The corridor twisted like a living thing beneath the castle. Cold stone. Ancient shadows. Each step further from the ritual chamber made her skin feel thinner — like something had been peeled back and not put properly in place again.
Aeron walked in silence ahead of her. His robes barely made a sound, but the magic on them… buzzed. She could feel it. He seemed to be deep in thought.
Jax caught up to her and grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze. She looked at him, so grateful he was there. Her expression nearly broke him. He pulled her closer wrapping his arm around her waist and kissed her temple as they walked.
His scent calmed her nerves before her mind caught up. He felt like home.
They reached a heavy, rune-etched door at the end of the corridor.
Aeron pressed his palm to the wood. Light shimmered beneath his hand, unlocking it with a soft click.
He stepped inside first.
His large study was almost the size of a corridor. It was dim and full of strange artifacts — shelves crammed with weathered books, glass jars full of powders and dried herbs, weapons that pulsed with dormant enchantments. A map of the continent was pinned to one wall, covered in notes.
Nova hesitated in the doorway. Her pulse hadn't slowed since the ritual.
Aeron turned, arching a brow. "Come in, Nova."
She stepped forward, out of Jax's arm. But, before the door could close, Jax entered.
Aeron didn't react beyond a slight shift of his gaze. "Very well," he said mildly amused. "You can stay. Please shut the door."
Jax did. Quietly. But firmly.
Nova felt a quiet warmth unfurl in her chest — a steady glow that reached all the way to her soul. Jax wanted to be here, with her. No grand declarations. No expectations. Just him, showing up again and again in small, quiet ways that meant everything. This was just another act of quiet care on a growing list she couldn't stop replaying in her mind.
How lucky was she—that someone like him actually wanted her?
What she felt wasn't just longing. It was deeper. A pull that gripped her from the inside, steady and unstoppable. Her body ached for his touch, yes—but her heart… her heart was already in motion. It was already his.
She was falling in love with him. Completely. Irrevocably. And gods, that both terrified and thrilled her.
Aeron regarded her for a long moment before speaking. "You're not bound like the others. Not just linked by blood, but recognized. That room… it didn't just witness your joining. It responded to you."
Nova swallowed. "Did you hear them?"
"Yes. But not like you did, I'm sure." Aeron circled to the other side of the table, his expression unreadable. "Something ancient passed through you."
He tapped the center of the table, where a thick, leather-bound tome lay. The cover shimmered faintly with silver script — unreadable at first glance.
"I wanted to show you this after the joining," he said, opening the book. "It's written in an archaic dialect. Older than Lunaglyphs. Possibly predating the packs themselves."
Nova blinked. "That's the same language as the book –"
"Yes, the one I told you not to read without me."
Aeron stared at her as if seeing through her, and added, "The one you read anyway."
Jax glanced at her sharply.
Nova flushed. "I only opened it for a second—"
"And you channeled something you couldn't control," Aeron said evenly. "Just like tonight."
The room was quiet for a moment.
"I suppose that is fair." She said, swallowing. Her mind was racing, but her gaze was steady.
"What are you thinking?" Aeron said. "Don't insult me by saying you weren't."
The truth was she hadn't told Aeron about the fortune teller, and she'd been having dreams.
Jax was standing right there and she didn't want to scare him with that. She decided with a partial truth. Something she hadn't revealed to him but not the fortune teller.
"The basin where the flame was, I've seen one similar before." She said.
"Every pack has one. In Ashbane?" Jax said
"No, I never saw the one in Ashbane if that is the case." She said.
"Was it the exact basin we used, in that room?" Aeron asked.
She shook her head once. "I've seen a few… but one I keep seeing is in this castle."
"Where?" Aeron asked.
"In the library... in a dream" Nova said, face flushing red. She knew how ridiculous that sounded.
"You've been spending too much time there." Aeron said. "And that's not what you were thinking of. But no matter, that's not why you're here."
Nova looked down and swallowed. He didn't know the half of it.
Aeron exhaled through his nose. "Kaelith is dramatic."
Nova nodded, "About my death?"
"She's wrong." Jax said firmly. Looking at Nova with concern. He didn't like how cold Kaelith was to her. He stepped closer to her side so their arms were touching. He was fighting the urge to wrap his arms around her waist and hug her. They were in front of Aeron… and they'd done that only a few times in private, including the walk up here.
Mate. Mine.
His wolf, Talon, stirred wanting to come to the surface again. Jax's eyes flashed gold again but he steadied himself and pushed his wolf back down.
"I'll look into the bloodbinding." Aeron said.
Aeron's eyes flickered to the table again. "There's something I want to test."
