Nova gasped again, the sound sharp and ragged, pain breaking through every syllable of her breath.
"Nova!" Fin's voice cracked. "What's wrong?"
Another shuddering inhale—and then she coughed. The sound was wet, choking. A dark line of silver blood streaked the back of her hand.
For a heartbeat, she could only stare at it, disbelieving. Then terror crashed through her in full.
Fin felt it. The panic, the agony, the fear—all of it slammed into him through the matebond. He staggered, half-blind with pain, and lurched toward the shelf where Elias kept his satchel. His hands searched through glass and leather, fingertips slipping on waxed corks and straps.
His vision started to blur and he was seeing black spots.
Behind him, another cough tore through her—worse this time. Blood spilled past her lips, this time red. She clutched the back of a chair to stay upright, her knuckles white.
"Nova—" he managed, voice splintering.
The tent flap burst open. Jax was there in an instant. He didn't need to ask what happened. He had felt it the moment it began, a burning crack through his own chest. The bond between them flared, raw and searing, exactly how it was the first time.
Fin's world tilted. He could barely see her now through the haze clouding his vision. His body wasn't taking the damage, but it felt like it. Every pulse of her pain echoed through his nerves, doubling back until he couldn't tell which of them was breaking.
"Elias…" Fin forced the name out through clenched teeth, barely managing the sound without screaming. The pain wracked him from the inside out—like molten metal poured through his veins. He'd been through war. He'd been tortured. But nothing—nothing—had ever felt like this.
Nova collapsed forward onto her hands, blood spilling freely now, her breaths coming in ragged, broken gasps. Another stab of agony shot through her abdomen, sharper, lower. Her limbs went weak, trembling violently.
She tried to draw in air but couldn't; her fingers slipped on the floor. Before she could hit the ground, Jax was there—moving at Alpha speed, faster than thought. He dropped to his knees beside her, catching her as she fell. Her body jerked against him, spasms tearing through her chest and sides.
"Gods…" Jax's voice cracked as he held her upright.
The convulsions worsened—short, brutal, her ribs tightening with each one. Blood poured from her nose, streaked from her eyes. Her lashes fluttered, her head rolling back. She was trying to speak, but only a broken sound escaped.
Jax bolted at Alpha speed, tearing through Elias's satchel, hands darting past bandages and tinctures until he found the small vial—the antidote.
He spun back to her side, glass in hand, his pulse pounding like war drums in his ears.
"I've got you—stay with me!" He said, panic rising, but his hands stayed steady.
Behind Jax, Fin collapsed to the ground, landing hard on his hands and knees. Each breath came out as a strangled gasp. The pain clawed through him—raw, unbearable, relentless. He tried to rise, his limbs shaking violently, and staggered forward toward Nova, disoriented and half-blind.
Jax barely registered the movement. He yanked up Nova's sleeve, uncapped the green-glass vial, and drove the injector into her arm. The device hissed as it deployed, the antidote flooding her veins. Still—she convulsed, body trembling in violent waves.
"Elias!" Jax shouted, the sound breaking.
He mindlinked right after yelling. What he said tore through Fin like a thunderclap.
Jax: Elias! She's dying.
The response came not in words, but in motion. Less than a minute later, the tent flap burst open with a crash. Elias stormed in, coat flying, eyes already assessing before he hit the ground.
He didn't waste a breath. He dropped to his knees beside her, pushing Jax aside just enough to work. His hands moved with ruthless precision as he tore open his secondary kit. From it, he drew a silver-core injector—longer, heavier, the kind reserved for cardiac emergencies.
Elias's fingers were already slick with her blood, but he didn't hesitate.
Jax ripped Nova's cloak and part of her dress neckline.
Elias drove the needle into her chest.
The sight made Jax's stomach twist. He'd seen this before. The memory of that day—the screaming, the stillness, the moment he thought she'd died—flashed across his vision like lightning. It haunted him.
The injector hissed as Elias drove the last of the liquid into her chest. The vial emptied—but Nova's body didn't stop shaking.
Fin felt a sting on his sternum from Nova through the matebond. A shadow of the feeling she had. Different than the poison he was feeling first hand.
He gasped, the pain easing just enough for him to move. He stumbled forward and dropped to his knees beside her, vision flickering back into focus. "Nova…" he rasped, the word breaking in his throat.
Her blood was everywhere—slick on her arms, on Elias's sleeves, soaking through Jax's clothes. It clung to Fin's hands the moment he touched her.
"Her heart rate isn't stabilizing," Elias snapped, his voice tight. He pressed two fingers to her throat, then her wrist, his expression darkening. "She's bleeding out."
Fin's world narrowed to those words, panic ensuing. His gaze darted downward—and froze.
Her lower body… the blood wasn't just from her mouth or nose anymore. It was spreading, seeping fast through the silk of her dress, pooling beneath her.
"Tell me what to do!" Fin roared, voice cracking with panic.
Jax touched her stomach. He lifted his hand, to see fresh blood covering it. Almost like she was cut open. Fin stared in horror.
