Chapter 71

Aria’s POV

I only needed a little while to pull myself back together, ready to face the rest of the day and the duties that come with it.

Near the end of my shift as Dr. A, the hospital director himself, Mr. Clive, came to my office. As soon as Piper saw him, she jumped to her feet with nervousness. Seeing her reaction, I walked out of my private office to greet our guest before Piper could have a panic attack.

The hospital director signed all of our paychecks. He was vitally important in the hospital, keeping everything working as it should.

Spotting me, he immediately walked around reception and came toward me. “Dr. A! There you are. I believe we have some issues to talk about.”

At first I was thinking me might mean everything that happened with Caleb. I waved him into my office so that we could speak privately. Yet, the minute I sat at my desk with him taking one of the chairs, he started talking, surprising me.

“I’ve heard that you created a cure for infertility in werewolves, Dr. A. I would request that you provide this formula for others to give their patients in the hospital.”

With the apprehensive way he was looking at me, despite the warm tone to his words, I suspected me might think I would want to withhold the formula, just as I had with the medicine that extended life.

Yet, his worry was unnecessary. These were two very different cases.

The medicine that extended life could be used for corruption. I didn’t trust anyone not to sell the formula to the highest bidder and make it exclusive. The same could happen, I supposed, with this new formula, but as it was only viable in very specific cases, this seemed unlikely.

“I will absolutely share what I’ve made. I only want to help people,” I said, “But I must warn you that this medicine only helps in the case where the werewolf female has become infertile due to frequent unfaithfulness to her bonded mate.”

Mr. Clive’s eyebrows went high on his head. “Oh? Is that so?”

I nodded. “Perhaps, with the right amount of research and experimentation, that narrow focus could be expanded to include other kinds of infertility. But the formula, as it is now, will only help cure that very specific case.”

“I see.”

“Thank you for sharing that with me,” Mr. Clive said. “That is a very specific case that will likely only cure a narrow margin of cases. I doubt many women will want to own up to this circumstance, even if it is the case.”

“A Healer with the right training should be able to properly identify the cause,” I said. “I will submit my notes along with the formula.”

“Perfect,” Mr. Clive said, though he still seemed troubled. “Thank you for your time, Dr. A.”

“Of course,” I saw Mr. Clive to the door. Once he was gone, I returned to my desk and focused my thoughts back onto planning my escape from the pack.

I didn’t really think of Mr. Clive or our conversation again, other than to make a note for myself, reminding myself to submit the formula the next day.

When I arrived home, Cathy was already there, parked with a tv dinner on top of a tray table by the couch, watching television.

“There’s another dinner in the fridge,” Cathy said. “Pop it in the microwave and come quick. They teased there was going to be a story about Sheila on the news.”

“I don’t want to hear about Sheila,” I grumbled, thinking the story was likely about Lucian and Sheila already trying for kids. What else could it be?

“Yeah, but maybe they’ll talk about you,” Cathy said. “And your big breakthrough for infertility.”

“I still don’t want to hear it,” I said. Though still, I walked into the kitchen, put the tv dinner in the microwave, then stepped into the doorway of the living room. Crossing my arms, I leaned against the doorway opening. I didn’t care what the news had to say, but I was curious…

“A medical breakthrough occurred today at the hospital, as Nightfall’s own Dr. A created a cure for infertility. Former Luna Sheila was the first to take the medicine,” the news anchor said. “However, it was later discovered that this infertility treatment is only effective for those women who have been unfaithful to their mates, seeking repeated companionship outside of their mating bond.”

My mouth dropped open. Cathy’s eyes went wide.

She looked at me. “Did you say something to someone?”

“I didn’t. Of course I didn’t.” As angry as I was with Sheila and Lucian, I wouldn’t betray her confidence like that.

Only… no. “It can’t be,” I whispered.

“What?” Cathy asked.

“Mr. Clive asked me to submit the new formula to the hospital so they could have access to treat other patients,” I said. “I didn’t mention Sheila, but I had to be honest about who the formula could actually treat.”

“But Mr. Clive is the hospital director?” Cathy said. “He wouldn’t betray his oath to do no harm…”

I didn’t want to believe it either. Revealing a patient’s medical situation to the public was a huge violation.

“With this new information revealed, the public has started turning on Sheila,” the anchor continued. “Our viewers will likely remember that Sheila had recently gained unpopularity by publically disparaging war hero Caleb’s Healer, Dr. A. The very same Dr. A who has now cured her infertility…”

The footage on the screen shifted away from the newsroom with the anchor sitting behind his desk to footage of outside of the Alpha headquarters building. Protestors with signs had begun to gather outside the front doors.

“Protestors are insisting that that Alpha King Lucian exiles Sheila for her continued disrespect to leaders of the community, such as Dr. A and Caleb,” the anchor continued. “We’ve heard that King Lucian himself is preparing a statement. Ah, yes. We have word that he is approaching the microphone.”

The footage shifted once more, this time leading the viewers inside of a building. It was the news conference room inside the Alpha headquarters. I’d only been there a few times, but I recognized it well enough.

Lucian, followed by his Beta, and a few others entered the room from a side door. Lucian walked right up to the podium.

“Thank you for assembling so quickly,” Lucian said.

Seeing him my heart jumped up into my throat. From the kitchen, the microwave dinged, my tv dinner ready. But I couldn’t think about food right now. I wasn’t hungry anymore.

Every nerve in my body, every fiber of my being, was waiting on edge to hear what Lucian had to say.

“With the weight of these accusations, I wanted to react quickly, to make my opinion on this issue very clear now, before things could continue to spiral out of control,” Lucian said.

“Aria,” Cathy said, looking at me. “Come and sit down.”

I didn’t move, too focused on Lucian and what he was saying.

What he would say.

“Aria,” Cathy said again, more urgently.

I ignored her.

On the screen, Lucian continued, “Sheila will not be exiled.”

My heart dropped. Lucian was defending her.

Again.