Chapter 17
Rose
I stare at him. “You changed your mind?”
He looks up from the menu. “Am I not allowed to change my mind?”
Thankfully, the rest of the crew joins us, and I feel like I can finally take a full breath. I also feel like I made a mistake sitting across from Maverick. When nobody takes the seat next to him, I feel bad but only for a moment. It’s his own fault. Ava slides in next to me, and Sam sits on her other side. Wyatt sits across from Sam, leaving an empty seat between him and Maverick.
“So, what’s good here, Maverick?” Wyatt asks, looking completely relaxed and at ease, the exact opposite of what I’m currently feeling.
“Don’t know,” he responds. I glance at him for just a moment, wondering if he likes it that people don’t like him. Or maybe, he wants that.
“You’ve never eaten here before?” Sam asks.
“Nope. Don’t make a habit of going out when there’s free dinner back at the pack house.”
My stomach clenches as I feel the tension ramp up again. I eye Wyatt, wondering if he’s going to let things be with Maverick or if he’s going to make an issue with it. “All right. Looks like we’re on our own, Sam. Well, I know what I’m going to get.” Wyatt closes his menu. “You can never go wrong with steak and a baked potato.”
“You could live off of steak and baked potatoes,” Sam says with a small smile. I can tell she’s nervous but is trying to put on a brave face. A waitress comes to take our order, and I ask for a water. Maverick orders a black coffee and a water, which doesn’t surprise me in the least. Thankfully, Wyatt keeps a steady stream of conversation going and manages to pull Ava and me into the conversation he and Sam are carrying. Maverick stays quiet, but at least he isn’t insulting anybody right now. I consider that a win. Our meals come, and that helps too because it’s a distraction from the awkwardness.
“Mmm, that looks good, Rose. What did you get?” Sam asks.
“Tomato bisque soup and a chicken salad croissant.” I take a bite of soup and relish the taste. “It’s really good.” Then I take a bite of my croissant and nearly gag. I force myself to chew and swallow and then drown the bite with tons of water and make myself not gag.
“What?” Maverick asks across from the table.
I shake my head. “There’s egg in the chicken salad.”
He frowns. “Are you allergic?”
“No. I just hate eggs.” I nearly gag again at the thought of it.
“You don’t eat anything with eggs?” he asks.
“I can eat baked stuff with eggs but not like eggs by themselves—hard boiled eggs, egg salad, fried eggs, scrambled.” I shudder.
“So, no eggs,” he says dryly. Then he shocks me by putting half his roast beef sandwich on my plate. I stare at it a moment before looking back at him. I pick it up and move to put it back on his plate.
“I’m fine. I have the soup.”
“Keep it.” His words are final.
“Do you want my chicken salad croissant?” I ask. He looks at me like I just asked him to sacrifice his first-born child. I bite back a smile; I don’t know why it makes me smile, but it does. “Thank you,” I say softly. I would think he doesn’t hear me because he doesn’t acknowledge me, but I know he heard me because of his shifter hearing. I take a bite of the sandwich he gave me. It’s really good.
Wyatt’s in the middle of a story when Maverick abruptly shoves his chair back.
“Healer, you’re with me.” I stare up at him with a blank expression. “We’re leaving.” I look down at my food and then back at him.
“I...now?”
“Maverick, if you need to leave, we can take Rose back,” Wyatt says calmly.
“She needs to go with me.”
Sam and Ava both eye me uneasily. I don’t really know what his problem is, but I am not going to ruin everybody else’s meal. “Okay,” I say and grab my wallet.
Wyatt gives Maverick a look I’m glad I’m not on the receiving end of. “I’m not sure what the problem is, but just let Rose stay here with her friends and enjoy her meal. I’ll make sure she gets back safely. I give you my word.” He speaks in a low, quiet voice; but I can hear him clearly.
“Like your word means anything,” Maverick responds and I squeeze my hands and stand up quickly.
“It’s fine. I’ll see you guys when you get back.” I hurry around to the other side of the table. “Just let me know what I owe you for my meal,” I tell Sam. She gives me a concerned look that I don’t respond to. I start to walk past the table, but Wyatt stands and cuts me off.
“Rose, you don’t have to leave. Want me to deal with him?”
I feel Maverick come close behind me. “It’s fine.” I give Wyatt a pleading look; I really don’t want to make a scene.
“You have a problem, Pup?” Maverick asks. I squeeze my fists. I hate it when he does that. Wyatt is an alpha, and yet Maverick treats him like he’s a little kid.
“Yeah, I have a problem,” Wyatt says, stepping closer, sandwiching me in between the two men. “If you want to go, go; but let Rose stay with her friends and finish her meal.”
“Wyatt,” Sam says quietly from the table, and he glances over at her.
“I’m going to give you five seconds to get out of our way, or I’m going to make you get out of the way,” Maverick says in a low voice.
