Page 6 of Ellie 3

“It all just went down, Gerald. Give her a moment to breathe, mate,” I replied with a sigh. “And Aurora Reed is—she’s not used to shifters. Like at all from what I can tell. I terrify her.”

He sighed. Heavily. “And you’re not terrifying at all. I’m loud and overbearing. Okay, I get it.”

“I actually went in hot and with my power out to scare her and protect Ellie,” I confessed, nodding when Gerald seemed shocked. “I thought evil stepmother, and—this isn’t the time for Ellie to take another fucking hit. I was a git.” I gave him a moment with that. “But Aurora Reed is a victim of everything even if Ellie is her victim.”

“I got that much from Ellie and something has changed,” Gerald muttered. “She said her stepmother isn’t who she remembered.”

I scrubbed my hand over my head. “I get the feeling she was being abused in other ways for hundreds of years being locked up by her family. She’s malnourished big-time. Like not justdown on the tank but damage done to her body. I smelled it better when we were in my vehicle alone. I was going to tell Ellie that I think she needs medical care.”

“Okay, well, Alexis is the better call then, but—Kenneth isn’t going to take it all lying down.” He growled when I tried to brush him off. “Listen to me. I’m good at my job, Clark. I did my fucking homework. That man is petty andvindictive. I don’t care what he signed, he will do everything he can to take Ellie down. I want ammo and information to shield her.”

“I agree,” I cut in when he seemed ready to ramp back up. “I just don’t know that there’s anything for him to use. He hasn’t even seen her in fifty years. It’s beencenturiessince she lived under his roof.”

“You’re not wrong,” he agreed, giving me an inch. “I might be complete overkill here.” He leaned in a bit. “But I might not be. So really, it’s a question of do we want to take that risk that he has some sort of ace in his pocket as her father that could destroy her? I don’t want to take that risk.”

“Nor do I,” I agreed. “Nor does Ellie. You’re just moving too fast. Normally, she does too, but whatever Aurora said when they met—Ellie was fine when I went in, but then it was like it sank in and she was shocky.”

“Yeah, okay.” He let out a slow breath. He did a double take at whatever was on my face. “I’m not trying to use this or get between you two.”

“You’re not? You’re pushing pretty hard,” I hedged, not sure what I was getting from him.

A small growl slipped out. “You are not the only youngest who is despised in their family for being strong. I’m considered the family fuckup and I’m a successful attorney.ButI’ve never handled something as big as the whole legal situation of ASH, and they are getting into trouble left and right. The person who runs it—I don’t handle this type of law and I—”

“Fish out of water,” I offered for him.

“For lack of a better way to say it,” he drawled. “But I also wasn’t locked up in Ellie’s office with her to flirt no matter where your pup head went off. We were buried, Clark. Redoing all of those contracts and people pulling shit and getting the board detangled and, and,and. I’m exhausted. Like I went to shift last weekend and my lion slept.”

“You need to talk to Dr. James and get a physical,” I said firmly, a thrill of fear racing through me.

“I’m fine and—”

“Hey, don’t be stupid when you’re here to shield people,” I snapped. “That’s aserioussymptom of too much and could be something way more serious than exhaustion. Do it or I tell Ellie and worry her because I will not sit on that.”

Rage filled his eyes. “Great, I try to reassure you that I’m not after your lover and you’re using it against me.”

“I’mworriedfor you, git,” I growled and shoved at his chest. I frowned when he stumbled too easily and I hadn’t pushed hard. I didn’t hide my concern as I met his gaze. “Gerald, you need to get checked out. Now.”

He lost his anger and realized what I’d just done, glancing down as well. “Shit, I shouldn’t have been off-balance like that.”

“Come on. I’ll get you worked up in an exam room in the emergency department somewhere quiet,” I told him, already texting Ellie that I could meet her in the parking garage in a bit or at home. “I’ll give the list of tests, and—I’ll handle it with the staff so we can rule out the big stuff. That makes treatment easier to start this weekend, but you need a real physical.”

“I’ve never had one before you ask and then yell at me,” he grumbled as he followed.

Well, at least he followed.

I met up with the on shift attending and told him what I knew and wanted to start. I opened my mouth to apologize foroverstepping, but the guy gave me a tight smile and a whole lot of hostility.

“Didn’t take you long to get too comfortable being Ms. Reed’s lover and using her authority, huh, Clark?” he asked with a sneer.

“Shifter health is my specialty, and Dr. James will need the additional tests to rule out several things specific to lions or powerful shifters,” I answered evenly. “I am sorry for overstepping, but Gerald is involved with several pressing matters Ms. Reed needs him for that I do know about. That’s why I dragged him down here immediately.”

“He’s saying she’s going to hear that I’m here because she knows all and he wants to make sure to be able to give her good answers before she can worry when too stressed,” Gerald surmised, nodding when I did but then frowning. “Can you not do any of what you just did normally? I thought any attending could bring down someone to the emergency—”

“It’s not directly to the attending on a Friday night, and it’s clear I’m walking out the door instead of staying,” I cut in, not wanting Gerald to get in trouble for trying to defend me.

“I was still an ass,” the attending sighed. “Sorry. Rough day and—I let the rumors get to me. I apologize, Clark. You did a lot for us and trauma during the disasters. I shouldn’t have listened to the bullshit. I know better than to do that, and you didn’t get your job here by sleeping with Ms. Reed.”

I blinked at him for a full minute before bursting out laughing. “She was completely against hiring me originally. The board pulled a fast one on her—do people have such short memories? It wasn’t years ago but months ago.”

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