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"He will," Rowan said. "His wounds are healed, but he still needs plenty of rest to restore his strength."
That was good. If that was all Joaquin needed, then I'd leave him be for now. I only hope he'd wake up soon.
"You did good, honey. I'm proud of you." Grandma pulled me to her side and kissed my temple.
Unfolding my arms, I wrapped them around her, needing to lean on my grandmother for that motherly comfort that only she could give me. "I'm glad to have you back, Abuelita."
"I'm glad to be back too, Rosalinda. You've done a great job getting yourself this far. Your parents would've been proud of you, too."
I wasn't sure about all of that. After all, Mom didn't want me knowing about the Wolf Moon's gift in the first place. If anything, this probably would've been aI told you somoment for her. Dad, I believed he'd be proud of me. Honestly, I hoped they both were. I wished they were here with us. I wished I had their guidance, their advice. It was hard trying to make all the important decisions on my own and hoped they were the right ones.
Adulting, am I right?
Backing away from Grandma, I walked over to Rowan. Before I had the chance to chicken out, I stood on my tiptoes and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek. Rowan's widened gaze regarded me like I'd slapped him rather than kiss him.
"Thank you, Rowan. Your help has been a blessing for me."
It took another second before Rowan shook off the surprised look. "It's an honor and a pleasure to be able to help you. I think Marissa would've been glad to know that you were now taking her place as the Wolf Moon's Chosen."
I blushed at his praise. "I don't know about that."
"I do. I knew I spotted something special that night when I came to save you. I'll do everything I can to help you learn more about your abilities, and together, we'll stop this fated mate of yours, and take back your home."
I did not miss how his words made my stomach do a strange somersault, or how I wanted that kiss on his cheek to have been on his lips. I didn't know if he could potentially be one of my chosen mates, and I wasn't sure he'd want to be. He was definitely the oldest of my men, and I didn't think he'd be interested in someone like me. But there was also something between us. Though it was brief, I felt it the other day. Maybe there was a chance?
There was a very loud throat clearing sound that came from my grandmother, and I wanted to hide my head in shame. "Well, why don't you two step outside and figure out what those betas that came with Byron want. In the meantime, I'll clean up Joaquin, and start prepping for dinner. We got a lot more mouths to feed."
Shit, I forgot there were other wolves that came with Del, Kai and Byron. The added reinforcements helped cement our victory during this attack, but there was still the matter of why they were here in the first place, and how Pierce knew to look for me here.
"We do head out, don't you think?" Rowan asked as he reached out and took my hand in his. The simple gesture didn't help my racing heart, but I did love how his hand felt in mine. I wondered what it would feel like in other parts of my body?
Wolves. Our friends. Right. We had things that needed our attention right now.
I cleared my throat and gripped his meaty hand in mine. "Right. Let's go talk to everyone."
I didn't miss his amused look, but I refused to acknowledge it or my grandmother's obvious smirk. When we stepped out of the cabin together, all sense of joy died down as I took in everyone huddled together. Del, Javier, Caleb and Raph stood off to the side. Sabina and Roxanne hung by the porch. That left the twins with Byron, and I counted eleven other shifters who seemed to have accompanied Byron on the long trek here.
Grandma was right, that was a lot of mouths to feed.
I didn't even know what to say to them, or who they were. Some of the faces were familiar from my one and only full moon gathering at Kingsrose. Maybe they were all from Kingsrose.
"How's Joaquin?" Byron spoke up first.
"He'll be fine," I said, then figuring I should acknowledge our new guests. "I want to thank you guys for your help and bravery. You fought valiantly, and I'll never forget it."
"These are what remain of the betas from Kingsrose," Bryon said, gesturing to the shifters in general. "They came with me after I told them what Pierce was planning."
"What do you mean? What is Pierce planning?"
"According to Byron, he's plotting an all-out massacre in Kingsrose." One of the betas stepped forward, a younger man who looked closer to my age with a mop of dark, curly hair. He knelt and presented his throat to me like he would an alpha. "Pierce is going to let rogue wolves invade Kingsrose and slaughter anybody he sees fit, whether human or shifter. Kingsrose is going to turn into a bloodbath if he isn't stopped."
My face paled at the news. "You're joking," I said to Byron.
He shook his head. "I'm not. I heard Pierce confirm it personally. He's been consolidating with a strange man who calls himself Mordred. The rogues seem to be following his orders and is working with Pierce to find and kill you so they can take the Wolf Moon's gift. Pierce wants to rid himself of everyone he deems unworthy in Kingsrose and forge a new pack with these rogues and any betas who still follow him, then use the Wolf Moon's gift to power them up and control him."
This was worse than I thought. Pierce was going to slaughter anybody he chooses and form an army of cruel Lycans that will be under his command. If that happened, there'd be no pack in existence who'd be strong enough to stop him. And the guy that Pierce was working with, Mordred, what was his deal? Who was he, and what was he getting out of this partnership? Unless...
Unless this also had to do with the New Moon's Curse.
