Return of The Alpha Heiress-Chapter 36: Clarissa – Shannon’s Identity

I hid inside my room, waiting for Alpha and Luna’s discussion to end. My head was still overflowing with questions, and the shock lingered in my body like a trembling aftertaste.

Shannon, who looked so much like the Alpha and even shared his scent, wasn’t their biological child.

But maybe that resemblance was exactly why she had been adopted.

I was stunned. Shannon’s true identity was something I would never have imagined, not even in my wildest dreams.

Does Shannon know? What about Larry and Edwin? Do they know, too?

If they did, and still treated Shannon like their own sister all this time, then the Green brothers were unbelievably kind.

Selene’s conversation with her friend in the bathroom echoed again in my head. No wonder the Alpha never announced that his daughters were twins. They weren’t twins at all.

Trying to calm myself, I stood behind the door. I couldn’t hear their conversation anymore, or anything else happening out there, but their scents still lingered faintly.

Before long, the Alpha’s and Luna’s scents slowly faded away.

I stepped out of the room just as Darren walked out of the library.

He looked startled to see me, almost panicked, but his expression relaxed quickly. "Come on. Let’s head down for dinner."

I didn’t answer, but I walked toward him steadily.

Before he could reach the stairs, I asked bluntly, "Do you know Shannon’s real identity?"

Darren’s head turned toward me stiffly. His eyes widened, and his mouth hung half open.

"What identity do you mean, Clar?" he asked with a smile that wasn’t truly a smile.

From his reaction, I guessed he already knew. There was no need for small talk.

"I overheard the Alpha and Luna talking," I said, then asked the question that made him cough in shock. "So Shannon is adopted?"

While he coughed, I didn’t move. I simply waited for him to finish.

He took a handkerchief from his pocket, wiped his mouth, then looked at me with a weary smile. "Let’s talk inside."

He turned back into the library, and I followed him.

We sat across from each other on sofas separated by a short table. Darren still looked as handsome and composed as always, but I could no longer see him fully as the dependable eldest brother. A part of me felt I needed to be cautious around him.

"Did you hear Alpha and Luna arguing?" he asked, pulling me out of my thoughts.

I nodded. "They were talking about Luna wanting to announce Shannon’s true identity."

Darren let out a long, heavy sigh. "At times like this, I feel like I’ve failed as a brother to both you and Shannon. She’s been with us for seventeen years, and I’ve always wanted to treat her as my real sister..."

He ran a hand through his neat blond hair. "But I also hate seeing you compared to Shannon among the elite. And here, you’re looked down on because you’re adopted. I get frustrated every time I hear about it."

Hearing Darren’s words, all I felt was irony. I hadn’t even done anything, yet rumors comparing us already existed.

Makes sense, though. On my very first day here, a servant accused me of being jealous of Shannon.

"Clar," Darren called, leaning forward. He always did that whenever he wanted the person in front of him to focus on him.

"I’m really sad about all this, but honestly, the one who’s hurting the most is Mother. She can’t stand hearing all the gossip about you. Since we can’t change your status right now, she wants to change Shannon’s..."

If it were Mother saying that, I’d believe it. She was that kind of clumsy parent—trying to protect her children but never giving good advice. She loved her kids deeply, yet she lacked something as basic as trust.

A former Beta’s daughter shouldn’t be like this, right?

I’d read before that omegas grow more scatterbrained and anxious as time goes by. Their minds and bodies slowly get eaten away by their heats. But that only happens to omegas who don’t have mates. If they do have mates, the effect stops. Unless—of course—the mate dies and can no longer help regulate their heat.

Was the Alpha often away in the capital while the Luna was in heat? But that didn’t make sense. No Alpha would leave their Luna alone during that period.

"Clar!" Darren called again when he noticed I was spacing out. "You need to know how much Mother cares about you. She’s always trying to make Alpha Will trust you."

