Fin tried to mindlink Elias with no luck. An agonizing minute passed when Finric's mindlink flared open with a jolt. Aeron's voice came fast, tense.
Aeron: Alpha—where have you been? We've been trying to reach you for the past forty-five minutes. Is Jax with you?
Fin didn't waste a second.
Fin: Yes. He's here. Injured. I'm with Nova. She's been stabbed—
Aeron: Stabbed?
Aeron's voice sharpened.
Aeron: By who?
Fin: Riven Ashbane. He used something laced with dark magic. It's burns me on contact. We need a portal, now. Come alone. We are about 30 miles south and 13 miles west of the training arena.
A pause.
Aeron:Copy.
While Fin waited, he turned to see Jax, still crouched by Nova's side, his face pale with horror. Jax's hand was wrapped in a torn strip of fabric from the cloak, and even that hadn't helped.
The cloth was smoking.
Nova whimpered weakly, her breath catching as the wound pulsed with something unnatural.
"What the hell is this?" Jax muttered, half to himself, half to the girl bleeding beneath him. "Why can't we pull it out."
He grit his teeth, reached for the blade again — and tried to pull ignoring the pain.
Wrong move. The cloth caught fire mid-tug, disintegrating between his fingers.
His palm sizzled. He yanked his hand back. His skin was blistered. Burned.
Fin's voice was a growl. "Don't touch it again. Not without whatever the hell Aeron knows."
He looked back down at Nova. Her body was still. But her brow twitched. She was still fighting.
Fin clenched his jaw, every instinct in him screaming to fix this, now.
Jax looked at her again, and spoke jaw clenched. "The cold will kill her faster than the blade will."
"Understood. Get her back in the water," Fin ordered. "Try to keep her temperature up until Aeron gets here."
Jax stepped back into the glowing spring, carefully lowering Nova back into the warmth. Her lips quivered. Her skin was still far too pale.
Her forehead in the crook of his neck.
Meanwhile, Finric reached out again—
Fin: Elias. Prep a room in my private wing for Nova Moonveil. We want discretion. Plan for poisoning and hypothermia.
Elias: Fuck… how?!
Elias paused for a second.
Elias: Yes Alpha. On it.
Then, Finric looked up. And saw the shimmer of magic beginning to gather in the air nearby.
Aeron was coming.
And whatever spell was on that dagger… was about to be exposed.
___________________________
A soft crack split the air like tearing silk.
The portal unfurled beside the spring — heat blooming out from its center, melting snow in slow, curling ribbons — and Aeron stepped through, hooded, robed, satchel already open as if he'd been mid-stride in a lecture when whatever he felt through their bond sent him running.
He didn't speak.
His gaze found the spring.
Then Nova.
Half in Jax's arms, half submerged in golden water that shimmered unnaturally, bending the air around her like it didn't quite understand physics anymore.
Aeron froze.
The mage's expression — usually a bored slate — cracked into stunned, horrified awe.
"…What the hell," he whispered.
"She's not healing," Finric said immediately, standing as Aeron approached. His voice was sharp, clipped, a command disguised as a report. "The water turned gold and healed us. But her stab wound won't close. She's been bleeding for over thirty minutes."
Aeron snapped back into motion.
"Keep as much of her in the water as possible," he ordered. "The second we remove the blade, lower her again. We're buying seconds here."
Jax didn't wait.
He lifted her from the spring and laid her gently onto the snow, only her legs left submerged to the knee. She shivered — a tiny, broken sound — even unconscious.
"Let's hope she stays that way," Aeron muttered, already kneeling.
His hands moved fast — far faster than a normal mage's — drawing sigils in the air that glowed white-blue. Finric's wolf snarled silently at the magic, hackles rising.
A thin magical sheen settled over Nova's wound.
Aeron's breath hitched.
The veins around the blade were darkening — spreading. Thin black tendrils curled beneath her skin, pulsing rhythmically, as if alive and feeding.
Finric crouched beside him, voice low. "What is it?"
Aeron didn't answer immediately. His eyes were fixed on the blade like it was a puzzle he hated solving.
