Chapter 49

Aria’s POV

“My life has been wonderful enough,” Caleb continued. “I was honored to give everything for the security and fortune of my pack, but I am an old man. I’m done fighting now. This body is giving up on me and I want to listen to and respect what it’s saying.”

“I understand,” I told him, and he offered me a small, warm smile.

“I don’t,” Montgomery said. Coming closer, he took his father’s hand. “Dad –”

“Montgomery, it is past time I go to the embrace of the goddess,” Caleb told his son. “I’d like to see your mother again.”

Tears started to well in Montgomery’s eyes. I had thought he only wanted to extend his father’s life for his own financial gain. Looking at him now, he seemed like a small child, frightened and unsure.

“It’s going to be okay,” Caleb said. “This is what I want.”

Montgomery looked up at me then, and our eyes met. Gone was the hatred and distrust within him as he looked at me. Instead, he almost seemed grateful. He spoke, still looking at me, though the words were surely intended for his father.

“I’m glad we didn’t make the choice for you.”

The relief I found in those words nearly walked the wind out of me. I’d thought Caleb’s family might always resent me for refusing them, and I’d been ready to deal with the weight of that for the rest of my life. The patient’s needs always came before my own comfort.

To suddenly discover that I didn’t need to carry that weight anymore, I felt like I could breathe again, fully for the first time in a long while.

Montgomery had given me a gift by not holding this grudge, and I finally totally believed that I did the right thing.

“We’ll leave you with your family now,” Silas said to Caleb and Montgomery, taking charge of the situation while everyone else, including me, was caught up in the moment. This spoke to his experience as a Healer. He himself had probably faced situations like this before.

Following Silas’s lead, everyone but Caleb’s family stayed behind in the room while the rest of us filed out into the hallway.

In the hallway, Lucian and Silas stayed on either side of me, while the other Healers lined up along the opposite wall. These Healers had caused a lot of trouble here today, and I could tell from the tension in their bodies that both Silas and Lucian were furious about it, even as both men kept their expressions carefully cool, devoid of emotion.

“Which one of you was it who called the World Healer Association?” Silas asked. “I spoke with one of you on the phone.”

The Healers glanced at each other, but none of them spoke up.

“I have a wonderful memory, gentlemen,” Silas continued. “If none of you will step forward, I will request that you each speak in turn until I recognize the correct voice.”

Some of the Healers paled. A few looked a bit wild with fear.

“I will make sure Silas’s requests are fulfilled,” Lucian added. “It’s better to take blame now, before I get even angrier.”

For a brief moment, Lucian allowed his fury to show on his face, lowering his brow and twisting his lips downward.

“Surely you cannot think you will get away with this. If I cannot punish one of you, I will punish all of you,” Lucian continued. “I’ve already heard many of your interviews on the news. Individually, you are each responsible for rallying this mob and spurning it toward this hospital and Dr. A. It was only by the grace of the gods that no one was injured here today.”

“I thought we were doing the right thing,” said the youngest of the old Healers, a man in his fifties. “I wanted to protect Caleb.”

“That defense will be considered,” Lucian said, glaring.

“That’s not the one I spoke with,” Silas said.

“Tell them, Carl,” the younger Healer said. “Tell them I was only going along with it.”

“Shut up, you,” Carl snapped, giving the younger Healer a harsh shove. The man skidded sideways, pushing into some of the other Healers beside him. One of them fell down.

“You,” Silas said, pointing straight at Carl. “Say that again.”

Carl straightened. He swallowed hard, but he didn’t say a word.

“Speak,” Lucian commanded, forcing some of his Alpha tone into his voice.

“We were all mostly concerned about Caleb’s well-being,” Carl explained. “That was why we did what we did.”

Silas hummed. “I imagine the financial gain you would personally accumulate from receiving access to Dr. A’s medicine was not a drive for you at all.”

Carl kept his mouth closed again.

“Answer him,” Lucian snapped sharply.

“That was a consideration as well,” Carl said, fumbling, seemingly caught off guard by Lucian’s command. “But mostly it was to protect Caleb.”

“That’s the one who called me,” Silas said. “He told me blatant lies about Dr. A mistreating her patients.”

“It wasn’t a lie,” Carl insisted. “Look at how she’s been mistreating Sheila –”

“She is not mistreating Sheila,” Lucian said immediately, cutting him off.

“Gentlemen, please,” I said, reclaiming the attention of them all. While I was pleased to see Silas and Lucian taking the false claims seriously, I was also exhausted from the day’s events and what we had all just witnessed. “I need a few peaceful moments of calm.”

Lucian, looking at me, clenched his jaw. “Forgive me, Dr. A. I will see these men punished at a later time. However, first, I insist that they apologize personally to you for besmirching your name and attempting to have you removed from your rightfully earned spot at this hospital.”

Lucian glared at the Healers. “Apologize. Now.”

Many of the Healers immediately started to bow, as if realizing this might be their last chance to save themselves. A few of them did seem genuinely apologetic though, and I hoped Lucian would have mercy on those few.

Carl stared at me with open defiance. “Sorry,” he grumbled, only when Lucian started to growl.

Lucian barked to his guards, “Get them out of here. I’ll deal with them later.”

“Not all of them are bad,” I said.

“I saw,” Lucian replied. “I’ll make the right choices in their punishments, you can trust me on that, Dr. A.”

Nodding, I watched as the men were being led away. Alone in the hallway with just Lucian and Silas now, I began to more fully relax.

Lucian turned to me. “Dr. A, in an addition to an apology for allowing things to progress this far against you, I would also like to extend to you my heartfelt thanks.”

“You don’t have to do that,” I said.

“I do,” he insisted. He bowed his head then, a show of ultimate respect from the Alpha King. “Thank you, Dr. A, for the service you performed here today in the name of one of our pack’s greatest heroes, Caleb. By waking him, you have ensured that his last wishes could be respected. Thank you.”

“I was only doing my duty,” I said. “My medical training and the oaths I’ve taken wouldn’t have let me do anything differently.”

“Those men took the same oaths,” Lucian said. “But they did not hold to them as you did. You are a valued member of our pack, and a good person besides.”

Lucian looked up at me, his blue eyes stark behind his dark lashes.

“The pack is in your debt,” he said.