Chapter 5

[To Nathan,

I can’t keep living like this. I... I can't stand this life anymore. I’m nothing to you and Andy. I had to leave - I’ve left. Please don’t come looking for me.

-Claire]

The word leave was almost unreadable, as a large drop of tear had smudged the ink.

...What is she thinking?!

Nathan crumpled the letter in his hand, immediately attempting to mindlink with Claire. As an Alpha, Nathan had the right to mindlink with any member of the pack.

[-Claire, this is ridiculous. Where are you? Who’s going to take care of Andy?]

But Claire didn't respond right away.

Nathan had always been a calm man, but at that moment, he felt utterly enraged.

...How dare she ignore him?

She was just an Omega. Even if she had run away, where could she possibly go?

She’d be back, of course, once she’d calmed down. Once she was home again, they were going to have a serious conversation about not shirking her responsibilities.

Andy shuffled into the room, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. “Dad, where’s Claire? She didn’t wake me up today. I want breakfast...”

Andy felt anxious for a reason he couldn’t name. Claire not being there for him bothered him, and he felt lonely without her.

This little boy was used to having the "nanny" by his side.

Nathan thought of the sleep he hadn’t had, and all the work he had to get done that day. They were reaching a key moment in his campaign. He didn’t have time for this.

“Where are the servants? Don’t they assist you in the mornings?”

Andy shook his head. “Claire sleeps in my room, so she wakes me up and helps me get dressed. Then she makes me breakfast.”

Nathan raised his eyebrows, surprised. He hadn’t realized Claire actually slept in the child’s room, or that she spent so much time looking after him directly. He’d always assumed the servants did the bulk of that work.

Nathan felt a pang of guilt as he took Andy back to his room and helped the boy pick out some clothes.

After angrily, Nathan knew he’d been harsh with Claire before, and felt bad. But he assured himself that a homeless, wolfless Omega would have nowhere to go.

Claire would be back soon, and they could all go back to their normal lives.

...She had to.

In the kitchen, Nathan faced another challenge—servants who didn’t know how to prepare his son’s meals, or his own.

“Miss Claire handles the food, Alpha,” he was told. “She plans, shops for, and prepares all of your meals.”

He told the servants to do their best, leaving Andy with them while he went upstairs to shower and dress for the day. It wasn’t until he was finished and heading back downstairs that he stopped, cursing.

He had to meet Sabrina’s father today, Royal Pack Alpha William. He couldn’t do that with a young child in tow.

Who was going to look after Andy?

He needed someone who was considerate, attentive, and devoted to the child in every way...

Sabrina arrived just as Nathan got to the bottom of the stairs, breezing into the house without even knocking.

“There you are, darling! You look so handsome! Father is just going to love you,” she cooed, standing up on her toes to adjust his tie.

“I have a problem. Claire is gone, and there’s no one to take care of Andy.”

“Claire is gone?” Sabrina Sabrina’s eyes flickered with delight, then quickly masked it. “Well, that’s no trouble. I can look after Andy myself!”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course,” she smiled.

...Of course, this was a lie. Sabrina chuckled to herself.

Who would want to take care of that bitch's child?

Sabrina hated kids, and his especially, but helping Nathan deal with this problem would not only make sure he was able to make the meeting with her father, but put her back in his good graces again.

“It’ll be fun. Don’t worry.” Sabrina said.

Relieved, Nathan thanked her, then hurried out the door.

Sabrina waited exactly thirty seconds, watching as Nathan got into his car and drove away.

She cast a condescending glance at Andy, removing the warm, affectionate expression from her face.

She called out to a servant.

“Take care of the brat. I’ll be back later. I’m going shopping.”

Clarie's POV

“Claire, this is amazing!” said Amelia, as yet another patient left the clinic happy—and healed.

I stared after the patient, then looked down at my hands again in amazement.

...I had healed that woman, clearing up a nasty burn that would have taken days or even longer to heal on its own.

Amelia handed me a bottle of water, and I lowered my mask to drink it. All the staff at the clinic wore a protective face covering, so hiding my identity had turned out to be incredibly easy.

I was still adjusting to being able to walk among members of the pack without anyone seeing me as an Omega, and treating me as lesser.

I was still getting used to a lot of things.

After I heard the howls, my body healed almost magically in front of their eyes, and that healing ability extended to anyone I chose.

The very first patient I helped Amelia see had broken their wrist after falling off their bike.

My touch had healed that bone almost instantly.

This is... almost magical.

Finishing the water, I took a deep breath. “It’s almost too much to take in. Just yesterday I was at the end of my rope, living as an Omega and a secret mate. My own son doesn’t even know I’m his mother. And now…”

Suddenly having special healing abilities, Amelia insisted I must somehow have a connection to the Royal Pack. After all, they were traditionally the only ones to possess such abilities.

I didn’t know who my family was, but I definitely didn’t know what to think about somehow being a lost member of the Royal Pack. That idea was just too incredible to believe.

How could that be possible?

“Now you’ve got, like, super powers! And I swear, it’s just the beginning. You’re already healing people faster than this morning. I bet if you awaken your wolf, those fancy new abilities of yours will only grow stronger.”

I had trouble imagining that. Already I felt so much stronger, so much more complete and capable, than I had in my entire life.

Just then, a patient arrived, an older man yelling and causing a scene. Yelling and snarling, it was clear his wolf was causing havoc inside of him. Amelia raised her mask and hurried over to help.

Raising my own mask, I followed to watch, and see if I could help.

The poor man seemed to be having a breakdown, first crying and then laughing, and all the while loudly demanding to see his wife.

“Where is Kara? Take me to my wife!”

Amelia tried to take his hand, speaking to him in a low soothing voice, but he snatched his hand away and pushed her back. “Don’t touch me! How dare you. I demand you take me to my wife this instant.”

Something about the man pulled at me, a sense of familiarity I couldn’t place. Had we met somewhere before, long ago? Maybe he’d been a teacher at the orphanage.

Touched by his clear struggle to figure out where he was, and the longing in his voice when he asked for his wife, I stepped past Amelia and reached out to the man.

The instant our hands met, he calmed down. His eyes cleared, and he looked around, obviously not sure where he was. “I’m… I’m sorry, I don’t know why I’m here. Was I causing a stir again?”

Amused, I lowered my mask. “A ‘stir’ is a good way to describe it, sir. I - Are you alright?”

The old man’s expression had frozen as soon as he saw my face. Now he stepped forward, raising a shaking hand as if to touch it.

“You - I swear, you are the spitting image of her.”

“Of who, sir?”

He lowered his hand, but still stared at me in amazement. “My wife. Are you my daugh-”

Suddenly a voice from the entrance called out. A deep, commanding voice that shocked me out of the strange moment between me and the old man.

“What’s going on here, Royal Alpha? Are you alright?”

I pulled my mask up quickly, glad my back was to the door. Glad, too, that the mask would hide my shock when I realized my mate was standing in the doorway, his Beta by his side.

Then his words registered, and I realized who I’d just been speaking to.

This ill old man… He was the Royal Alpha?!