Fin and Jax surged forward at once, instincts snapping into motion the moment Nova collapsed. Fin reached her first. Not a word passed between them. He swept her into his arms with a swiftness that betrayed how violently his heart was pounding and laid her upon the nearest bed. Her cloak still hung from her shoulders, but beneath it she wore only silk shorts and a thin camisole—garments far too insubstantial for the chill of the infirmary.
The boots on her feet were not even hers; likely pilfered from Elle in whatever frenzy had dragged her back from death and into divine command.
"I shall see to her," Elias said, already moving.
They both wanted to take her back to her private suite. But the Moon Goddess herself had ordered them to cleanse their warriors. Duty—especially divine duty—left no room for hesitation.
Fin gave a curt nod. He and Jax turned exiting the infirmary towards the courtyard without argument, their steps clipped, their jaws locked.
Neither man spoke as they strode down the corridor, but understanding passed between them as clearly as speech. It was the silence of brothers who had walked through seven levels of hell together, and who would do so again—and again—for the woman lying unconscious behind them.
A few minutes after they departed the infirmary. Another portal appeared with a pop noise.
"For the love of the Moon Goddess!" Elias barked as he dropped an entire tray of metal instruments. The clatter echoed like a battlefield. His assistant sprinted after the tools as though his career depended on the speed of his crouch. "By all the gods, I am running an infirmary, not a circus of collapsing immortals."
Out stepped Hyran and Rex.
The moment Rex saw Nova, his entire body loosened with relief. He crossed the room in three strides and nearly collided with Elias.
"Can we give her some of my blood?" Rex demanded, breathless. "She's not well. I feel it."
Elias nodded tightly, already reaching for the equipment. "Roll up your sleeve, then. Try not to faint this time."
Rex ignored him.
Across the room, Aeron and Cael lay in their beds—propped up but pale, still recovering. Marra sat at Aeron's bedside, one hand lightly braced on his arm as if steadying him by presence alone. On the opposite side of the room, Elle remained close to Cael, her fingers brushing his forearm every so often, grounding him.
As Elias drew his blood, Rex looked toward Aeron and Cael. Both stared back—silent, exhausted, and entirely incapable of responding.
"Was she caught in the rain?" Rex asked them.
Neither so much as opened their mouths.
Marra answered in their stead. "Aeron and Cael were caught in the rain. She saved them."
Hyran's eyes widened at once. "Then the Moon Goddess has shown great favor," he proclaimed, stepping forward with the solemnity of a priest and the enthusiasm of an overeager bard. "Meeting your soul-tie in the morning and surviving a rain with a fate worse than death? Remarkable fortune."
He clapped Aeron on the back—hard. Aeron nearly lurched forward off the bed.
"I am glad you are here, my friend," Hyran declared.
Aeron wheezed in response, which, given his condition, counted as both gratitude and a polite plea for mercy.
Hyran's eyes swung to Marra. "Do you remember the day I told you what you were? A dreamwalker with a mage somewhere in your family tree."
Marra grinned. "Yes, Hyran."
He cupped a hand behind his ear. "Let me hear it."
"You were correct," Marra said, rolling her eyes like he'd been waiting years for the validation.
Hyran let out an exaggerated sigh. "There it is. Sweet music." Then he reached over and ruffled her hair like an annoying older brother.
Marra laughed—actually laughed—and Rex joined her.
The reaction stunned the room. Aeron looked like someone had slapped him with a prophecy, his expression caught somewhere between offense and revelation. Marra had not laughed like that since arriving at Shadowclaw… and Hyran abandoning every shred of formality was just as shocking. But she had lived at Redmoon for years. Of course they were close.
She had only been shut down and guarded since arriving here, and even a blind squirrel with brain damage could piece together why. Everyone knew why. Her fated mate was in love with someone else, and she had been rejected at her Gamma ceremony. That would silence anyone.
Cael's gaze drifted toward Aeron and Marra. He didn't speak—still couldn't—but his eyebrows climbed in slow, theatrical commentary. A grin tugged at the corner of his mouth. Then he dragged both hands down his face like the universe had personally offended him.
His voice hit the mindlink, dry and unimpressed:
Cael: I die for ten minutes and return to a romance novel dropped into a bonfire.
"Will someone tell me what the hell is going on?" Elle finally said.
"A soul tie is similar to a fated bond—the deepest two souls can experience, tethered across past lives," Hyran explained. "One soul may appear to the other across plains and dimensions. It would seem that happened today."
Cael: Which saved every soul in that camp. Good work, Gamma. And don't get any ideas—Shadowclaw isn't releasing the best Gamma Luna in all of Varos, not even if you start collecting mage husbands.
Marra's face flushed scarlet.
"Marra… the one thing I cannot reconcile is what kept your soul from finding his," Hyran said, voice low but cutting. "You would not have been drawn to a weaker tie. Not one of flesh. Something blocked the true thread. Did something happen before you arrived here?"
Anxiety rippled through her before she could stop it. A tight, breathless spike of fear punched through her ribs, rising fast, sharp and automatic. Bloodmoon fear. The kind bred into bone. Anything tied to magic meant execution, especially dark magic.
Her pulse stuttered. Her mind blanked. She had no idea where to begin, or whether she even could.
Aeron's eyes were already on her, steady, possessive, and far too perceptive for her comfort. He had deduced enough to know that whatever darkness touched her on the journey to Shadowclaw had blocked their bond. That part didn't surprise him.
What alarmed him was her emotion.
It ripped through him as if it were his own — raw, old, instinctive fear.
Bloodmoon fear. The kind born in childhood and never forgiven.
