Who. Touched. Her.

Jax's eyes flashed gold, wolf rising so violently the air thickened. "Get them off."

The guard scrambled for protective gloves and unlocked the cuffs as fast as his shaking hands allowed. The metal dropped to the floor with a hiss.

Jax didn't loosen his hold on her. He stood with her still cradled in his arms, her head tucked beneath his chin.

"Come with me," he ordered the guard, voice cold as winter steel.

"Yes, Gamma."

He mindlinked Fin and Aeron immediately, his thoughts a snarl of barely controlled rage.

Jax: I found her unconscious. Silver cuffs. Lowest level of the dungeon. I'm taking her to the infirmary now.

He didn't wait for their response. He carried her through the halls, long strides devouring the distance, her weight nothing in his arms. Every bruise on her skin was a fresh brand across his mind.

He reached the infirmary moments later.

Fin arrived almost instantly behind him, Aeron right at his side—both men stopping cold when they saw her limp in Jax's arms.

Jax laid her gently on a cot, adjusting her so her head rested safely against the pillow. Fin stepped forward, his eyes never leaving Nova. His expression was unreadable—too controlled, too still.

Elias's expression shifted into something lethal. He snatched supplies from the shelf with the speed of a man stitching battlefield wounds — disinfectant, salve, gauze — all landing on the nearest table in a neatly organized flurry.

"Why, was she cuffed in silver?" He asked, voice clipped.

He didn't wait for an answer. He worked. Frantic precision. Controlled fury. His hands gentle even as his jaw locked.

"These burns—" he swallowed once, the sound sharp, "—this looks like she's been cuffed for days."

"Yes," Jax said, voice tight with the effort of not snarling. His eyes flared gold. "I found her like that."

Elias froze.

Then he looked up — slowly — at Fin and Jax.

The healer-mask slipped.

"Nova Moonveil," he said quietly, "was cuffed in silver. Here. In Shadowclaw."

His voice rose — not loud, but razor-sharp, dangerous in its calm.

"This girl," he continued, tapping a finger gently against her burned wrist, "is one of the purest souls I have ever met. She is incapable of cruelty even by accident."

The accusation landed like a blade.

"She was cuffed in silver," Elias repeated flatly. "In Shadowclaw territory. Under what charges?"

Fin still hadn't moved. His wolf was howling, battering against his control, his own eyes flashing gold. Rage didn't begin to describe the storm building in him. Everything about this—every bruise, every burn—was wrong.

Before anyone could answer, the infirmary door opened and shut with a sharp click.

Second Lieutenant Tavren Blackhart of Castle Security entered, expression dark. His eyes moved from Nova to the guard Jax had dragged with him.

His jaw clenched.

Elias didn't stop working. He lifted the edge of Nova's training tunic — and froze again.

"What the hell..." Elias whispered, anger hollowing his voice. "What did they do to her?"

He lifted more of her training suit, revealing bruises mottling her ribs, her stomach, her hip.

Aeron's hands ignited with gold magic, and he stepped forward, healing her with fierce precision. Not fully—she still bore bruises—but the worst of the damage softened.

Fin finally spoke, voice level only through sheer force of will. "Why are there bruises on her?"

He looked at both the guard and Lieutenant Blackhart.

Blackhart's jaw clenched. "I said she is not to be harmed, Alpha." He turned sharply to the guard. "Explain."

The guard swallowed hard. "I did not harm her, Lieutenant and Alpha. She only asked why she was being detained—out of confusion, from my vantage point. Not disrespect."

Fin's voice dropped into something lethal, his alpha aura radiating out. "Who. Touched. Her."

The guard stared at the ground. "Derrick Varson and Lonn Reddick were the two who harmed her. They said she didn't get to ask questions. They claimed she assaulted our future Luna, so I didn't question it."

Jax's wolf snarled inside him, barely restrained. "She was cuffed in silver when I found her. Why? Was she resisting arrest?" He already knew the answer.

"No, sir," the guard said quickly. "I saw them bring her in. She wasn't fighting. Just surprised. Princess Meredith's orders, Gamma."

"Explain to me what they mean by assaulted Meredith," Fin said, his voice a blade disguised as calm. "When? And were those the grounds for bringing Nova to the dungeon in the first place?"

"Yes, Alpha," he said. "Princess Meredith called for aid, claiming her gold comb had been stolen."

He gestured stiffly — the gesture of a man embarrassed to have to say the words aloud.

"She also... stated she was struck."

Jax stared at him. "By Nova?"

"That is the accusation," Blackhart said.

"And you believed that?" Aeron asked, looking up from Nova's prone form. His tone was deceptively light, which in Aeron-language meant violently offended. "You believed that this girl—punched the princess of Ashbane?"

