Page 74 of Healer's Call

“Cade’s having a meeting with several of the packs in the area over the next few days,” he surprises me by telling me. The doors open and several guys step out. Mav curses, and I turn to look up at him. His entire body stiffens, and his face loses its color.

“Mav?” I ask putting my hand on his arm. Before I can say anything else, he snaps out of it and turns around. He puts a hand on my lower back and practically pushes me back toward the gym. We don’t get very far before somebody shouts his name. We keep walking until somebody else yells his name. Loudly. He stops, and I can feel the tension practically vibrating in his body. Cade comes out of the gym and strides towards us. His face is tight.

“Cade,” Mav says in a low voice.

“I didn’t invite them here,” Cade responds.

I look between the two of them, knowing I’m missing something. “Then why are they here?” Mav bites out.

“That’s what I’m going to go find out.”

I can see the change come over Mav. I watch the cold mask settle back over his face. “I’ll get Rose inside and then come meet them with you.”

“I’m fine,” I say, but I don’t think either of them hear me.

They turn and face the newcomers, and I don’t miss the fact that they put me between them. We walk towards them, but when we get close, Mav puts a hand on my back and turns us towards the pack house. I hear Cade’s voice as he talks to them.

“Maverick,” somebody shouts.

I stop, but Maverick urges me forward. “Just keep going,” he says in a low voice.

“They know you,” I feel the need to point out. He doesn’t say anything. I look over my shoulder and meet the eyes of one of the shifters.

“You gonna run away?” he shouts. “Always knew you were—” Whatever he says is cut off when Mav opens the door and ushers me inside.

“Stay in here.”

“Wait.” I grab his arm, halting him. “Not so fast. Who are those people?” Normally, I would happily escape up to my room, but I saw how he reacted to them.

He doesn’t look at me; he stares at the men through the glass doors. “My old pack.” With that, he steps outside, never looking back. I stare at his back as he walks away. Everything Cade told me about Maverick’s pack comes flooding back. Everything kind of comes together at once, including Mav’s face when he saw them. Before I realize what I’m doing, I push the door open and walk out to where the newcomers stand around Cade and Mav. More than a few pairs of eyes notice me, and I smile brightly.

“Mav,” I call out, both to warn him that I’m approaching and to let everybody in this group know as well. He turns toward me, and I don’t miss the dark look in his eyes. He isnothappy that I came out.Tough.I walk right over to him and wrap my arm around his waist and put my other hand on his chest, doing my best to ignore both the hard muscles under my hand and the tension that is oozing off him. “Hi, I’m Rose, Mav’s mate.”

If Cade was surprised by my sudden appearance, he handles it smoothly. “Rose is our pack healer.”

I force an even brighter smile on my face even as I feel Maverick stiffen even more. I can tell who the alpha is without anyone having to tell me. I can tell by the way he practically puffs out his chest. He steps toward us, and I force myself not to flinch. I can’t step backward because I practically plastered myself across Maverick. On a positive note though, he’s holdingup my body. So, when I start shaking in fear, I won’t collapse. “So,” he drawls. “You’re the healer?” He turns his head and spits something black and disgusting about an inch from my feet. I refuse to cower.

“Back off,” Maverick growls.

The alpha turns his gaze to Mav. “Or what? You gonna stop me?”

“I will,” Cade says from a few feet away.

The alpha doesn’t even turn in Cade’s direction. “Aw. You have other people fighting your battles for you now? Lost some of that toughness you used to have, huh? You lost all that when you became a man? You lose your wolf too?”

“No. He didn’t lose any of his toughness. He just chooses what battles to fight, and he doesn’t fight people who are weaker than him. That’s obviouslynot something he picked up in your pack.” I stare at the alpha, meaning every word I said. “As for being a man, he’s more of a man than you’ll ever be.”

I watch as the alpha’s face turns a dark red. “I think somebody needs to be taught some manners. Obviously, being ahealer,you don’t know the proper etiquette when dealing with an alpha.” He takes a step forward.

“Don’t.” That one word from Mav has the hair on the back of my neck raised. There’s a menace to his voice that nobody misses.

"So, you let your wolves matehumansnow?” He practically spits the word out. “It’s a good thing we showed up. You need us to help set your pack straight. Take out the trash.” He says the words while looking at me. He reaches out a hand. I instinctively try to take a step back, but I have nowhere to go with how I positioned myself around Mav.

Mav moves so fast, I don’t even see it coming. He pins the alpha’s arm painfully behind him, wrenching a gasp from the man’s lips. “Don’t touch her,” Mav says through grit teeth.The other members of Mav’s old pack surround Mav, and my heartrate picks up speed.

“You gonna fight all of us?” the alpha asks, pain lining his face.

“If I have to,” Mav responds easily. He doesn’t look to even be breaking a sweat. I glance over to Cade, but he stays out of it.

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