Nova hesitated. "Test?"
He gestured toward a blank sheet of parchment. It wasn't normal parchment — the surface shimmered faintly, like starlight trapped in paper. Runes curved along the edges.
"Hold out your hand," he said simply.
She hesitated, but Aeron's presence was commanding. Reluctantly, she extended her right hand, palm up.
Aeron reached for a dagger from his desk — thin, silver, ceremonial.
And before she could flinch... Slice.
The blade cut a clean line across her palm.
Nova gasped softly, jerking slightly, but Aeron caught her wrist with a steady hand.
Silver blood spurted out at an alarming rate.
Jax's wolf surging beneath his skin.
"Are you insane?" he snapped, voice low but dangerous.
His eyes flashed gold for half a heartbeat. "You don't touch her like that."
Aeron didn't even look up. "Control yourself, Thorne. You think I enjoy this?"
Jax's hands curled into fists. "You didn't warn her."
"Because warning her would have changed the result," Aeron said flatly. "Now be still. Both of you."
Nova's breath came fast — her hand trembling as the glowing blood gushed onto the parchment.
It spread across the surface like mercury, gliding instead of soaking in. The runes along the edges began to move, crawling toward the blood as though pulled by gravity.
Then, the parchment convulsed.
The blood didn't dry. It shifted. Forming symbols that twisted into shape before either of them could blink.
A language.
Not written by ink or hand — but by the blood itself.
Aeron leaned closer, his eyes sharp, gleaming with a mix of awe and fear. "Old Tongue."
The runes pulsed once, then the words began to move, rearranging into lines.
Aeron whispered them as they formed:
Descendant of the Moon-Goddess born,
When silver bleeds, the gate is torn.
When blood is bound, the old ones wake,
The burden hers alone to take.
The greatest war Varos has seen,
Will break to ash by arrows three.
White wolf hunted by five and struck by two,
Seven Kings shall kneel before she's through.
Dark rain shall fall then she must go,
To ruins before the full moon's glow.
The last line flared in silver and gold — too bright to look at.
The parchment burst into flame.
Nova yanked her hand back but Aeron snatched her hand back, muttering an incantation. The fire didn't burn the paper. It burned upward, vanishing into thin air like it had never existed.
When it was gone, silence filled the room again.
Aeron slowly lowered her hand, his face unreadable.
Jax's voice was barely a whisper. "What… what does it mean?"
Aeron didn't answer.
Jax still stood near her, close enough to feel the heat radiating from her skin. His wolf was pacing inside him, claws scraping against his control. His hand brushed her back, barely a touch, but just enough to steady her.
Her head was spinning and she was seeing dots.
"You look pale." Aeron said, leaning forward to feel her forehead. Sure enough, the fever that she finally fought off had returned.
Before she could respond, she lost consciousness and Jax caught her before she hit the floor.
He held her tightly, jaw clenched, heart racing. She was too hot, with fever again. A deep one. The kind that seeped into bone.
Aeron was muttering something under his breath, hands glowing faintly as he moved to inspect the faint scorch mark where her blood had touched the enchanted parchment.
The air shifted. A soundless pulse rippled through the stone walls — barely perceptible, unless you knew how to feel for magic.
The door swung open.
Fin stepped inside. His expression was unreadable, carved in flawless stone, but the shadows behind his eyes were not. His gaze snapped to Nova in Jax's arms, eyes moving like a caged predator.
The scent of her blood clung to the air. He stopped breathing for half a second.
"What happened?"
Aeron didn't look up from the glowing parchment on the desk. "She fainted."
His voice dropped a layer, flat as a blade laid on a table.
"I can see that."
He stepped farther in. The air tightened around him. His eyes flickered to the parchment. "What did you do?"
Aeron lifted his chin slightly, unfazed. "I needed to confirm something. The parchment is from the ruins beneath the Temple of the First Moon. It only activates in the presence of divine blood."
Finric stared at him like that sentence personally offended him.
"Did you warn her before?"
Jax shifted, his grip tightening instinctively around Nova. It was subtle, but Fin noticed.
His voice dropped into something dangerous.
"He didn't. And I nearly put him through the goddamned wall for it."
Aeron raised both hands. "Easy. She'll be fine."
Finric moved closer in slow, controlled steps that betrayed just how not fine he was.
He looked down at Nova.
Pale. Unmoving. Too still.
Something caved inward in his chest. His fist curled tightly at his side, knuckles white.
He spoke without looking away from her:
"What did the parchment say?"
"There's a war, she's hunted, doom and gloom. She's getting used to it. What I was most interested in is how it reacted to her. Like nothing I've ever seen."
