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"Rosie." Kai hoisted me up and spun me around in a tight embrace. "Thank Selene, you're safe."
I held him as tight as I could not completely believing he was here, but the feel of his naked body against mine, and that familiar citrus smell of his enveloping my nose confirmed he was real. "I should be saying that to you," I said in a shaky breath. "I've been so worried about you."
Kao joined in, hugging Kai and me at the same time. When he pulled apart, he took my face in his and gave me a deep, passionate kiss. "You nearly scared me half to death. I thought... I was going to lose you back there."
I shook my head. "Not a chance. I love you guys too much to die that easily." Needing my other twin to be reminded of how much I loved him, I pulled Kai in for an equally heated kiss. It was great to have my twins back with me, but Kai's return also sparked something I needed to know about. Pulling back, I looked to Kai and uttered a single name. "Joaquin?"
Since Kai was here, and I didn't see Joaquin, I was already mentally preparing myself for the worst, but the look in Kai's eyes gave me some hope. He looked off somewhere passed my shoulders and motioned for me to turn around. I did and gasped at what he wanted me to see. Byron, someone I didn't expect to see, stepped through the trees with someone on his back. I didn't know what I was most stunned about, Byron being here, or the fact that Joaquin was finally back with us.
My mates and I were reunited again.
ROSIE
"Joaquin!" I shouted and rushed to Byron and Joaquin. My mate's head was down, but I could sense whatever anguish he was feeling through our now reconnected mate bond. Something was wrong with him.
"Be careful," Byron said when I got close enough to reach out and touch my mate. He felt cold and clammy, and he was unresponsive.
"What's wrong with him? Is he going to be okay?" I asked, visibly shaking. I finally got him back and now I had a feeling I was going to lose him again just as fast.
"He's alive but he's very weak. He's inhaled a lot of wolfsbane smoke because of Pierce and has endured a lot of injuries that he couldn't heal."
I could barely hear Byron talking as my sole focus was on my mate. I didn't want to think about how much pain he went through to be in his current state. I wanted to reach down and hold his hand, but when I looked down, I nearly choked on my sobbing. His wrists were completely fried. His hands hung limply by the bone whereas the skin was charred and felt like crumbled paper. There was no way he'd be able to use his hands again, the damage to his wrists were too much for a shifter to heal, even if he was able to. My poor Joaquin. I didn't deserve him.
"Lay him on the ground," Roxanne suggested. "I can try to heal his wounds."
With the twins' help, Byron and I gently laid Joaquin on his back. His head lulled to the side, unconscious, but he was breathing. His body was covered with stitches and wounds. Gashes and scars. It took everything in me not to fall apart. While Roxanne knelt next to him and began reciting what I hoped was a healing spell, I rested Joaquin's head on my lap and ran my fingers over his cheek and through his matted hair.
"I'm sorry, Joaquin. I'm so sorry," I whispered through my tears. All I could do was sit there and apologize over and over while Roxanne worked on him. Thankfully, any open wounds Joaquin still had were closing, and the scars were fading until all that remained were fainted pink lines. Roxanne’s face began to sweat as she gritted her teeth and kept working. I didn't know how much stamina she needed to have to heal, but it looked like a lot. Joaquin's breathing settled slightly since the healing began, which relieved me, but we weren't out of the woods yet.
Joaquin stirred and opened his eyes some. "Ru... Rosie," he whispered faintly.
I shushed him. "Don't try to talk. Just rest, okay? You're safe now."
I didn't know if he heard me or not, but Joaquin's eyes closed once again.
Five minutes passed before Roxanne dropped her hands and breathed heavily. "Most of his wounds are healed, and I think any remnants of the toxins in his system are gone. However,"—she gestured towards his ruined wrists—"I don't have the strength or the knowledge to repair his wrists. The injuries are too great."
I was afraid of that.
"What'll he do now?" Kao growled with fury. "He'll likely never be able to use his hands or run in wolf form again. What's he supposed to do now?" In a rage, he slammed his fist to the ground hating that there was nothing he could do.
"He was bound with silver chains for days," Byron revealed. “The silver ate away at his skin. How he ended up staying alive the whole time was a testament to how much he loved you." He looked at me when he said that. "He loves you, Rosie. That’s what he kept saying repeatedly, even when I begged him to surrender so he wouldn't have to suffer anymore. No amount of reasoning with him would cut it, he was completely dedicated to you."
Byron's words were too much for me to contain my sorrow any longer. I let out my frustrated tears, hating that I was the reason he suffered so much. Hating him but loving him at the same time for not giving up. Once again, the people I loved had to suffer because of me and there was nothing I could do for them. Not for the first time, I wanted to ask Selene why I was chosen for this. Why was I so selfish that I pushed Joaquin to rebel against his stepbrother? Why was I once again so useless to help the people I loved?
"Rosie. Rosie, look at me." I calmed down and forced myself to look up at Rowan. "There might be way to heal his wrists."
My ears perked up at the hope in his words. "What? How? Please, Rowan, tell me how, and I'll do it."
"If he's one of your mates, then that means you've marked him and transferred some of the Wolf Moon's gift into him, yes?" At my nod, he said, "Then you may have the power to heal him."
"How can she do that?" Kai asked.
"The power of the Lycan increases our already enhanced capabilities, including healing. If Rosie can tap into the Wolf Moon's gift from her end and transfer it to this man, she may be able to restore his tattered wrists."
"That sounds easier said than done, Rowan," I pointed out. It all sounded right verbally, but I doubted that being able to tap into the Wolf Moon's gift to heal Joaquin was as simple as that.
"It is," Rowan agreed. "But I believe you can do it if you try."