This did not happen last time.
Jax's eyes widened. His voice rose, sharp, frantic. "Elias, tell me what do we need?"
Elias's face went pale. He spoke softly, barely breathing the words. "She's not just poisoned…"
"What?" Fin yelled, hysteria in his voice.
"She's… miscarrying," Elias said, his voice barely a whisper, shock hollowing the words.
The sound seemed to tear the air apart.
"No—no—no—" Jax's voice broke as he repeated it over and over, like the word itself could hold back the truth, and could unmake what was happening right in front of them.
Fin could barely hear him. The pain still coursed through him, agony unrelenting, his vision dimming and flaring in turns. He pointed weakly toward the empty injector, his voice hoarse. "She needs more…"
Elias didn't hesitate. He snatched another vial from his kit, cracked the seal with his thumb, and drove the needle into Nova's sternum again. The hiss of the injector filled the silence.
No one spoke. The tent felt too small, the air too heavy. Then Elias's voice cut through the stillness—not aloud, but through the mindlink, sharp and raw.
Elias: Aeron, Nova is dying. Hurry to the Alpha's tent.
Fin's composure broke completely. He gathered Nova against him, his forehead pressing to hers.
"Nova… I'm sorry," he whispered, his voice trembling. "Please don't die, baby… I'm sorry."
Tears streamed down his face unchecked, his whole body shaking.
"Please be okay." He cried, in a pleading voice.
The antidote Elias had given her dulled the poison's edge just enough for Fin to see clearly again—but the pain didn't stop. It tore through him still, unbearable, merciless, as he clung to her and prayed she'd open her eyes.
Nova lay still between them, her skin ashen, her breath barely a tremor. The queen who had united seven Alphas, annihilated an army of twenty thousand, and bent war itself to her will was now motionless, bleeding out on the tent floor.
Then, a sound split the air.
A roar—deep and earth-shattering—rolled across the ridge like thunder. Rage. Grief. It was Onyx.
The gold dragon descended from the clouds like a falling star, his wings cutting through the air with a sound that shook the camp to its core. He struck the earth behind the tent, claws gouging trenches into the ground, the impact rattling every structure in the command ring.
His head lowered, pressing close to the tent's back wall, smoke curling from his nostrils in heavy spirals. His eyes burned white-blue, alive with something primal and furious.
The camp erupted into chaos as everyone sensed something was off. Warriors shifted to wolf mid-stride. Horses reared and bolted. Soldiers shouted orders that were lost to the wind. Dozens of guards rushed toward the tent, weapons drawn, torn between fear and duty.
Onyx didn't move, his gaze locked on the tent where his bonded lay dying.
Jax's hands glowed gold, power pouring into them as he pressed them over Nova's heart.
"Come on, come on…" he muttered under his breath, desperation leaking through every word.
"Transfer your energy—do the opposite of what we did before! Push everything you can into her!" Jax yelled.
Fin obeyed instantly, his own magic flaring to life. The two knelt on either side of her, blood soaking their clothes, hands trembling as light poured from their palms. Golden fire rippled between them, searing through the air, casting the tent in flashes of molten light.
Elias was still working, his voice tight and hoarse. He jammed another injector into her arm, then another, his hands slick with blood. "Come on, Nova," he breathed. "Don't you dare give up."
He tried something else—an ampule of dark amber liquid meant to clot blood fast—but nothing changed.
Her pulse stuttered beneath their hands.
Fin's breath hitched. Jax's jaw clenched. They pushed harder. The magic burned, hot and wild, crawling across the floor like lightning set loose from the sky.
And still—nothing held.
Then the tent flap burst open again, the wind rushing in with it. Aeron stumbled through, his face pale but his eyes sharp, already calculating. He took in the sight of Nova limp, Fin and Jax glowing like suns, and Elias drenched in blood. His expression hardened into grim focus.
Fin's palms flashed brighter gold, trying to do anything to get her hemorrhaging to stop.
"Why is nothing working?!" His voice cracked, the desperation raw.
"Aeron, I need a portal to our infirmary." Elias said, calm and direct.
"On it." Aeron's reply came sharp and focused. His hands sliced through the air, power rippling as a tear in space widened before them, forming a shimmering doorway into the Shadowclaw infirmary. The room beyond was dark, sterile, empty.
Jax didn't wait for instruction. He gathered Nova into his arms. He felt blood coming from her. Fresh. It felt warm in his hands. He swallowed hard.
"Fin, Jax—come too," Elias barked. "I'll need both of your blood if we want her to survive."
"Take it!" Fin shouted, voice breaking. He clutched his side, still half doubled over from the mirrored pain, but stumbled forward through the portal after them.
"Where?" Jax demanded, his voice shaking but ready.
"Bed," Elias said, already moving. "Raid, Afel—get in here now! I need blood from the Alpha and Gamma—hurry!"
Assistants scrambled as they crossed into the infirmary, Elias already pulling out tubing, clamps, and clear vials from his med kit. "Move," he ordered, voice steady even now, even with blood pooling across the floor.