"She's not burning," Jax said quietly. "Why didn't it hurt her like it hurt us?"
Still nothing from Aeron.
He reached into his satchel, pulled out a glowing clamp etched with ancient sigils, and set it beside her.
"Aeron," Finric growled. "Talk."
The mage finally spoke — voice toneless, clinical, but chilled at the edges.
"It looks like she isn't burning, but trust me — the pain she is in is worse than what it felt like for either of you. This—" he gestured at the creeping veins, "—isn't simply dark magic."
His voice dropped lower.
"This is forbidden magic. Designed to torture the victim."
Finric went still. Too still. The kind of stillness that meant something catastrophic was about to happen.
"Forbidden… how?" he asked.
Aeron met his eyes.
"This isn't a cursed blade. Or poisoned steel. This dagger is reinforced with magic fueled by soul sacrifice."
Silence fell like a snowfall of ash.
Jax swallowed. "What kind of soul?"
Aeron hesitated.
"Mother and child."
The air cracked — Jax's aura surging, Finric's wolf lunging forward, the spring itself rippling.
Aeron continued, his voice grim. "This magic is outlawed on every continent."
"But Riven had it," Jax snapped. "Alpha Ashbane—he used it on her."
Aeron's jaw tightened. He stared at the blade again, brows furrowing, lips pressed into a line like he was fighting the urge to panic.
Finric caught it immediately. "What aren't you saying?"
Aeron exhaled through his nose.
"I hope I'm wrong."
"Say it."
Aeron finally lifted his head.
"I don't think this dagger was meant to kill her.
Not right away."
Fin blinked — a slow, dangerous blink. "What?"
"It's placed too precisely. Deep enough to weaken, but avoiding vitals. Whatever this blade is laced with… it's working slowly. Corrupting her wolf. Blocking her healing. Making her too weak to shift. Too weak to run."
Jax scowled. "So… what? A delayed curse?"
"No."
Aeron's voice was almost a whisper now.
"A timer."
The words fell like stones into a frozen lake.
Finric's voice was a low, lethal growl. "You think Riven planned to return and pull it out himself?"
Aeron nodded once.
"He wounds her with something no one else can touch — keeps her alive but bleeding, dependent. Then he returns just in time to 'save' her. Claim her. Take her."
Jax's breath punched out of him.
Finric's wolf howled inside his chest.
Aeron placed a hand over Nova's sternum, feeling the faint magic thrumming beneath her ribs.
Finric's hands balled into fists. His teeth clenched so hard his jaw popped.
The bastard wanted to take her back. He would've succeeded, if they'd been just a few minutes slower.
Finric clenched his fists. His voice was razor-thin. "Get it out."
Aeron nodded and turned back to Nova, whose breathing had gone shallow, her lips now tinged more purple than blue. Veins under her eyes started surfacing black.
"Once I remove it," the mage warned, "the magic will fight to stay. That's how soul-bound weapons work. They embed."
Finric's voice didn't shake but the longer they waited, the more his wolf howled.
"Then rip it out."
Aeron reached into his satchel again and retrieved a different pair of silver tongs. They were thicker with runes carved into the grips. The metal shimmered faintly with warding enchantments.
"I need you both to hold her down." Aeron said.
A flicker of guilt passed over Jax's face.
Finric face paled. He noticed Jax and ignored it. There was no time for jealousy now.
"This is going to hurt," Aeron added. "A lot."
Jax didn't blink. "She can take it."
Aeron's expression didn't change.
"Even if she can… don't let go."
He positioned the tongs carefully over the hilt, eyes narrowing, magical symbols flaring to life across his hands. The wind picked up. The black veins pulsed.
And Nova whimpered — softly, barely a breath — as if some part of her knew what was coming.
Finric leaned in, one hand over her shoulder, the other over her legs. Jax mirrored him at her hips and other shoulder, jaw clenched.
Aeron drew in one breath and clamped down.
The moment the metal made contact, a screeching sound tore through the air — not mechanical, not even earthly.
Something inside the dagger fought.
Magic bucked.
The veins crawling through Nova's skin lurched, the black lines pulsing faster, reaching farther — racing up her side and toward her heart.
