Surrogate for My Brother-in-law - Chapter 22: Chapter 22

As soon as I was out of sight of Leo and Ethan, I took off running. I tore off my mask before anyone in the manor could see. I made it to my room without encountering another wolf.
I learned how to sneak around the manor unseen when I was a child. Back then, I needed to stay hidden from Eva and her mother. Now it was second nature to slip through the shadows and listen at every corner and door for a footstep or a breath that would betray another person's presence.
In my room, I changed out of the clothing that Dr. Lee had kindly loaned me. I would wash them the next day. The question was how I would return them.
Ethan was friends with Leo. Maybe the next time he dropped in for a visit, I could pass the clothing off to him. I'd have to come up with a good excuse, though.
I stored my mask under the mattress of my bed. The clothing went into my hamper, mixed with my own clothes. I was the only one who did laundry in the manor so it was unlikely that anyone would notice them there.
I took a few minutes to paint my scars back in place. At this time of night, Eva was likely safely in bed. I still couldn't take the risk of anyone seeing my face without them. Any wolf in the pack would report it to Eva.
Once I was dressed and any hint of my identity as “Dr. Angel” was carefully hidden away, I gathered up the books Dr. Lee had given me. They would not be safe in my room. Eva would burst in without even bothering to knock, and if she saw the texts she would take them.
It wasn't like it was forbidden for me to study. But I was just a maid. I had been Eva's servant and now I was Leo's personal maid.
Anyone who caught me with Dr. Lee's texts would say that I was getting ideas above my station. I should be content with my place in the pack. I didn't have a wolf so I would never be a healer.
But I was a healer and I did have a wolf. I glanced at the mirror, almost hoping to see a gleam of gold in my eyes. There was nothing, though. My wolf remained silent.
Still, I had healed both Ethan's beta and the other injured wolf. Dr. Lee had been impressed enough to give me her brother's texts. I was a healer.
I gathered the texts and wrapped them in a pillow case. I tucked that at the bottom of a laundry basket. Anyone who saw me in the halls would think I was taking care of some last minute chores for the day.
I hurried the laundry room. It was risky to hide everything in one place. But no one else spent any time in the laundry.
There were other servants in the manor, of course. But most of those were pure wolves. I was the lowest rank and so I got the hardest, dirtiest chores. The other servants considered laundry duty beneath them.
I was glad that one of the chores on Eva's list had been to oil the hinges on every door in the manor. It had taken hours, but it meant that the laundry room door opened soundlessly.
I left the lights off. I knew the laundry room so well that I could navigate it blindfolded. One time, Eva had made me do just that. I never knew why. Probably she just thought it was funny.
I kept most of my study materials in an old laundry basket behind the washing machines. That was secure enough for a couple of tattered texts and a notebook. I wanted to protect Dr. Lee's books more carefully.
There were several shelves that I used to store detergent, dryer sheets, stain removers, and anything else I might need for the laundry. The second shelf had a loose board in the wall behind it. I had never reported it to anyone to have it repaired.
There was a tiny space behind the loose board. I checked with the flashlight in my new phone. It was just big enough to hold my new texts.
I tucked all but one of the books into the hiding spot. I should have hidden all of them. It was late and I needed to get some sleep.
But the draw of a proper healer's text was too much for me to resist. I perched between the first dryer and the wall and used my flashlight to light up the book in my lap. I would just read a few paragraphs.
A few paragraphs turned into a few pages. Once I started, I just had to keep reading. There was so much information available to me.
The text was concise and informative. I had just happened to pick a text on wound care. I read how to clean a wound so that no infection could set in, and how to use my healing to reinforce the cleansing.
I learned that it was possible for my healing powers to burn infection out of a wound if it did happen. It was rare for a wolf to get an infection. However, it could happen. And some of the packs had human members, like my mother had been. And there were other half-bloods like myself. Any of them could become infected.
There it was, proof that my powers would work on my mother. A pack healer could heal a human. If I had known that, if I had my healing powers, I could have saved her after the Rogue's attack.
I hugged the book to my chest for a moment. There was no point in dwelling on the past. I had not been able to heal back then.
I could heal now. And when I found her, I would heal my mother. We would be together again.
And I would never have to watch helplessly while she suffered ever again. My wolf would protect us both. My wolf would heal us both.
I read a little bit further. I learned how to close up wounds much more efficiently. I had tried to force the bleeding gashes closed on the wolves I had healed.
It was better, according to the book, to work with the body. To nudge wounds close and let the blood clot, rather than trying to simply speed up the process by brute force. Healing worked best when it was subtle and gentle.
I was eager to try out my new skills. Maybe I could convince Ethan to take me back to the hospital. Surely Dr. Lee had some patients who could use a little boost to their recovery.
But that would have to wait. I needed to rest. The power to heal came from my wolf, but the energy came from my body. And my body was doubly stressed because of the pup I carried.
So, reluctantly, I hid the last text and left the laundry room. I was preoccupied by everything that I had learned, so I didn't notice until it was too late that Leo was in the hallway outside of my room.
“Oh, Alpha Leo,” I said. “I'm sorry, I didn't see you there.”
“Why are you out so late?” he asked. He leaned closer. “And why do you smell like Ethan?”