Surrogate for My Brother-in-law - Chapter 73: Chapter 73

Dr. Lee was called to confirm my testimony. She answered their questions calmly and directly. She had a folder full of test results to corroborate her statements.
She presented the blood tests which proved that Sable was my offspring with Alpha Leo. There was no direct relation between Sable and Eva.
She then presented the blood work she’d taken when Ethan brought me in after Sable’s birth and my time in the cells. She reported on the cocktail of drugs Eva had injected me with in order to induce labor.
“These drugs forced Healer Tessa into early labor,” Dr. Lee concluded. “Because she is half human, the gestation time should have been far longer. Eva’s actions endangered both Tessa and the baby. It is only because Tessa is a ridiculously strong healer that either of them is still alive.”
“How do we know it was Eva who administered the drugs in question?” Alpha Drake asked.
“I found the syringe and the remaining drugs among Eva’s possessions,” Leo spoke up after waiting for the archivist to acknowledge him. “I turned both over to the archivists as evidence.”
“So Luna Eva’s actions directly endangered the life of a pup?” Alpha Jason asked.
Dr. Lee nodded. “Most definitely, yes.”
That brought up a lot of grumbling from the gathered alphas. There was no greater crime in a pack than harming the young. And Eva was undeniably guilty of doing just that.
“Thank you, Dr. Lee, you may step out of the circle,” the archivist said after the alphas quieted down.
Ethan was called up next. He was asked briefly about his friendship with Leo and what he’d seen of their marriage.
Then, he was asked about the hospitals he’d toured while searching for my mother. He described everything he’d seen.
Arthur was responsible for patient neglect, outright malpractice in many cases, and dangerous cost cutting measures that endangered both patients and staff.
He told the council what he’d learned from the weaker alphas. He told them how Arthur would threaten to remove their medical centers entirely if they didn’t vote his way on various inter-pack matters.
Alpha Drake was suspiciously quiet during that part of his testimony.
Ethan also described what he knew of my mother’s case, and Eva’s involvment. He read testimony from the nurses who had tried to care for her. He told them how she had been shuffled around from place to place specifically to keep me from learning where she was.
By the time Ethan was done, every single alpha present was glaring at Arthur.
Ethan was also asked about his relationship with me. I ducked my head and tried to ignore everyone’s eyes moving to me. Ethan explained that it was mostly a deception, that he’d been covering for me.
“Did you think that Alpha Leo would harm his maid?” Alpha Drake asked.
“No, no never,” Ethan insisted. “But Tessa was scared, and I could tell something was weird in that pack. Leo can be a little, um, dense sometimes. I was worried he’d be too strict and scare her more, sure. But I never thought he’d hurt her.”
“And none of your motivation for acting was because you wanted the healer as your own mate?” Alpha Titian asked.
“I mean, I’d be lying if I said that,” Ethan admitted with a grin. “I mean, look at her! Who wouldn’t want a woman like this on his arm?”
The alphas, including Titian, chuckled.
“So, yeah, some of it was just me covering for a fellow wolf who was having a tough time. I didn’t know the whole situation, and I didn’t need to.” Ethan shrugged. “I should’ve consulted my fellow alpha, sorry Leo, but I wanted solid evidence to present to him before saying, ‘hey, I think your new wife and in-laws are abusing their pack.’”
“Well, that’s fair I suppose,” the head archivist said, “and you also are not on trial here, so you may step down. You’ll have to work out your relationship with Tessa and your friendship with Leo on your own time.”
“Sure thing,” Ethan said, and bounced back to my side.
“Now that all the evidence and testimony have been presented,” the archivist said, but Leo interrupted him.
“That’s not everyone,” he protested. “Tessa’s mother, Melinda, should have a chance to speak on this matter.”
“She’s a human,” Alpha Drake said. “What business does she have speaking to a council of alphas?”
“She is the fated mate of an alpha, and she is an injured party in this matter,” Leo said. “She has every right to be heard.”
Titian spoke up. “I agree with Alpha Leo. Bring out this human, and let us hear her side of things.”
No one wanted to argue with the venerable alpha, so Dr. Lee and I hurried into the manor to find my mother. She was waiting in the library with Eli and Erma. She had Sable in her arms, rocking her gently.
I explained that the council wanted her to speak. At first she shook her head, but Dr. Lee took her hand.
“Melinda, you have to speak,” she said. “You were used as a weapon against your own daughter. You’re not a thing. You are a person with a voice and you deserve to be heard. This is your chance.”
Mom took a deep breath, looked at me, and nodded. She handed Sable to Erma, who was visibly delighted.
Mom stood in the witness circle and answered every question put to her. She described how she met Arthur and how he courted her as his fated mate. She told how she was treated as his lover by most of the wolves, even when she became pregnant with me.
She told the council how she was put aside in favor of Luna Annette, but not allowed to leave. Specifically, she was not allowed to leave with me. If she wanted to go home, she would have to give up her child.
So she raised me in the pack. She described how I was constantly bullied and cast aside in favor of Eva. She described living as ‘the other woman’ because Arthur wanted to have his wife and his fated mate.
She described facing down the Rogues alone, after hiding me to protect me. She had been afforded no guards to protect her. She fought hard, and disabled two of her attackers before they brought her down.
She described waking up in a strange place, with a young woman in place of the child I had been. She described her joy at finding out I had a child, and her horror at learning how Sable had been born.
She told about the abuses of power she witnessed in her time as Arthur’s lover, how the weaker wolves came to her, not the Luna, for comfort and guidance.
When she was done, the archivist asked if she had any final statements.
She turned to Arthur.
“I am done with you. You are not my mate or my lover. I fought for your pack. I fought, knowing I would fall, because I thought my daughter would be safe with you. I left you the most precious person in the world, and you treated her like trash.”
She glanced at Annette. “You should have been kinder. Not to me, I know why you hate me. But Tessa was a helpless child.”
Annette shrugged. Arthur opened his mouth, but Annette elbowed him harshly.
“That’s all,” Mom said. “Thank you for hearing me.”
After that, the council went into a smaller room to discuss everything they’d heard, and decide on a verdict.
The council of alphas did not deliberate for long. They retired to a smaller conference room for maybe ten minutes, fifteen at the most, and returned in a grim single file line. The most senior alpha presented their decision.
Titian said, “In the matter of the divorce of Alpha Leo and Luna Eva, we decide in favor of Alpha Leo. He is released from his vows. All properties, his own and those joint, belong to him. Luna Eva is stripped of her title, both as Luna and her prior title of Alpha Daughter. Wolf Eva is hereby banished, for the crimes described this day including willful deception of her mate and the brutal endangerment of a pup.
In the related matters of abuse of power and conspiracy, Alpha Arthur and Luna Annette have been found complicit. Alpha Arthur is hereby stripped of his title, as is Luna Annette. Your holdings will be stripped from you, and your fate decided at a later time. This is the judgment of the greater pack as a whole, via the will of the council of alphas.”
Arthur stood up. “I challenge this verdict. I claim right of combat.”