Chapter 49

Maverick

Cade and I close off the wolf's path to the front door, where Rose has disappeared. My wolf growls low and fierce as we push him back. This would be a lot easier if Cade would just let us kill him, but he's standing his ground. My wolf can't understand, and I'm having a hard time keeping my wolf from killing him after what the teen said about him wanting Rose. My wolf growls again, and I keep a careful tether on him so he doesn't go against Cade's orders and end the threat against our mate. Cade's busy shouting orders through our pack link, trying to control the situation that is quickly escalating.

Is Rose safe ? I send to the pack. I know Eli took her out, but I'm not sure who else is with her.

Van and I got her outside, Eli's terse words come through the link, and I relax just the slightest. Until he curses through the link; he must not have realized he didn't close the connection.

What? I demand.

Incoming outside.

With those words, I shift my attention, just for a moment; it's all the rogue wolf needs. He charges past me, and I turn my attention back to the wolf. Cade joins me in racing after the wolf who's heading toward the front door. Get Rose to the pack house! I shout through the link. When nobody answers me, I swear and race after the rogue wolf. I slam into him and throw him into the wall. My wolf growls out an obvious warning, but the wolf ignores him and jumps to its feet again. We head it off. If we could just kill him ....My wolf bites its flank, trying to get it to back down; but it's as if the feral wolf doesn't even feel it. He faces me head-on and charges. We deflect the hit but still get grazed in the ribs. My wolf ignores the pain and continues pushing back at the wolf, trying to keep him away from the door, away from our mate. Can we kill it yet? I send to Cade.

No!

A little help would be nice then, I send back.

A little busy here, he sends back. I don't look back to see what he's dealing with. The last time I lost my focus for a second, the wolf almost escaped. We're going to need to do something, I send back. Can't just keep fighting him forever, I send back in irritation. The wolf charges me again, and I jump out of the way in the nick of time, slicing his back leg as he does. The wolf howls but keeps moving. Stupid son of a—

" Maverick!"

My wolf throws its head back, and my heart races in my chest. Forgetting the rogue wolf, we charge for the door. Rose is in trouble. We clear the door and eye the field, taking in the chaos all around us. And then we see her, and my wolf takes off. I shift at the last second and grab hold of her, wrapping her in my arms and shielding her from every threat out here.

"Help her!" she yells at me, and it takes me a second to take it in. "It's Sara!" I shift and force my wolf and myself to leave our mate's side. My wolf growls when Sara's wolf howls in pain, and we jump at the wolf and knock him off our packmate. Once again, my wolf wants to go for the kill; but I hold him back, wondering as I do if we're doing the right thing. I push him back and away from Sara.

"Uh, Mav."

I whirl around at the sound of Rose's voice, and my heart nearly stops in my chest. The rogue wolf leader stalks towards her, and I know in that moment that I'm too far from her. If he jumps...Her wide eyes meet my wolf's eyes, and the breath freezes in my lungs even as my wolf pounds the ground to get back to her. The rogue wolf jumps, and she screams as she hits the ground. We plow into him a moment later, knocking him off her. We don't have time to see if she's okay as we roll with the wolf. My wolf fights for dominance, and we get him right where we want him. His throat is exposed for the briefest second, and my highly trained wolf goes for it. My wolf's teeth wrap around his exposed throat, and the wolf below us stills. He's smart enough to know we have him in a kill hold. And then her sweet voice hits our ears.

"Mav," her voice sounds different, but I can't focus on it. "Hold him right there." And then her hands run over my wolf's back. My wolf stills, while still maintaining his hold on the wolf. Her hand runs up to his head. "I trust you, Mav." Her words are quiet, and her words confuse me. But I literally can't move; it's taking every ounce of my wolf's strength to keep the rogue in a hold. My heart strains in my chest when I feel her next to me. "I'm not going to hurt you," I hear her say.

Eli! Cade! Somebody! Stop her! I throw the plea out to anybody that will hear me.

I'm coming, Cade says through our link.

The rogue strains against my hold, and we focus on doubling down. I can't move; I'm frozen in place as my wolf holds the rogue's throat. Time seems to slow down around us. I feel the heat of my mate's body next to me, but I can't check on her, can't talk to her, can't do anything but hold the rogue. Because the second I release even an ounce of pressure on him, I know he'll throw me off and go after my mate. My wolf's waning in strength; I can tell. We won't be able to hold him forever, but we'll die before we let him free to go after our mate. I feel her weight slump against us and panic, but we can't move.

Cade, I growl.

I'm here. Release him, Mav; I've got him. You tend to your mate.

I try to get my wolf to release the rogue's throat, but he won't budge. I feel his thirst for violence against the rogue for the threat he is to our mate, and I get it. I want to see him gutted as well, but I don't have that liberty right now. Cade wants him alive. Even that wouldn't stop me if he went at Rose again, but for now, we need to release him. Rose's entire weight is against my wolf's body now. We have to check on our mate, I remind myself and my wolf.

We've got him, Mav. Eli says through the pack link. Your mate needs you. Those are the words I needed to hear; my wolf needed to hear. We release our hold on the rogue and shift. I catch Rose in my arms when she falls against me.

"Mav," she says weakly. I wrap my arms around her and lift her into my arms and hold her close to my chest.

"Rose, talk to me." Panic sluices through me when her eyes don't open. "Rose, come on, show me those gorgeous brown eyes." I'm walking toward the pack house . Her face is so pale, and she has dark circles under her eyes. Her lips are almost blue. Using my wolf's hearing, I listen for her heartbeat. It's too slow. "Hold the door!" I yell at whoever's going through the door. I charge through the door and into the nearly empty pack house. Taking the stairs two at a time, I race to the healer's room. "Healer!" I shout. I hear Rose's heartbeat falter, and I curse low and fierce. "Healer!" My shout ricochets off the walls. "Healer!" I get to her door and kick it in and charge inside. "Healer!" And then it hits me with a gut-wrenching punch. The blonde healer is gone; she's not here anymore. And then I'm running back through the pack house.

