Surrogate for My Brother-in-law - Chapter 64: Chapter 64

The day of my father's appointment finally arrived. I paced the confines of my office, too full of nervous energy to sit still.
Ethan’s plan was solid. Alpha Arthur was desperate to regain his strength. He was threatened by the younger, stronger alpha living under his roof.
I’d seen many wolves from Arthur’s pack look to Leo, not Arthur, for direction. Leo was simply a better leader.
So Arthur would do anything, agree to anything, to gain his influence back. He would never accept being cast aside.
Arthur arrived with a pair of hard eyed guards. Ethan greeted him formally, and guided him to the examination room where I waited. I could hear them speak through the door.
“I’m sorry, Alpha Arthur,” Ethan said, “but your guards must wait outside. Dr. Angel only meets clients one on one.”
“You let a mere healer set policy?” Arthur scoffed.
“She’s a rare talent,” Ethan said. “I have to make allowances for her eccentricities.”
Arthur huffed but told his guards to wait. I knew Dr. Lee would be along soon to distract them. I wasn’t about to ask how she planned to do that.
I was tense when Arthur entered the exam room. I had my mask in place and I’d added perfume just to be sure my scent was masked. I was still afraid he’d recognize me. I was his daughter, after all.
But he looked at me and I could see in his eyes that I was a stranger to him. I didn't stand up when he entered and I could tell that irritated him. He wasn't my alpha anymore, though, and he was there to petition for my help. I didn't owe him a single special courtesy.
“Alpha Arthur?” I asked like I had no idea who he might be.
“Yes. I suppose you're this miracle healer everyone's talking about?” he replied.
I shrugged. “I don't know about miracles, but I am a healer. Please, sit down so we can begin your consultation.”
“Fine,” Arthur huffed and sat down.
Behind him, Ethan closed and quietly locked the door. No one was going to interrupt us and no one was leaving this room until I had my answers. I don't think Arthur even noticed.
He glared over his shoulder at Ethan.
“Why are you still here?” he demanded. “I assumed this would be a private meeting.”
“You assumed incorrectly,” Ethan said. “Dr. Angel is a valuable member of my staff. I am not leaving her alone with a strange alpha.”
Arthur sneered but protocol wouldn't let him object. I was part of Ethan's pack. It was his duty to protect me however he saw fit. Arthur couldn't protest without challenging him.
“So. How does this work, exactly? I know you can make me stronger, but what do I have to do in return? I assume there's a price.”
I shook my head. “This isn't a service I sell,” I said. “I have some questions first. Then, based on your answers, I decide how to proceed, if we proceed at all.”
“If?” Arthur glared. “Young lady, I am an alpha! You cannot refuse me.”
“And you can't force me,” I said, tilting my chin up.
It felt so, so good to defy him to his face.
“Whatever, ask your damn questions,” Arthur said, “I'm a busy man.”
“All right,” I said. And then I dropped any idea of a normal medical consultation. I knew why he was there and what he wanted. There was no point in asking about any of that.
“Why do you think it's acceptable to buy up every medical facility in a pack's territory, and then threaten to shut them down if the pack's alpha doesn't vote your way?” I asked.
“What kind of question is that?” Arthur demanded.
“We've visited several of your hospitals and sanatoriums,” Ethan spoke up from behind Arthur. “We know about the cut corners and the patient neglect. We know you only hire and promote administrators who'll do what you say, and you fire anyone who speaks up for the well being of the patients.”
“There's nothing wrong with expecting loyalty from my employees!” Arthur protested.
“Loyalty is one thing,” I said, “but expecting doctors to violate their oaths is another thing entirely.”
“What doctors have I asked to do that?” Arthur asked, voice smug.
“The doctors at the Penrose Sanatorium,” Ethan said. “When you instructed them to allow your daughter and wife to use a patient as a hostage.”
“What? What are you talking about?” Arthur asked.
“Don't play dumb,” I said, “Melinda. Your true mate. You left her in that place and let your wife and daughter use her against her daughter. You instructed the staff to leave her without monitoring or proper care for days on end. And she's only one example.”
“I...” Arthur trailed off. “I have to be loyal to my wife.”
“The wife you chose over your true mate?” Ethan asked. “The wife your wolf rejected? You wonder why you're so weak, Arthur? It's because you've ignored and suppressed your wolf to the point that it no longer even tries to talk to you.”
“You have no idea what you're talking about,” Arthur snarled. “How could my true mate be a human? My wolf was insane for choosing her!”
“And yet you still made her your mistress,” I said. “You had a child with her, and kept her in your manor. You used her, and you let your pack abuse her and her child. You never once protected them. You never once stepped in.”
“It would have been favoritism!” Arthur insisted.
“Preventing bullying isn't favoritism,” Ethan said. “It's the absolute least you owe your wolves. It's the least you could have done for your own child!”
Arthur's eyes narrowed. “How do you know all this?”
“We have sources,” I said.
“You've been talking to that useless half-blood, haven't you?” he asked. “You know she was cast out of our pack for treachery.”
“She is much more trustworthy than an alpha who would discard his own true mate and child,” Ethan snarled.
“I'm Alpha!” Arthur declared. “My word is law, and I have the influence I do because I know what's important. I can't let some silly romantic notions of love and my wolf's useless infatuation get in the way of that.”
“So all you care about is power,” I said.
“I care about safeguarding my pack,” Arthur said. “I care about making sure we're not all overrun by Rogues and humans! You know if I hadn't influenced those votes you were going on about, some of those packs would have allowed human incursions right into our lands!”
“Human incursions?” Ethan asked.
“Yes! Humans wanted to build a hospital on our side of the border! Claimed it was to help the under-served regions and the humans living among the wolves. But I know the truth. I know humans can't be trusted. They have their uses, sure, and they can be amusing, for a time, but in the end it's best to send them back to their own kind.”
“Is that what you did with your true mate?” I asked. “Sent her to the humans?”
“Eh, I don't really care where Annette and Eva sent her.”
He was lying. I could smell it. My wolf growled deep in my mind.
“Whatever happened to that hospital the humans wanted built?” Ethan asked suddenly.
Arthur blinked. “The border hospital? I acquired it at a discount, and staffed it to tend to wolves, not humans or Rogues. Why?”
“Hm. Well, I think we've heard enough,” Ethan said.
How could we have heard enough? I trusted Ethan though, and nodded.
“So are you going to get on with it?” Arthur asked. “Do whatever it is you do to make wolves stronger?”
I stood up and crossed my arms. “I will never use my abilities to help scum like you become stronger. Go back to your territory.”
“How dare you!”
Arthur jumped up and reached out, like he intended to grab me and shake me. Ethan got his hands on him first, and physically threw him out of the office. Ethan's guards escorted Arthur and his guards off hospital grounds.
I looked over at Ethan when he returned.
“Now what do we do?” I asked.
“Now,” he said, “we go get your mother.”