Surrogate for My Brother-in-law - Chapter 75: Chapter 75

Leo
Leo staggered out of the circle, and took his shirt back from Ethan. He thanked the council of alphas. They had been just and thorough in their judgment.
Alpha Titian patted him on the shoulder.
“That was a fine show of strength,” Titian said. “I wish you luck with your next challenge.”
“My next challenge?” Leo repeated.
He didn't want to fight anyone else that day. Maybe not tomorrow either. He'd much prefer to sleep off the effects of whatever Eva had dosed him with, and the sudden burst of healing from Tessa.
“Mm-hm,” Titian said. “Now you have to prove yourself to your fated mate.”
Leo paled. Fated mate? Did he mean?
Leo looked over at Tessa, who stood between her mother and Ethan, slumped against the other alpha's shoulder.
“Did you not realize?” Titian asked, visibly concerned. “Surely your wolf called out for her the moment you laid eyes upon her!”
Leo shook his head. “My wolf was injured, and barely spoke to me when we met. I thought Eva was my mate.”
Titian looked from Eva, to Tessa, and then at Leo. He raised one eyebrow.
Leo winced. Yes, looking back he realized he should have seen the signs. He should have noticed how Tessa's mere presence soothed his wolf. He should have listened to his instincts.
How had he mistaken gentle, kind Tessa for the haughty, bitter Eva? It was true that they were nearly identical in features, but their personalities couldn't be more different.
Perhaps he had been willfully ignorant. He didn't want to believe he was fooled. He'd built up a fantasy, that his wife was an entirely different person when they were alone. He'd wanted to believe that the woman she was in the daytime was all an act, and the night version was the real one.
And the “nighttime Eva” was a real person. She was Tessa.
And he'd thrown her out of her pack, and sent her into the arms of another alpha. How could he compete with Ethan for her heart after everything he had done to her?
He recalled all the times he was too harsh with her. How suspicious he'd been. How he'd punished her 'deceptions' with extra work, even though he could see she was living on the ragged edge of exhaustion.
He'd needed to be told to give her a damn day off by his best friend! Leo knew better. He did! He wouldn't treat any other wolf under his banner so shamefully. And yet he'd done all of that to his fated mate. To the mother of his child!
Could she ever forgive him? Forget that, would she ever be willing to so much as speak to him?
They really didn't have a choice, though. They had a child together. Somehow, they had to work that out. He would not, could never take Sable away from her. But he couldn't bring himself to let go of the pup, either. Sable was his daughter, the family he'd longed for for so many years.
“You look like someone hit you in the face with a brick,” Titian said with a chuckle. “Don't worry, we all feel that way, when we realize it's our mate we're looking at.”
“I messed up, though,” Leo admitted.
“Yeah, you did do that,” Titian agreed. “You're gonna have to work hard. I suggest you get to it.”
“Yes, Elder Alpha,” Leo said. “I thank you for your advice.”
“Eh, that's what old codgers like me are for. Dispensing wisdom you young pups never listen to 'til it's too late. Good luck.”
Ethan bowed to the elder and turned to go face the music. He had a lot of work to do, and he should start by apologizing properly.
Before he could reach Tessa, though, Alpha Drake and the archivist stopped him. He growled, and tried to pull out of the other alpha's grip. He didn't have time for them.
“I apologize, Alpha Leo,” the archivist said, “but your business here is not done.”
“What do you mean?” Leo demanded. “I won. It's over.”
“Not quite. There are decisions to make,” Alpha Drake said. “For one thing, you are the alpha of the nearest pack to them. It is your responsibility to see to their banishment.”
“Oh. Right, yes. I'll have my strongest guards escort them to the manor so they can get their things, and see them to the border.”
“You're going to let them keep their belongings?” Drake asked, visibly surprised.
“I'm not turning my former wife out into the street with the clothes on her back,” Leo said. “I'm not cruel.” He frowned, remembering how Tessa had sometimes flinched away from his touch. “I try not to be cruel,” he corrected himself.
The archivist shrugged. “That is your decision, certainly. There are, however, other matters to discuss.”
“Such as what?” Leo asked, impatient. Tessa had already started to leave!
Okay, she was probably only going to the nearby manor. Her mother had to be exhausted by all the drama, and she would want to take care of Sable. He could see her easily. He was still welcome in Ethan's manor.
But he'd have to ask permission to see her. It galled him, to have to go to another alpha and ask to see his fated mate, like a half grown whelp petitioning to court a female.
“Alpha Arthur's holdings are, by law, now yours,” the archivist informed him.
“I've been acting alpha for both packs for a few months now,” Leo said. “I figured I'd just continue on with that.”
“Well, yes, but Arthur's holdings are further reaching, and need to be managed,” Drake said.
“What?”
“He owns several hospitals, sanatoriums, and a fair few nursing homes,” the chief archivist said. “I'll have the deeds brought to you. Also, you are no longer 'acting' as alpha, you are alpha. You need to address your new packs, and see to blending them into one. And Arthur's vassal packs will want to know your intentions, as well.”
Leo blinked. Vassals? They weren't human kings, with lesser lords bending the knee. Every pack stood on their own, except when a greater threat called them to join forces.
“I'll meet with them tomorrow,” Leo promised. “And I'll look over the hospital situation, too. I'll have Ethan help me, he's experienced in these things.”
“That is a fine idea, Alpha Leo,” the archivist said. “But you really should not delay addressing your pack. They will be confused and frightened, seeing their Alpha dragged back in chains and tossed out on his tail.”
Oh, right. Suddenly the weight of everything that had happened landed on Leo's shoulders. He was Alpha. And he was alone with the burden. There was no experienced father-in-law alpha to guide him. He had not mate to soothe him at the end of the day.
He probably still had Ethan to go to for friendly advice, if he wasn't still rightfully angry over how Leo had treated Tessa. But he'd have to tread carefully with the other alpha. Ethan was his friend, but Ethan had made it clear he wanted Tessa for his mate. And he had a stable home to offer her, and months of friendship to build from.
“I'll go talk to the pack,” Leo declared, “but first I have to speak to Tessa.”
“Why do you want to speak to the half-blood?” Alpha Drake asked. “Sure, her testimony was compelling, but she's that other alpha's problem now.”
“She's my fated mate,” Leo growled, “and you will not speak of her so disrespectfully ever again.”