But she didn't wake for Fin.
His breathing had evened out beside her, exhaustion finally dragging him under, when the door creaked open and Jax stepped in—quiet, careful, like he already knew.
Fin pressed one last kiss to Nova's temple, whispered something and reluctantly slid out of the bed.
They didn't need to speak; the exchange had become instinct.
Fin brushed his thumb over the back of her hand once, then nodded to Jax and left the room with the heavy gait of a man who wanted to stay but knew he couldn't.
Jax exhaled shakily, pulling off his boots. He climbed into the bed the moment the door shut behind Fin, slipping beneath the blankets and easing her back into his arms like she belonged there—as if letting go would shatter him.
Her body fit perfectly against his and his mind immediately relaxed. He loved holding her and again had mixed feelings of relief, happiness, and sadness at the same time. Jax rested his forehead against the back of her shoulder and whispered, hoarse, like he'd been holding the words for days:
"Come back to me, Nova."
He held her close. And sometime near dawn, he, too, finally slept.
Nova stirred. But he was already long asleep. Her dream was more vivid than she'd ever seen a dream before. She hadn't been aware she was dreaming. Not until right now
She was laying in a bed that wasn't hers looking up a high vaulted ceiling she knew but didn't. It was dark out, and something must have woken her.
But then her mind cleared and sense came about. She felt it. Something was off.
This room was so familiar yet it wasn't. She felt a burning sensation in the pit of her stomach like she'd once lived here in a past life but couldn't quite place it. But she knew this was home for her then.
Her vision sharpened, waking up. She got out of the bed and pulled on clothes she didn't recognize.
She looked into a mirror, to see Rex's reflection. She was shocked, it scared her. But to her horror and shock, he had the same reaction.
"Nova…?" He whispered, confusion on his face.
She tried to answer but couldn't. Boots pounded outside his door, there was shouting. Rex knew something was off and he immediately pulled on his boots leaving no time to figure out why Nova flashed in his mirror. He looked at his reflection again, and it was his own.
A horn blew from outside. The horn that blows when there's a fire, an attack, or something was very wrong.
More shouts and boots were outside Rex's door. Too many. Too synchronized.
Rex spun, instincts flaring. He pulled on clothes and armor, grabbing his sword and ran out of his room.
He turned through the halls knowing this place by heart, cutting through behind a tapestry. Nova recognized everything. That burning sensation came back. She'd lived here. She knew where he was going.
Rex halted in front of double doors, the throne room and royal court. Before he got on his dragon, he had to make sure his father was aware.
But his father was nowhere to be seen.
No one was there.
Rex ran towards a tapestry in the back of the throne room, knowing it cut through to the alpha's chambers. But he didn't get there.
Nova somehow made him halt. She felt it before he did. Something was coming through the door behind him but he wasn't aware. It happened so quick.
But her body — his body — wouldn't turn, no matter how hard she tried. Confusion hit him, sharp and disorienting, followed by an emotion that wasn't his. Something was off.
He forced his breath steady, letting his training take hold. Calm under pressure. Always. He sifted through the turmoil, separating instinct from intrusion.
And then he recognized it.
That emotion was Nova's.
His back was to the door, but something in him — something not him — compelled him to move.
His back was to the door, yet instinct — hers, not his — pulled him hard enough to make him turn. Barely in time.
"What the…" he said, not understanding.
Commander Rolv Ashen. She recognized him immediately from the War Summit. He was one of the commanders that killed the traitors in the fourth counsel meeting. He was always near Alpha Redmoon. Behind him, a hooded figure she couldn't see the face of, wielding a blade hissing, headed straight towards Rex.
The weapon was making an unpleasant noise, Nova realized Rex couldn't hear it but she could. He didn't realize it was the type that was made from sacrifice. Poisoned. Meant to torture and kill.
Nova didn't think.
She shielded.
Silver magic came out of his palms. It flared so violently it scorched the stone. Rex looked at his own hands in confusion, but there was no time.
More wolves flooded the hallway. Rex could hear them, noting the sounds. It had to be at least twenty.
They burst through the doors. Silent, masked, uniforms stripped of insignia. Nova caught their scents. Every. Single. One.
