Page 73 of Healer's Call

Cade doesn’t look away from the ring. “He needs the release.” He’s quiet a minute. “And he won’t go back to the fight ring, which is usually where he blows off this frustration.”

I glance at him again. “He doesn’t fight in the ring anymore?”

“Not since you were almost taken.”

His words have an effect on me that I don’t want to think about. I laugh. “I don’t think that’s why he’s not...”

Cade turns his direct stare on me. “He won’t go back to the fight ring and leave you in potential danger, so this is what we’re left with.” He shakes his head. “He’s going to blow through every member of my pack.”

“I really don’t think it has anything to do with me. He—” My voice trails off, and I wince as another shifter hits the ground and doesn’t get back up.

“He came in here early this morning,” Cade says in a low voice. “And he hasn’t let up since.” He glances down at me. “I wanted you to see this—to know that he’s upset.” I balk at his words. “Not at you,” he corrects. “At himself. He’s mad at how he treated you, and this—” he points to the ring. “Is how he works it out.” I’m at a loss for words. “I know he was hard on you last night, and it wasn’t right. I laid into him.” He glances down at me again. “I’m sorry for the way he treated you and for what he said to you.”

I blow out a breath. “Dideverybodyhear our argument?” I mutter, trying to release some of the tension.

“I know he’s not good with his words, and I know sometimes he’s a jerk.” Amber elbows him. “Okay, a lot of times. But I wanted you to see this so that you would know he’s upset about it.” He shakes his head slowly. “Even if the idiot never admits it.”

I flinch when a shifter takes a jaw-cracking hit and hits the mat. “What do I do to stop it?”

“That’s not on you,” he says, his alpha voice coming through. “I’ll stop him when the time is right.”

“And how many more shifters will it take for the time to be right?” I ask. I don’t wait for his answer as I walk across the gym floor. My heartbeat speeds up the closer I get, but I will myself to keep walking.You can do this. You’re just going to talk to him. Be brave. Be brave.I walk over to the edge of the ring and stop next to Eli.

He looks down at me, but if he’s surprised, he doesn’t show it. I watch Maverick absolutely pulverize another shifter and feel sick to my stomach. I put a hand on my stomach and swallow hard. I hate violence. And blood. And...Don’t focus on it. Be brave.I take a deep breath and step over the lower rope and into the ring.

“Healer,” I hear Eli hiss behind me, but I ignore him.

Be brave. “Maverick.” I don’t say his name loudly. His head snaps up, and he locks eyes with me. I’m only about two feet away from him now. “Enough,” I say softly.

His eyes rage as he stares at me, and I see the battle in them. The fury. The pain. The regret. And it makes my heart hurt. I wish he would let me close to him. He’s so broken. And yet, if I ever said that to him...I shudder to think. I keep my head high and my shoulders back, just like Raechel taught me to do when facing an opponent. I count inside my head as I hold his stare, so that I don’t look away.One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight...At twenty-eight, he finally drops his head and looks away. I don’t move from my spot. “Are you done?” I ask softly. He doesn’t respond, but he does turn and stride for the edge of the ring. I take a deep breath and follow him. He shocks me by holding the top rope for me, so I can slip through easily. Now that it’s done, my knees start shaking and I’m not sure if I can follow him. He turns back and gives me the slightest smirk.

“Don’t tell me you lost your courage now after standing up to me.”

His words light a fire in me, and I lift my head high and walk over to him. “Absolutely not.”

“That’s what I thought.” Oddly enough, his voice sounds full of pride.

Chapter 35

Rose

I follow Mav across the gym. When we walk past Cade and Amber, they both stare at us. Amber’s eyes are huge. I return her wide-eyed stare and lift my shoulders in a just-as-confused motion. Cade nods his head at me respectfully, and I can’t help but feel about seven feet tall.

After a moment’s hesitation I follow Mav out the door and away from the training gym. When he stops suddenly in front of me, I run right into him. Feeling like an idiot, I step back quickly. “Why’d you stop me?” he asks as he throws his shirt on.

My eyes skitter away, and I try to think of an intelligent response. “I don’t like violence,” I finally say.

“Hate to break it to you, but that’s practically our way of life.”

I take a deep breath, so I don’t say something I’ll regret. “I know.” I look him in the eye. “But I don’t have to be okay with it.” Something flashes across his eyes, but it’s gone before I can decipher what it means. I steady myself and say what I’ve needed to say since we argued. “I’m sorry for what I said about your sister and about you,” I say softly. “I had no right, and I’m really sorry.”

He looks away a minute. “I meant what I said about you really living.” I resist the urge to roll my eyes, but he continues. “But I should have probably been a little...nicer.”

I laugh. I can’t help it; it just kind of rolls out of me. “How painful was that for you to say?”

He narrows his eyes a moment and shakes his head. “You’re impossible,” he mutters under his breath, but there’s no heat to his words.

We both watch as several cars pull into the wrap-around driveway in front of the pack house. “Do you know those people?” I ask.

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