58, The candidates

Adina’s POV

Coming home had been the right decision. Both Adina and Sean relaxed and, together with Colin, they settled back into their routine. Adina’s office had been renovated. They had decided that she and Sean would share one office.

Colin and Adina had first offered to get Sean on his own. But he had insisted that was unnecessary. Adina was never alone, so when she would be in her office, he would be with her. When Adina or Adina and Sean were to work with Colin, they would be in Colin’s office.

Adina had demanded that Sean pick out his own furniture for the office. She was slowly but surely making sure he stopped just accommodating her.

Colin and Sean both insisted that she wasn’t allowed to see their new bedroom. Adina had thought about sneaking a peek. But she decided she would be a good mate and wait. They were all living in Sean’s old apartment at the moment.

It wasn’t bad, but the bed was smaller than what they were used to. It had forced some interesting creative positions for sleeping.

Adina and Colin were heading over to the hospital. Sean had her training with the warriors. Colin and Adina would join Doc to interview the applicants for a new pack doctor. They had gotten five all together. All of them from other packs and all of them with some medical training.

Colin would sit in on the interviews, as the person they chose would transfer to their pack. Adina was sitting in because Doc wanted her input on the candidates. Doc stood outside the hospital, waiting for them as they came walking.

“Alpha, luna,” he smiled at them.

“Doc, are you ready?” Adina asked.

“I am, now we only need the candidates,” Doc said.

“The first one is driving up as we speak. The guard just linked me,” Colin said.

“Great, I was thinking we could start with a small tour of the facilities and then start the interview. I have set up a room for us,” Doc smiled. He seemed excited.

“Sounds like a good plan,” Adina nodded as a car came driving.

Out stepped a young woman and looked around.

“Hello, you must be Raya from White River,” Adina smiled. The woman’s eyes darted to her.

“Yes,” she said.

“Welcome. I’m James, the pack doctor. This is our alpha and luna. They will join us,” Doc said, walking over to the woman and shaking her hand. She inclined her head to the alpha pair.

They started the tour, Colin and Adina let Doc do most of the talking. Adina talked a little about the pack and the opportunities that were available.

They then sat down and held the interview. Raya seemed to be a good wolf. She was a trained paramedic and Adina’s impression was that she was calm and cheerful. As they followed her out, they promised they would be in touch within the next couple of days.

“She was nice,” Doc nodded.

“She was,” Colin agreed. “She would be a good member of the pack,” he added.

“Yeah,” Adina said.

“Don’t you like her, baby?” Colin asked.

“I did, but maybe not a perfect fit. But I could be wrong,” she said.

The next candidate was a young male. He was a registered nurse. Just like Raya, he was nice and polite and could be a good fit.

“You have found us too excellent candidates, luna. It will be tricky to choose between them,” Doc said.

“We haven’t met them all yet. And even if they all are as good, it’s a pleasant issue to have,” Adina smiled.

“That is true,” Doc nodded.

There was a loud noise and a bright yellow Cayman GT4 came driving up the road and parked in front of them. Adina looked at Colin and raised a brow. He chuckled at her. They didn’t need to mind the link for him to know what she was thinking.

Out of the car, a man stepped. Adina knew he was the same age as Sean, and he was the third son of the alpha couple in his pack. He was a licensed doctor and Adina had had high hopes he would be a good fit. But the car had her doubting.

“Doctor Alec from Open Plains,” the man greeted them, and gave Adina a flirtatious smile.

Colin put his arm around Adina, and she wondered if the wolf was suicidal to flirt with the alpha’s mate in front of the alpha. Luckily, Doc snapped out of his surprise and greeted the man.

They started the tour, and Alec continued to send Adina flirty smiles. Adina had a hard time concentrating on the tour as she was trying to calm Colin to where he wouldn’t kill the other male. When they sat down for the interview part, Adina hoped things would get better. The interview started out better and Adina relaxed.

“Why are you interested in the position?” Doc asked after a while.

“The pack that I’m from is a small pack and already has a pack doctor. There is no need for a second. I could get a job in a human hospital, but I would prefer to work with my kind. And it’s even more tempting when the pack has a luna as lovely as you,” Alec smiled at Adina.

Colin growled a warning. To Alec’s credit, he barely jumped. He sent Colin a small smile.

“It’s a compliment, you have a stunning mate,” he said.

“Thank you,” Adina said, before Colin could reply.

The interview continued the same way. Alec making half hidden compliments at Adina. When they were wrapping up, Adina was wondering if it wouldn’t just be easier to let Colin go at him. She was feeling uncomfortable in Alec’s presence.

When they stood up and shook hands, Alec leaned in a little closer to her.

“I see that you have two mates. I would be more than happy to take part in some fun,” Alec said.

