it had still caused her a fair amount of trouble.

Not to mention cast doubt on her abilities, and her qualifications.

While I was sure news was spreading about her sudden and unexpected transformation out in the waiting room - into a rare silver wolf, no less - I was certain I’d be able to continue to undermine the stupid Omega’s reputation.

And maybe figure out what her game was at the same time.

Because I didn’t know what kind of deal she’d made, or with who, but I knew for sure she hadn’t just suddenly manifested a rare wolf and even more rare healing abilities overnight.

Something else was going on here. And I was going to prove it.

But my hopes were soon dashed when I was told that I wasn’t going to be assisting Dr. Green that morning.

“But - where is Dr. Green?” I asked.

“She’s in the pharmacy, personally overseeing the disposal of every single vial of healing tonic.”

I swore to myself, but kept a plain curious look on my face. “But why? I thought Dr. Green made a new batch after getting rid of the poisoned vials?”

And ruining our carefully laid plans at the same time, I added silently.

If only the discovery of the poisoned healing tonics had been delayed by just a few more days…

Then, with any luck, a few people might have actually died from the poison.

And Claire would have had all the blame for making the poisoned tonic herself.

But no, she just had to figure it out.

The check-in nurse shrugged. “They want to start from scratch, especially since Dr. Amelia has instituted a new policy of testing every medicine that comes into the clinic, or is made here.

“In fact, after they dispose of the healing tonic, they’re going to be conducting a thorough testing and inspection of every single medicine we have in the clinic.”

I gritted my teeth in frustration. Once they started testing everything, it was going to be that much harder to poison patients using the medicines that Claire made. There would be records of every vial being tested and cleared before use.

But that didn’t mean we couldn’t still sneak in, after testing was complete.

And this time, use an even stronger potion.

One that would kill on contact.

Thoughts of framing Claire for neglect and murder kept me going through the endless morning and mind-numbing task of processing the intake forms for the clinic’s patients.

How did these people put up with doing things like this, day after day?

Finally, at midday, I saw Nurse Devin clock out for her lunch. She made sure to catch my eye, then nodded her head toward the back of the clinic. I excused myself, and hurried after her.

“There you are!” I said as we stepped out of the back door.

Devin shushed me while she looked around, making sure no one else was nearby to hear us. I narrowed my eyes at her insolence, but waited until she was satisfied that we were alone.

“I’ve been waiting for you all morning!” I hissed. “Where have you been??”

Devin shrugged a shoulder. “Doing my job. It’s important to keep up appearances, especially after such a close call like this.”

“A close call,” I scoffed. “Nobody has any idea how the poison got into the medicine vials. No one suspects it was us.”

“They know someone had to do it. It won’t be a big leap to suppose it was someone who works at the clinic, and it won’t be long until someone starts asking some really uncomfortable questions.

“That’s why I’m being recalled.”

“Recalled??” I stared at her. “What do you mean? You can’t be recalled - we still have work to do!

“Who says you can just leave like this?”

Devin raised an eyebrow. “Alpha Soren, that’s who. And it makes sense. There are stricter standards now, ones that make it all but impossible to try poison like that again.”

“Just because they’re testing medicines when they come in or when they’re made doesn’t mean it’s impossible. There will still be plenty of time to add poison to them after they’ve been tested. And then - ”

Devin cut me off. “And how are we going to do that? Amelia has ordered security cards for the pharmacy, and access codes. Only a few people will have them. And I’m not one of them.”

I stared at her, trying to think. But all I could hear was a door being slammed shut in my face.

A door I had no key for.

And I could feel all my hope and optimism fading away. All the time I’d spent here trying to undermine Claire - had it really all been wasted?

“But - but we’re not done here!” I stammered. “We need to get rid of the Omega! I demand that you help me.”

“I don’t answer to you, Princess. You got a problem with this, you take it up with Alpha Soren,” she said. And then she smirked at me, as if thinking she knew I didn’t have the guts to confront her Alpha.

And that really, really pissed me off.

So Soren was just going to give up? He was just going to go back on his word?!

How dare he!

Claire POV

It felt good to spend the day with Amelia, getting rid of every single untested vial of medicine and starting from scratch.

After the fear and worry of the mystery illness that had seemed to spread through the clinic like wildfire, this felt like putting our house back in order. The first step into getting life back on track, and back to normal.

I looked forward to getting back to my patients, to helping them and healing them.

But I also had to admit that having a day away from everyone except my closest friend was something of a relief.

I’d told Amelia about the Royal Alpha’s strange request for some of my hair, and we’d both agreed that I had just been indulging a kind old man’s fantasy.

Surely I, of all people, was not a royal.

And yet…

As the day wore on and no call came from him, I couldn’t help but feel disappointed. A part of me had enjoyed thinking about that fantasy, playing “what if” and imagining how different my life would have been if I really was a princess.

“No message from the Royal Alpha?” Amelia asked, toward the end of the day. She’d noticed me checking my phone again.

“No,” I said with a sigh, tucking the phone back in my pocket as we walked out of the pharmacy, carefully locking the door behind us.

“And I’m not surprised. I know I’m an orphan, and an Omega. But…he’s been so kind, and for that I’m grateful. I enjoy thinking of him as a father figure. And that’s enough.”

Amelia laughed and gave me a light shove. “The Royal Alpha as a father figure? Yeah, I’d say that’s pretty good.”

I couldn’t help but laugh with her. My life had been through so many wild changes over the last few months, and the Royal Alpha favoring me in such a way was one of the craziest.

But the laugh died in my throat as we walked into the breakroom, where the news was featuring Alpha Nathan and his “wonderful engagement” yet again.

“The Alpha’s engagement is the talk of the pack, and rumors are flying about the wedding date. Needless to say, everyone is eagerly awaiting what will surely be the event of the season,” said the news anchor.

And on the screen was a picture of Nathan, Sabrina and Andy posing together on the front steps of Nathan’s house.

What had been our house.

I was surprised by just how much it stung to see them there, all of them, a small and picture-perfect family.

They truly were a family. One with no place for a lowly Omega like me.

Of course not - I had only ever been the nanny.

I had never really belonged.

“Amelia,” I said, turning away from the painful image on the TV. “I have to leave. It’s time. I can’t stay here any longer.”

“I know,” she said. “I understand. Come over to my house tonight. We’ll talk about where you can go, and when. I’ll help you every step of the way.”

Grateful for her support and friendship, I agreed.

But I couldn’t help being overwhelmed with a deep sense of loss.

After all, when I fell in love with Nathan all those years ago, I hadn’t expected my life to turn out like this.

I hadn’t expected my marriage to amount to nothing.