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Ha-joon

I had wanted to join All Supes Hospital from the start of my career.

It was the ultimate hospital and represented the morality that I wanted to see in the world.

It took all patients—vampire, witch/warlock, and shifter—without prejudice.

They had doctors of all species as well.

They took all insurances. They were at the forefront of medicine.

They did everything.

Well, except one thing… Donations.

Yeah, the for-profit hospital didn’t take donations. There was no outside influence on the hospital from donors to keep it going. Grateful patients or family members could donate anonymously to one fund that fed the staff during overtime shifts because of emergencies or traumas.

That was it.

And they paid their staff and doctors some of the best salaries in our world. It was like the medical mecca for our world.

The absolute kicker? It was our oldest hospital. It was the first real supe hospital—especially any joint species one.

When humans found out about us over a hundred years ago—before I was even born—they were less than thrilled about our existence.

I couldn’t personally speak on that, but I trusted my parents and family.

The stories I heard were fair and they were understanding that some of the humans were genuinely reacting out of fear.

And that tended to make people behave badly.

But they had been living in the UK at the time where my father was born and he said over and over again that he’d been so disappointed in his countrymen and women.

That their greed had led to their deaths and eventual banishment.

That their anger to find out they weren’t the best or most powerful led to their ruin.

Humans all over the world tried to immediately wipe out supes, which was stupid because all they’d had were legends and myths.

How they really found out was a mystery, and over a century later no one was going to have the true answer.

There wasn’t the internet or trustworthy communication back then.

But wherever it started, it played out the same pretty much everywhere. It started as a rumor and finger-pointing. Then a mob formed with theories and normally targeting the wrong people.

When they did target the right people, the supes stepped in and handled the situation… Which very blatantly proved we were real and then true chaos started. From there, the dominoes fell.

The result? A lot less humans in the world.

Like a lot .

Yes, we lost people too, but the human population was decimated after picking a fight with us. Whole family trees gone in a night because they thought they were picking on prey only to find out they weren’t the predator.

We were taught somewhere between ten and fifteen percent of humans survived, and they were all relocated to Africa.

That was the continent with the lowest percentage of supes, so we would be inconvenienced less.

It made sense since vamps had an aversion to sun exposure and witches and warlocks were almost as physically fragile as humans.

And the rest of the world was ours.

Was there always peace and equality? No, not even close, but from what my family and friends who were alive before the humans found out said, things were worlds better.

Well, for us. Humans weren’t happy on their one continent and with their limitations. Especially since all of the ones alive before it all happened died off.

But while all of the chaos was unfolding, the founder of All Supes Hospital opened a small location in the middle of the racist, segregated area of the US. The South even where humans hated each other most days back then.

And they did it for supes. It was a beacon of hope of a brighter future, even to my parents who were dealing with problems in England. All around the world. The owner had inspired a lot of people and was a hero who was credited with a lot.

Even if no one knew who they were. That in itself was amazing. Most would want the credit or fame—the recognition for their hard work.

Not the founder of ASH. No, they wanted the work to simply continue.

And they’d done it. The hospital was a monster … But in a good way. It was the largest hospital in the world with its own damn airport. It practically became Atlanta, and most of the city around it was where the medical staff, researchers, and employees all lived. It was astounding.

Truly. I was always impressed with it and the founder.

Which was why I was always so damn upset when I was denied a chance to be a part of it over and over again. My whole career I’d tried to get a position there.

And finally, I had my chance. I felt horrible for the way it was coming about. I didn’t like the board of directors going behind the back of the Chief Administrative Officer—and I didn’t like most of the board—but I would take whatever chance I could to be a part of my dream.

“Just let us do the talking and handle Ellie Reed,” the “leader” of the board, Joel Warren, told me with a smile…

And something dark I didn’t like in his eyes.

“She’s a paper pusher who doesn’t know her place.

You’re exactly what our hospital needs and the future we want to bring.

She’ll get in line and see that. Either way, let us handle it all. ”

“I appreciate that, but I think it best I smooth things over instead of forcing her,” I told him, playing the game.

I pushed a bit more when the other board members flinched like they were shocked their new toy would talk back.

“You get more with honey than vinegar after all, and you’re not the only hospital recruiting me.

She’s smart enough to see I’m an asset.”

And not their puppet. Hopefully, they understood that. I knew what they wanted from me, but they could fucking shove their shit.

Idiots. They really thought they could lead me around by the nose and use me to pull the rug out from under the woman who made this whole huge machine work?

Seriously… Fucking idiots.

Greedy fucking idiots.

The facilities were as amazing as I’d dreamed they’d be.

Even the little bit the board took me around to see to impress me—it impressed me.

They’d done none of it but bragged like it was all because of them and their accomplishments.

Honestly, that was the only disgusting part, and if I thought they had any real power at the hospital, I might have walked.

But everyone knew the truth.

Correction—anyone with a brain knew the truth and who really controlled the hospital.

We arrived at the shifter ward of the hospital which was big enough to be its own hospital honestly. It was six different buildings, and one day I hoped to be in charge of it all. That was my ultimate goal and everything I’d been working for in my career.

A beautiful woman was talking with several other people and my pulse picked up at seeing her. Normally, I appreciated a beautiful woman just like any other straight man, but this was a bit much of a reaction for me.

I realized part of it was my wolf. Something about this woman interested my wolf. Not a warning, but he was curious in a way that let me know something was off about her.

She glanced in our direction and deep golden eyes met mine that startled me they were so brilliant.

They complimented her light brown hair that had several different shades from what I could see.

She had it pulled back in a professional style with a clip, but the strands around her face showed the tones and highlights.

They were very flattering to her face shape and complexion. She was beautiful. Maybe five-eight with a curvy, lush body. I locked in on her plump lips but worried when she was frowning.

No, please don’t let this be her. I cannot lust this much after the one woman I need to win over. That would be a nightmare.

“Oh, Ellie, good, you’re here,” Joel called over to the group.

And the woman I’d been checking out was the one who responded.

Fuck.

She locked gazes with him and hers was less than thrilled.

“Mr. Warren, you’re too old to be this childish.

We’re not friends, and you’re setting a bad example to the staff yet again.

Please remain professional and follow the rules of the hospital.

The board members should always be the example others follow not the ones I have to worry about constantly breaking the rules. ”

Wow. Just… Wow . That was a lot to say quickly, and clearly her words had impact because the man had steam about coming out of his ears.

Something a few of the other board members enjoyed even as they followed Warren around like pack to an Alpha.

Leroy Gordon took that moment to step in and flaunt his perceived authority now that we had a large audience. “We were just showing Dr. Clark around. We notified you about it and his coming aboard. There shouldn’t be any problems given—”

She simply chuckled and made it clear she was looking down at him—all of them even.

“I appreciate the board taking the time to recruit possible applicants for open positions and take that off my plate when I’m busy running the entire hospital.

I never dreamed the board could be so useful and put such time into helping the hospital this way.

“It was a lovely change and surprise.” She didn’t give them time to react to those insults before focusing on me.

“Though I apologize if the board promised you anything given they don’t have any authorization to hire or make official offers.

I have the sole authority to hire or fire any personnel. If anything was put into writing—”

“Nothing official, Ms. Reed,” I lied. “And I apologize this happened so fast to blindside you. It was my schedule and excitement to possibly join the mecca of medicine in our world.”