Surrogate for My Brother-in-law - Chapter 59: Chapter 59

Ethan had not forgotten his promise to help me find my mother. Every day he worked, following even the faintest hope of a lead. No matter how many clues turned out to be false, he never faltered.
I spent my days in the hospital working as Dr. Angel. I didn’t wear the mask anymore, but I kept the name. I didn’t want word of my true identity getting around.
I quickly realized that my healing powers were much stronger since I’d properly met my wolf. Before, I’d struggled just to seal up a deep laceration or to mend a broken bone. Now I could close a deep gash and leave only the faintest scar.
Dr. Lee pointed out something else. Wolves who left my care did so with much shorter recovery times than the hospital’s other patients. Many of them came back for follow up appointments and reported that they felt stronger, healthier, even more powerful in wolf form than they had before I treated them.
“I think you’re strengthening them with your wolf, somehow,” Dr. Lee said.
“Is that something your brother does?” I asked.
Lee shook her head. “I’ve never heard of a healer doing anything like that. It’s amazing.”
I didn’t feel amazing. I felt lost. And like an impostor.
I was supposed to be this special healer, this “Dr. Angel” that everyone trusted to heal even the most critical injuries. But I couldn’t save my own mother, I couldn’t even find her. And I hadn’t been able to stop Eva from taking my pup.
I woke up in the night to the sound of a baby’s cries. But there were no children anywhere near my room. It was all in my head.
Ethan began to follow more and more impossible leads. He knew as well as I did that we were running out of time. With me out from under her thumb, Eva had no reason to keep paying for my mother’s care.
I went with Ethan the first few times, hoping to finally see my mother. After the third lead turned up nothing, Ethan suggested I stop coming. He explained, gently, that he hated to see my heart broken every time.
“This isn’t the kind of date I want to take you on,” he said.
“Oh, are we dating?” I asked. I tried to be flirtatious, but it fell flat. I just didn’t feel like being playful.
“Not yet,” Ethan said. “You haven’t agreed to let me court you.”
“I…” I stopped when Ethan held up his hand.
“I haven’t asked you properly yet,” he said. “I gotta do it right.”
“Or your sisters will throttle you,” I said. Now that I lived with them, I believed they’d try. Little Elise definitely would. She liked me for some reason.
“Exactly.” Ethan sobered. “Don’t worry. As soon as I find anything, I’ll tell you. You focus on recovering.”
“I’m fine,” I said. “Even Dr. Lee gave me a clean bill of health.”
Physically, I was great. My body had bounced back from the traumatic birth of my pup. The bump was smoothing out, and the muscles in my abdomen were knitting back together.
On Lee’s advice, I went out in wolf form at least once every day. She said shifting would help me bond with my wolf and strengthen my body. She was right. The only time I felt anything like whole was when I was running through the woods around Ethan’s manor on four paws, chasing squirrels and snapping at birds just for the joy of movement.
Physically, I was recovered. My mind and heart were an entirely different story. Some days I could barely drag myself out of bed. I found myself crying for no reason at odd moments. And then I couldn’t stop. It was awful. But mostly, I just felt numb. The world felt like it was wrapped in fog and I stumbled through it like a sleepwalker.
Ethan went out every day, and every day he came back empty handed. I tried to be brave and smile and show how grateful I was. But inside, I felt more and more hollow.
Every night, the cries that woke me became weaker and weaker. I didn’t understand why. It terrified me. Was something wrong with the pup or was I going mad?
“I think we need to confront your family,” Ethan said.
“What? No. I don't want to talk to them. Or see them. Ever again,” I insisted.
“We have no choice,” Ethan said. “I've exhausted every lead, looked everywhere I can possibly imagine. If we want any chance of finding your mother, we have to talk to the only people who know where she is.”
“They'll never tell me,” I said.
“They will if we offer them something they want,” Ethan said.
“What could we possibly offer them?” I asked.
They already had what they wanted from me. My pup. Leo’s precious heir, which he was still convinced was Eva’s.
“Well, I’ve been looking into things,” Ethan said. “And, Tessa, your old pack is messed up. Seriously, things are not right with them. I don’t know how Leo missed it for so long. I don’t know how I missed it, to be honest, we’re your closest neighbors.”
“Missed what?” I asked. Sure, Ethan’s family were nicer to me than my own, but my pack seemed fine on the whole. Sure, we needed the strength and numbers we got from Leo’s pack, but didn’t every pack need to build up after the Rogue attacks?
“Tessa, things are not right in that pack,” Ethan said. “The way you were abused? No alpha should ever have tolerated Eva’s behavior towards you.”
“But I’m a half blood. No one ever cared. It wasn’t just Arthur.”
“They should all have cared! And who cares that your mother was human? Your father was clearly a wolf. You were part of their pack and they should have protected you,” Ethan said.
I looked away. “The archivists were nice. The head archivist helped my mother teach me how to read.”
Ethan patted my hand. “And that explains why you’ve already gotten so attached to our archivists. But that should have been your father.” He paused. “Is your father dead? Is that why he didn’t protect you, or your mother? Was it the Rogues?”
“No,” I shook my head. “No, he’s not dead.”
“Then where is he?” Ethan asked.
I ducked my head and curled up. I didn’t want to tell him. But he needed all the information if he was going to find my mother.
“He’s Arthur,” I said.
You're Alpha Arthur's daughter?” Ethan yelped. “You're the Alpha Daughter?”
“No, Eva is. Her mother is the Luna, and Arthur's wife. I'm just his lover's bastard.”
Ethan shook his head. “You're older. You're objectively stronger, more powerful, and a healer. You should be the Alpha Daughter.” He frowned. “This woman, your mother. She's Arthur's fated mate?”
“Yeah. And I'm not stronger or more powerful than Eva. I used to be prettier, people told me, but we're basically identical so I don't know what that was all about.”
“Well, personality has a lot to do with it,” Ethan muttered. “I can't believe your father found his fated mate... and married someone else.”
“His mate was a human.”
“Yeah, so? If my fated mate was a sea slug I'd make it work.”
“I'm sure you'd make her the happiest sea slug in history.”
“Damn right I would,” Ethan said.