Nova's eyes opened shining silver with no pupil, and her back arched off the snow. She let out a groan of agony, like she was fighting the urge to cry.
A sob escaped from her mouth, sweat now on her forehead. Expression pained, her eyes flickered back to green, followed by tears.
Her entire body trembled.
Finric flinched but didn't let go, muttering "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," under his breath as she writhed beneath him.
His arms locked harder across her legs, his eyes wild, jaw clenched. It felt like something inside him was breaking. Her pain was lancing through the bond.
Aeron's breath quickened. "It's resisting. The spell is anchored."
Nova sobbed, the sound ripping straight from her chest in agony.
"Get it out!" Jax growled.
Aeron began to chant, ancient and fast, words from a dead language that made the hair on Finric's neck rise.
The dagger pulsed one final time — a deep, internal thrum like a heartbeat.
And then—Aeron yanked. The dagger tore free with a sickening sound. Black, smoke hissed up from the wound, trailing off the blade in smoky tendrils.
But Nova didn't go still.
Her eyes shut, brow furrowed, and she was whimpering.
"Please… make it stop." She whispered.
Her eyes shifted between silver and green, she was wheezing shallow breaths like she couldn't get enough air.
"Don't let go yet." Aeron called, already moving his eyes to the veins. Still spreading.
He dropped the dagger beside him and pressed his glowing hands over the wound. A wave of white-hot magic surged into her skin. The black veins shuddered.
And then began to pull back — like ink being sucked out of paper. Dark magic poured from her wound, and disintegrated on contact with Aeron's magic.
Nova gritted her teeth and her eyes settled on green.
But she let out another whimper. It was fragile. Nothing like the girl that just won a match against a seasoned warrior.
"She's strong," Aeron said through gritted teeth. Sweat dripped down his temple. "But this… whoever did this…"
His hands pulsed and more dark magic rose from her wound.
Nova's pants had turned into sobs of agony. Her eyes fluttered and she fell unconscious, with a pained expression still on her face
Jax watched the Alpha's knuckles go white.
Fin was locked in place, crouched beside Aeron, fists clenched so tight the veins in his arms stood out. A single bead of sweat rolled down his temple, disappearing beneath the mess of damp black hair.
Nova was still. Too still. Aeron's voice cut through the tense silence.
"Lower her back in. The water will help with the pain."
Fin didn't wait. He was already lifting her.
Her body was hot now, burning with the effort of surviving what no one should've been able to survive. Her pulse fluttered fast beneath his fingertips. As he stepped into the spring, he held her wound above the surface—hesitating—then gently dipped her back into the glowing water.
A shudder passed through her.
Blood came out of the wound. It was black for a few seconds before turning dark red. It spiraled around her side and bloomed beneath her ribs.
"She's bleeding out," Jax said, panic tightening his throat.
"She has to," Aeron replied, still breathless. "This is purging the blood that was infected. But she may need a blood transfusion as soon as we're back."
Finric hadn't moved. His eyes never left her.
Jax stared down at the water. Fin started to panic but then calmed when he saw the rate of blood loss slow. Turning… pink for a second, before turning silver.
Silver blood came from her wound shimmering beneath the surface.
"Gods," Jax whispered.
Jax must have not seen the silver blood that she used to heal him. Fin was not surprised as he had witnessed this earlier. For a breathless moment, the spring caught the color and reflected it like starlight.
Then it faded. The wound started to close.
Slower than the others, yes. But healing.
Clean, silent, real.
Jax swallowed hard and looked up, barely able to speak. "What is she?"
Aeron didn't answer right away.
But the look on his face said he had a few theories.
"If you want her to live, don't tell anyone about her blood." Aeron said.
"You knew… about her blood?" Fin said looking at Aeron with an accusatory face.
"Yes. I see it every time she passes out when we're training. Of course I knew." He snapped impatiently.
"If this is known, she will be hunted by every Alpha in Varos. There will be nothing we can do." Aeron said flatly.
Fin's jaw ticked at that as did Jax's. Both felt the same urge to protect her.