Chapter 48

Rose

Mav finally heeds Cade's call and lets me go back to his room. Carl and Van escort me there without a word and stand guard outside the door. I stumble into the bathroom and blearily get ready to sleep. A few moments later, I crash in bed unable to keep my eyes open any longer. I thought the events of the night would keep me from sleep, but the exhaustion forces it.

The next morning, I wake up and glance over at the other side of the bed and see it hasn't been disturbed. I get up and shower and get dressed quickly. When I step out into the hallway, there are two shifters that I recognize but don't know the names of. "Do you know where Maverick is?" I ask.

"I'll reach out to him," the first one says. "He's on his way here."

"Thanks." I wait a moment before I decide to head to the dining hall to grab something to eat. I'm going to need strength if I'm going to be doing what I think I'm going to be doing today. I run into Maverick in the long hallway. He looks stressed and tense and tired. Without saying a word, I step into him and wrap my arms around his waist. It takes him less than a second to respond. His strong arms wrap around me, and I can't help the sigh that releases from me. "Are you okay?" I ask softly, knowing he'll hear me.

"I am now," he responds just as softly. I smile at his words before I pull back.

"You didn't get any sleep."

He runs a hand through my hair gently. "Yeah, it's been a long night."

"What happened while I slept?"

"Have you eaten yet?" he asks instead. When I shake my head no, he takes my hand and leads me to the dining hall. I glance down at our hands and can't help the smile that comes over me. He surprises me by bypassing the gathering area and heading right into the kitchen.

"Hey Pam," I call out to the gray-haired cook.

Relief comes over her face when she sees us. "I've been worried about you. I heard about what happened. You healed a rogue wolf?" Her eyes are huge. "Why would you let her do that?" she asks Mav.

Mav snorts. "It's funny that you think she gave me a choice."

She turns back to me. "I sort of just did it," I say apologetically.

She shakes her head. "Mav, you're going to have your hands full."

"Don't I know it," he says.

"I'm glad you're okay," she says and pulls me into a hug. When she releases me, she gets to work gathering this and that and filling plates of food for us. With a promise to fill her in soon on everything that's going on, we leave the kitchen and find a table away from everybody else to eat. Neither of us says anything while we eat, and I let Mav eat most of his food before I start in.

"So, what happened?"

He leans back against his chair. "We got the rogue wolves settled in the training gym for now. We've got every enforcer plus pretty much every available male in there to keep them in line."

I watch him carefully. "Are you worried about them? Do you think they still pose a threat?"

"They're rogue wolves. Everything about them is dangerous." His words come out harsh, but I know he doesn't mean it against me.

I wait a beat. "What about the one I healed?" I ask softly.

He sighs. "I don't know."

"He's young, right?"

Mav runs a hand over his head. "Yeah. Fifteen."

"He's not a rogue wolf. Is he?" I wait for his answer.

He shakes his head in frustration. "I don't know. I don't..." he shakes his head again.

"Hey, it's okay." I try to put my hand over his, but he jerks it away.

"It's not okay." His eyes are fierce, and I can see the battle raging behind them. He shoves his chair back and leaves his food forgotten on his plate as he stands and stares out the window.

My heart hurts for him because I know what this is about. I slowly push my chair back and walk over to him. Knowing I might face rejection, I push forward anyway. He's hurting, and I'm not going to stand idly by. I wrap my arms around his middle and put my head against his back. He stiffens, but I expected that. But at least, he doesn't pull away. "I'm sorry, Mav."

"You have nothing to be sorry for," he says in a voice that sounds full of bitterness.

"You didn't know."

"Well, we should have," he responds in anger. "Jesse's only fifteen! He's a boy! We almost killed him, snuffed his life out. How many other boys have we killed? How many other wolves that had their whole lives ahead of them? And we killed them because we thought they were rogue wolves; we thought they were the soulless ones." He lets out a laugh, but it's anything but joyous. "We're the soulless ones."

"Mav, stop. You didn't know."

"Yeah, because they're stuck in wolf form and can't change back," he scoffs.

"What?"

"That's why we thought they were rogue." He turns and faces me and gives me a look I don't know how to read. "What?"

"Cade wants you to heal the leader of their pack."

I let that settle a moment. "I didn't think rogue wolves ran in packs. I thought they were just loners."

"We thought so too." He gives me a frustrated look.

"I'll do it." I can tell he's ready to argue with me. "It will be okay, Mav. Let me do this; it will give us the answers we need." He still doesn't look very happy, but I put my hand on his arm and look up into his eyes. "I can do this, Mav."

He's quiet a moment. "I know you can."

"And I trust you to make sure I'm protected while I'm doing it."