Jax's jaw tightened. He exchanged a sharp glance with Fin.
"How many other things has she come across like this, that everyone's just letting pass?" Jax's voice was hard. "Because that is the second time I've heard this in two weeks. I swear I'll burn the records myself."
Aeron's head snapped up, eyes narrowing.
"What do you mean second time?" he demanded, voice low and dangerous. The same tone he used when he sensed someone was holding out on him.
Jax opened his mouth. Fin cut him a warning glance.
Aeron inhaled slowly.
"Oh no. No. No, no, no—" he muttered. "You two are not doing this silent-eye-contact-brooding-wolf-bullshit with me. Tell me."
Finric said nothing.
Jax said nothing.
Aeron stared at them both like he was deciding which to strangle first.
Aeron's stare sharpened.
"Explain. Now."
Fin exhaled once — slow, controlled. The kind of exhale that meant he was choosing diplomacy over violence.
"We overheard something," he said calmly.
Aeron blinked. "Overheard."
Jax nodded, far too casually for a man who had absolutely been crouched behind a velvet curtain like a gossip-starved bat.
"Yeah. Pure coincidence. Happened to be in the area."
Aeron's eyes narrowed. "Both of you."
Fin didn't flinch. "Yes."
Aeron folded his arms like he absolutely didn't believe a goddamned syllable of that, but he let it pass for now.
"Fine," he said. "What did you 'overhear'?"
Jax's jaw tightened, his expression uncharacteristically serious.
"There was a… woman. A fortune-teller, I guess, though 'possessed crack head' is more accurate."
Aeron's expression flickered. "What did she say?"
Fin's gaze darkened. The memory hit him hard — not the words, but the look on Nova's face when the thing spoke through that woman.
"She gave a prophecy," Fin said quietly.
Jax huffed. "More like twelve prophecies stapled together, set on fire, and screamed into her face."
Aeron froze. "What."
Fin continued, voice flat and calm. "She predicted Nova would be cuffed in silver."
Aeron blinked. "Wait. That—"
"Yes," Fin said. "It happened exactly."
Jax added, "She also said a captain would fight her." He shot Fin a look.
Aeron muttered, "Gods. Hunter Ryker is an idiot."
Fin's jaw flexed. "She also predicted that by the seventh sunset, the Dark Alpha would..."
His voice trailed off.
"Yes, mystery solved. Dark Alpha identified." Jax said, nodding at Fin. "Congrats. You're marrying his sister. That'll be one hell of a family reunion."
Fin's glare could've leveled a building.
"Jax."
"What?" Jax smirked. "Prophecy drops a plot twist, I acknowledge it."
Aeron dragged a hand down his face. "You two have the emotional discipline of unsupervised toddlers."
Jax ignored him. "Anyway—Elle."
Aeron blinked. "Her roommate?"
Jax nodded. "Yes. The prophecy mentioned she'd find her fated mate."
"And?" Aeron asked warily.
Jax exhaled. "Our Beta found his."
Fin and Aeron, in perfect unison:
"What?"
"You're kidding."
"I'm serious. But Nova didn't say a word, so I doubt he's told Elle. And I was absolutely not cleared to broadcast that information." He tipped his head toward them, expression dry. "Right then! Forget what I said or I'm telling people Fin writes poetry about his feelings."
Fin's head snapped toward him so fast it was almost a shift.
His voice dropped to a lethal, offended growl.
"I do not write poetry."
Jax arched a brow. "You sure? Because that sounded like the start of a poem."
Fin glared. "Jax."
Aeron continued as if the prophecy and poetry were as consequential as a weather report.
"Anyways, as I was saying, this parchment…"
He gestured to the curling edges of the page, which hadn't burned so much as… transformed. The blood had scorched the ancient lettering into something new — symbols older than Lunaglyphs, shifting even now in the flickering torchlight.
"It's rewriting itself in her presence. Her magic is waking something."
Aeron looked up, eyes gleaming like he had made a scientific discovery. "Whoever made this parchment thousands of years ago made it for her."
He looked entirely too excited.
Then Nova stirred in Jax's arms, Jax's expression softened for half a second. Her head rested against his shoulder and her skin was flushed with a fever. She let out a soft, pained sound but didn't stir awake. It made his entire body tense.
For a half-second, he looked wrecked with protectiveness.
Fin stepped forward like he hadn't just watched that happen.
"I can take her," he said evenly, like this was a simple logistical choice and not a declaration of war.
Jax turned his head slowly.
Like Fin had just announced he intended to juggle knives with his bare teeth.
