The Four Beta Brothers
Chapter 113

ETHAN

As I waited in the main lobby of the hospital, two warriors walked through the front entrance. People moved away as they came in, but I stayed in place. The warriors parted, revealing a man around my age with dark skin and unnaturally light hair and a woman nearly as tall as him, even without high heels. Her skin was a lighter shade than his, but her hair was nearly as white, just with a slight purple shimmer instead.

"Winston, you made it," I said, holding out my hand to him.

"Ethan, you know I'm a hugger." Winston pushed past my hand and enveloped me in a bear hug. Even with his future status as alpha, Winston continued to be one of the friendliest people I knew.

When Winston and I parted, it felt like old times. Other than my brothers, he was one of the only other people my age who understood the kind of hardships I grew up with. In some ways, he understood them better than my brothers. He had the same weight on his shoulders as me. One day we would both be responsible for the fate of all werewolves in this territory.

Even with all of that responsibility weighing his shoulders down, he smiled like there was nothing that could bring him down.

I looked at the woman next to him. I had never seen her before, but she looked like a match made by the Goddess herself. "This must be Kalli, your mate."

Kalli stepped forward and wrapped me in a hug almost as big as Winston's. "It's wonderful to finally meet you. Winston has told me so much about you."

"Winston hasn't really told me much about you," I said. I had heard about Winston finding his mate on his inauguration tour, but I didn't know anything about her other than her name.

Kalli lightly punched Winston in the arm. "You haven't told him about me?"

"To be fair, we haven't really spoken since I came to CUW," I said, trying to come to Winston's defense.

He gave me a grateful smile and then said, "And in my defense, he hasn't told me anything about this mate of his. I didn't even know he had a mate until I stepped off the plane today."

Kalli turned to me with raised eyebrows. "This kind of lack of communication is not going to fly when you two are the beta and alpha. Your lives will be even more intertwined than they are now. You'll have to get used to sharing details like that with each other." Kalli felt like a mother scolding a child, and even though I hardly knew her, I already knew she was going to make a wonderful luna one day.

"So when do I get to meet this mate of yours?" Kalli asked. She hooked her arm around Winston's again, making them look picturesque even in the middle of a hospital.

"She's currently recovering from surgery, so it's probably better she doesn't have any guests right now," I said. My chest ached not being near her when she was injured. I knew my brothers were watching over her, which lessened the ache a little, but it didn't stop me from wanting to be close to her.

"My father told me she jumped in front of a gun to save your life," Winston said, the mood completely shifting. "She must be one incredible mate you have.

"I would jump in front of a bullet for you, Winnie," Kalli said.

"I would jump in front of a bullet for you, Winnie," Kalli said.

Winston laughed, but there was a layer of stress at the bottom of it. "I know you would, but promise me you won't. I would rather get shot than know you were hurt."

"I won't promise you such a thing, because I feel the same way." Kalli tightened her grip on Winston's arm. As she looked at him, her love brightened her aura, making her practically glow. There was no doubt that Winston was the one for her, and I was happy for my old friend. He deserved someone good by his side when he took over the alpha role.

"I hate to get down to business, but I'd like to get back to Juniper as soon as possible. What do you need from me?" I asked.

"I can't just come to check up on you and your mate," Winston asked.

I saw right through his facade. "Not when my father was planning on killing your father and the rest of your family."

Winston's smile dropped. "Let's find a more private place to discuss everything."

***

We sat in a conference room that the hospital graciously provided for us. It felt like I was in an interrogation room with all of the details he was asking me, but I didn't waver for a moment. I understood why I was being asked all of these questions. When your father turned out to be a terrorist, it only made sense to look to the rest of his family for the same betrayal.

Winston leaned back in his chair and took a deep breath. "Well, I'm glad that's over. Wanna grab lunch?"

I furrowed my eyebrows, completely confused by his shift in mood. "What?"

Winston burst out laughing. "You should see the look on your face. You're much too serious. You need to relax more."

"Winnie, be nice. Ethan is going through a lot right now," Kalli scolded. When we went into the conference room, I had expected Winston to send Kalli away, since that's what our fathers had done to our mothers when we were younger. Winston had explained that he wanted to be a different kind of alpha, one that included his luna in all matters.

"I couldn't waste the opportunity to mess with him," Winston said, still half-laughing. "Ethan, I know you're not a traitor like your father. You have never been anything like him. Besides, you took out the Clandestines' headquarters single-handedly, and your brothers sent proof of your father's betrayal to incriminate your father. It was obvious that you were never a part of this. I just had to ask you these questions as part of my duty as future alpha. I can't show you any favoritism. We don't need anyone questioning your authority when you become my official beta in two weeks."

Two weeks. I was running out of time.

"You couldn't have started with that?" I asked, not finding this amusing.

"And miss this chance to see grumpy Ethan? Nah." Winston chuckled again, and Kalli lightly smacked his arm, making him stop immediately. "Anyway, we should get going. I have a long list of things to do to help settle this mess. My father is having me take point, since in two weeks, all of this will be my responsibility."

Winston stood up, and I followed his lead. "If you need me to do anything at all, don't hesitate to ask," I said.

Winston stood up, and I followed his lead. "If you need me to do anything at all, don't hesitate to ask," I said.

"You've done more than your fair share. Take the next few days to recover with your mate," Winston said. "You've earned it."

I nodded, grateful for the break, but I was still anxious knowing my father was still out there. "There hasn't been any word on Nathan's whereabouts yet, hasn't there?"

Winston's face tightened, and all of the humor was gone. "Officially, I can't say. Unofficially, no. We haven't found any traces of Nathan or your father. It's like they disappeared in a puff of smoke."

"I think they've been working with a sorcerer who can erase their trails," I said, keeping my face neutral, so I didn't show disappointment about the lack of news.

"That makes sense. Normally, we have some sort of lead to go off when a werewolf goes AWOL," Winston said. "But don't worry. We won't stop until we find your father and bring your brother back. You have my word on that."

"We are also leaving warriors stationed near Juniper's room, so Beta Burrell-the former Beta Burrell-won't be able to get to her if he is stupid enough to try," Kalli stated. I didn't know anything about her history, but she sounded like she had grown up with practiced authority.

"Please tell me if you learn anything at all about Nathan," I said.

Winston clasped my shoulder and squeezed. "Of course. You will know the moment I know anything. I hope your mate recovers quickly, and I look forward to meeting her."

"Me too!" Kalli agreed. "It'll be nice to have another woman around. Boys are no fun to gossip to."

"It was nice seeing you again, Winston," I said as I walked them out of the hospital. "And it was a pleasure meeting you, Kalli. Keep him in line, will you?"

Kalli leaned in and kissed Winston on the cheek. "Of course."

Winston paused at the door. "Oh, Ethan. You know I'll need you back at the pack house in Vinly City after the induction ceremony, right?"

"I know," I said. It was a day I had dreaded for a while, knowing I would have to leave Juniper behind. It felt even worse now that I had marked her. Being in the same building but in a different room made my body ache for her company. I couldn't imagine how difficult it would be once we were in different cities, but I couldn't ask her to drop out of school when she was so close to finishing.

Then there was the matter of actually telling Juniper all of this. She knew I was going to become the official beta soon, but we didn't have a chance to go into detail about what that actually meant. That would have to wait until Juniper was awake, but I knew it couldn't wait for much longer. She was my mate, which meant her life would be significantly affected once I became the beta. I just hoped she meant it when she said she wanted to be with me, no matter what kind of struggles being with me came with.