Chapter 77

Catherine POV

I returned to the palace, taking the stairs to my uncle’s conference room at a run.

My body felt like one giant bruise after what happened at the airport.

After the attack that descended on us out of nowhere just after we got out of the plane.

The news I had to tell him burned in my throat. Along with unshed tears for the destruction I’d seen first hand as we drove through Royal territory.

I didn’t have time to cry, or to grieve for the lives lost.

Not yet.

“Uncle!” I cried, bursting into the room.

He looked up from the papers spread on the table before him, clearly in a private meeting with his Beta. It was late evening, and the rest of the room was empty.

“Catherine!” he said, standing up and hurrying around the table to greet me. “Where on earth have you been??”

I struggled to catch my breath after my run. “Oh Uncle, it’s awful out there. We were attacked at the air field and barely made it out alive! It took us hours to find a safe route back here.”

He pulled me into his arms, and I could have wept with the sense of safety that finally washed through me. I hadn’t realized how much fear I’d been holding at bay until just this moment.

And still, I didn’t have time to let go, to cry, to deal with all the emotions swirling around inside of me.

I had to tell him what was going on.

What was going to happen.

“Uncle…” I took a step back from his comforting embrace. “I’m so sorry to tell you this, but Sabrina…”

He held up a hand to stop me. “I already know, Catherine. Alpha Nathan was here and told me about the way she’s been poisoning him, and issuing orders in his name.”

Nathan had gotten through??

I closed my eyes for a moment, relieved that he was both recovering from the poison and had landed at a different airfield. The one I landed in had been nothing but a burning pile of rubble by the time we got away.

But wait -

“Uncle, does he know about the rest? Does Alpha Nathan know about the cooperation ceremony??”

He frowned. “I don’t believe so. What about it?”

I made a sound of frustration. “His Beta must still be unable to mindlink with him. We think it’s the effects of the tea still lingering. Nathan can’t receive mindlink messages, and probably can’t send them either.”

I explained what I knew:

Unable to get through to his Alpha, Beta Evan had contacted me instead, warning me that Sabrina had left orders about organizing the cooperation ceremony.

“Apparently she’s trying to make the ceremony happen even though Nathan isn’t there. Beta Evan doesn’t have enough authority to stop her, and he’s busy organizing aid to come here and help us.

“We think she’s going to try to use the ceremony as a way to take over the Silverfang pack.”

My uncle’s expression was a complicated mix to read. He seemed shocked and deeply saddened, and also somehow resigned.

Despite my personal feelings for my cousin, it hurt my heart to have to add this weight onto my uncle’s shoulders. But he needed to know.

“I don’t know what Sabrina’s up to this time, Uncle,” I said. “But it’s worse than her usual scheming and plotting. I’m afraid it’s much worse.”

Beta Garrett stepped forward.

“I agree with the Duchess, sir. Sabrina seems to be at the heart of many of the things that have been going on.

“There are too many connections leading back to her for it to be a coincidence.”

Uncle looked over at his Beta.

“What are you saying, Garrett?”

“Sir, it pains me to say this, but…Could it be possible Sabrina knows she’s not your daughter, and is actually some kind of spy??”

I gasped at his words.

Sabrina…not my uncle’s daughter??

“Uncle - what does he mean? What is going on?”

He walked back around to his chair and sat down heavily, sadness and weariness plain on his face. I followed him, taking the chair next to him.

“He means this,” he told me, tapping a report on the table in front of him, the one he must have been reading when I rushed in.

It was a lab report, a breakdown of Sabrina’s DNA.

A report that apparently revealed a long-hidden truth:

Sabrina was not my uncle’s child.

“I don’t know how any of this is possible,” Uncle said, his voice soft and sad. “And I just can’t believe that Sabrina would be working against me.”

Beta Garrett lowered himself into a chair beside my uncle, placing a hand on his shoulder. “I know, sir. But that’s what people are going to wonder, once the test results come to light.”

Uncle sighed, taking a moment to himself. We were all silent as we absorbed everything that might mean.

“I don’t know what Sabrina’s up to,” he said softly. “But I swear, I’m going to put a stop to it.”

Then Uncle squared his shoulders, folding the report and tucking it into his pocket as he stood.

“Ready the transport,” he commanded. “I’m going to stop that ceremony, and reveal the true princess’ identity.”

Sabrina POV

I returned to the palace in secret, after a quick stop at my mother’s estate. I had a fresh pack of herbs to take back for Nathan’s tea, and a special separate pack for my father.

One that held a very special, deadly blend of herbs.

I planned to meet with my father, alone, to find out what he knew about what was going on. Alpha Soren also wanted information on the Royal troops, where their defenses were weakest, so he could break through them in one big final push.

After getting that information, I’d slip my poor, tired father the deadly herbs in a nice cup of relaxing tea.

Might as well see how many birds I can kill with one stone, I thought.

With any luck I could take out Nathan, my father and arrange to have Claire taken care of, all in a very short amount of time.

Pleased, I smiled to myself as I crept along the hidden passageways that ran all throughout the palace. I made my way to a hidden compartment inside my father’s meeting rooms.

Just in time to overhear a piece of conversation that made me smile even wider.

“...when the test results come to light,” said Beta Garrett.

Excellent!

They obviously didn’t have the results of that damned DNA test back yet.

Which meant I could take my father out and intercept the results before anyone learned the truth.

Then, when I took over the Royal pack, there would be no reason for anyone to question my Royal heritage.

None whatsoever.

But my father’s next words wiped the smile from my face, and my good mood plummeted.

“I don’t know what Sabrina’s been up to, but I’m going to put a stop to it.”

Shock and then worry froze me for a long moment as my father marched out of the room, his Beta and my stupid cousin Catherine hurrying after him.

How had he learned about the cooperation ceremony so quickly??

And now he was going to “put a stop to it”?

He was going to ruin everything!

I stomped, stifling a scream of frustration.

But then I realized something.

I realized that this little attempt of his to thwart me might actually be a gift in disguise.

Because it meant he was leaving the Royal pack, traveling into Silverfang territory.

Where I could set up an ambush.

Gleefully, I hurried back down the passageway.

He thought he was going to stop me?

Oh no.

He was going to walk right into my trap.