Page 36 of Healer’s Reckoning (The Healer’s #3)

Cha pter 36

Ava

I head towards the bathroom, only to find a hand at my elbow. Bryce pulls me around a corner. “What’s wrong?” His face and voice are intense.

This is not the time or place for the conversation we need to have. “I’m good.” I keep my face blank.

His eyes narrow on my face. “What did Wyatt and Max want?”

“Nothing. They were just checking how things were going.”

He’s quiet a moment. “You’d tell me if you need something, right?”

“Of course.”

He reaches out a hand but then drops it, and I feel sick because I think maybe Max was right. He turns his head to the side and scowls. “I’ve got to go check on something. I’ll be back.” He strides across the room, and I head down the hallway once again to find the bathroom.

“Ava.”

I turn at the sound of my name and stiffen when I see Jackson striding towards me. I study the leader of the group of rogue shifters, wondering if this is going to end badly, like last time. I look behind him. “I don’t think it’s a good idea—”

“I didn’t mean to scare you.” There’s a certain kind of wildness to this man, but I can see he’s trying.

“You didn’t scare me,” I admit. “Bryce doesn’t exactly appreciate it, though, when you talk to me.”

He makes a face. “Yeah. Listen, I’ve been waiting for a chance to talk to you when he wasn’t around, and I probably won’t get this chance again.” I start to get nervous, but his next words take me by surprise. “I know you’re not my mate.” He makes that same face again. “But I swear I smelled my mate on you that night. Now when I catch your scent, it doesn’t smell anything like before.”

I scrunch up my nose. “Uh, thanks?”

“I need to know. Did you run into anybody that day? Anybody that wasn’t at that party that night and hasn’t been since then?”

I stare up at him. “You want to know who I might have possibly run into on a certain day weeks ago?”

“Yes.” I laugh; I don’t mean to.

He steps closer. “There is nothing funny about this. I smelled my mate that night...on you. Now, I need you to remember.” I can feel his desperation, and it makes me nervous.

“I’m sorry. I can’t help—”

He reaches out and grabs my arm, and I go still. “Please,” his eyes are desperate, but then they start to change. “I need to find my mate. What if she’s hurt somewhere, and she needs me?” His words get deeper, and I know that his wolf is present. I don’t make any sudden movements. My heart starts racing; I don’t know how I’m going to get away from him. Suddenly, he’s ripped away from me and thrown into the wall, and I stumble backwards.

“I told you what would happen if you ever came near my mate again.” I barely recognize Bryce’s voice. He hauls Jackson up against the wall and hits him.

“Wait, Bryce, he didn’t do anything,” I shout at him, but it does nothing. I try pulling on his back, but he doesn’t stop. Jackson doesn’t fight back at first, but then he must realize that Bryce is serious about killing him, and he starts to defend himself. They exchange brutal blows. “Stop! Both of you stop!”

And then I’m pulled aside as Bryce’s men join the fight. Cody and another guy work on prying Bryce off Jackson, while Hunter and somebody else pull Jackson back. Bryce throws off both his guys in a rage, and they grab him again and slam him into the wall, trying to contain him; but they can’t. And then Max and Garrett show up. “Don’t hurt him,” I call out, angered by all of this. Bryce gets several good hits in, and it takes Max and Garrett both struggling to finally restrain him.

“I told you not to stir up any problems,” Maverick growls as he and Eli push into the crowd and pull Jackson away from the group.

Jackson jerks towards me. “Just tell me where she is!” he all but roars at me. He gets free of Maverick and Eli, and then he grabs me again. This time he makes the mistake of hurting me. His claws are extended, so when he grabs me, he slices through my arm. Blood immediately pools on my arm, and that’s when Bryce completely loses control. He shifts and charges Jackson. Several wolves show up and go at Bryce. I can only assume it’s the rogue wolves fighting with Jackson. I’m dragged out of the fight by somebody.

“Shift now!” Garrett’s thunderous voice rings out, and most of the wolves shift back into their human form.

I can’t see clearly what’s going on, but I can still hear snarling and growling. And then Hunter calls for me. “Ava.” I walk around the group and advance to where Hunter and Garrett are standing. There’s a huge wolf at their back that I think is Max’s wolf. The rest of the group has finally been cleared out. “We need you to get him to calm down.”

“Me?” I ask. I eye the huge white wolf that’s baring its teeth at everyone and has his hackles raised. “I...uh...I don’t think so.”

“You’re the only one who can,” Garrett says in a tense voice. I feel the tension all around me.

“I think you’ve all lost your minds,” I mutter as I walk slowly towards the stand-off.

“He won’t hurt you,” Hunter says.

“We’ll be right here to make sure you’re safe,” Garrett says without taking his eyes off the snarling, growling wolf. Bryce growls ferociously at that and to my horror launches at Garrett. I don’t even think.

“Bryce, no!” I yell even as I move in front of the enraged wolf. One minute the wolf’s coming at me, the next I’m rolling across the floor wrapped up in a human. It takes me a moment to realize what happened.

