Page 4 of Healer's Call

I finally work up the courage to open the door. “Thank you. Both of you.”

“Keep in touch; know that you’re not alone in this,” Sage says, clasping my hand through the open window.

“Thanks.”

I walk up the steps, my mind going a million different directions all at once. I bypass the shifters on security detail and make my way inside. Normally, I head right to the kitchen to prep dinner when I get home from my shift at the clinic. Not tonight. Tonight, I barely make it to the couch before all the emotions I’ve been holding in release. I feel the tears drip off my face as anxiety and fear take hold of me. I’ve never been good with my emotions, but they’ve been worse since I was taken prisoner by the vampires for the second time. I’ve been to counseling multiple times, and it’s been helping. But there are times when something like this is too overwhelming, and all my emotions come to the forefront.

“What’s with you?” Ava asks, dropping into the armchair across from me.

That’s Ava—always that one to count on when you’re feeling extra emotional.Not. I wipe my eyes, trying to find some semblance of calm. “How do you feel about Orlando?” I ask in a watery voice. She shrugs, not giving me anything.

“Well, I’m heading there tomorrow. Want to come with?”

She stares at me like I’ve suddenly sprouted two heads. “What are you going on about?”

I sigh; it comes from someplace deep inside me. “Alpha Cade from the Orlando pack flew here to ask me to heal his pack because they have shifters dying from some kind of rare sickness or something.”

She stares at me. “Isn’t that Maverick’s pack?”

“Yes.” I don’t meet her eyes.

“You’re going to help his pack? What about the, ‘We don’t need you in our lives, so get lost’ speech?” I look down at my lap as she stands up and starts to leave the room. “Wow. One little word about him, and you’re off and flying to meet him.”

“He’s dying,” I say to her retreating back. That gets her attention. “He’s dying, and they don’t know what to do to save him. Alpha Cade says they’ve already lost pack members, and Maverick will be next if I don’t get there to heal him.” She says nothing, and I dig deep for my courage. “I want you to come with me.”

To my shock, she doesn’t immediately shut it down or give me some snide comment. “Why?” she asks instead.

“I don’t want you to be alone.” She starts to turn away, shaking her head. “And I don’t want to go alone,” I add. I stare at her, the opposite of me in almost every way, except that we’re both healers and scared to leave the house. She’s sarcastic, cutting, edgy, even in her hairstyle and what she wears. Her green eyes pop with color, so different from my basic brown ones. And she’s always changing the color of her hair. That’s one thing she hasn’t lost—her ability to keep getting her hair done. I barely manage to get my plain brown hair trimmed every few months by one of the hair stylists in the pack, even though she comes to our house.

I stare at her now, wondering what she’ll decide. “When do we leave?”

I stare at her in shock before sitting up straight. “Are you serious? You’ll come with me?”

“Not if you’re going to keep making a big deal out of it,” she retorts.

I throw my hands up. “Nope. We leave at six.”

Her eyes widen. “In the morning?”

I nod and then make my way from the living room quickly before she has a chance to change her mind. I don’t let her see my face, because I’m finally smiling for the first time today. I can’t believe she’s coming with me!

Chapter 3

Rose

I lay in bed that night, unable to sleep. As I stare up at the ceiling, I finally allow myself to think about seeing Maverick again. I grimace as I remember the last time we spoke to each other. Well, it was mostly me speaking.

I stand next to Ava in one of the rooms in the medical center, staring down Maverick and Bryce, which is no small thing. Maverick is tall and muscular, like most shifters. But there’s an aggressiveness to him that makes him seem like so much more. His hair’s dark, matching the stubble on his face, and his skin is deeply tan. Everything about him screams alpha, even though he’s just a beta.

Bryce, on the other hand, seems much more tame. He’s tall and muscular, like most wolves, but he isn’t nearly as aggressive as Maverick. He might even be gentle. Maybe. I don’t really have a feel for him yet; I haven’t been around him long enough yet to know.

Right now, he’s really keyed up. I’m assuming that’s because they just returned from rescuing us from the vampires.Again. I feel like I'm going to be sick. I know it’s from the adrenaline and fear from being taken by the vampires. I know from experience that the feeling will fade, but it may take hours. I need hours of quiet and calm and a chance to let myself try to come down and process everything that’s happened in the last forty-eight hours. Then it’s going to be back to counseling for me. I shake my head, trying to clear it. I glance over at Ava; she looks just like I feel. Her face is pale, and she has dark circles under her eyes.

She meets my eyes and then lifts her head. “We’re going home,” Ava says, shattering the silence that descended when the two of them came in and said that they were going to be staying with us in the healer’s house, which of course is ridiculous. She crosses her arms over her chest and gives them a defiant look.

The door opens to the room, and Samantha enters with Wyatt right behind her. She walks over to stand in front of us. “You both good?” she asks softly.

I meet her eyes. “Yes.” My voice is soft but steady, and she reaches out and squeezes my hand. “Thank you for what you did back there to get us out,” I tell her and hug her. She’s more brave than I will ever be.

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