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Alan took the cue and snorted. “I went for takeout from that place you recommended. The Middle Eastern place?”

“That was so—it’s legit,” I groaned. “We have good Middle Eastern food in London and I was happy to find it here.”

“It’s new and getting mixed reviews because people aren’t used to that type of cuisine,” he said with a sigh but then waved off the thought.

“But I was in scrubs because it was after—whatever. I hadn’t changed and was exhausted.

Just wanted good food. Had a witch stop me and ask to help her son with his magic. ”

“‘You’re a doctor, aren’t you?’” Sean mocked.

“Yeah, we get it all of the time and I’m not even picking on magics.

I have all species ask me—my brother-in-law is the worst. He’s always calling me to diagnose people over the phone or sending me pictures of moles.

Even if I was a dermatologist—which I’m not—I’m not giving a diagnosis like that! ”

“That’s asking for a lawsuit,” I drawled.

“Yeah, try being the youngest child of the Alpha and the one the pack likes to bully the most. They’d have these bullshit medical ‘concerns’ that I knew they were making up and bring them up to me at pack gatherings.

I’d tell them I wasn’t that type of doctor or they had to come in for a full workup but—”

“Is that why I kept hearing you were a shite doctor and now acting like some big shot elitist?” my cousin asked, frowning. “They were trying to have you diagnose them on runs?”

I nodded, not realizing it had reached his ears.

“Oh yeah, and most of it was just hassling me. ‘My stomach hurts after I eat something . What do I do?’ Not eat that wasn’t a good enough answer.

It wasn’t like they were eating a burger and got sick.

They were saying they ate mushrooms in the woods in wolf form.

Except they were lying and knew I wouldn’t call them on it. ”

I swallowed what else I might have said when Da looked at me like he’d never seen me before.

“I’m sorry you were treated that way, Hugo,” he said quietly. “I had no idea. I knew too many ran to you with every little thing, but—you’ve even said it that sometimes knowing when it’s serious enough to get checked out is what people struggle with.”

I blinked at him for several moments. “You thought it was only that sort of thing.”

“I did. I’m sorry.”

That healed something inside of me. “I tried to bring it to you once.”

“I’m listening now, Son. Next wanker that tries that shite, bring them to me and let me witness the diagnosis. I’d heard you were acting high and mighty but—you would never. I knew it was idle gossip, but I didn’t know they were stacking the deck against you.”

“Well, now you both know the truth,” my uncle said and clapped my da on the shoulder. “Speaking of decks, I’m ready to win some money off you Yanks. Fifty buy-in? We brought dollars so we didn’t have to convert from Euros.”

I nodded and was glad when Alan said he’d handle all of that as long as someone made him a large plate of the chicken wings he was smelling.

I realized I had more to say, but not everyone needed to hear it, so I went up to my da, holding up a hand to him when he opened his mouth.

“You’re dealing with a lot still, so I just want to clear the air on this.

” I waited until he nodded. “I’ve gone with members of the pack to doctor appointments when I couldn’t help them and they were nervous to see someone unknown, Da. ”

He reached over and squeezed my shoulder.

“Of all my kids, I never worry about you being egotistical, Hugo. Never. I’ve seen how you help the smallest nipper and always keep respect for the elders of the pack.

It was always the gossips and—I ignored it because I knew it wasn’t true. I never, not once doubted you on that.”

That sounded like trying to open a can of worms on what he had doubted me on, but I understood what he was saying. No one was perfect and we all listened at times.

He just didn’t on that.

I was glad and thanked him for making sure things got better for me because I didn’t always want to spend full or new moons with the Atlanta pack after what happened.

It had gotten better after Ellie and I had gone public, but some of the pack gave me nasty looks and made comments that I preferred a bloodsucker over a quality wolf.

I hadn’t dumped the Alpha’s daughter for Ellie. I’d been with Ellie when the man had tried to force me into a mating.

I was the victim and so was his daughter. The last thing anyone should do was shit on Ellie about it all. But there were always jerks in any group that had to ruin things.

For the first thirty-minute card session, I actually sat at a table with my da, uncle, and cousin since they came.

Sean joined us and it was nice that he genuinely liked my da and uncle, them liking Sean as well.

My cousin and I kept sharing looks like we were watching old guys make friends, but honestly it was cute.

