Sunrise bled over the horizon in warm golds and silvers, casting a hush across the High Council Summit. They were in a field about a mile away.
Nova stood at the edge of the field, cloaked in deep crimson with a gold crown atop her silver-blonde hair, loose curls pinned back to reveal the steady fire in her green eyes.
Marra stood beside her, quiet but alert. Cael flanked her opposite, hands tucked behind his back as they walked toward the open valley where the dragons were being kept. Dozens of warriors had gathered, lining the edges in reverent silence.
The expectation was simple: a meeting. A ceremonial introduction to the beasts bred for war. She wasn't meant to observe, acknowledge, and bow perhaps. These dragon riders were some of the elite.
But from the moment Nova stepped into the clearing, everything changed.
A gold dragon, largest in the fleet, took a slow, rumbling breath.
It was at the far end of the field and lifted its head as soon as she entered. Its eyes didn't leave her as she approached.
Rex followed the dragon's gaze and saw Nova. His brow furrowed.
The other dragons shifted, restless, but none growled. None snarled or breathed fire. They simply… watched.
By the time Nova had reached where Redmoon and Rex stood, the dragon had been watching her for a minute.
It didn't hesitate and moved straight to Nova. Gasps rippled through the crowd.
Rex and Redmoon both saw her green eyes flicker to silver, and she slowly glanced towards it.
At that point, she wasn't in control anymore. Something pulled her forward. She moved through the field alone, her cloak trailing behind her like a flame across the grass. When she reached the dragon, her hand rose without thought and pressed gently to the space between its eyes.
A brilliant light erupted from the contact—silver and searing. Flaring through the clearing, knocking everyone down.
The dragon made a sound, almost a purr, and leaned into her palm.
Onyx. The name filled her mind, not in words but in certainty. She knew this dragon. Somehow. Another life. He was hers.
The murmurs around the clearing turned to stunned silence.
Onyx nudged her, gently but insistently, toward his massive front leg. She didn't hesitate. She climbed, moving as if she had done it a thousand times. As if she belonged there.
Onyx growled low, then shot straight into the air, wings slicing like blades.
Wings cracked against the wind, and the camp below watched, breathless, as the Queen of the North vanished into the dawn.
Marra's eyes flickered to Rex for a moment.
"Of course … gods, how did I not see it?" The words slipped from Marra's mouth before she could stop them. Several heads turned. The Gamma looked pale.
Cael's jaw tightened as he watched them rise. He mindlinked Jax immediately.
Cael: We've got a big problem
Jax:What's wrong?
Cael: Look up.
Jax stepped out of one of the shadowclaw tents, to see a dragon in the sky. His expression immediately darkened and he sprinted to the field, heart thundering.
By the time he reached Cael, the look on Marra's face said everything he needed to know.
"Shit." Jax hadn't meant to say it out loud, but the word slipped from his mouth.
The gathered Redmoon pack leaders, Rex, and dragon riders caught more than just the curse. They caught the look in his eyes.
He didn't sound surprised, which meant something else entirely. It meant they'd been expecting something like this. And it meant they hadn't wanted it to happen.
A ripple of tension passed through, and murmured whispers started up at the edges.
Jax grit his teeth and shut his eyes for a moment, breathing through his frustration. Too late. The damage was done. The moment Nova had touched that dragon, everything had changed—and now they all knew she was something more than she let on.
The air thickened. All dragons were frozen. Eyes locked on Onyx.
Then, suddenly—he folded them mid-flight.
Gasps rang out.
They were plummeting.
All dragon riders looked in horror. Very aware of what was occurring. Rex's face looked highly concerned. Breaking composure. A free fall. Suicide.
Then—
BOOM.
The sky ignited.
A flash of silver light burst outward as Onyx's wings exploded open again mid-fall, not to stop the dive—but to propel them faster. They vanished into a blinding streak, cloaked in a glowing veil of silver fire—so fast the eye couldn't track them.
Everyone on the field at this point was on their feet alarmed. Even Alpha Redmoon looked pale.
Because that was the Celestial Shroud.
Most bonded pairs couldn't do that, let alone regular riders. It was for the most pure bonds and a highly advanced move.
And if either loses focus for even a heartbeat?
They die.
All the dragons were frozen—watching, waiting. Even the trainers had gone still. Onyx had begun to dive, a sharp descent with Nova on his back, her silver-lit eyes unblinking. It looked terrifying. Too fast. Too steep.
A controlled fall… or a death spiral?
The dragon trainers began shouting in panic, trying to make sense of it—but Rex had already seen enough.
"Shit—she's not pulling up."
His wolf howled in his head, clawing to the surface. Rex didn't wait. He turned, voice sharp and commanding as he sprinted toward the pen.
"Velkaris—now."
The dark bronze-scaled dragon reared back at the sound of its name, responding instantly to his call.
Rex vaulted up in one practiced motion. In the next breath, they were airborne.
"We don't touch her, just block if she falls. Understand?" He said aloud to the dragon. Velkaris rumbled in response, wings catching the wind in a violent surge.
Below, the others could only watch as Rex tore across the sky like a second comet, chasing after Nova and Onyx with reckless speed. His cloak whipped around him, gold-stitched and unmistakable. But his face was set in fierce concentration.
He wasn't just trying to save a queen. He was trying to save something much deeper. A bond he couldn't deny anymore.
Mate.