Blackhart's mouth tightened. "...I believed it long enough to detain her. Not long enough to send her out of the castle."

Fin's jaw tensed, but he let the lieutenant continue.

"As future member of the royal family of Shadowclaw, the arrest was automatic under protocol. However, after I learned the accused was Ashbane's bastard and a guest from another pack, I gave the order to hold her here in the castle dungeon until your return. Not to transfer her to Maximus South."

Aeron muttered something sharp under his breath, hands still glowing faintly as he stabilized Nova's breathing.

Elias finished applying salve and stepped forward, expression darkening.

"Did Meredith have any marks on her?" he asked.

Blackhart nodded once. "Yes. A bruise along her jaw. She has remained in bed claiming dizziness."

Elias blinked.

Then his voice went cold.

"If a member of the royal family was harmed," he said, "why in the gods' names was this not brought to me immediately?"

Blackhart hesitated. "...Princess Meredith refused to be examined by a Shadowclaw healer."

Aeron barked a humorless laugh. "Of course she did."

"That was not my place to ask, sir," Blackhart said, lowering his eyes in deference. "I assumed her steward would have notified you."

Fin looked at Nova.

Her bruised cheek.

Her raw wrists.

The slight tremble in her breathing.

Rage flooded him—pure, unreasoning, and terrifying in its intensity. He didn't understand it. Nova wasn't his. She wasn't claimed. They weren't bonded. There was no logical reason for his wolf to be pacing and snarling inside him like a caged storm.

But he knew—absolutely, unequivocally—that she did not do this.

"Were there any witnesses?" Fin asked, voice low.

"One of the princess's omegas," Lieutenant Blackhart answered.

"Did her steward witness it?" Fin demanded.

"No. It happened after you left, Alpha. In the night, while he was resting."

Fin exhaled slowly, the sound colder than winter steel. "Bring the omega to the east briefing room."

"Yes, Alpha."

Fin turned his gaze to the guard Jax had brought. "Did Princess Meredith order you directly to cuff her?"

The guard shook his head quickly. "No, Alpha. It was the other guards. I haven't spoken with the princess."

"You are dismissed," Fin said. "Do not repeat these events to anyone."

"Understood, Alpha." The guard bowed and hurried out. Lieutenant Blackhart followed, shutting the door behind them.

The moment the latch clicked, Jax looked at Fin, fury ready to ignite—but Aeron spoke first.

"We all know this is made up," he said, glaring at the floor as if the stone itself offended him. "Whatever that omega says."

Elias nodded without looking up from Nova. "I'll examine the princess once I am done with Nova."

"Do you think it possible Meredith antagonized Nova, and she fought back?" Fin asked, shaking his head, disbelief twisting his features. "I know her letters have been delusional, but ordering her to be cuffed—knowing we'd return? She can't be that dense, can she?"

"No," Aeron, Elias, and Jax said in perfect unison.

They all paused, the shared certainty hanging thick in the air.

Aeron spoke first. "Nova has avoided Meredith from the beginning. She doesn't want to be sent back to Ashbane. If Meredith attacked her, Nova would not fight back."

Fin exhaled sharply. "I'll speak with the omega."

He lingered for half a heartbeat—torn, unwilling to leave her in this state—but duty and fury forced him toward the door. He left with a tension so sharp it felt like the room itself vibrated after he was gone.

As soon as he was gone, Elias gently shifted Nova's wrist and hissed under his breath.

"She's burning up again. Gods..." His voice cracked with quiet fury. "It took two weeks for her to recover from the last round of silver. And now—our own pack did this."

Jax's jaw flexed so sharply the muscle jumped.

A few moments later, Elias stepped out to gather more supplies, leaving the infirmary heavy with quiet. Just Jax and Aeron, standing in the charged silence.

Aeron pushed away from the wall. "I'm going to find which omega is involved. If it's who I suspect..." His eyes narrowed. "Lisa Rellane tried to sneak into my office last week. Claimed it was for cleaning. She wasn't holding a damn broom."

Aeron strode out, boots echoing like countdowns.

Jax remained beside her bed, every instinct in him screaming not to move.

He looked at her face, soft under the infirmary lanterns.

He cared for this girl.

More than cared for her.

Gods help him.

He reached down and brushed his fingers gently along her cheek. Sparks raced up his arm—bright, undeniable.

Her skin warmed beneath his touch.

Jax closed his eyes for a moment, swallowing whatever emotion that tried to claw its way up his throat.

If he stayed for a moment longer, he wouldn't be able to leave. And he needed to hear this with his own ears.