I nodded. "I’m fine with that. I’ve never even heard those elite kids compare me to Shannon directly anyway. And honestly, it’s better if Shannon’s identity stays hidden. She doesn’t deserve to be attacked just because of me."

Darren smiled warmly and reached out his hand, but I instinctively leaned back. He pulled his hand away, though the smile remained.

"You really are a good kid, Clar. Thank you for understanding. But... there’s another reason Shannon’s identity can’t be revealed yet."

I tilted my head, curious. "Another reason?"

Darren explained, "Shannon is Adrian’s fated mate. If Alpha Harry, the Alpha of Black Pack, finds out Shannon is adopted, he’ll think we’ve been lying to him. In the best-case scenario, our relationship with them becomes strained, but he’ll still accept Shannon. In the worst-case scenario, he might cancel their engagement and cut off every cooperation with our pack."

"Cancel the engagement? But they’re fated mates. Aren’t fated mates not supposed to be separated once they find each other?" I asked, stunned.

If the situation was that serious, I wouldn’t be able to look Shannon in the eye ever again.

"It used to be like that, but things are different now. Alpha Harry is far harsher than you think, Clar." Darren looked at me pleadingly. "Please understand." 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"No need to ask. Of course I understand," I replied, a bit sharper than I intended.

Darren didn’t seem bothered by my tone, but I didn’t dwell on it.

I just needed to keep this truth to myself. I would never let Shannon and Adrian’s relationship fall apart because of something like this.

As for the pack cooperation possibly breaking... that wasn’t my responsibility. Alpha Will was greedy enough to have ten backup plans running in that scheming mind of his.

Thinking back on it, I finally understood why Alpha Will welcomed me with smiles and warm hugs during the party. It was because we were surrounded by people. That was the mask he wore for the crowd.

His real self lived inside this house.

Feeling that there was nothing left for us to talk about, I stood, ready to head downstairs.

"Wait, Clar. Since you’re already here, I want to give you something."

Darren pulled a small box from the drawer of his desk.

He handed it to me. "Open it."

Not wanting to spend another second in this room with him, I lifted the lid.

My eyes widened. Inside was a memory-storage orb—an expensive, coveted item I’d only ever dreamed of owning. And now it was sitting quietly in my palms.

"This... is for me?" I asked, stunned. My gaze darted between the orb and Darren.

He smiled faintly and nodded. "It’s an apology for what happened the other day. I’ve never been in a situation where I had to choose between trusting my alpha or my own sibling. I chose wrong. I want to slowly learn how to be a better brother."

His voice trembled at the edges. And his eyes—those eyes that usually looked carved from steel—were suddenly fragile. Vulnerable.

I had never seen Darren like this before. The man who always seemed capable of anything now looked like his walls were crumbling.

Something tightened painfully in my chest.

Even if I’d been angry and disappointed, I had still thought of him as my brother. My anger had been a shield, not hatred.

And now... his sincerity chipped away at that shield, leaving me unsteady.

Darren reached for my hand. "I know it’s still hard for you to forgive me. I can wait. All I want is for you to grow up happy."

That was all he said, but it landed heavily, too close to the soft parts of my heart.

I slipped out of the library soon after, cheeks warm with embarrassment from that unexpectedly emotional moment. I headed straight to my room to store the memory orb safely. I refused to lose it like the necklace from Edwin.

"Where did that necklace even fall...?" My mood dipped again at the thought. "If only I still had it, I could’ve transferred the memory inside to Darren’s orb. Now what am I supposed to save in it?"

A long sigh escaped me.

My eyes drifted to the trophy I’d won earlier today.

An idea sparked.

Yes. That could work.

Later that evening, I had dinner with Mother and Darren. Alpha Will wasn’t around—no idea where he’d gone. I told them about my victory, and both Mother and Darren promised we’d celebrate this weekend when Larry, Shannon, and Edwin came home.

When Darren was about to head to his room, I quickly stopped him.

"Darren—about the device that helped me win today, the Shifter Aide... I want to mass-produce it as a commercial product..."

...