Meanwhile, back in the infirmary, Cael's eyes snapped open. He reached for Elle, but she wasn't next to him anymore. His hand then immediately flew to his chest. The room was a mess—vials overturned, broken glass scattered across the floor. Elias's assistants hurried to clean the chaos. Cael could feel her turmoil through the bond. A sharp rising panic that made his pulse stutter. To the degree that it woke him from sleep.
Aeron's eyes were closed in rest, Marra's attention fixed on him, and Rex couldn't see Cael from where he sat.
Cael reached for her over mindlink.
Cael:Elle… what happened love?
Silence.
He waited a full minute. Her fear only grew sharper, stabbing through him.
Cael:Elle. Where are you?
No answer. Her panic spiked again—raw, bright, and overwhelming.
Cael:If you do not answer, I'm going to assume the worst. What's wrong?
Still nothing.
Cael opened a full mindlink to Marra, Aeron, Fin, and Jax—her panic now surging so fiercely he could barely breathe.
Cael:Where is Elle?
Fin:She's running with Jax. In the forest.
Cael:How far are they? I think she might be in danger. She's terrified.
Marra opened her mouth to speak, but Aeron's mindlink reached everyone first.
Aeron:She broke four windows, lit a torch green, and levitated half the infirmary while you were unconscious. If Hyran told her to shift and run, it means releasing it isn't working.
Cael pushed himself upright—wincing, but determined to stand.
Fin:Don't worry. We'll bring her back in one piece.
The phrasing did absolutely nothing to help.
If anything, it made Cael feel worse.
Cael:No. Something is very wrong.
Jax:She's safe. I'm running with her. Half the forest is floating—but no rogues.
Cael shook his head hard. No. Something was wrong—so wrong he felt it pulsing through the matebond like a physical blow. He forced himself upright, legs trembling under him, and pushed out of the infirmary.
Elias was in his office. Marra and Aeron stayed silent, watching Cael go. Rex saw him struggling to walk, unaware of the mindlink conversation. He rose to go find Hyran, see whether he could help in any way.
Before leaving, he bent over Nova without thinking and pressed a reverent kiss to her forehead. Her skin tingled under his lips, a sharp jolt running through him. He lingered a fraction of a second too long, breathing her in, before straightening.
He took two steps toward the door… then froze.
Had he just kissed her?
On the forehead?
Without even realizing he was doing it?
He shook his head once, stunned at himself. He had never done that for a woman before. Not once. The depth of what he felt for her had become something painful, something he didn't have words for. And she was not his. He knew that. He reminded himself with a breath and forced his legs toward the door.
Aeron's eyes were still closed, and Marra was looking elsewhere. If either had seen, they gave no sign.
Rex slipped out of the infirmary quickly.
He had barely stepped into the hallway when he spotted Cael gripping the stair rail, breath unsteady, body shaking with effort.
Rex rushed forward and ducked under Cael's arm, taking his weight without hesitation.
"Whoa" Rex said, steadying him. "Are you looking for your mate?"
They descended the stairs together. Rex didn't tell him to turn around. Didn't suggest rest. Didn't argue. He was a warrior—he knew better than to stand between a mate and the one they were desperate to reach.
"Yes," Cael said through clenched teeth. "She's frightened. I can feel it in my chest."
Rex nodded grimly. He remembered all too well what that felt like—how Nova's emotions had once hit him like a storm after the third war summit council. Now he felt her emotions like they were his own.
They stepped outside—and Cael froze.
The courtyard was a disaster of floating objects. Every stone, every bench, every loose piece of debris hung suspended in the air. The trees on the far side of the castle had warped sideways, dragged by the force that had poured out of Elle moments earlier.
Rex let out a soft whistle. "Assuming it's that way," he said, angling his head toward the warped forest.
He shifted Cael's arm across his shoulders and helped him walk as fast as Cael's weakened legs would allow.
"I've seen stranger things than this in Redmoon," Rex added. "Hyran will help her get it sorted."
Cael nodded once—barely hearing him. His entire focus tunneled into a single truth.
Elle needed him.
It only worsened the closer they got to the forest. More objects floated—stones, fallen branches, even tufts of grass ripped from the earth. Deeper in, Cael noticed an entire stream suspended midair, glowing bright green.