Coordinated. Trained. Moving as one unit.
Half shifted mid-sprint. Half held weapons.
Not warning him.
Not detaining him.
More wolves entered.
From her peripheral, she caught a glimpse of another who wore a Redmoon crest. She did not recognize him, but she felt that Rex did - somehow. She felt his emotions and understood what his mind was thinking. He was someone Rex trusted. A captain who had trained Rex… should have been guarding his flank. He was like family.
But instead of protecting Rex, he lunged at Rex's throat. He was in a regular cloak but when he lunged at Rex, Nova saw the armor under. A piece of parchment fell on the ground from his cloak, but he seemed to not notice. There was a broken seal, but before she could see which seal it was, her magic flared, protecting Rex.
The captain staggered back, a look of confusion on his face.
Nova didn't hesitate and reached forward again, shoving power through Rex's arms, forming a shield so thin it flickered like heat, forcing another blade to glance off and shower sparks as it skidded across the floor.
Rex still didn't understand what was happening. But Nova did.
This was an assassination attempt. A Redmoon takeover.
A snarl tore from Rex's chest—his adrenaline roaring, his lungs burning—and the vision jerked, swayed, and blurred. She felt his confusion, turned into anger, hot and sharp, punching through her like a second heart.
And then—A sword raised behind him, an executioner's strike.
Nova screamed inside the dream— and reality shattered like glass.
She surged awake with his terror still clawing at her ribs. Her breath tore out of her in a sharp gasp, chest heaving, sweat slicking her temples. For a split second, the world around her was doubled. An unfamiliar room, but definitely in Shadowclaw layered with the throne room of Redmoon Palace. The one she'd just watched Rex run through in his own eyes.
A blade had come from behind him and another aimed for his throat. Her magic flared through him knocking back both. But then she couldn't see it anymore. Couldn't feel him.
She blinked confused for a moment where she was. Her fingers trembled. The dream hadn't been a dream. It was so real.
She had been inside Rex. Eyes. Breath. Pulse. Everything.
Her heart slammed painfully against her ribs.
One of Rex's own captains who trained him. Another captain Alpha Redmoon trusted. Two Redmoon captains corrupted.
A dark-magic blade. A hooded Mage. Hooded warriors. Poisoned. Purposeful. Not a scuffle. Not a mistake.
A plotted coup with at least twenty seven that she counted. But by the sounds coming from the halls, she estimated it at least fifty.
They were all converging on him inside the palace walls.
Stealth-trained. Silent. Organized.
Unmistakably coordinated.
They were trying to take Redmoon. They were trying to kill the Alpha and his heir before anyone could react.
Her stomach twisted so violently she nearly doubled over. Time felt… still. Suspended. As if the world was holding its breath around her while the truth hit like ice water down her spine.
She didn't even register that Jax was in bed with her. Didn't feel his warmth. Didn't hear his heart. She ripped the IV's out of her arm.
At alpha speed, Nova pushed to her feet, her hands shook as she shoved on boots that were laying near the bed. They were the same pair Elle had brought her for the trial. Her cloak was sitting there as well, and she grabbed it. Her legs were shaking, but she didn't notice.
Her magic sparked at her fingertips, silver flashed in irregular bursts that lit the room like lightning.
Jax's eyes shot open. She was moving so quickly she was a blur and it took him half a second to realize she was up.
She ripped the air open as a portal split in front of her.
"Nova!" Jax scrambled out of bed and grabbed his boots, running after her at Alpha speed.
She sprinted through and recognized a room. This was the chamber Rex was just in. But it was more familiar than that. The smells… all of it. Why did this feel like her room too?
Jax crossed through the portal and looked around an unfamiliar room, just in time to spot her running out the door.
"Nova, wait!" He called, throwing his boots on as he ran after her.
He ran out the door, just in time to see her turn a corner. "Nova!"
She didn't answer. She felt a burning sensation in her core. Like a memory trying to surface but it couldn't. This palace had a familiar scent of cedar and cold stone. She knew the lighting, the turns, the stairwells.
She knew exactly how many steps until the intersection split. Her feet landed without hesitation.