But as he surged upward, Onyx reappeared from the sky like a phantom, wings wide as ships' sails, silver fire trailing from his body as he landed with the force of a god's heartbeat, earth cracking beneath his claws.
And then something impossible happened.
All dragons on the field, from the smallest scoutdrake to the ancient behemoth in the shadows, bowed in unison.
Heads lowered.
Chests dipped.
The wind went still.
Nova sat cloaked in firelight and power, like she'd ridden with dragons all her life.
Like they'd been waiting for her to return.
Her eyes still glowed silver with no pupil. Her white-blonde, silvery hair looked gold in the sunlight.
Jaws hung open. One trainer sat down hard in the dirt. Another made the sign of the old gods across his chest.
A moment later, Velkaris descended from the sky, wings slicing clean through the wind. His landing sent a fresh gust across the field, but he made no sound.
Rex dismounted in a single fluid movement, boots hitting the earth with a solid thud. His eyes were already on her.
Then Velkaris—walked forward, lowered his massive head, and bowed beside the others.
A ripple of gasps echoed across the field.
No dragon bowed for anyone but their own rider or the Rex, the Commander of Dragons. Not unless commanded. Not unless…
Cael's jaw clenched. Even the seasoned trainers were speechless.
Romulus Ravyn exhaled through his teeth. "Holy shit."
Nova remained on his back, the morning sun crowning her in gold and fire. She looked like something out of legend.
But it wasn't just her.
The golden dragon looked… happy. Joyful, even. Gleaming eyes soft with a kind of affection none of them had ever seen in him before. He nuzzled Nova as if she were something sacred—as if he'd been waiting lifetimes to find her.
And that was the problem.
Because Onyx already had a rider.
Rex stood stiffly at the edge of the landing field, arms folded tightly across his chest. His jaw flexed. His posture was calm, but barely.
Onyx was his. His bond. One of the few true bonded in the world.
Yet his dragon hadn't even looked at him.
Hadn't acknowledged him.
All his instincts screamed at once, primal, possessive. There would be only one reason why his dragon would agree to let another ride him. All dragon riders and leaders of Redmoon understood what this meant. His wolf surged beneath his skin, clawing for release.
Rex inhaled sharply, nostrils flaring. Nova finally blinked, her silver eyes softening as she looked down at the dragons. The glow was fading. Her lips parted slightly, and when she exhaled, it was slow—almost dazed.
Nova still hadn't looked at him. And maybe that was a mercy, because he wasn't sure what his face would give away. Confusion. Rage. Desire. Possessiveness. Longing. He wasn't sure what he was feeling.
The ache in his chest warred with the fire of realization burning in his veins.
Alpha Redmoon's eyes narrowed slightly as he watched his son. Then he looked at Nova.
Once.
Twice.
The flicker of realization in his gaze was subtle, but unmistakable. And then came the shift— concern. Quiet, buried beneath the weight of diplomacy, but there all the same.
Not ideal.
Jax caught it. His sharp gaze tracked every glance, every breath, every silence. The exchange wasn't loud, but it didn't need to be. Something had shifted—and not in their favor.
Beside him, Marra's face stiffened. Her eyes darted between Rex and Nova, and then back again. She saw it too.
Jax didn't like it. And whatever had just passed between father and son —it would change something. He could feel it.
Cael moved quickly to her. He reached up, gripping her waist, and helped her down.
"Nova," Cael said gently, but loud so everyone could hear. As if she was someone who needed protection. "You're back now. You're safe."
When Onyx finally lowered his head and nudged Nova's arm, she blinked slowly. She looked down at her hand, a little dazed.
Like she'd just woken from a dream.
She blinked. Her eyes flickered from silver back to green returning like sunrise over mist. She swayed, slightly disoriented.
"That's enough for one morning," Cael said, projecting calm authority. He looked to the stunned faces of the gathered leaders. "Thank you for the honor of this display. The Queen will need a moment to freshen up before the council meeting."
Cael stepped beside her without a word, gently lifting the hood of her cloak and settling it over her head. The gesture was careful, deliberate—meant to shield her from more than just the morning chill.
"You're still glowing Nova." he said low, his voice steady, though his jaw was tight with concern. Everyone heard.
Nova lowered her gaze, the silver glow still pulsing faintly beneath her skin, like moonlight caught in flesh. But the glow hadn't fully left her.
As they passed through the line of dragons, not one lifted its head. They remained bowed.
Dozens of eyes tracked their every step. None missed the way her glow bled through the edges of her cloak, nor the way Cael stayed close, body angled slightly in front of hers. It was a subtle barrier—but unmistakable in its purpose.
A murmur passed through the crowd like wind through tall grass.
She wasn't merely a wolf and whatever she was… she was no longer hidden.
He led her from the field without another word, his posture composed but unmistakably protective. The gesture was subtle, but the message rang clear to those watching: she was to be safeguarded. Closely. Carefully.
Jax stood silent, arms crossed, unease tightening in his chest as he tried to process what he'd just witnessed. Gods. What had just happened? He looked at Marra, but her expression only confirmed his discomfort.
"Thank you for the display, very impressive." Marra said, bowing at both the Alpha and Beta of Redmoon.
Her and Jax quickly followed their queen. His expression, typically unreadable, now carried a flicker of something more—worry, perhaps, or the burden of knowledge not yet shared.
They all knew what they'd just witnessed.
And none would forget it.