Another long minute of silence passes between us, but I stay quiet. Finally, he nods. "I let Cade know we're on our way." A feeling of warmth bubbles up inside of me at his use of the term we . We put away our dishes and make our way over to the gym. He doesn't say a word on the way, and I glance up at him a few times. His jaw is tight, and I know he's not super happy about what's coming.

When we get to the gym, he puts his hand on the small of my back and steps closer. I look around the room. He wasn't kidding when he said almost every male shifter was here. Maverick steers me toward Cade. They close in around us, making a small circle. Cade studies my face a moment, assessing. I lift my head and push my shoulders back. "I can do this."

"I know you can," Cade repeats Mav's words. "I just wish you didn't have to." And then, I see the change come over him. I see his acceptance of the plan. "See that wolf over in the corner?" I eye the large brown wolf by himself, surrounded by Eli, Van, and several other shifters. "He's the leader of this group, from what we've gathered from the teen. We want you to start with him." I nod. "Mav, Eli, and I will be right there the entire time. We'll make sure you're safe. But if for any reason, you feel threatened, just stop. We'll get you away."

"I'm not worried." I mean that completely; I trust them implicitly. But that doesn't mean I'm not still intimidated by the large wolf in the corner. The closer we get, the more agitated the wolf becomes. Mav puts out a hand in front of me protectively, stopping my progress forward. "It's okay, Mav," I say softly; but I'm not really sure it is. The wolf is aggressive and mean. His coat is dirty; I can't tell if it's gray or just dirty. The wolf growls low in its throat and bares its teeth.

"No." Mav's voice is sharp. "We're not doing this. Whatever was left of its soul is long gone; there's no human in him now."

Cade and Eli stand next to us, and we all face the wolf. "Please try," a quiet voice says from nearby. I turn my head and see Jesse, the lanky teen I healed. "He's still in there."

Mav shakes his head, and Cade looks back at the wolf, assessing. "Can you try to talk to him?" Cade asks in a quiet voice.

"Cade," Mav says in a warning voice that Cade completely ignores.

The teen looks at me uncomfortably. "It's her."

My head rears back in shock. "What?"

Mav pins the kid with a look, but Cade gives him his full attention. "What are you talking about."

Jesse looks at me uncertainly a moment and then drops his head. "He's aggressive because the healer's getting close."

"Oh." I look over at the wolf. "I'm sorry he doesn't want me close, but I have to get close to heal him."

Jesse grimaces and scratches his neck. "That's not exactly it."

"I'm confused," I tell him honestly. "I'm just trying to help. I—"

"He wants you—" Jesse starts to say. And that was the wrong thing to say.

Mav growls fiercely and bristles next to me. "She's mine." His words are guttural, and his wolf is very present. He moves closer to me, and as much as the situation is precarious right now, I want to bask in this moment. He sends a glare at the rogue wolf. "The healer is mine."

"Not…not like that," the kid says nervously. And then everything goes to pieces.

The rogue wolf lets out a growl that shakes the gym and launches. Mav shifts instantly next to me and meets the rogue wolf at the same time somebody grabs me and yanks me to the floor. There's shouting all around me, and I can't make heads or tails of anything. "Get her out of here!" Somebody shouts, and strong arms grab me from the floor; and then I'm being ushered from the gym. I glance over my shoulder and see Mav's huge wolf alongside Cade's wolf fighting with the rogue wolf. It's brutal, and I look away as I'm practically carried out of the gym. Eli's dark eyes meet mine.

"You good, Healer?" I look back at the building. Van stands next to me; both of them are keyed up, muscles tense. "Healer?" Eli questions again.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I..." I don't know what else to say. I want to help, but I don't know what to do. I wrap my arms around myself and ask the question that's pinging around in my head. "What did Jesse mean when he said the rogue wants me?"

Eli flinches just the slightest at my words, and Van turns to look at me. Neither of them say anything a moment. "I don't know, but Mav won't let anything happen to you." He turns his head back to the gym. "I gotta get back in there. Van will see you to the pack house."

The door to the gym suddenly flies open, and three wolves race out. I know instantly that they're not in our pack. Eli and Van shift instantly and head them off. More wolves flood out of the doors, and I can't tell fast enough who's friend and who's foe. Before I can get away, I'm trapped in the midst of wolves. Knowing this is a fight I can't fight, I turn to run back to the pack house. "Rose!" I look up and see Sara running towards me, her eyes wide.

"Run!" I wave at her, but she keeps coming at me. I watch as she transforms before my eyes and jumps right past me. I stumble to the side as she clashes with a wolf that's much bigger than she is. "Sara!" I shout. The wolf takes a bite out of her back leg, and her wolf howls in pain. And then I'm running back, back to the fight. I look around for a weapon of sorts but can't find anything. "Maverick!" I shout as loud as I can, not knowing what else to do. I don't even know if he's in this fight or if he's still inside.