He hooked an IV line into Nova's arm, the clear liquid turning faintly pink as it entered her veins.
Fin didn't ask questions. He knew she needed a lot of blood, and his alone wouldn't be enough. Jax was the next logical donor; he'd given Nova his blood the first time she'd been poisoned, and it had worked. Elias needed both of them, and they understood that without a word
The assistants moved quickly, drawing blood from both into large vials, the crimson liquid swirling under the lamplight.
Agony ripped through Rex through the matebond. He sprinted for the Shadowclaw tent at Alpha speed, horror crashing over him when he saw the blood on the floor. He knew it by scent alone. It was hers.
Aeron's portal was still stood open and Rex burst through it, clutching his chest. His boots skidded across the infirmary floor and he took in the sight of Nova limp and Jax drenched in blood.
"Fuck—" Rex's voice broke, raw, uncontrolled. His composure—his legendary composure—fractured. He grabbed the edge of the table as if the world had tilted under him.
Then he saw the blood still pouring from her.
Fresh.
Too much.
His face drained white.
"Take mine too," Rex gasped, his voice ragged. "Onyx is my perfect match. He bonded with her. That means my blood will be, too."
Rex's breath came fast, sharp—panic rising in a man who never panicked. He looked at Nova again, her skin ash-white, her lashes wet with blood, her body barely moving.
Elias barely looked up. His tone stayed clipped. "I'm aware. Sit."
Rex obeyed, lowering himself into the nearest chair as Afel and Raid scrambled to prepare another draw.
Rex's jaw clenched, grief and rage twisting across his face in a way that looked almost feral. His gold eyes burned.
"Nova," he whispered under his breath, barely audible, as Elias grabbed his arm and prepared the line. "Don't you fucking die on us. Not like this."
He swallowed hard. His hands were shaking—something no one in Varos had ever seen.
Aeron stood just behind Elias, his expression tight. His gaze flicked toward Rex for a second too long, as if realizing something. He looked at Fin, then looked away. Fin noticed, even through the pain, but he didn't have the strength to question it.
Rex sat just as Elias finished extracting the first full vial from Fin. Without a pause, Elias hooked the line into Nova's IV line.
"Elias… she needs another." Fin grunted through gritted teeth. Gods this pain was unbearable.
Without being asked, Raid ran into Elias's office. He came back with a large glass vial of antidote, corked tight at the top. He uncorked it with shaking hands and hooked it into Nova's other arm.
Elias nodded at Raid. "Keep it until the Alpha says the pain is gone."
For a heartbeat, things seemed to stabilize—then Nova's body jerked violently. Blood began to pour again, fresh and heavy.
"She's hemorrhaging!" one of Elias's assistants shouted.
Afel was already at Rex's side, drawing his blood at record speed.
Rex stared at Nova, horror and pain etched across his face. He turned to Jax, eyes wide, pleading without words.
"We tried," Jax said hoarsely, his voice cracking under the weight of it. "It didn't work."
But Aeron's hands were already glowing, light gathering between his palms.
He stepped forward, kneeling beside her. "Did you both try to push energy into her?"
"Yes," Jax and Fin snapped at the same time, both on edge, both desperate.
Aeron only nodded once. Then he pressed his hands over her heart and began to whisper a chant—words ancient, fluid, and not of any language they knew. The air thickened, humming with power.
Nova's eyes opened and glowed pure silver light. Then her body went still. Her eyes slid shut. The convulsions stopped.
Fin was already moving toward her before anyone else could react. His nose was running, his eyes bloodshot and raw. He hovered beside her, his hand trembling above her face—too afraid to touch her, too afraid that any contact might prove she was gone. Finally, his fingers closed around her hand. It was ice cold.
Ragnar Redmoon stepped through the portal, his boots striking the blood-slick floor. He stopped only long enough to absorb the carnage—his expression turning to stone—then he moved forward in silence.
Hyran entered behind him, already sensing the storm about to break.
The room went silent at their arrival. No one dared speak, but every pair of eyes turned toward them. Redmoon's gaze fell on Nova's unmoving form sprawled in blood, the crimson pooled beneath her on the bed. Fin's expression holding her hand. Jax and Elias were streaked in red, and Aeron's palms still glowing faintly.
When Hyran stepped forward, Fin rose unsteadily, his body still wracked with pain.
"Lycura's Kiss?" Hyran asked, his eyes on the blood rather than the faces.
"Yes," Jax, Fin, and Aeron answered in unison.
"Has she been poisoned with it before?" Hyran's voice didn't waver.
"Yes," Aeron replied quickly. "She's hemorrhaging."
Hyran nodded once, as if confirming something only he understood. "I've seen this," he said, moving toward Nova, his hands already lifting in preparation.
Elias turned, still kneeling, his tone sharp. "Fin—has the pain stopped?"
"Not by half," Fin ground out through clenched teeth, his face contorted, his hand still locked around Nova's.