Adina was so stunned that she didn’t reply at first. She just grabbed a hold of Colin’s arm as Doc ushered Alec out of the room. Adina and Colin followed them shortly. Colin wanted to make sure the male was off their pack land as soon as possible.

Alec opened the door to walk out of the hospital but froze on the top step. Adina looked past him and couldn’t help to smile. Next to Alec’s car, Sean stood talking with the elite warriors he had been training. It was an intimidating sight. As Colin and Adina walked out on the steps next to Alec, Sean walked up to Adina and kissed her.

Alec looked at the three of them. Colin and Sean both raised an eyebrow and Alec more or less stumbled down the last steps as he mumbled he needed to get going. As he sped off down the road, Adina joined Sean, Colin, and Doc as they chuckled.

“You mind linked him?” Adina asked Colin. He looked up at Sean and shrugged.

“He needed to know,” Colin said.

“He is clearly out,” Doc said.

“Definitely, Sean or I would kill him within two days if he came to live here,” Colin nodded.

“Thank you for coming,” Adina smiled at Sean. He smiled back.

“We needed a break,” he said.

“Thank you,” Adina said to the group of warriors that waited at a respectful distance.

“Always, luna,” they said and nodded at her.

“Two to go,” Adina said as Sean had kissed her and taken the warriors back to resume training.

“Can’t we just be satisfied with the two good candidates we have?” Colin asked.

“No, they have come all this way. At least we can meet them. Besides, you don’t have to worry, both are female,” Adina smiled. Doc chuckled.

The next candidate was a female nurse with several years’ experience working in a pack hospital. She was sweet and had a mate and two small pups that would move along with her. Her mate was a construction worker and never had a problem finding employment.

“I liked her,” Colin said as they waited for the last candidate.

“She is the best candidate so far,” Doc agreed.

“The last candidate is a little younger. She started medical school and graduated with honours, but only did two years of residency before dropping out,” Adina informed them.

“Sounds promising,” Doc said as a rundown car sputtered down the road.

The woman that stepped out of the car was about Adina’s age. She looked thin and uncertain as she walked towards them. Something about her made Adina instantly like her.

“You must be Clara from Snowy Peak,” Adina said, and took a step closer to Clara.

“I’m luna Adina, this is the alpha and our pack doctor, James,” she continued.

“Alpha, luna,” Clara greeted them and bent her neck.

“Doc is going to give you a tour of the facilities. Please feel free to ask questions,” Adina said and handed the rains over to Doc.

‘You like her,’ Colin mind linked Adina.

‘Yes. If we can’t have her as pack doctor, I think we may need to recruit her to the pack,’ Adina told him.

‘Why?’ he asked.

‘My gut instinct,’ Adina said.

Colin seemed satisfied with that, and they continued to listen to Doc giving the tour to Clara. Even though she seemed shy, Clara asked a couple of questions along the way. They were good and relevant questions that showed she had a good understanding of the work.

They sat down to do the interview part of the visit. Clara looked nervous, and Adina knew something was troubling her.

“Before we start, is there something you want to ask, or tell us?” Adina asked.

“Yes, luna. I need to tell you I’m half human,” Clara said, looking uncomfortable.

Some packs looked down on werewolves that had a human parent. They believed the wolf wasn’t as strong as someone, with both parents being magical creatures. That was, of course, nonsense, but if Snowy Peak was one of those packs, it would explain Clara’s nervous and timid behaviour.

“That is not an issue in this pack. Our beta is mated to a human,” Adina smiled.

Clara seemed to relax a little after hearing that, and the interview continued. It was soon clear that Clara was intelligent and driven.

“Why did you end your residency early?” Doc asked.

“My mother got ill and since she was human, the pack wasn’t willing to take care of her. I dropped out so I could be there for her. She passed away eight months ago,” Clara said.

“I’m so sorry to hear that,” Adina said.

“Thank you, luna,” Clara said.

They finished the interview and followed her to her car.

“What do you think?” Adina asked, as they were alone.

“I think you have already decided,” Colin smiled.

“No. This is not my decision, this is Doc’s decision,” Adina objected.

“I like her. She is a strong candidate. She’s shy. But I think we can work on that. He is intelligent and has a good education,” Doc nodded.

“Just for fun, what would you do if Doc says he want’s one of the other candidates?” Colin smiled.

“I would invite her to join the pack. Julia and I can share her as an assistant until we find a suitable job for her,” Adina said.

“If you are that set on adding her to the pack, she might as well come as the pack doctor,” Doc laughed.

“Are you sure? I don’t want to force your hand,” Adina told him.

“My choice was between her and the pack nurse. But I would prefer someone with Clara’s education. It will be good for the pack,” Doc said.

“Then it’s settled. I truly believe she belongs here. Something is telling me this is important,” Adina smiled.