Bryce is in my face before I can get my bearings. “Are you okay? Did I hurt you?” His face is right in front of my own.

I blink, trying to get my bearings. “Are you naked?” Of all the things I meant to ask, that wasn’t it.

“Yes.” His answer is swift and without an ounce of embarrassment.

“Oh. Okay then.” What do you even say to that? I try to look around him to see if anybody is still nearby watching the show, but he blocks my view entirely.

“Did I hurt you?” he repeats. I shake my head. He takes a breath and then scowls. “Don’t ever do that again. Let’s get your arm looked at.” His words are a growl, and I’m worried we’re headed right back down the same road.

“Bryce, we need to talk.” His head jerks up, and he studies my face. His face is expressionless, and I wonder what he’s thinking.

“But first, you need to put clothes on.”

He studies my face a moment longer before he stands to his feet and extends a hand to me. He grabs a pair of sweatpants somebody graciously provided and pulls them on while I look the other way. When I turn back, he shoves his gun into the back of his pants. A moment later, he steps close. “Can I see your arm?” I hold out my arm for his inspection. He growls low in his chest, but I don’t say anything. “It needs stitches.”

“I can ask Rose to heal it.” He looks at me expectantly. “Right now?” I ask.

“Yes, so you’re not in pain.”

I let my eyes drift over his chest for just a moment. My breath snags a moment. “Uh, maybe could you put a shirt on first?”

“I’ll grab one as soon as you’re healed.”

He seems oblivious to the fact that he looks like a walking Calvin Klein model as he walks towards the main room. Maverick and Garrett stand nearby. Bryce stops in front of Maverick. “Can your mate heal mine?”

Maverick doesn’t look too happy. “You in control?”

Bryce levels his own look at him. “I won’t hurt your mate.”

“You’re right. You won’t,” Maverick says. “I’ll get her, but you’re staying over here while she does it. It will only take a few minutes,” he says when Bryce tries to argue.

“Fine.” Bryce doesn’t move back towards me. I watch as Maverick gets Rose and walks back towards us.

“I’m sorry,” Rose says as soon as she sees my arm. “This will just take a few seconds.” I nod, and she gets to work. I watch Bryce as she does it to make sure he’s not going to lose control. The wound closes, and the pain subsides.

“Thanks, Rose.”

“Of course.” She glances at Bryce and then back at me. “You good?”

I nod. “Yes. Thank you.”

As soon as she’s done, I turn to Bryce who’s only a few steps away. I close the distance between us and take his hand, pulling him after me. He allows me to and follows me. “Where are we going?” I don’t answer because I don’t exactly know. I just know we need a private place, and I don’t know where that is. “Mav said we can have room 217 if we want.” His voice is low and gruff. I nod my head and take us to a set of steps. When we get to the room, I’m thankful to find it’s unlocked. I push it open and wait for him to follow me inside before closing and locking the door. Then I turn to face him and promptly freeze. I take in the tall, incredibly toned and muscular male standing in front of me and lose everything I was going to say.

“Ava, don’t ever do that again. I could have hurt you.”

I shake my head. “You would never hurt me, Bryce.”

“What if I hadn’t shifted in time?” His eyes look haunted.

“You did. I knew you would. I was never worried.”

He closes his eyes a moment, and I can almost see his fight for control. “Just don’t ever do that again, please.”

“I’ll try not to.” It’s the best I can do. I take a step towards him. “Bryce, we need to talk.” He goes still. “I’m worried about you.” I pause and then soldier on. “Max said it’s because we haven’t mated yet. Is that true? Are you losing control over your wolf because of me?”

He scowls. “Max should mind his own business. I didn’t even know the guy talked.”

“Bryce, is that true?”

“I’m fine.”

“But if you’re not—” I start.

“I’m fine.”

“Bryce—”

“Ava. Look at me.” I tilt my head up. “I am not going to rush you into something that you’re not ready for. I’m fine; you have to trust me.”

“But Hunter said back at the packhouse that you’re not sleeping and not eating,” I argue.

“I do eat, and I do sleep.” I pin him with a look. “Yes, my wolf is on edge. I don’t eat a ton, but it’s not like I’m not eating.”

“And sleeping?” I push. He doesn’t say anything. “Bryce?”

He sighs. “I sit in your room at night.”

“What? That sounds really creepy.”

“You don’t sleep well at night because of the nightmares.” He meets my gaze head-on. “You sleep better when I’m in the room.” He shrugs. “So, I stay in there at night, so you can sleep.”

I stare at him, slack-jawed as I think about the fact that I have been sleeping better. I hadn’t really even thought about it, but I haven’t had nightmares like I normally do. “Why didn’t you say something?”

He reaches out a hand and then drops it. “Ava, it’s my job to take care of you and protect you. If that means sitting in your room every night so you can actually sleep, then that’s what I’ll do.”

This guy. I’m so overcome with emotion, I don’t even know what to do. I do the only thing that I hope will help him realize that I’m falling helplessly for him. I kiss him.