The Reluctant Alpha (West Coast Wolves #1) - Susi Hawke Page 0,71
changes here through the grapevine, and when he talked to Isabel about it, she urged him to stop here on the way. If we don't accept them, they'll head on out to Oklahoma."
I wasn't understanding his excitement, beyond growing our pack. "If we have housing, I say go for it. As pack beta, you have the authority to bring new pack members in if they meet with your approval. Do you want me to come meet them now and officially add them after they bend the knee?"
He'd been hovering near the door, but he finally came closer and sat down. "I've already approved them and invited them to dinner tonight for you to accept and add them to the pack. But I haven't told you the best part! Diego is a doctor. He's a general practitioner licensed to practice in this state, and there’s more!”
My hand automatically went back to Elisha's belly. "What's the best part?"
Rubbing his hands together, Jared looked downright gleeful. "Diego ran his own clinic with Isabel as his nurse and office manager. Plus, he has all his equipment on the back of his truck. He's prepared to set up a clinic without any delays. As soon as tomorrow, we could have our own doctor. Isaac isn't going to be thrilled—he thinks the only healer necessary is an epsilon. But I disagree. Our human sides often need human medicine."
I snorted at the mention of Isaac. "Do you know I haven't met him yet? He took off the day I got here on his spirit quest or whatever you said it was. He might not even be coming back. And we have a baby on the way, so it goes without saying—I'm in favor of having a doctor around."
"Close, it's a moon quest." No matter what his personal thoughts might have been on the man himself, Jared radiated complete respect while talking about Isaac's spirituality. "You'll meet him after the new moon. Once a year, Isaac goes deep into the desert. I don't know what all he does out there, but he always comes back with predictions for the pack. He does something similar at winter solstice, but he stays close."
"As fascinating as the idea is—and I can't wait to meet the man—I'm still in favor of Dr. Diego. Now, unless we have more pack business to cover, I suggest we head to the dining room. My stomach says it's lunchtime."
At lunch, I got to meet Brenda, and I was impressed by how well she was already connecting with Noah. My young mate had no reason to second-guess himself. He'd chosen well for our nanny, even if she was overqualified. She and Elisha talked about educational ideas she had for both boys to keep their brains engaged until school started, as well as fun activities too. We’d probably need someone else for the baby, but it was good to know our older boys would be in capable hands.
The rest of the afternoon was spent in yet another budget meeting. Finally, I got to break away to check in with the newly appointed Delta leaders and watch them run the men through an obstacle course. Things were definitely looking up in this pack. It was early days yet, but I could already see a bright future.
After dinner, Elisha introduced me to Isabel and her family. Once each adult bent the knee and extended their wrist for my bite, I was thrilled to add them to our numbers. More impressive, they'd spent the afternoon getting moved into their new pack-assigned housing. Adding new members with specialized skills was always good, but discovering they were hard workers who wouldn't shy away from work was a bonus.
True to his word, Diego already had his clinic set up the following day. Right at the end of the street, the new clinic operated in an empty storefront, formerly a deli when I was growing up. Naturally, I made sure Elisha was the first patient after learning one of his pieces of equipment was an ultrasound machine.
His mind was on so many things, Elisha had grumbled about making room in his schedule for this visit. He wasn't being too obvious, but I could sense it through our bond. And the frequent glimpses at his phone to check the time. I didn't mind because I always thought this rarely viewed side of him was adorable. If he knew how cute I thought he was when he got grouchy, he probably wouldn’t be amused.