#Chapter 3: You’re just a surrogate

Claire's POV

“What do you think you’re doing, Claire? You know Andy will be the future heir. If others find out that his mother is... How dare you!”

My heart raced as I struggled to explain. “I wasn’t… He’s asleep! He couldn’t hear me. I just… needed to say it,” I trailed off, unable to find a way to let out all the suffering and heartbreak I’d endured.

I didn't do it. I know it's for Andy's good. Even if...No one in the world knew who I really was outside of this room.

“You needed to say it,” Nathan repeated, he coldly reproached me. “...You’ve really disappointed me.”

Andy stirred, roused by his father’s voice. “Dad? What’s going on?”

“It’s nothing, sweetie,” I said hurriedly. “It's just... you accidentally called me mom in your dream.”

Andy sat up quickly, shaking his head. “Uh uh, I wouldn’t say that, Claire. I wouldn’t call you my mommy.”

“You’re an Omega, Claire. And that’s bad, because you’re so much lower than everyone else, especially me and dad. And you don’t even have a wolf! That’s extra bad.”

My eyes filled as his young voice spelled out everything I’d grown up hearing my entire life. He was so young, and yet already understood the order of things so well. The pain of hearing him say it was like a knife stabbing into me.

Andy liked Sabrina, the woman from the office today. She was beautiful and so fancy—she was the perfect kind of person to be his mom.

Andy noticed my emotions, hesitated for a moment, and seemed like he wanted to comfort me.

“It’s okay, Claire. You’re useless to the pack, but Sabrina’s really nice. I bet when she marries Dad, she’ll let you stay here. You’re a good nanny.”

I held a hand to my heart.

“That’s enough, Andrew,” Nathan said, “Go back to sleep.”

I closed the door behind Andy, then went downstairs with Nathan.

We sat down on the sofa in the living room. On the table, there was still the leftover milk I had heated for Andy, now cold with time.

"Is there anything else you need to explain?" Nathan said calmly. "You're acting off today."

But I couldn’t say a word.

In the end, my voice still trembled, but I managed to steady myself. "I know about you and Sabrina getting engaged. After you two are engaged, I’ll move out of here."

"Andy... he’ll have a better life with you. Please take good care of him. I’ll visit him regularly. I hope Sabrina will be a good mom."

“What nonsense are you talking?” Nathan frowned.

“You’ll stay in this house. No one is going to make you leave. I just want to tell you not to bring up your identity with Andy again.”

His usual attitude gave me a glimmer of hope, but there was one thing I was certain of—that even if it wasn’t Sabrina, there might still be someone else...

...Because I was never truly suited for him.

I was just an omega, a wolfless, orphaned omega.

"The pack needs a Luna," I said.

"Of course," he didn’t deny it. "But that doesn’t conflict with you staying here."

I was stunned for a few seconds before finally understanding what he meant.“...What?”

"Even though you're an omega, you've worked so hard. You've even learned about children's nutrition and education for him. You're the best person in the pack to take care of him."

Nathan said,"Recently, I'll be spending more time with Sabrina, we'll be very busy. I hope you can take better care of Andy at home..."

...What does he mean?

I asked in disbelief, “...You mean, you want me to watch you and Sabrina interact outside, while I stay at home and be your nanny?”

"You and Andy have a great bond, he trusts you a lot," Nathan said, looking at me. His eyes had always been my favorite, but suddenly, I felt a bit nauseous.

A sharp slap echoed through the room.

Before I could react, my hand was already raised, delivering a slap to Alpha Nathan’s face.

His face turned red from the impact, his eyes wide in disbelief as he stared at me. My hand throbbed with the sting.

But I took a breath, drawing up my courage., “I—I can’t do this anymore,”

“I want to reject you!”

Instead of feeling the slicing pain and heartbreak I’d heard happened when a mate bond was rejected, however, I felt only dizzy, my heart heavy.

Apparently, as a lowly wolf-less Omega, I couldn’t even reject my mate properly.

Nathan frowned, as if pricked by a needle, sensing my attempt at rejection. “You have no wolf, Claire. Did you really think your rejection would hold?”

I closed my eyes, a feeling of failure piling onto everything else flooding through me.

A knock at the door broke the hot, heavy silence between us. Before a servant could answer, Sabrina let herself in, bursting in and calling out to him excitedly.

“Nathan! There you are. Oh, it’s so wonderful!”

Ignoring me, she rushed into the room and threw herself into Nathan’s arms to hug him, then kissing his cheek before stepping back.

“My father has agreed to the financial cooperation agreement we sent him! And he’s appointing me as his ambassador. That means I’ll be able to stay here with your pack, and act as your advisor! Isn’t it perfect?”

Nathan’s eyes hadn’t left me, even while Sabrina was hugging him. After another moment’s hesitation, he finally pulled his gaze away.

“Yes, that’s…that’s very exciting, Sabrina.” And it was—having the Royal Alpha on his side pretty much guaranteed Nathan would win the upcoming election. As long as he kept Sabrina’s father happy—which meant keeping Sabrina herself happy as well.

Nathan didn’t say another word to me and went straight back to his study, leaving Sabrina in the living room. She watched my tears, seemingly quite pleased with herself.

Then she slowly approached me, leaning in to whisper in my ear, “I see you understand how things really are. How they have to be. Omega.”

“You’re nothing but a surrogate for the Alpha’s heir.”

——I need to leave here.

 ...I have to leave here.

After Sabrina left, I packed my things.

 I went to take one last look at Andy. He was still fast asleep. Reluctantly, I held his hand for a moment, then placed the necklace I had worn when I was found as a child on his bedside table.

Overcome with grief, I walked out of the house. As I reached the street, I was unaware that a car was heading straight toward me.

I didn’t hear the horn blowing, or the screech of tires as the driver tried to stop. I didn’t even feel the impact.

...Wouldn't it be nice to just die?

As the world faded to black, I could only hear the distant howling of wolf in the depths of my mind.