Chapter 52

Claire POV

I stood at the base of the stairs beside the plane, blinking in the bright lights and noise of questions shouted from every direction.

I had no idea what to do

The Royal Alpha’s Beta, with a security team, pushed the media back to a more reasonable distance. This gave us a little more breathing room, and I fully expected for them to escort us through the chaos, to the car I could see waiting a short distance away.

Instead the Royal Alpha raised his hands for quiet, and waited for the gathered members of the media to quiet down.

“We’re going to have a larger press conference soon, but I know you all have a lot of questions. You’ve got a few moments for a brief Q&A, and then that will be all for today.”

I swallowed my nerves as I realized I wasn’t going to be escaping as easily as I’d hoped. I wished I’d thought of the possibility of reporters wanting to speak with me, so I could have felt more prepared.

But it was too late. More questions were already rushing at me from all sides, their sharp curiosity filling the air.

“Princess Claire, is it true you were raised in the Silverfang pack?”

“Is it true you were raised as an Omega?”

“Are you wolfless?”

“People say you’re a gifted healer, like the Queen - is that true?”

“How were you separated from the Royal family? What happened all those years ago?”

I took a step forward, out of the Royal Alpha’s protective shadow, and cleared my throat. The voices died down a bit, waiting for me to speak, but I struggled to know what to say, or how.

“I, um…” I felt panic rising in my throat, the urge to run making me feel anxious and twitchy. “Yes, I was raised in the Silverfang pack, and I believed I was wolfless until - until very recently…”

Fear of saying the wrong thing, of embarrassing the Royal Alpha, or revealing too much about my relationship with Nathan, seemed to rob me of my ability to think.

“But how is it possible you’ve been with Silverfang all this time? Didn’t you remember who you really were?”

“Royal Alpha, how could this situation be true? If this is really your daughter, does that mean you and the Queen had two children? Why keep this a secret?”

I blinked, my eyes swimming with the after images of the bright lights from the news cameras - and my mind now swimming with these new questions.

Questions I hadn’t had the time to even think about during the whirlwind of finding out I was a member of the Royal family, and deciding to leave the pack.

But what had happened to me all those years ago? How had I come to live with the Silverfang pack, with nobody knowing my true identity?

And why couldn’t I remember?

All at once the horror of that thought hit me like a charging bull. The panic already fighting to take control of my body, to make me sprint away from the noise of the crowd, grew stronger. Harder to fight off.

I was separated from my real family - maybe even abducted - and I had no memory of it. It disturbed me to think about how much of my life might be missing.

That paired with my shame about being Omega was proving to be too much. I’d been raised to feel ashamed of my station, not talk about it openly in front of people. Even now, even knowing it wasn’t truly who I was, the old programming was telling me to hide and be quiet.

I started to feel nauseous, and grabbed the Royal Alpha’s hand, a pleading look in my eyes.

Please, I said to him, mind to mind. I want to leave.

As soon as he received my plea the Royal Alpha looked down at me and nodded, then gestured for silence again.

“That’s enough for today. The Princess has had a long morning, and requires rest. We’ll release an official statement by this afternoon. And yes, a full press conference will also be scheduled soon. Good day to you all.”

Within moments the security team had cleared a path for us through the crowd, and escorted us to the waiting town car.

I sat back in my seat and closed my eyes as the car drove away, drawing the first deep breath I’d been able to take since we landed. The cool, quiet inside of the car was a world away from the bright noisy gathering we’d just left.

And yet, my head was still spinning.

Who am I??I thought. What happened to me?

Why didn’t my own father know I existed until just a few days ago?

I’d thought I’d understood how much my life had been turned upside down with the Royal Alpha’s revelation about my true identity.

But it turned out I really had no idea.

And it wasn’t until we pulled up the long winding drive of his estate, the tall towers of the palace slowly rising through the trees, that I realized my life - and my sense of who I was - had only just begun to change.

Because this - a palace rising out of the woods at the heart of the Royal pack - was where I lived now. It was going to be my home.

Somehow I suddenly had a life of luxury and comfort, where anything I wanted was mine just by asking for it.

As we pulled up to the house, where staff lined up outside on the steps and in the drive, I realized it was also going to be a life of respect and power.

Everyone we met as we walked into the palace nodded or bowed at me respectfully, speaking to me with dignity when they welcomed me.

It was a complete and total shock.

I had been raised an Omega, someone to always be looked down on, shouted at, mistreated. Abused. No matter what room I entered, I always knew I was the lowliest and least worthy one there.

And now?

Now it was the complete and total opposite.

As if sensing my shock and overwhelm, the Royal Alpha introduced me to a slim young woman slightly shorter than myself.

“This is Megan, your guide and personal assistant. She’ll see that you’re settled into your rooms.

“Please help the Princess get settled in,” he spoke to her. “She’s had a long journey, and needs to rest.”

“As you wish, sir. Right this way, your highness.”

As soon as the Royal Alpha mentioned rest, my entire system began to cry out for it. Megan spoke to me as we went up the wide staircase and down first one long hallway and then another, explaining to me each wing and level of the castle.

But I couldn’t focus, or respond. All I wanted was to lay down and rest, escape into sleep while my mind processed everything that had happened.

Had I really only left Silverfang pack that morning?

This morning I’d been Dr. Green, a healer at the clinic. A few months before that I’d been Claire, the wolfless Omega nanny.

Now I was a Princess, expected to stand up and hold my own during the onslaught of a press conference.

Not to mention all the other duties I’d take on as a member of the Royal family.

“Here are your rooms, Princess. I’ll make sure you aren’t disturbed while you rest, but you may ring for me at any time should you need anything.”

At any other time I would have stared at the rooms I followed her into. Just then, all I could think about was the bedroom she pointed out.

“Thank you,” I managed to mumble.

She smiled, then her face grew serious. “Princess, I must caution you, in case no one else has: While the palace is of course yours to explore as you like, you must never leave the palace grounds without a security escort.

“Now that we have you back, we must keep you safe.”

I nodded but was barely listening.

It wasn’t until I let myself fall into the downy softness of the over-sized bed, sinking into the comforter, that her words finally hit me.

Keep me safe?

From what?

Or…from who?