Page 96 of Healer's Call

“I can’t even.” I take a breath.

She reaches out and puts her hand on top of mine. “I know it’s been difficult with Mav. I’m sure you’ve felt confused, but he’s always protected you, even when he wouldn’t let himself claim you as his own. Well, now that we got that taken care of.” She puts her coffee cup in the sink. “Ready to check on the infected pack members?”

I nod, feeling like I’ve been thrown for a loop. She scoops up Paige and heads out the door, and I follow behind. We walk over to the meeting room. “Do I need to knock?”

She shakes her head. “Just go on in. Mav will be expecting you.”

I open the door and push it open slowly, trying to stay quiet. Cade’s talking, but Mav’s eyes meet mine the second I step into the room. Cade goes quiet, and everybody turns my way. “Uh, Mav, I was going to go check on those shifters. Uh, you—” He pushes his chair back and stands to his feet.

He glances at Cade. “Keep me updated.”

Cade nods at him and continues on. Mav walks over to me and puts his hand on the small of my back and ushers me out the door. Amber smiles at us and then tells Mav which shifters it is before she leaves us.

“Healer.” I turn at the sound, and Mav lets out a low growl. I tense as Daniel walks over to us.

“I’ve been trying to get to you to talk to you, but Mav’s guard dogs won’t let me close.”

I take a step back at his anger, even though he deserves to be angry. It’s my fault his best friend died. “Back off,” Mav warns.

“I just want to talk to her,” Daniel says, not backing down. Knowing how quickly this can escalate, I put a hand on Mav’s chest.

“It’s okay. Let him talk.” I look up at him, and his eyes bore into mine. I turn back to Daniel, even as I feel Mav take up a protective stance behind me. It almost makes me smile, but I don’t want Daniel to think I'm happy about what happened to Jacob. My heart tugs at the thought of him. “I’m sorry about what happened to Jacob,” I say softly.

Daniel huffs out a laugh. “No, you’re not. You couldn’t stand him. Every time he tried to talk to you, you ran away from him.”

I bite my tongue. Nothing I can say in this moment is going to help him. He’s wallowing in grief, and he has every right to. I struggle to know what to say to him. “I don’t know what it’s like to lose a best friend; I can only imagine how awful it must be. It was never my intention to hurt him or to wish him ill will.” Mav growls low at my words, but I ignore him. “I didn’t want him to die. I would have stopped it if I could have.”

“He had his hands around your neck,” Mav bites out.

“I’m sorry it happened,” I say again.

“Want to take this outside and settle it?” Mav asks.

I whirl around. “No.” But his eyes aren’t on me; they’re on Daniel.

“Because if you’re threatening my mate, I will end you just like I did Jacob.”

I flinch at his name and hate this entire situation. I watch as Daniel deflates and then turns around and walks away. I breathe a sigh of relief and turn to Mav.

“You need to stop threatening him; he’s grieving.”

“Well, he can do his grieving without threatening my mate.” His words are harsh, and I know he said them loud enough that Daniel can hear them as he walks down the hallway, away from us.

Chapter 45

Rose

Later that afternoon, I find myself outside, helping Amber set up for the pack pool party. Cade, Eli, Mav, and some of the other shifters left after lunch to track down some leads. It took a lot of convincing to get Mav to go, but he finally left with the others. Well, first he threatened the guys on my security detail within an inch of their lives, and then he left. It ends up being a surprisingly good time. Sara and Sabrina help us as well as Leah, another shifter I haven’t had much contact with. She’s good friends with Amber. I find myself laughing and truly enjoying myself as we decorate for the event.

“Exactly how many balloons did you order?” Sara asks Amber.

“There has to be five hundred,” Sabrina says, sinking into the pool chair next to where Sara and I are blowing up balloons. She’s not lying; there are literally hundreds of balloons.

“What? I can’t help it. I love balloons,” Amber says.

“It’s going to look amazing when we’re done,” I add.

“You’re just trying to be nice,” Leah says. “You don’t have to be; we all know how Amber is with decorations. She always goes over the top.”

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