Page 18 of Healer’s Betrayal

“No.”

We make the drive home in silence. We’re almost all the way to our apartment when I remember I promised him ice cream. I keep driving and drive into the parking lot of a McDonalds. “Ice cream cone?” I ask and climb out of the car, not waiting for his response. I eye the parking lot carefully, taking note of each car. I don’t see the men and breathe a sigh of relief as I lead Noah inside. We wait our turn to use one of the kiosks to order. While I do, I watch the parking lot. I note the moment they pull in. I can’t even see the through the tinted windows, but I know it’s them. When it’s our turn to step up and order, I pull up the ice cream cones and put in for four vanilla cones.

“Why four?” Noah asks.

“You’ll see.” I use my card and then wait. A few minutes later, two employees, each carrying two vanilla cones, walk over to us. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome; have a good day.”

I look down at Noah. “Follow me.” He nods, and I open the door and head out into the parking lot, straight for the black SUV with tinted windows. Sure enough, as soon as we get close, I recognize both of them.

The redhead’s in the driver’s seat. He turns to watch me approach. I stop right at the window. When he does nothing, I roll my eyes. “Can you roll down the window?” The window’s down a second later, and I hold out the two cones.

“What is that?”

“Seriously? It’s an ice cream cone. If you’re going to follow us everywhere, you might as well enjoy when we do.” He makes no move to take them.

“I’ll take them,” his friend says, leaning forward, trying to take both of them. The redhead takes them both from me and gives him one but holds on to the other.

The redhead puts his sunglass on top of his head and meets my gaze. “You bought us ice cream cones? Why?”

“Well, since I can’t shake you; I figured I might as well.” I take a step back. “All right then. Have a good one.”

Noah and I walk back to our car, and I take the cone Noah offers me. It’s already a drippy mess, so I lick all the way around it, trying to catch all the drips. “Mmmm. I forgot how good these are.” I glance over at Noah and watch him do the same as me, and I can’t help my smile. Life may not be perfect, but in this moment, it’s good.

Chapter 9

Jackson

I watch my mate and her brother walk away, and my brain seems to be unable to grasp what just happened. “When was the last time you had an ice cream cone?” Ransom asks. I ignore him.

My phone buzzes, and I glance down at it and scowl. I swipe. “Jackson.”

“Hey, Jackson, it’s Bryce. We made it. Where are you, so we can meet up?”

I resist the urge to growl at the alpha. “I’ll send a pin.”

“Thanks. Oh, and just FYI, the enforcer of the Northwoods Pack and his mate came as well and met us here.”

“Why?”

“Because both of our mates asked to be in on it when it was time to go after your mate.” He doesn’t have to say that having the females here isn't optional; I can hear the warning clearly in his voice.

“Okay.” When he doesn’t say anything else, I hang up the phone and toss it on the console. Frustration thrums through me at losing Kayla once again.

“Pretty sure you have to actually send the pin if they're going to meet us,” Ransom says dryly.

“Can you do it? I’m dripping ice cream everywhere.”

Ransom does it for me, and my phone pings seconds later. Ransom looks at it. “He says they’re actually in this area. He says to stay here, and they’ll meet us here.” He puts my phone back down and goes back to licking his ice cream. “What’s wrong? Why do you look like you want to murder someone.” I level a look at him. “What? You look more murderous than usual.”

“I wanted to follow her, so I don’t lose her for an entire weekend again. I need to know where she lives.” I was beyond frustrated on Friday when she somehow slipped out from right under my nose. I lost her for the entire weekend, since she never showed up at the café. And now, thanks to the alpha, I still don’t know where she lives. I push the car door open and climb out, still holding the ice cream cone. Within seconds, it’s an absolute mess, but I can’t bring myself to get rid of it. A car pulls into the McDonalds parking lot, and I know it’s the shifters and their mates. I’ve gotten a crash course on other packs and members over the last few months, more than I ever wanted. But it’s been unavoidable, especially since they’ve been coordinating efforts to find my mate. I take in the alpha of the Phoenix Pack, Bryce, as he climbs out of the car. He’s a pretty chill guy, unless he’s pushed, or unless his mate is threatened. I eye his mate, Ava, as she climbs out of the car and note her growing belly. I note it because it’s going to make dealing with her mate even more difficult. There’s no love lost between the two of us because of how we first met. I smelled my mate on her the first time I met her, and it didn’t go very well. The enforcer for the Northwoods Pack steps out next, Max. I take him in. I haven't had much interaction with him, mostly because he’s quiet. His mate? Not so much. Raechel, his mate is...strong. I hear Ransom climb out of the car and know he’s coming to stand beside me. He’s good like that.

“Huh. Never really took you for an ice cream cone sort of guy,” Raechel says with a smirk. I don’t bother responding.

“Where is she?” Ava wastes no time asking.

“Want me to get rid of that?” Ransom asks.