They returned back to the castle, and met Aeron in his study.
After hearing what happened, he folded his arms.
"If you're going to track him, do it carefully. And Nova… if he sees you, don't approach. Not yet. His instincts are in chaos, and seeing you might trigger the wrong response."
Nova nodded slowly, though her chest felt like it might cave in at the thought. Not approaching Jax felt wrong. But she'd already seen what happened when she did.
Cael shifted the mood with a sigh. "Alright, so—sneaky wolf babysitting rotations. Great. I'm putting that on my resume."
"Professional shadowing of emotionally unstable, power-enhanced shifters. Sounds marketable." Fin said, trying to lighten the mood with Cael.
Despite herself, Nova let out a tiny laugh.
Finric watched her closely. She was holding it together, but barely. His jaw clenched. His wolf was restless again, sensing her pain. But his presence wasn't her comfort. Not the way she wanted someone else to.
Still, he'd make damn sure she didn't face this alone.
"Let's have you three rotate and check on him two or three times a day." Aeron said. "Monitor his scent trail. And if anything shifts — anything — mindlink me immediately."
They all nodded.
Cael frowned, there was no way he would let Elle go by herself. Hell.. he didn't want Nova to go by herself either. Would he be doing every shift?
"I'll be able to go." Finric said.
"Are you sure? I know you have a lot of duties." Aeron said
"No… he's my oldest friend. I'll be going."
Elle seemed to be reading Cael's thoughts and said "Stop worrying. I'll be fine."
Cael said "There's not a chance in hell I will let you go by yourself. You just woke up from being poisoned."
"Nova will go with me. I'll go with her. Problem solved. You have a lot on your plate and there's no point in adding to it just to babysit me." Elle said.
"Don't worry, we'll be fine." Nova agreed, a little annoyed that he thought they couldn't go on a simple run by themselves.
Cael leaned back in his chair, arms crossed, and nodded toward Nova with a teasing smirk.
"You've shifted a grand total of, what… two times?"
Nova rolled her eyes. "I'll just stay in human form and Elle can shift."
"And that would put you at risk if you were attacked. You know that right?" Cael said.
"I'll shift if we're attacked." Nova responded.
Finric frowned. He didn't want Nova going by herself either. There was no way in hell he would allow that after the last time she shifted and they were attacked.
Aeron chuckled, but then his expression turned thoughtful. "Nova, do you feel him? Through the bond?"
She paused before answering. "No."
Aeron's brows furrowed. "Was it like that when you tried to wake him?"
She gave a small shake of her head. "It was faint then. Like a thread I could barely feel. But then… he got angry, and it …snapped."
She said it like she was reciting information from a textbook. Flat. Controlled. No emotion. Just facts. But Finric watched her closely. Her face twitched for a half-second — a flicker of thought she didn't share. She was thinking about something. Calculating.
Aeron noticed too. But he didn't press. Instead, he said, "Your wolf might still feel the bond… if you let it surface. Not all the way, but just enough. Let your wolf take over, but still stay conscious and aware of what's happening. You need to learn that balance."
Nova nodded. "Okay."
Aeron hesitated a moment. Then, "Actually, I wanted to talk to you about something else. No need for all of you to be in here."
Elle narrowed her eyes. "I don't mind. I'll stay. The Alpha and Beta can go back to brooding in the war room or whatever it is you two do."
Aeron smiled but looked pointedly at the men. "Actually, I think Elle should be here too. No need though for you two to stay."
Cael blinked. He glanced at Fin. "Do you want to interrogate that sentence or should I?"
Aeron held up his hands. "Alright, yeah, I heard it. Sounds worse than it is. Just listen."
He turned to Nova. "You need to start shifting more often. I know your wolf is strong — it's tied to your power — and you've been suppressing it too long. I'm not asking for daily shifts, but a few times a month at minimum. Running in wolf form. Even if just for thirty minutes." He said.
He then hesitated and added: "I think that's why you've been having… what we have been working on lately."
Nova straightened. She knew exactly what he was talking about. Unable to control surges of power in his trainings. Being possessed by books and not realizing it.
She swallowed, "The thing…" She said, speaking in code. "Seraphine… I mean my wolf …" She didn't know how to explain that her wolf was just as clueless as she was.
Fin's wolf stirred at that sentence. Something caught his attention.
It was clear they were speaking in code and everyone wondered why she wasn't saying it.
Aeron nodded as if he understood.
He walked to a side cabinet. "I've also been experimenting with a little enchantment. If it works, it might make training a lot less… for you two that seem to attract a lot of attention. I'll feel 10% better knowing you have this."
He handed Nova what looked like a standard dark training bodysuit.
She examined it, fingers tracing the subtle hardness along the elbows, shoulders, ribs, knees, back, and several other impact points. The soles of the built-in booties were thicker than usual. And yet, the suit itself remained remarkably lightweight.
Aeron grinned. "It's far more resistant to tearing, thermal regulated, and with an added layer of protection. It's a shell-armor weave — lightweight, flexible. It won't save you from a proper stabbing, but it will stop a solid punch or anything short of someone trying to gut you. You'll still be able to swim in it as well if needed. Redmoon warriors wear something similar. At the rate you have been training… and with you running through the woods alone, Gods… both of you."
Nova blinked. Stunned, then looked at Aeron like he just saved her her life.
He held up another. "I made a few. Elle, you take this one."
Both girls stared at him like he had just handed them a bag of gold.
"Thank you." Nova breathed.
Aeron's grin widened.
"Aeron," Elle said, "you are officially my favorite mage."
She and Nova exchanged a look, both feeling the same quiet relief, though neither voiced it. Training suits were expensive, and it was unlikely they could keep slipping back to the village and simply be handed free replacements.
Neither of them wanted to ask their mates for help. Cael and Jax had already gifted them five suits each, all of which were tearing at an alarming pace with how intensely they trained every day. They were both down to their final few and were already preparing to patch the ruined ones as best they could.
The shell armor and thermal protection were an added bonus.
From the other side of the room, Fin frowned, feeling an emotion from Nova - relief, but not in the way that he thought. Not from the protection added. Something else. He couldn't quite understand. Cael had the same frown on his face, not understanding either.
Regardless, Fin knew what training entailed. They'd participated in enough of it. But the idea of Nova continuing with it made his blood boil. There should be no need for material that doesn't rip for clean sparring.
Nova looked up, noticing his gaze on her.
"I want one. This would be extremely useful." Fin said, moving his eyes from Nova trying to play it off like he was looking at the suit and not her.
"I'll take one too," Cael added.
"Okay, but don't start advertising this to everyone yet. I'm still experimenting." Aeron responded.
Nova held up the suit. "Thank you, Aeron."
He smiled and nodded. But as she folded the suit, his eyes lingered on her just a moment longer. Something in him was still unsettled.