Page 31 of Healer's Call

“Because we’re in this together. And now, Sam and Wyatt are here and they want to go out to eat. We’re not going to miss out on this opportunity. And we’re not going to let our fear keep us from missing out.”

She rolls her eyes. “Dramatic much?”

“Yes, now let’s go.”

Sam turns to me with eyebrows raised. “Wow, you’ve really grown into your role here.”

I can’t help my smile as we walk out the door. “Where’s Wyatt?” I ask.

“He’s waiting in the lobby for us. This place is insane by the way,” Sam adds.

“I know. It’s pretty crazy,” I admit.

When we get downstairs, Wyatt is standing by the door. He smiles when he sees us and wraps an arm around Sam and pulls her close.These two.I don’t know if I’ll ever get over how much they love each other. Wyatt is pretty much the perfect guy. “You ladies ready?” he asks.

I nod and am just about to turn when I see somebody tall head our way. I know instantly without even turning all the way that it’s Maverick. He strides toward us, his usual scowl in place.I tense at his approach, wondering if he’s going to be difficult. He doesn’t have great history with Wyatt and Sam, or with anybody from our pack really. He stops near our group and looks down at Sam. “That didn’t take long.” Wyatt growls low in his chest. Maverick smirks. “Careful Pup, your wolf is showing.” I can see the affect Maverick’s words have on Wyatt, and I know this is going to blow up in seconds. This is what Maverick always does. Without thinking, I put my hand on his arm. He glances down at it and goes quiet. I pull my hand back quickly, feeling almost burned.

He studies my face a moment. “Are you leaving?” I nod. “Where are you going?”

“Out for dinner,” I nearly whisper when nobody else says anything. He looks at Wyatt but stays quiet. Wyatt holds his gaze and then gives him a tiny nod. I know they can’t communicate in their heads because they’re from different packs, but somehow they just had an entire conversation through a look.

Maverick starts walking away and I blame my soft side for what happens next. “Did you want to go with us?” I blurt out. He turns around slowly and stares at me. I feel my face turn red under his gaze.

“Yeah, Maverick, why don’t you come with us?” Sam asks. There’s a tension in our group until Maverick finally gives a low yes.

“I’ll drive,” he says in that same voice, and I stand there a moment unsure what to do. “You can go with the healer and her mate,” he says quietly.

I shock myself again. “Can I ride with you?” I ask. I make myself keep eye contact with him, even though I want to look down. I can tell I’ve surprised him, probably just as much as I’ve surprised myself. He gives a short nod, and I can’t tell if I’m relieved or terrified. I turn back to Sam and Ava. Ava’s wide eyes are nearly my undoing. “I’m going to go with Maverick.” Mywords are not nearly as steady as I want them to be. I make the mistake of meeting Sam’s eyes and see that they’re just as wide as Ava’s. I turn around quickly before I chicken out.

He starts walking away, and I hurry to catch up with him. We walk through the building and stop outside his room. He leaves me out in the hall and comes back less than a minute later. Without a word to me, he walks back through the building again. When we walk past the dining area, Sara and Sabrina just happen to be walking out. “Rose,” they both cry out when they see me and each of them give me a big hug. It takes them a moment to notice the large male behind me. When they do, they both grin, completely at ease. “Hey, Mav,” Sara says.

I watch him closely to see how he will respond. He nods his head at them respectfully but doesn’t say anything. “Are you guys going out?” Sabrina asks. I’m pretty sure I can literally see stars in her eyes. I glance quickly at Maverick, but he doesn’t say anything.

“Uh, one of my friends is here from another pack. We’re going out for dinner.” I hesitate a moment, wondering if I should invite them to dinner.

“We need to leave,” Maverick says.

“Oh, we won’t keep you. Bye. Have fun!”

I follow Maverick, hurrying to keep up with his long stride. We walk outside to an area I haven’t been in yet, where there are lots of cars parked. Nice cars. It’s a reminder once again that this pack has done well for itself. He leads me to a nice car. He shocks me by opening the door for me. I slide into the cool leather seats and look around the car for a moment. I’m not a car person...at all. But even I know that whatever this is, it’s expensive. I buckle and look out my window. He doesn’t say a word as we get going, and I feel like I'm going to suffocate. Between all that is Maverick—his manly smell, the fact that he has such a large presence...it all feels like too much. My senses are overloaded. “Do you knowwhere we’re going?” I ask, trying to break the silence. He nods, one quick short nod. I absently wonder how he knows but decide not to bug him about it. We drive for a little bit, and I can’t take the tension. “Why do you do that?” I finally ask.

He shoots me a quick glance. “What?”

“Why are you so mean to people?” I regret the words instantly, but I can’t take them back now. “Like when you saw Sam. I think it’s amazing that she’s pregnant.”

“You would.”

I ignore his comment and continue. “Why do you turn nasty?”

He shoots a smirk at me, but it lacks any warmth. “Did you think I was a nice person?”

The silence is heavy after that, and I don’t try to talk again. It was too disastrous the first time. On a normal day, I would love to take in where we’re going; but today I just want to get there so we can get back.This is going to be a trainwreck. We finally pull up in front of a restaurant. I don’t even look at the sign to see what it is. I just want out of the car and away from this infuriating man. I open my door but before I climb out, he stops me. “You forgot something.”

“What?”

He nods at the console between us, and I see my wristlet that acts as my wallet. I grab it. “Thanks.” I’m out the door a moment later, but when I look back, he’s still sitting behind the wheel. “Aren’t you coming in?”

“No. I’m going to head back.” He doesn’t look at me when he says it, and I’ve given up trying to talk to him. I close the door without another word and walk over to a bench to wait for the rest of them. Why they’re not here already, I don’t know. I pull out my phone to text Ava.

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