Chapter 50

Claire POV

I went to work the next day, hoping to escape into my regular daily routine.

I needed some sense of normal after last night’s revelation at the gala.

But the Royal Alpha’s words kept ringing in my ears.

“You’re my daughter, Claire. My daughter! It’s a miracle!”

A miracle, yes. One I was having a hard time processing.

And it turns out I wasn’t the only one.

As soon as I walked into the clinic I was met with greetings and questions from all sides, from both patients and the staff.

“Dr. Green! Is it true? Are you really a royal princess??”

“Why has your identity been hidden for so long?”

“I can’t believe we’ve been working with a princess all this time, and never even knew it!”

Answering questions as best as I could - which wasn’t very well, since I didn’t know any more about my origins than anyone else - I did my best to get through the day.

All I wanted was to slip back into my routine of helping and healing people. What I got instead was person after person wanting to meet me, shake my hand, ask me questions about how I got here, ask me for a royal favor…

I finally locked myself in my office, just needing some space. And some quiet.

When a knock sounded on the door barely twenty minutes later, I groaned and rested my head on the desk.

Why couldn’t everyone just leave me alone??

“Claire, I know you’re in there,” came Amelia’s voice from the other side of the door. “Let me in.”

I did, relieved it wasn’t someone else wanting to shake my hand, or to get an autograph.

People had liked me before, but this kind of sudden celebrity was wild. And I had no idea how to deal with it.

It was a relief to see my friend’s face, and know she’d at least treat me like normal.

But at the sight of the envelope in her hand, I took a step back.

It was stamped with the royal seal.

“This just came for you,” she said.

I looked back up at her, my eyes pleading. “I can’t take anymore right now, Amelia. I just need a break. Five minutes where my entire life isn’t being turned upside down.”

She grinned at me. “Yeah, it must be terrible finding out you’re a princess and everything. I feel really bad for you.”

I couldn’t help but smile back at her good natured teasing. “Okay, fine. Good point. Give me the note.”

Taking the envelope, I broke the wax seal and pulled out the paper inside. It was a brief note, written in the strong spiky handwriting of the Royal Alpha himself.

“What is it?” Amelia asked as she sat on the edge of my desk. “Another life-changing announcement?”

“Actually, it is.”

Numb with shock, I handed her the note:

Dearest Daughter,

Pack your bags! I am leaving for the Royal pack territory tomorrow, and I want you by my side.

I’m going to host a ceremony officially introducing you to the pack, and a celebration in your honor as a welcome home.

You’ve been away for far too long. It’s time to go home.

And rather than sign it with his Royal title, he’d ended the note simply with:

Father.

“Oh,” Amelia said as she finished reading the note. She looked back up at me, her eyes wide. “Wow.”

“Yeah,” I breathed, sinking into a chair. “Wow.”

“I guess you better go finish packing. Your highness.”

Nathan POV

I sat at the conference room table, struggling to get through a meeting I’d barely been paying attention to.

My temper was short. I had only slept a few hours.

I kept seeing Claire in that beautiful dress, all but glowing beneath the soft gala lights.

And the Royal Alpha’s arms around her shoulders.

Could my shy, quiet mate really have been royalty this entire time??

I kept thinking about how much our relationship had changed, and everything that had happened in the last few months.

And how much I regretted a lot of my behavior.

I wished I hadn’t fed into the marriage rumors during that news interview, or let Sabrina hype up our fake engagement so much in the first place.

Above all I wanted to take back what I’d said last night, about an Alpha and a princess being the only proper couple. I’d looked directly at Claire when I said it, wanting to hurt her with my callousness.

I wanted her to feel as angry and confused as I had been ever since she left.

But now I wondered if my poor behavior had just made everything worse.

Was I truly in danger of losing Claire forever?

I stood up abruptly, barking out an order to end the meeting. I needed time to think.

Time to figure out how to untangle this situation, and find a way to make things right with Claire.

But just as everyone else was leaving, my Beta hurried into the room.

“Sir, I was just informed: the Royal Alpha is checking out of his suite. He plans to return to his pack. And he’s taking Claire with him. I knew you would want to know, right away.”

I froze.

Claire was actually leaving?

I thought about the letter she wrote to Andy, how deeply hurt I was by the idea of losing my mate. When I saw her last night, the depth of my relief had been shocking.

But now it turned out she was leaving after all.

If she left now, would I ever see her again??

The thought of losing her forever jolted me.

“Where is Claire now?” I demanded.

My Beta took a step back, the force of my emotions hitting him like a wall. “I - I believe she’s at the clinic.”

The sentence was barely out of his mouth before I ran out of the room.

I needed to stop her, somehow.

Before it was too late.

I found her in the parking lot, just about to get into her car.

The relief at realizing I wasn’t too late warred against the fear that I wouldn’t be able to stop her. I yelled her name, hurrying over to talk.

To beg, if I had to.

But I was too stressed, too frantic. My tone came across as cold and demanding, when I meant it to be anything but.

“So that’s it?” I said. “You were going to leave without saying goodbye?”

“Please,” Claire said. “Don’t make this harder than it already is, Nathan. Do you really think leaving you and Andy was what I wanted for my life?”

Her eyes filled with tears. “But it’s clear you don’t want me. Neither of you do. Some days…I wonder if you ever really loved me.”

Seeing those tears cut me deep inside, and her words burned.

Never loved her??

She was my mate.

“You were the one who left, Claire. It’s you who never loved us. Was it a game to you? Were you just using me to raise your Omega status?”

Her eyes widened with shock.

“I could live with that - but what about our child? Was he just another part of the game you were playing?”

Her eyes flashed, tears drying as she lost her temper. “How dare you! You’re the one who’s heartless, Nathan! You never cared about me or what my life was like. Never!”

“Heartless?”

My ears were ringing, my wolf trembling. We were so close to our mate - and yet still so far away.

“You’re wrong, Claire. Dead wrong. And I’ll prove it to you.”

Desperate, scared, feeling like everything that mattered was slipping through my fingers, I grabbed her by the arms, pulling her closer.

“I won’t let you go. You’re mine, Claire. You’ll always be mine. And I’ll lock you up before I let you go. We belong together.”

Claire pushed against my chest. “You’d hold me prisoner?”

I could smell her. I could smell my mate. Everything inside of me screamed to hold her, keep her, never let her go.

“If that’s what it takes,” I growled. “I’ll lock you up forever if it means keeping you by my side.”

“You don’t mean that, Nathan. You’re not a monster.”

I knew her words were true, and later I’d be horrified at the idea of threatening to keep my mate a prisoner.

And yet… I couldn’t make myself let go.

My grip tightened around her arms - but Claire had grown strong, so much stronger than I ever would have thought.

With a burst of bright gold light, and a growl from her wolf, Claire broke the hold I had on her and pushed me back.

I stumbled away from, and stared at her in shock.

Before I knew it she was in her car, driving away.

And I stood there watching her go, feeling empty and lost, my heart burning down to ashes.