Amber! I need you. Rose is injured.

Where? She instantly responds.

My room. I race to my room and kick open the door and stride over to the bed. I sit, holding my mate in my lap, and Amber runs in a moment later. "What do we do?" Panic is racing through me; it's an odd feeling. So is the fear rushing through me, making my heart beat so loudly in my chest, I'm having a hard time being able to hear Rose's heartbeat.

Amber puts her hands on Rose, and I fight the urge to push her away. Rationally, I know she's trying to help Rose. But seeing Rose in this state...And then it hits me. Blood. My head rears back. I run my hands over her body. Where is it?

"Maverick, stop! I'm trying to help her." Amber's voice sounds far away.

"She's bleeding." My voice is guttural and harsh. I run my hands over her chest, and my hand comes away red. There's a pause; Amber and I both stare a moment before she tries frantically to shove Rose's shirt out of the way. Not bothering to wait, I use a claw and slice right through it and then stare in horror at the wound in her chest. There's a severe gash just above her heart. When? How? My heart stutters a moment in my chest and then begins beating double time.

" I'm calling Sage and Paul! " I hear Amber's voice, but it sounds far away.

My mind can't wrap around what it's seeing. I don't understand; we kept the rogue down. He couldn't have...He shouldn't have been able to...

"Maverick!" Somebody shakes me hard, and suddenly I'm staring into Amber's hard eyes. "Maverick, if you don't let me help her, your mate is going to die!" Her words are harsh; I've never heard her talk that way. I rear back, and my gaze jerks to my mate. The blood around her heart is growing. "Mav, Rose is going to die!" Her words pierce through my skull, and I release my death grip, allowing Amber a chance to get close. My body and mind feel numb as I watch her work, trying to put pressure on the wound. Somewhere, I hear a phone ringing.

"Sage!" Amber shouts. "Sage, please."

"Amber, what's going on?"

"It's Rose. She...she..." Then her voice changes. "Rose has sustained a wound, a really bad one."

"And then she healed a rogue wolf," I growl out.

I hear a gasp, and it goes straight to my heart. "What is the wound?"

"It pierced her heart," Amber says quietly, and my head jerks. I stare with fresh eyes at the wound.

Then I turn my bleary eyes to Amber. Amber's holding the phone while simultaneously trying to staunch the bleeding. We collectively hold our breath, waiting for Sage's answer. But it's not the healer's voice from the Northwoods Pack that comes across the line. I hear the doctor's voice, but I can't focus on it. All I can see is the terrible scene in front of me. Rose's heart is pumping out blood; it's not staying in her body the way it's supposed to. Her lips are so blue. For some reason, that's all my mind can fixate on. Her lips have always been a sort of peach color, and now they're blue. Amber yells in frustration. "No!" Amber moves frantically. "No! Stay with me, Rose. Stay with me!"

A thought hits me like a ton of bricks. "Can I bite her?" My voice is raspy.

"Maverick?" the doctor asks.

"Can I bite her?" I ask, anger coursing through me. "Will it save her if we begin a partial bond?"

It's silent as I wait. Amber's head tips up as she waits, and Amber puts her hand on my shoulder. I don't breathe as I wait for his answer. But when it comes, I wish it wouldn't have.

"No, Man. I'm sorry. You can't save somebody with a mortal injury. Her heart is damaged; you can't repair something that's already gone."

I wonder how he knows, and then I see the phone that Amber is using. It's pointed at my mate; the doctor must be watching...and then it hits me. His words. My eyes jerk down to my mate's chest, and my world shatters.

Her heart is no longer beating.

The door to the room flies open and crashes into the wall. Cade is here. I don't even have to turn around to know; I feel his alpha power bouncing around the room. "Rose!" His panicked cry leaves his lips, and his eyes meet my eyes. His eyes are anguished, and I look away. I can't handle my closest friend looking at me like that. Somebody enters the room next, and I can feel through the pack link that it's Eli. And I can't do it anymore.

"Everybody out." My voice isn't loud, but it carries. I hear Amber crying, but I don't look at her. The room grows quiet. Cade stops at my side and puts a hand on my shoulder. He doesn't say a word before he leaves the room. When my room is empty, I sit in silence and stare down at my broken mate. I'm not sure how long I stay that way before I finally stand and place her gently on the bed, with her head on the pillow. For reasons I don't really know, I grab a pair of sweatpants and throw them on; I guess because my mate was always so conscious of nudity. I climb onto the bed next to her and pull her into my arms. And then I stare down at her gorgeous face, at those eyes that I will never again see. My eyes fall to her lips that will never smile at me again. I brush her hair gently away from her face. "I'm so sorry I didn't keep you safe." My words are barely a whisper. My gaze goes to her neck, to the soft skin there; and I make a decision. I lean forward and bite her neck. I bite deeply, wanting to make sure it holds even in death and not worrying about hurting her any longer. When I pull back and see my mark on her neck, sorrow hits me anew. I search for my wolf, but he's pulled away, deep in his own sorrow. I stare at my beautiful mate. "I'm sorry you weren't my mate in this life, but you will be in the next. I will be joining you soon." I brush my hand over her cheek, and then I kiss her softly on the lips. "I will see you soon, my beautiful mate." I bow my head on her chest, and then I do something that I haven't done maybe ever.

I cry.