“Okay, okay,” I say desperately. “It’s fine. I’m fine, Wyatt. I’ll see you later.” He glances down at me, and I can see the anger in his eyes. I look away quickly because I don’t want to add any fuel to the fire. I reach blindly behind me and grab Maverick’s arm. “We’re leaving.” I tug, but he doesn’t move. I look up at Wyatt. “Please,” I whisper. His jaw tightens, but he steps aside. I walk past, praying Maverick will just follow me and not do anything stupid. I walk through the restaurant with my shoulders tense. We make it outside and to his car, and I sit in the passenger seat with nerves coiled tight.
“Do I manhandle you?” he asks, shattering the silence.
“What?” I ask in confusion.
“Do I manhandle you?” he repeats each word slowly and distinctly.
“Uh, no?”
“Then don’t do that to me. Don't touch me to try to get me to do something. That’s twice you’ve done that.”
I stare at him, open-mouthed. “Then don’t be a jerk.” I blink, shocked that I said that and then quickly look away.
It's quiet as we pull away. Maverick drives fast and aggressively, and I hang on for dear life. “Do you have to kill us on the way back?” I manage. He doesn’t bother responding. We make it back quickly, and I get out of the car as fast as I can. I just want to go to my room and try to forget this night.
“Healer.” His voice stops me, and I grind my teeth together. “This way.”
I spin around at the absolute end of my patience. “What, Maverick?”
“You’re needed. This way.” He cocks his head, and I stare at him.
“What are you talking about?”
I can see the change on his face as he steps towards me. He looks angry, and it scares me. I take a step back, and he shocks me by going still. His gaze meets mine a moment before he looks away, and I swear I saw a flicker of guilt. But when he looks back, there’s nothing there. “Amber’s sick.” Those two words reach out and grab my attention.
“Amber?” Panic claws at my chest. “And Paige?”
“Not yet.” His words are solemn.
“Why didn’t you say something?” I ask even as I walk after him.
“You were busy trying to ignore me, and that idiot was trying to keep you there.”
"Wyatt’s not an idiot,” I mumbled.
“You sure about that?” he asks, and I ignore him.
“When did she get sick?” I ask as we walk quickly through the building.
“Don’t know. Cade reached out after our meals came.”
I glance up at him, tucking this information away. So, he wasn’t being a jerk just to be a jerk. Now that I know what’s going on, I can see how his actions were out of worry—not that it excuses him being a jerk. When we get to their apartment, Maverick says a few words to the shifter on security, and I knock on the door. Cade nearly rips the door off its hinges when he pulls it open. “Rose,” he says in relief. “Come on in.”
I follow him into the apartment. My eyes seek out Amber and Paige. I walk over to the bedroom door that’s open and see Amber lying in bed, but I don’t see Paige anywhere. “Paige?” I ask Cade.
“As soon as I realized Amber was sick, I sent her with a pack member to another apartment.”
“Was she exhibiting any signs?” He shakes his head. “Okay, good. I’ll check her when we’re done here.” I put my phone and wallet down and approach the bed Amber’s lying on.
She rolls over and faces me and frowns. “You should be wearing protective gear.”
“Oh.” I didn’t even think of it in my rush to get here. “It’s okay. I’ve already had it.” I don’t really know if that makes a difference, but it is what it is. I’m already here; I’m already exposed. Cade obviously is too, but I don’t say anything. “All right. What are we dealing with?”
“She slept in this morning because she said she said she wasn’t feeling good,” Cade says. He shakes his head. “I should have realized what it was, but I didn’t. I took Paige with me and let her sleep. Every time I checked on her, she was sleeping, so I just let her sleep. Paige hasn’t been sleeping great at nights, so I figured she was just tired from that. But when I came back a little while ago, her muscles were spasming.”
I nod, knowing exactly where this is going. I look over in time to see a shudder pass through Amber. Her eyes are wide when she meets my eyes. “It’s okay,” I tell her in a calm voice. “It hasn’t been long. We’ll get you healed and back to normal in a jiffy.”
“What do I do?” Cade asks.
Knowing he needs a job and needs to feel close, I tell him, “Go on her other side and hold her hand. This won’t take long; I really don’t think it’s had time to take hold.” Cade goes to the other side of the bed and pulls her into his arms and kisses her temple. The scene is so tender, it makes me swallow and look away a moment. When he’s settled, I move close. “You know what to expect because you’ve been through this when Paige was born.” Sage was here to help heal her during the birth process. “Just try to relax as much as you can. This will be over soon.” I pull up her shirt and close my eyes and take a deep breath. I let my power rise to the surface. When my fingers start tingling, I touch her stomach and let my power flow into her. I direct the healing towards her heart and find her aorta. This is how I’ve been healing each person that gets this poison in their system. I begin the process of healing her blood. Surprisingly, I find that it’s already taken a strong hold. I mentally tuck that away. That means that once somebody is already at the stage of muscle spasms and involuntary shivers, the poison is already taking over. I try not to think of what that means and keep focusing on healing her.