Disclaimer: Don't own Mercy Thompson Series

Facing the Future

Mercy looked into Jesse's room as Jesse sat with Gabriel, she hadn't spoken to him seriously since her father got full custody of her so he had no idea what she had went through. Mercy was afraid of how Gabriel would react to what he was being told. She kept walking, all the while hoping that things would be okay for them.

Gabriel listened as Jesse described what her mother's boyfriend had done to her, all the while doing his best to rein in his temper. He didn't even know the man and he hated him, but that knowledge wouldn't do Jesse any good and he knew it so he hugged Jesse as she began to sob.

"It's okay, Jesse, I won't let him put his hands on you again." Gabriel vowed.

"Thank you." Jesse replied cuddling into Gabriel's shoulder unaware that her father, Adam, was standing there watching.

Gabriel made eye contact with Adam for the briefest of moments then looked away respectfully. Adam could tell there was no challenge in the young man's eyes that he was just acknowledging that he was there. Adam could also see that he and Gabriel were on the same page, if they saw Christy or her ex on the streets it would be war. Gabriel then leaned his cheek against the top of Jesse's head in an affectionate gesture that made Adam wonder if Gabriel was really interested in Jesse. He would have to have a talk with him if that was the case.

That evening Gabriel had to make a trip to the store so he drove himself out to the grocery store to get some necessities.

Warren was also at the same grocery store, it was quiet, the parking lot was almost completely abandoned which suited Warren and his wolf just fine. They had heard rumors about a rogue in the area but since there were no attacks to speak of they had put little credence in the rumor. That wasn't to say they weren't on alert, they were but they were pretty sure they wouldn't have any issues.

Warren made his purchases and was about to get in his truck to leave when the smells of fear, fresh blood and strange werewolf hit him in the face. He recognized Gabriel's scent in among the other scents that hit him and his heart plummeted to the ground. He had put the groceries in the bed of the truck and made a beeline for the source of the scent. It didn't take him long to kill the rogue werewolf in question, but Gabriel was in very bad shape; Warren figured if he survived he would become a werewolf. The question was, would he survive?

Adam answered his phone on the second ring and Warren filled him in on everything that had happened. It only took a few minutes for Adam and Mary Jo to arrive on scene to take care of Gabriel.

"What are we going to do about Jesse, there is no way we're going to be able to hide this from her." Warren asked as Silvia pulled up by Adam's truck and joined them.

"Dios mios!" she said.

"Ma'am, I know this looks bad, but he's already healing which is an extremely good sign." Adam told her.

"What does that mean?" she asked.

"It means your son has a chance to live, but he won't be the same… he will become a werewolf." Adam answered. "I'm not going to sugar coat this; the odds of him dying are extremely high, but my pack will do everything in our power to give him the best possible chance of survival."

Silvia followed Adam to the house having gotten a close friend to come watch her other children.

"Is this because he associates with you?" she asked as they entered the house.

"No ma'am, I don't believe it was." Adam said "this was a rogue and he could have just as easily been attacked had he had no knowledge of werewolves beyond what is on television. When a rogue hunts he doesn't care if someone knows what a werewolf is or not, prey is prey, we were lucky that Warren was there to keep the rogue from killing him outright." he said as they got upstairs to where the wolves were working on Gabriel.

Silvia jumped at the sound of an infant crying from just behind a door that wasn't quite closed all the way. She had no idea there was a baby in the house young enough to sound like that when he or she cried. She had heard of the preschooler that had recently moved out with her werewolf single father but she had been unaware of any wolves with infants joining the pack, not that she kept up with the pack or anything like that.

"Excuse me, I need to check on my son." Adam said and slipped in the room leaving the door open.

Silvia followed him and saw him holding a baby to his shoulder that she estimated couldn't have been more than a month or two old.

"Come in." Adam said. "This is my son, Bryan."

"Your… your son?" Silvia said trying to make sure she heard him right.

"Yes," Adam replied.

"Who is his mother?" she asked, she was aware that Adam and Mercy had been dating but since she hadn't spoken to her son since their fallout she didn't know if they had become more serious or not.

"Mercy, she and I got married and then we had him." He said.

"Congratulations." Silvia said sincerely "he is handsome"

"Thank you."

They went back into the hallway, Adam still holding little Bryan on his shoulder. Samuel had arrived while they were in the other room along with Nicolette and they were helping Mary Jo tend to Gabriel's wounds.

"How is he?" Adam asked.

"Samuel says he's doing well, but there is no doubt he's just become one of us." Warren said then looked to see Adam holding Bryan securely at his shoulder.

"Is everything okay?" he asked.

"Yes, Bryan just woke up fussy," Adam replied.

"You mean woke up hungry." Mercy countered taking Bryan from Adam; she then noticed Silvia and the turmoil came into sharp focus.

"The victim…"

"It was Gabriel" Silvia said.

"They will take very good care of him." Mercy said then excused herself to go feed Bryan in private. She couldn't squash the fear of how Jesse would react to finding out.

Silvia went to sit with Gabriel and Mercy went into hers and Adam's room to get privacy to breastfeed Bryan. Adam didn't join her but Warren knocked and she invited him in, not at all modest about Warren seeing her breastfeeding her newborn.

"How is he?" She asked.

"Healing quickly, he woke for a few minutes, Adam let his mom take over the kitchen and she's making fajitas with Auriele's help." Warren sat beside her "She was told Gabriel would need to eat when he woke up and she said she might not be able to change this but she can comfort him with her own home cooking."

"Yeah there are days when I miss my foster mother's cooking." Mercy admitted as she finished feeding and got Bryan to burp before putting him to bed.

Silvia and Auriele were having a soft conversation in Spanish when Warren and Mercy entered the kitchen. Silvia had checked on her other children and found out they were fed and getting ready for bed without argument. She hadn't told them what had happened to their brother as she didn't want to scare them needlessly.

Mercy sat down and noticed a large pile of homemade tortillas that she figured would be more than enough to feed the werewolves and humans present. She later learned that Silvia made tortillas when she was upset in the same way that she baked when she was upset.

They fixed a plated of fajita tacos rice and beans for Gabriel who had woke hungry as predicted. Adam started to take the plate but Silvia slipped past him calling back she wanted to feed her wounded son herself almost as an afterthought.

The rest were fed buffet style, meaning they got what they wanted except for Samuel who was staying close to Gabriel so Nicolette made him a plate and took it to him before fixing her own and sitting down to eat.

To be continued...