"Can you?" Jax said.
Fin's eyes narrowed. "Gamma."
"Alpha." Jax mirrored the tone perfectly, then tightened his hold as Nova subconsciously curled closer. "Feel free to order me. But you're going to have to pry her away from me to make it happen."
A muscle in Finric's jaw twitched — once.
His wolf howled, rattling against the bars of his control.
"She needs a healer," Fin said, voice low and tight. "She needs rest."
"That's where I'm taking her," Jax replied. His eyes flicked up, gleaming with something sharp. "I forgot to tell you about my encounter with your chosen Luna. You know… the Dark Alpha's sister."
"Oh yes, do tell us how Meredith the Horse is doing?" Aeron muttered so dry and deadly that Jax snorted.
Fin's voice came out like a blade. "What happened."
He already knew the timing.
Already knew the scent Meredith carried when she staggered out of his room.
The day Meredith had pleasured him.
Jax didn't soften the blow.
"I caught her trying to enter the room Nova was passed out in," Jax said, adjusting Nova instinctively as she stirred against his chest. "She wouldn't take her hand off the door. Refused to leave. Then asked if it was her inside."
Fin went still.
Jax's jaw ticked. "She knew it was Nova. I didn't answer. And she told me, with the confidence of a delusional queen, that she'd replace me the second she became your Luna."
That hit its mark. Fin's mouth curled, but not into a smile. "She said that?"
He chuckled, rolling his eyes. "With a smug little smirk, too. Like she already ruled us all. Thought it'd take her at least another month or so before she let herself slip in front of one of us."
Silence hung between them, heavy and bitter.
"She was never going to be my Luna." Finric's voice was steel and final. "Never."
Aeron looked up, "You mean you don't want the Queen and Luna of our pack to be kicking Omegas, sending unauthorized sparrows, or meeting with warriors to talk about Nova?"
"She's meeting with warriors?" Jax asked.
Aeron lifted a brow in disgust.
"Oh yes. She is so far off the rails she needs a map, a compass, and possibly divine intervention."
Finric's nostrils flared. Jax muttered under his breath, "What the hell does she even want with warriors?"
Aeron snorted. "Validation. Attention. An audience. Pick one. Pick all three. She's a disaster buffet."
Jax tilted his head. "At least she's consistent."
Fin exhaled sharply through his nose. "Consistently insane."
Aeron lifted a finger. "Speaking of insanity—I have reason to believe she has one of the omegas she hasn't kicked trailing Nova… I've witnessed it several times now. Lisa Rellane. Yes, the same genius who magically found the missing gold comb under Nova's pillow. Gods."
Jax's head snapped toward him. His jaw flexed so hard the muscle jumped.
"What?" he said, voice dropping dangerously.
Fin's gaze cut to Aeron, darkening. "How long has that been happening?"
Aeron crossed his arms. "I can confirm since the day I began training her and took a personal interest in the matter. If I'm estimating honestly? Longer. Like I mentioned, I caught Lisa trying to enter my study last week while Nova was training. She claimed it was routine cleaning." He laughed once, humorless. "About as believable as Meredith having a functional moral compass."
Fin looked away, jaw tight, eyes full of cold calculation. "There are too many things wrong. Her letters alone are damning. She's been writing to Alpha Ashbane—offering information on the castle's defenses. The guard rotations. Even you."
That pulled Jax's full attention like a snapped chain.
"What?" he barked.
Finric nodded once. "We intercepted one two nights ago. She's playing us. Using our elders, using her title, trying to maneuver herself into becoming queen by any means necessary." His voice dropped lower. "I don't care what political alliance they're trying to protect. She's a liability now."
Jax exhaled slowly, eyes flat, dangerous. "So what do we do?"
"We need a plan. A clean one," Fin said, stepping closer, eyes still on Nova.
Jax's mind was already turning. "We trade her. Bloodmoon Pack's northern border is exposed, and they've been looking for a diplomatic mate for Grant, Balen's son. If they ally with us, we can secure the southern line from Ashbane."
Fin considered that. "I'll encourage Balen to bring Grant for our summit in a few months. Gods I hope they fall in love."
"We could kill her." Aeron said flatly without emotion.
Both Jax and Fin stared at him.
"We might need to if we can't get rid of her another way." Fin answered, surprising Aeron and Jax.
Jax shifted Nova slightly in his arms. "But for now, I'm taking her to my chambers. Elias will meet us there."
Fin's gaze drifted back to Nova.
Jax said nothing more as he walked down the corridor, his stride purposeful. The firelight danced across the walls as he disappeared into the shadows.
Possessive. Silent.