And the food was fucking fantastic. We had such an array that my wolf and I were very happy.

We got to talking about the heat and I couldn’t hold back how much I hated Southern weather after a few drinks.

“Yeah, there are many times I wish that ASH was built almost anywhere else,” Sean grumbled, rubbing the back of his neck. “But my animal loves the heat, and my mate and damn kids are all—their natural animals originate from Africa. There’s no such thing as too much sun to them.”

I hadn’t known he wasn’t the same shifter type as his mate or children. That had to be frustrating as a parent since he couldn’t always help them with the issues that would come up for them.

“Fair, but it’s gonna be grand when you don’t have snow or our never-ending winter rains,” my cousin chipped in. “We’ll be freezing our fannies off and my wolf won’t even fucking run outside like that sometimes and you’ll be walking around in t-shirt and shorts.”

“Your wolf is a bit too prissy sometimes,” my uncle drawled. He cleared his throat when my cousin and I both looked at him like he needed a smack. “Right, sorry, forgot about when you were a kid.”

I hurried to change the topic but gave Sean a look that I’d fill him in later. It wasn’t that juicy of gossip. My uncle hadn’t been as attentive as he should have been when my cousin was a pup and my cousin had gotten lost deep into the pack’s lands… And almost froze to death.

So yeah, I was sure he and his wolf had a ridiculous aversion to freezing weather even if it was decades later.

“Anytime you want to get away from the cold, come visit,” I told him. “You work remote. No reason you can’t work remotely for a week from my guest room.

“I’ll take you up on that,” he accepted with a smile. “Last year about did me in, so it would be nice to take breaks.”

We took a break and then shuffled up the tables so it wasn’t all cliques and possible drama.

The point was to make friends too and keep things easy.

The next session, I was with a couple of cops and two attendings that I didn’t know well but was glad I’d invited.

They weren’t drama and mostly wanted to talk shop with the changes my practice had made.

“Sorry, sorry,” one chuckled when he realized he’d monopolized the conversation. “It’s just difficult to picture what they want and that it’s for the best intentions. I don’t doubt Ms. Reed but…” He shook his head.

I gave a half shrug. “Change is difficult, and I’m sure there will be growing pains or speed bumps. I think it’s smart to get more information. This was more how my previous hospitals worked, so it’s not that shocking to me. At least this part.”

I offered for him to talk to my staff—especially my office manager—and to come see it for himself on Saturday. He graciously accepted that and we got back to playing. He didn’t see the type to overstep or harass my staff like a few others did. I thought it was the right step for him and would help.

Hopefully. I’d gotten annoyed having to smack a few attendings who had overstepped or demanded more answers than they should have. A few had wanted to flex seniority or their age on me, but all I did was let my wolf show off and they backed down.

One practically ran with his tail between his legs because I was so much more powerful of a shifter than he was.

My staff was probably still laughing at what had happened and would for years.

Overall it was fun, even with the crashers. A few asked if we could do it every other week, but I explained I had to pay then… Any polite answer that I didn’t want to do this too often. I finally settled on saying maybe more in the winter when it wasn’t nice out.

Yeah, right. In Georgia?

From what I’d heard, the winter nights then were like most spring nights in other areas. Ellie said she didn’t ever have to turn her heat on, especially when she was the top floor and so many were below her.

Made sense.

She came in towards the end and couldn’t hide her surprise, which I was feeling too at seeing her. She was going to help Renee and I hadn’t expected her to drop by.

Ellie found Alan at a table and burst out laughing. “How many extra crashers did you have?”

“A fair few,” I answered honestly but shrugged.

She lifted a large pink box she was holding. “Well, we went for cream puffs at this new place and I got extra for your poker since all of your teeth are sweet.”

“Well done, Ellie,” Alan said as he stood.

“No crashers,” she quipped. “I only got enough for how many I knew were invited. Be a proper gentleman and RSVP next time for engagements you were invited to .”

“Oh, he’s pushing me to have it two times a month,” I drawled.

Ellie gave Alan a look that would scare most sane men. “This is why you weren’t offered a unit in the building when I did Sean. You’re too much trouble. Twice a month? Come up with something else you host and make your own damn friends.”

Everyone was quiet for several beats and then I burst out laughing. Of course she said that.

Of course she did.

Damn, I was so in love with this woman.