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At the mention of Kai's name, my heart tightened. "Are they okay?"
"I think so. They didn't look at me like what happened with Roxanne. Maybe since I'm not Moon Chosen, she couldn't detect me."
"Rosie, you try it now," Kao said, pointing to the Blue Moon symbol. "If you touch it and Del senses you, then we know what Raph said is true."
I didn't argue with that. I went along with it, partly to test Raph's hypothesis, but also because I wanted to see for myself if Kai was okay. Not being able to sense his presence was making me sick with worry. I followed the same pattern of pressing my fingers on the symbol and closing my eyes. I didn't know what was happening until a flash of light temporarily blinded me, then suddenly I was seeing images. I saw the rose gardens surrounding the pack lodge, the neighborhood roads empty of people this late at night, a handful of wolf shifters roaming behind buildings but sticking to the shadows. Then I saw the Kingsrose sign just outside the town, followed by two bodies huddling out of sight. It was them; I could see them. Kai was crouched behind Del, fully clothed and waiting for something.
Del,my mind called to her. I didn't think she'd sense me until her head whipped to the side, and our eyes briefly connected.
"Rosie?" Her saying my name like a question was all I heard before the images left my mind. My eyes shot open as I gasped, pulling my hand away and stepping back. I felt like I was submerged in water and was now gasping for air the moment my head shot out of the water. Caleb and Kao reacted with haste, grabbing my arms and keeping me steady on my feet.
"Rosie? Rosie, talk to me. Are you okay?" Kao panicked.
"Yeah." I gulped. "Raph's right. Del may not have noticed Javier, but she certainly noticed me."
"So, anybody who's Moon Chosen can sense if another Moon Chosen is trying to find them, but someone who isn't is completely secluded from view. Imagine if a bad guy used this to find Del, or Rosie, or anyone else that's Moon Chosen," Raph concluded.
"If Alpha Pierce got his hands on it, there's nowhere Rosie can hide that Pierce won't find her," Kao said, an etch of fear in each word.
"I can think of worse people who could make use of the Moon Dial. Imagine if Del hadn't killed her father, and he and the rest of the wolf hunters got their hands on it," Roxanne said, her fingers running along the edge of the disc.
I shivered at the thought. I hadn't thought about the time they kidnapped me all that much since my mind was occupied with more pressing matters, but it was still a traumatic event. My former pack could've gone extinct like so many others, and now that we knew Del had the Blue Moon's gift, there was no telling what could've happened to the other Moon Chosen if she was still on the hunters' side.
"There are other mythical creatures and spellcasters who would also love to use this in hopes of finding and stealing the Moon Chosen's gifts," Roxanne added.
"And it wouldn't matter if the enemy was Moon Chosen since any that try to look for others is exposed to the one they're looking for," Javier said.
Raph sighed. "Now we know how this works, I honestly nervous to leave this here on its own, knowing some shady fucker can use this to find any of you girls and not be detected."
"But Roxanne said that nobody else other than the Moon Chosen and their mates can walk in here," Caleb said.
"That's not what I said," Roxanne countered. "I said its location is known to the Moon Chosen and their mates, but anybody can step in once they find the clearing. Someone would just need to follow us."
Now I was the one feeling nervous about leaving the Moon Dial unguarded if anybody could just walk in like it was nothing. Then again, it lasted this long without it falling into the wrong hands, right?
Kao shrugged. "Well, thank Mother Moon nobody followed us then, right?"
Roxanne opened her mouth to say something, but then stiffened and remained silent in an instant.
I looked to her in confusion. "Roxanne? What's wrong?"
"Shh," Roxanne shushed, holding up a finger to silence us while her head tilted to the side, her face stern with concentration. "Kao, I think you jinxed us."
That had us all on alert. "What do you mean?" Caleb asked.
"I mean, I don't think we're alone."
I gasped, looking around as if I could spot the intruders, but all I saw was darkness.
"How many?" Javier asked.
"Twenty," Roxanne said. "Wolf shifters."
"Do you think they came from Pierce's pack?" Kao whispered to me.
"I don't know," I said truthfully. I saw pack members patrolling around Kingsrose, but that didn't mean Pierce hadn't sent others to look for me. Maybe Pierce ran out of patience waiting for me to come to him, so he was now hunting me down.
"It doesn't matter where they came from. All that matters is we get rid of them before they get their hands on the Moon Dial, or mine and Rosie's gifts," Roxanne said before giving orders. "We need to keep them from entering here. You guys step out of the clearing and fend them off. I'll stay behind and protect it. Rosie, you stay with me just in case any of them get through."
