Chapter 65

Sabrina POV

I hung up my phone after yet another call to Nathan goes to voicemail.

He’d been ignoring me as much as he could for weeks now.

Sure, he always claimed he’d been working and hadn’t heard his phone ring. But I could tell.

There was a distance growing between us.

On my last visit to the Silverfang pack we’d done several more interviews and made public appearances at a variety of functions. From fundraisers to town hall style meetings, wherever Nathan went on the campaign trail, I was right beside him.

We were the perfect picture of a happy couple. We held hands, we got “caught” kissing. Everything people would expect from two people in love.

And it was all a lie.

One I thought I’d be perfectly happy to tell.

But Nathan’s coldness when we were together in private, that distance between us, was making me more and more anxious every day.

I thought I’d had him under control. We’d announced the engagement, then signed the wedding agreement. The wedding was quickly approaching.

And here I was worrying it was all going to fall apart.

What if Nathan called the whole thing off?

Would all my hard work and planning come to nothing, after all this time?

I was determined to become the Luna of the Silverfang pack, a position I deserved.

A position I could use to command my loyal subjects to invade the Royal pack when I finally seized the throne from my father.

The idea of losing that was choking me with fear.

The fact that it might all be because of Nathan’s continued mysterious affections for Claire was infuriating.

There was no way I was going to let a mere Omega beat me, I thought as I walked through the palace one morning.

I would kill Claire before I let her take what was rightfully mine.

As I passed my father’s office, I heard him say my name and paused just outside the closed door.

“...Princess Sabrina may be an imposter.”

I gasped and covered my mouth when I heard Beta Garrett’s voice.

When I heard my father agree.

Moving closer, careful to make no noise, I listened to the rest of their conversation with growing unease.

They were going to test my DNA!

My jaw clenched almost painfully as I gritted my teeth.

That damned “two princess problem” no one would shut up about. It was going to ruin everything!

Heart tripping with fear, I tiptoed away from the office door, all but running down the hallway. I returned to my rooms to get dressed.

“Have my car pulled around front,” I demanded from the maid. “I’m going out for the day.”

There was someone I needed to see. Someone, I hoped, who would know exactly what to do about this.

About all of this: Nathan, Claire, the DNA test.

If anyone could help me, it would be her.

An hour later I pulled into the long winding drive that led to a sprawling countryside manor. The home of my childhood nanny, Martha.

Father had rewarded her handsomely when she retired after I came of age. Her home was spacious, surrounded by wide manicured gardens maintained by her servants.

I took a deep breath as I pulled up to the house, already feeling a little better.

This was the place I now came to any time life seemed to be spinning out of control. Martha had always been the one I turned to.

“Sabrina!” she said warmly, waiting in the open doorway at the top of the steps.

Leaving the keys in the car - a servant would park it in the garage - I rushed up the steps and into her arms.

“There you are, my darling,” she said, her voice so familiar and comforting in my ear.

I couldn’t help the tears that came to my eyes once I was in her embrace.

“Everything is just so awful!” I cried, tears falling onto her shoulder, my voice a little muffled. “And no matter what I do, it just keeps getting worse. What am I going to do?!”

“Hush now,” she said, pulling back enough to look at me. Gently wiping the tears from my cheeks. “Let’s go and have some tea while you tell me all about it.”

I followed her to the sitting room, where a wall of windows showed the mountains in the distance. A servant brought tea, and we settled down on the sofa in front of the fireplace, where a few logs burned warmly.

“Now,” she said, turning to me. “Tell me everything.”

I took another sip of tea, feeling Martha’s special blend of soothing herbs already starting to relax me. She was a talented herbalist, and her teas and tonics were highly sought after by people who needed her particular talents.

Then I set my cup down and turned to face her.

“I just feel like everything’s falling apart. Only a few months ago I had Nathan firmly under control. We were working closely together on his campaign, and I was well on my way to talking him into an engagement.

“When his stupid Omega mate left the house, I felt certain he was going to be mine. Nothing was going to stop me from getting his pack, and using it to take over the throne.”

Martha was nodding as I spoke. “As you should. We both know Silverfang pack is strong enough to help you seize the throne, and respected enough in the realm that if they followed you, other packs would be more inclined to follow you as well.”

Relieved, I smiled. “Exactly!”

Then my smile fell. “But the Omega just kept getting in the way. Nathan kept seeing her at the clinic, and his annoying son kept asking about her.

“Then her sudden stupid healing abilities emerged, bringing her to Dad’s attention.”

Martha swore under her breath. “Abilities like that are so incredibly rare. The fact that they happened to manifest in the one person you wanted to just disappear…What are the odds?”

“Right?? Like, of all places, and of all people, it’s Claire? The wolfless Omega.” I sniffed as tears threatened to spill out again.

“A stupid Omega is actually the Royal Princess. It’s absurd.”

Unable to fight it any longer, I let the tears come, burying my face in my hands.

“It’s just not fair!” I wailed. “I’ve worked so hard!”

Martha reached out and drew me into her arms again, rocking me as I cried.

“It’s alright, my darling. You’re not alone in this.”

She patted my pack. “Haven’t I always helped you with your troubles? Aren’t we in this together, always?”

After a while I stopped crying and had calmed down enough to dry my eyes.

“Now,” she said, sitting back. “Let’s make a plan to secure your marriage with that Alpha once and for all.

“After that…I think it might be time we just got rid of the Royal Alpha once and for all, don’t you? Then there won’t be anyone to stop us from dealing with the Princess.”

“Yes. I want that, all of that. But…how? I have no idea where to start.”

A smile spread across Martha’s face. “Oh, I have a few ideas.”

Within a few hours, with another pot of tea and a lot of discussion, those ideas were now full fledged plans.

And I felt better than I had in a long time.

Because I was about to get everything I wanted. Everything I deserved.

I thanked Martha, hugging her one more time before I left.

“I don’t know what I’d do without you, Mom.”