But her face… her composure… did not falter.
That was what stunned him most.
Her soul and mind were panicking. But her face and body gave nothing away.
She likely had no idea yet that their souls were reacting the same way fated bonds did. But he felt every spike, every tremor, every instinct telling her to hide.
She swallowed hard, fighting to steady herself, trying to force the panic back where it belonged. Trying to form a single word. A starting point. Anything.
She couldn't.
She didn't even know how to begin.
At that exact moment, the empty glass beside Cael's pillow cracked. Then shattered. Elle flinched hard, breath knocking out of her.
Hyran's head snapped toward her. His eyes narrowed, sharp as a blade honing itself. He stepped closer, studying her like a scholar confronted with a puzzle that contradicted every law he knew.
He stared for several long, deliberate seconds.
"You are… different," he said aloud, already crossing the space toward her. The room shifted with him.
He lifted a hand in a motion towards Elle, and her eyes flared a vivid green in response. He nodded once, as if confirming a theory only he could see. "I recognize your magic. Were you born in Shadowclaw?"
Elle's brows pulled together, baffled.
"No, I came here after my pack was annihilated by rogues." She said, emotionless. She had come to peace with it.
"Is every member of Shadowclaw's royal line part mage?" Rex asked, laughing. The sound cut clean through the conversation. He was half in disbelief — Shadowclaw and its mate swapping, magic flaring, and whatever other insanity they considered normal — but there was something else he'd never admit aloud.
A flicker of envy. Because for all their chaos, it was impressive. Ridiculously impressive.
And a very real part of him wished he had powers too. It looked way too damn cool.
Cael tried to answer—tried to joke that he certainly wasn't—but the moment he opened his mouth, a harsh cough tore through him, cutting the words short.
Elias appeared at his side immediately, carrying two freshly mixed tonics—one for Aeron, one for Cael. "Drink," he ordered, already tilting the cup toward him.
Hyran's attention returned to Elle. "Your power revealed itself today?"
"Yes," she said quietly, though the green still burning in her eyes made the word more confession than answer.
Aeron's hand had already found Marra's, fingers closing around hers with quiet certainty. His eyes held a gratitude so fierce it startled her. She felt it—just as she would through a matebond—but beneath it pulsed something else. Older. Deeper. A current she did not yet understand.
Without looking away from her, Aeron lifted her hand and pressed a reverent kiss to her knuckles, the gesture so gentle and so intentional that Marra's breath caught in her chest.
Hyran approached Nova with measured steps, his expression tightening into a frown the moment he drew close.
"Is there something wrong with her?" Rex asked, brow furrowing as he watched.
Nova's face looked strained, pained—her brows drawn tight, a dark bruise was visible on her forehead where her crown had sat. More bruises marked her neck, her chest, her arms. Her cloak and borrowed boots were still on her, but even through the layers it was obvious she was in no better condition than she had been the day before. She was in fact, much worse.
Hyran glanced to Cael and Aeron.
"May I?" he asked, requesting permission before laying a single finger on her.
Elle and Marra answered at the same time. "Yes." They held the Beta and Gamma ranks, after all—authority enough to grant permission.
Cael knew perfectly well Fin and Jax would want to be mindlinked for this. But he didn't have it in him to deal with an overprotective Alpha and Gamma at the moment. His eyes slid shut in sheer exhaustion.
Aeron gave a small nod.
Hyran lifted his hands over Nova. Red light flowed from his palms into her. His eyes glowed the same shade.
Slowly, the bruises along Nova's neck and chest began to lighten. A hint of color crept back into her face. Her expression eased, the tightness softening as the magic settled into her.
"How did she save them in this state?" Hyran asked, brows knitting.
"The Moon Goddess possessed her," Elias called out casually from across the room.
Hyran barked a laugh, assuming it was a jest—until no one else laughed.
Rex brushed the back of his fingers across Nova's cheek, frown deepening. Without a word, he rose, fetched a wet cloth from the water basin, and returned to tend her himself. He eased off her cloak, gently lifting her to pull it from under her and draped a thick blanket over her. He pulled the borrowed boots revealing socks. With Jax and Fin gone, he hovered with far less restraint than before. Cael's eyes were closed—too exhausted to notice—and Aeron's attention was fixed entirely on Marra.
"Why does she look no better? I feel her pain." Rex asked at last, unable to hide the strain in his voice.
"There are still traces of Lycura's Kiss in her blood," Elias replied. "We're administering more antidote, and she'll have a new tonic when she wakes."
Rex pressed the damp cloth to her forehead. "Her fever is worse than yesterday."
"It's better than it was a few minutes ago," Elias said, adjusting the vials at his station. "Your blood is helping."
"Would it be worth putting her in those hot springs again?" Rex asked.
At that, Elle and Marra exchanged a single look—then burst into laughter.
"We were just in there saving these two," Marra said, gesturing at Aeron and Cael.
Rex blinked. "Was she in there as well?"
"Yes," Elle said, already laughing again. "And she made about a dozen portals and put an Alpha and a Gamma into a timeout."
Marra broke into louder laughter. Aeron's eyes were shut, but a smirk tugged at his mouth.
"Gods, those scared the daylights out of me," Elias muttered as he administered fever medicine to Nova. "Still not convinced she didn't do it on purpose."
Rex frowned, not liking Elias's tone, though worry for Nova edged out his irritation.
Marra considered it, thoughtful. "She used much energy saving these two. And I do not believe she had antidote yesterday. Did she, Elias?"
"No, she did not," Elias said. "I think it may linger in her longer, even after she wakes. I will see that she continues to get it until we are certain it is gone."