"Perhaps speaking with her will settle it," Hyran said to Fin. "If there is a misunderstanding, clearing it may calm her."
By now, everything within a three-mile radius was levitating. And as Elle and Jax ran, the magic followed—lifting whatever they passed. Jax didn't comment. He wasn't sure whether attempting to soothe her would help or if it would make her wolf's distress worse.
Jax: Elle… can you hear me?
Her reply came as the faintest whisper.
Elle: Yes. Don't worry about me. You should go back to Nova. I'll sort this out.
Jax: I'm not leaving you. There are rogues out here—and gods know what else.
Her tone sharpened instantly—dry, sarcastic, unamused.
Elle: I'm fairly certain my magic will levitate anything that comes near me.
Jax's quiet laugh filtered through the bond. A tightness in Elle's chest eased at the sound.
Jax: Did your wolf take over for a bit?
Elle: Yes, but she can't control it either.
Jax: Then we keep running. Let's go the direction we used to take when you and Cael visited me. You remember, the trail where you two drove me insane.
Elle laughed through the link.
Elle: Right. It's this way?
Jax: Yes. Straight ahead.
They kept running.
Fin's voice cut sharply into Jax's mind.
Fin: Cael left his bed. He can feel her panic through the bond. Is it not improving?
Jax: No. Waterfalls are flowing backwards, streams are levitating, trees are warping. It's getting worse.
Fin: Gods… the last thing we need. Can she hear us? Cael tried three times.
Jax checked.
Jax: Elle, can you hear Fin or anyone else?
Elle: No… only you.
Jax relayed it back to Fin.
Jax: She can only hear me. Ask Hyran if there's anything else we can do. Her wolf came forward, but she says it didn't help.
Then it happened.
A green bubble snapped into existence around Jax—smooth, humming, impenetrable—locking him in place mid-stride.
He slammed into it with a grunt.
Jax: Elle! Stop!
Nothing.
He released his Alpha aura—sapphire flashing violently through his eyes.
Jax: Elle, STOP. Can you hear me?
No response.
"Shit," he muttered aloud, shoving against the barrier as the air around him crackled.
Meanwhile, on the far edge of the forest, Fin stood beside Hyran with Cael barely holding himself upright, Rex steadying him from the other side.
"We have a problem," Fin said.
"What?" Hyran and Cael demanded at the same time.
"Her wolf couldn't control it either. Jax said a barrier went up around him—he can't move."
Hyran didn't look alarmed.
"She was upset with you," Hyran said, as if it were a perfectly ordinary observation. "Perhaps that is the root. Fix that and the magic may settle."
Cael's head snapped toward Fin, eyes darkening. "Why was she upset with you?"
Fin didn't answer. He knew exactly why. Elle had been sobbing, begging him to let her reach Cael, and he hadn't even looked at her. He had held her back like she meant nothing.
He didn't try to explain. He shifted and tore into the forest at alpha speed.
Cael's voice hit the mindlink like a whip.
Cael: Why was Elle upset with you?
Fin exhaled once, hard.
Fin: She's upset because I was cold to her. When you were covered in dark magic, she tried to reach you. I trapped her in a barrier so she couldn't move.
He didn't want Cael collapsing in the middle of a magical catastrophe, so Fin opened a private link.
Fin:Elias, Cael's out of the infirmary. He's in the forest. Don't let him do anything stupid. Get to him now.
Elias appeared seconds later, hurrying down the path—only for Cael to refuse to sit, refuse to lean on him, refuse anything but standing pointed toward Elle's direction.
Then Fin's voice returned, sharper, rushed.
Fin:Is Rex still with Cael?
Elias:Yes, he's here.
Fin:Tell him to run to me at alpha speed. Follow the warped-tree trail.
Elias looked at Rex. "Fin wants you. Alpha speed. Follow the warped trees."
Cael's eyes narrowed. "Why? What's wrong?"
Elias lifted his hands helplessly. "He didn't say."
Rex and Cael exchanged a grim look—both reading the same fear in the other's expression—before Rex shifted and launched himself into the forest, following the twisted path Elle's magic had carved.