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“Oh, for the love of—did you just realize Carla flirts with you?” Renee hissed at me from the other side of Carla. She sighed when everyone around us looked at her that she of all people was supposed to word things better. “No, shut up. I get this. You’ve known her fordecadesand didn’t—”

“Yes, of course I knew she was bisexual,” I snapped back quietly. “I’m not amoron.”

“I’m also not subtle that I like both genders, but you probably missed that I lean heavily towards women,” Carla said with a chuckle. “And yes, I flirt with you because flustering you is my favorite form of stress relief. I know you’re not up for swinging my way and I’m not what you need.”

She leaned in and kissed my cheek to be a brat.

“I love you but yeah, everyone knows she flirts with you, Ellie,” Joyce said in barely a whisper.

Okay then.

Alan interjected before the lecture going over a few things we’d decided and protocol changes. He made it abundantly clear that Ha-joon was doing something great working so closely with ortho and our amazing occupational therapists, jumping in on surgeries to expand his knowledge,andthe way he saved dermatology’s bacon.

“What I’m saying is he is kicking a lot of your asses all over the place and asking nothing extra for it. I hope a lot of you see that and start checking your egos because we’re getting rid of the toxicity at ASH and bringing in more of this type of doctor.” He stared down the large room. “He has not tried to steal one ortho patient he’s been called in on.

“He’sconsulted. That was the dream having such a huge hospital with this massive campus. If people don’t start learning from his example—it’s on the agenda to do away with the bonus structures.” He nodded when people couldn’t hide their shock. “Most of the department heads want it gone. It was needed once, but now it’s led to darkness.

“Or there are a few proposals coming up that the bonuses will go to the staff and baby doctors of a practice. We’re not sure, but things will be changing. Already these changes with HR and legal are smacking people back into line. We’ve cut out some cancer. I promise you that we will eradicate it here, so make sure you’re not part of it.”

Ha-joon was less than thrilled to go on after that. He cleared his throat and frowned when Alan seemed amused. “Well, I appreciate the glowing praise for everyone to glare daggers at me while trying to deliver this important information.”

“Let’s see how well you can handle the pressure, pup,” Alan threw right back.

I wasn’t the only one surprised when Ha-joon lookedwaytoo amused and immediately relaxed. Huh?

He set down his materials and leaned on the podium, staring Alan down. “This is one of the least intimidating moments of my life, Dr. Carpenter. Being the youngest of one of the most prestigious Alpha families comes with constant intimidation. Full moon pack gatherings are terrifying compared to this or anything you can throw at me.”

“Nice to know and—” Alan started to reply good-naturedly.

“And while I pride myself on not being the typical Alpha who is overbearing or can’t work well with others, I’m still an Alpha wolf and world-renowned in my field. So the next time you call me ‘pup’ in a professional setting like this, I won’t just ask HR to have a word with you, but let my wolf grind the axe he now has with you, sir.”

“Shit, that’s hot,” someone whispered from behind us.

I could see Alan’s reaction because he was sitting up front off to the left with Sean and I was towards the back right with my group.

He took in a slow breath and then let it out, keeping Ha-joon’s gaze the whole time. “You’re right, Dr. Clark. I apologize. We lead by example here and that’s not the behavior I would want any other doctor to have in these lectures. I will apologize to your wolf because I don’t want any lingering animosity. I truly meant to break the ice and tease.”

It was Ha-joon’s turn to take that in a moment. “I appreciate the effort, and I’m one who knows that not everything lands well on a Monday morning. My wolf is fine, I promise. As I said, I’m not a typical Alpha. He normally just needs it acknowledged and moves on.”

“That’s impressive,” one of the other department heads praised.

Ha-joon gave a half shrug. “I’m not a normal wolf. There’s no way for me to hide that, and you’ll see now what that means for the health and safety of shifters.”

“Shit, even I’m turned on that he not only handled it so smoothly but got back on track,” Joyce breathed.

Yeah. Me too… Which is why I backed him up.

Well, because he handled the situation so well, not because it turned me on.

Me: If you give him shit again professionally because I’m involved with him, I will suck you dry and hang you from your toes in the front of my hospital as a warning, Alan. We’ve settled how he got in here and he’s an asset.

Me: I can’t stop you from giving him lectures outside of work or being a shit on the side like you’re my dad, but you fuck with him again professionally because of me and I will open the dam to do the same.

I was glad when I saw Alan glance at his phone and wince. Good.

Dipshit.

Loveable dipshit but still a dipshit.