Chapter 53

Sabrina POV

The morning after the absolute disaster of a gala, the first thing I did was go to see my father.

Actually, the first thing I did was wake up, remember everything that happened, and rage-scream into my pillow.

Then I went to see my father.

I struggled to keep an even expression on my face as I walked in the door. The fact that I might now have to accept Claire as my sister - publicly, at least - had left me deeply shaken.

How could a worthless Omega suddenly be my equal??

It was like the world had been flipped on its head. Suddenly my entire life seemed upside down.

Added to that was an icy ball of worry in my stomach.

Because whether or not Claire actually was somehow a long lost princess, this situation would bring up some really inconvenient questions.

And sooner or later those questions wouldn’t just be about Claire and where she’d been all these years, or how she’d been separated from the Royal pack.

No. People were going to start asking questions about me as well.

Questions like, how could there possibly be two Royal daughters, when everyone had always been told the Alpha only had one child before the Luna died…

I did my best to push the worry down and away, and focus on making sure I stayed in my father’s good graces.

Like it or not, I still needed the approval and acceptance of the Royal Alpha.

For now, at least.

“Good morning!” I called as I walked into the main living area of his suite.

Only to stop dead at the sight of my father’s luggage being gathered in a corner of the room by his Beta.

“Ah, good morning, darling!” my father said, turning to greet me. He was freshly shaved, and looked more cheerful and alert than I’d seen him in some time.

“What’s going on?” I asked, stepping forward to kiss his cheek.

“I’m leaving Silverfang territory, and returning home,” he declared, gesturing to the luggage with one hand. “We leave first thing tomorrow.”

My heart leapt at the news. With my father out of the way, I could focus my energy on making Nathan marry me.

And, of course, getting the wolfless Claire out of the picture once and for all.

“That’s great news!” I said, happy that he was maybe abandoning this whole “lost princess” idea. “You’ll be so much more comfortable at home, and back in your daily routine.”

Dad chuckled. “Well, that routine will be a little shaken up by bringing home a lost Princess, but yes, I am looking forward to being at home once more.”

Wait…what?

The smile dropped from my face, and I stared at him in confusion.

“You - you’re taking Claire. To the Royal pack. You’re taking that lowly Omega to our home??”

“Yes, I am. It’s where she belongs, and where she deserves to be.

“She’s my daughter, Sabrina. Your sister. I won’t have you speaking of her in that tone,” he added, a note of warning in his voice.

If I thought last night’s big public revelation had been shocking, this announcement left me absolutely stunned.

Claire, the wolfless, the Omega, the nanny was now to be treated like a member of the Royal family??

No, not just treated like a member - accepted as one!

“B-but, Dad, please. How can you even be sure she’s actually your daughter? This all seems so sudden.

“How could Claire possibly be your long lost child?”

“It is sudden, yes,” he agreed. “And there is still the mystery of how Claire is my daughter - but she is, Sabrina. She truly is.

“I have proof - I’ll show you. Wait right here.”

I stood alone in the living room, my mind racing.

He believed she was his daughter, and was going to treat her as such.

What did that mean for me?

In a moment Dad returned, carrying a thick folder.

“Here,” he said. “This is the initial lab report I had run, testing both my own hair and Claire’s.”

I took the report he handed me, my nerves jumping with excitement as I scanned in.

If this was his “proof,” then things might actually be going my way after all.

Because this was the lab report with the samples I switched myself, swapping out Claire’s hair with hair from my father’s Beta.

He must have read it wrong, and blindly made the assumption that Claire was his daughter.

Which meant he was making a fool of himself - and I now had the proof I’d need to show it, when the time came.

But his next words dissolved that little fantasy that built in my mind, popping it like a bubble.

“See here? The report is wrong! The hair samples between my test and someone else’s must have been mistakenly swapped.

“So I had a second report run, with another strand of hair I got from Claire last night, after the gala.”

He pulled a second report out of the file, and my heart sank.

A second test, with hair directly from both Claire and my father.

And it read at the top:

Conclusion - Sample subjects are genetic match

My hands went numb, and I nearly dropped the papers in my hand.

My father’s voice beside me seemed to be coming from somewhere very far away.

“I’ll expect you to come home for a short while soon, as well,” he said. “You’ll need to attend the various welcoming ceremonies and celebrations to be held in Claire’s honor.”

I blinked.

This was turning into a nightmare.

Claire, the person I had begun to hate most in the world, the constant thorn in my side, was now not only also a Royal but my sister.

Truly a nightmare.

And yet…

I flipped back to the first report, the one that said Subjects not related. It was the falsified report. It wasn’t true.

But that didn’t mean I couldn’t use it to my advantage.

After all, something didn’t have to be true for people to believe it. And maybe I didn’t need them to believe it all the way.

Maybe I just needed the false report to create just enough doubt in people’s minds that they began to question the real one as well…

And just like that, my mood began to shift.

After all, getting Claire out of the Silverfang pack, and away from Nathan, had been my plan all along. And here it was happening without me having to lift a finger.

And while Claire may have landed in the lap of luxury - for now - she was also going to be on my home turf. A place she had no idea how to navigate.

But I did.

It wouldn’t take me long to start spreading rumors and sowing doubt about her legitimacy as an heir. And maybe even about my father’s mental stability as well.

A slow smile spread across my face as I looked up from the report.

Poor Omega, I thought. She has no idea just how much trouble I’m going to cause for her now.

“I’ll be happy to come home, Dad,” I told him.

“In fact, I can’t wait.”