It took Grant a few days to recover to the point where he was able to leave his bed. He wasn't strong enough to go on long strolls, but I was thrilled that he was feeling good enough to move around a little.

"You don't have to do this?" Grant protested as I pulled his shirt over his head.

We were standing in the bathroom and I was desperate to get him in the bath tub. I knew that when I felt awful baths always helped me feel much better. They relaxed all my muscles and smelling like a floral bath bomb never killed anyone. Still, Grant was acting like my help would kill him.

"You need a bath." I argued.

"You don't need to help me have a bath, I'm a grown man." Grant snapped, but his legs were trembling for bearing his weight.

I hushed him and began helping him out of his shorts and boxers.

"Vienna, this is embarrassing." He whined.

"You would do the same for me if you had to. Besides, there is nothing embarrassing about your mate wanting to take care of you." I murmured. I gently used his elbow to guide him into the bath tub and to keep in steady as he stepped in to the steaming water.

"Can you at least come in the bath with me?" he asked, his eyes soft and pleading.

I didn't reply, I just undressed myself and slid into the bath behind him.

"Shouldn't you be in front of me?" Grant asked.

"Nope." I whispered. I placed my hands on his shoulders and gently began massaging the muscles.

After that Grant didn't protest anymore. He let me rub his shoulders, his back, and eventually he leaned onto my chest and allowed me to draw lazy circles over his ribs and abdomen. He kept his eyes closed and occasionally let out little sighs of approval when I hit the right spots.

"Alpha Jordan told me that you ran away with another man." Grant mumbled, sounding sleepy.

"I didn't run away with him." I replied, kissing his forehead softly.

Grant peeled open his eyes, coming out of his happy daze. "There was another man?" he questioned.

"There was, but it's not what you would assume it to be."

"Then what was it?"

I sighed, the moment had been so perfect prior to Grant's curiosity. "Jordan wanted me to reject you and attempt to be a mate to one of his warriors who had recently lost his own. When you went missing I went to Jordan for help because he has amazing trackers. He told me to stay in one of his pack members' houses. It happened to be the man who Jordan wanted me to be mated to. I found out in the morning and the second I realized what was going on I was out of the house, besides, he found his second chance mate and probably had no interest in me." I explained.

"So you weren't planning on rejecting me?"

"Never, Grant." I whispered, "I couldn't live without you."

"But I was an omega."

"You are no longer an omega, and even if you were, you would be my mate regardless. I love you, no matter your ranking."

Grant huffed and pressed his head harder against my shoulder, "You don't really think I'm a prince, do you?"

"I've decided that it doesn't matter if you are or not."

The rest of the bath was quite peaceful and easy. Grant let me wash his hair and didn't complain too much when I used my lemon scented shampoo and conditioner. I would've loved to stay in the warm water longer, just holding him and having quiet conversations about nothing and everything but when I glanced down at him I noticed his eyelids were drooping slightly. He was exhausted and he needed to go to bed.

I got Grant bundled up in my bed in a matter of minutes and I was prepared to go talk to the king and queen when he grabbed my hand.

"Stay." He mumbled.

"You're tired, baby, you need to get some sleep, I don't want to keep you up."

Grant gave me a lazy smile, "Please, just talk to me. I missed you."

I couldn't argue with him when he looked so sweet and sleepy so I slipped under the blankets and began tracing shapes on the bare skin of his back, watching goose bumps form on his skin.

"I'm happy that guy found his second chance mate, and I'm really happy it wasn't you." Grant whispered.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, second chance mates are super rare, he must've been a decent guy to get one. I bet he's really happy that he has someone to hold at night. Can you imagine knowing that you'll never be happy again?"

"Well, we don't know that he's good, he was part of the grand scheme to take you away from me." I murmured.

"He's probably really nice, you have this issue where you don't give people a chance, you know."

"He was a part of the team that took you away from me, Grant. I'm sorry for not giving him a chance." I said sarcastically, "Why should he get a second chance when he was part of the pack that nearly caused me to lose my first chance?"

Grant rolled on his back so he could face me and he stared up at me with those bright green eyes, "Why are you so upset about this guy?"

"He's mated to Karma." I confessed.

Grant smiled a little, "That's good, Karma deserves a good mate." He murmured.

I wanted to argue with Grant, wanted to tell him he was wrong. But he was falling asleep so I resumed my lazy draws, this time roaming my fingers over his chest as I let my mind wander.

I wanted Karma to have a good mate, just like Grant did. I wanted her to come home after a long day and be able to lie in someone's arms. Mates were a beautiful thing and I genuinely could not think of anyone who deserved one more than Karma. But Sterling was stirring up a lot of problems for me. He was being charged with treason because of his involvement in the whole situation, like many members of his pack. How on Earth was I supposed to let him walk free? He certainly didn't deserve to be a free man any more than other pack members did and I would look like a poor political figure if I let every sob story pull at my heart strings. Besides, he was a criminal, how would my pack feel with a felon wandering around, snuggling with their pack doctor.

Still, I loved Karma and I owed her for everything she had done.

I slowly got out of the bed when I was certain that Grant was fast asleep and I put on some fresh clothes: a nice tank top and some shorts for the warm weather. Once I was fully clothed I ambled downstairs and out the front door. I sucked in a deep breath of fresh air once I was outside, since the Grant had been bed ridden I hadn't been able to come outside much, but the sun shine and light breeze felt lovely on my skin.

What didn't feel so lovely were the odd stares I was receiving from my pack members. By now everyone had figured out that royals were in my home and there were various rumours that had been spread as to why they were here. Most of my pack members suddenly became uncertain on how to treat me. They didn't know if I was a princess or if I was being investigated for crimes against the crown.

Regardless of their examining eyes I made my way to Karma's little house and knocked on the door. She answered almost immediately.

"Oh, it's you." She said blandly. She looked awful, like she had been crying for hours and it made my heart twist a little.

"Listen, I can't fix everything, Sterling most likely will be charged with something and if he is I don't have the authority to overrule the king and queen's choice, but I can make it a little better for right now, put some shoes on."

Karma rolled her eyes, "I don't have time for this, Vienna."

"I think you do." I argued. I abandoned the idea of shoes for her and simply tugged her out of her home, dragging her across the green grass and towards the far side of the pack lands.

In no time we were travelling through a steel door, into my pack's prison which now housed all of the people who were going to be tried in front of the royal family.

"Karma." Sterling rasped out, pushing his body against the bars.

"Back up." I ordered.

The man immediately complied but his eyes never left his mate. Once he was far enough from the cell door I carefully put a key in the lock and slid the door open just enough for Karma to slide her thin body through.

"Thank you." She whispered, her eyes glistening with tears.

I locked the cell behind her, feeling awful for basically putting my friend in prison but I hardly had a choice and she didn't seem to mind.

"I can't change the royals' choices but I can give you some extra time together. I'll be back to get you for supper." I murmured.

She wasn't listening, she was crying into Sterling's chest while he buried his face in her blonde hair.

tri|O!