Chapter 71

Sabrina POV

A few days later I sat in Nathan’s formal dining room, taking a long and luxurious breakfast alone in my nightgown and robe. The servants brought me breakfast, reacting with haste to each and every one of my sharp commands.

It had taken some time - and a number of threats - but they’d finally learned their place.

And they were learning to accept me as their boss.

Now that I had Nathan well and truly under my control, I could run the house the way I wanted.

One of my first orders of business was getting that snot-nosed little brat of Nathan’s out of my way for good. I’d already placed a few discreet phone calls to certain private schools about taking on a new student.

But only schools that were on the other side of the realm. Far, far away.

In the meantime, I had the servants deal with him, so I could get on with more important work:

Bringing the Silverfang pack under my control.

And bringing the Royal pack to its knees.

Already my plans were coming to bear, I thought happily as I sipped coffee and read the latest edition of The Star.

From front page to back page, it was filled with reports on the latest attacks, the rising death toll, the truly impressive destruction of property.

And growing demands for the Royal Alpha to do something to stop the terrible violence being suffered in every corner of his kingdom.

I hummed to myself, snapping my fingers to signal that I wanted my coffee refilled. From the corner of my eye I saw the young serving girl rush to bring the steaming pitcher and fill my cup, a look of terror on her face.

Smiling, I flipped to the next page, and found the next little jewel in my plan shining from the page:

Mad Alpha Fails the Kingdom: Was this his plan all along??

There it was - whispers and rumors. Why hadn’t the Royal Alpha been doing more? Is he truly mad?

Or worse?

Is he somehow to blame for this happening in the first place?

I couldn’t help but laugh out loud as I read the editorial piece. My friend the editor had written it herself, after instructing her reporters to also sprinkle in vague questions and hints about their Alpha’s mental well being, and his true intentions.

When I laughed, the servant standing at my beck and call jumped. And that only made me laugh harder.

Later that day, Nathan and I held several meetings in his conference space downtown.

Well, I held meetings. Nathan was just there for show.

And what a show it was.

Thanks to Mom’s very special blend of herbs, he was distant, out of it, obviously either ill or not feeling well.

And as obedient as a puppy to my every command.

While he sat at my right hand, I delivered instructions I claimed were his to the room full of high ranking pack members.

“We’re to begin setting preparations in place for an official announcement of the pack cooperation between the Silverfang and Royal packs,” I said, pretending to read from a list of Nathan’s instructions.

A list I myself had made, and then instructed Nathan to copy so everyone could see it was in his own handwriting.

There were mumbles in the room after I made this announcement. Plenty would be questioning if now was the right time to proceed with an official pack cooperation.

I knew many were wondering why we weren’t sending aid to the Royal pack instead.

“Your Alpha wants to televise the signing of the cooperation, as a show of solidarity between our packs. The Royal pack - ” I let myself trail off, and forced a teary thickness into my voice.

“My father may be refusing any and all aid from Silverfang, but that doesn’t mean we don’t stand ready! We need to show our allegiance to the crown.”

“Princess…” A woman in the back raised a hand to draw my attention. “Can you tell us why your father is refusing assistance? Surely he must know we’re sincere in our offer to supply him with goods, food, soldiers - anything he needs.”

I shook my head, wiping at an invisible tear. “I honestly don’t know,” I said.

“I’ve spoken with him many times in the last few weeks. All I can say is he’s determined to put down this threat on his own.”

Raising the orders in my hand, I went on. “For now, all we can do is follow Alpha Nathan’s wishes.”

People had been glancing at Nathan with curiosity and growing surprise at how quiet and distant he was. I knew they wanted to know why I was doing all the talking, and why he didn’t even seem to be paying attention.

And that was good.

That was exactly what I wanted.

At the end of the meeting his Beta approached us, trying to speak with Nathan, but I brushed him off.

“Nathan, we’re leaving. Tell your Beta you’ll speak with him later.”

“Hm?” Nathan’s attention drifted slowly away from the window he’d been looking out of. “Oh, yes. We’re leaving, Beta.”

He stood, slowly, using his chair for support. “I will speak with you later.”

As we walked away, I could feel the Beta and several others staring after us.

And I couldn’t help but smile.

Nathan POV

I had watched the meeting as if from a great distance, feeling incredibly foggy and tired.

In fact, I’d been struggling against a bone-deep weariness for days. It felt like it took everything I had just to walk.

All I wanted was to sleep.

Inside my wolf was agitated, continuously whining and insisting something was wrong.

I knew it was right, even if I couldn’t understand what it was specifically trying to say. Obviously this dragging heaviness in my body, the fog in my brain, was wrong. But what could it be?

Sabrina insisted it was just a natural response to the stress I’d been under for so long now. And I couldn’t help but feel grateful to her for stepping up to help when I was so clearly unable to do my job.

“Good meeting?” I managed to ask as we drove home after the conference. My lips felt like they were made of stone.

“Oh yes,” she said, smiling at me. “A very good meeting indeed.”

When we arrived home, it took the butler and the driver to help me out of the car and into the house. I could see the looks of concern on their face, and it made me wonder - I don’t think for the first time - why I hadn’t consulted a doctor about my condition.

Why I hadn’t been to see Claire.

“Claire,” I mumbled as they helped me upstairs. A sudden longing for her burned through some of the mist in my mind.

“Need Claire,” I said.

“What you need is rest,” Sabrina said as the servants helped me get into bed. “You’ve been under such a terrible strain.”

She pulled the comforter up and settled it over my chest.

“I’m going to make you some more tea, and then you’ll get some sleep.

“And don’t worry,” she said as she stood in the doorway looking back at me. “I’ll take care of things for you while you rest.

“I’ll take care of everything.”