Serena felt the rock disappear behind her and found herself flat on her back.
She opened her eyes slowly. Constellations shimmered above her. A massive silver moon hung overhead, impossibly close. For a moment, she thought she was outside.
Then she recognized it. The chamber under the library. The one with the ceiling enchanted like a night sky. The one as large as Drakenfell castle itself.
She was lying on the rune she'd carved the night she was crowned. The Aureus Catenes cuff she wore on her wrist had activated and brought her here.
That meant one thing: this was most definitely not her first shift.
Was she really that close to death?
She felt strangely calm. Almost like it was happening to someone else.
Well, now we know they work, she thought dryly to herself.
"Serena?" Alaric's voice cut through the fog in her mind. "What on earth?"
He slid to his knees next to her, examining her forehead followed by her limbs.
She heard him, but couldn't answer. His next words were muffled.
The pain had surpassed everything, even her Hidden Flame mark. Her mark flashed even hotter, competing for dominance.
Alaric's hands glowed, but nothing happened. Serena didn't even feel it.
"Was she poisoned?" A voice called, cutting through the muffled noises.
Her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she was out.
✦✦✦
Fin staggered to his feet. Aeron helped him up, raising his eyebrows but not commenting.
Protocol be damned. Fin knew the likelihood of being seen was high, even with a cloak on and hood up.
Drakenfell's tents were in the middle of the camp, which was one of the reasons they'd met in his earlier.
They entered the main tent a minute later. To his relief, everyone was there.
Before they could say anything, Gavriel spoke, voice clipped and urgent.
"Was Serena with you?"
"I found her in the forest." Fin's jaw was tight. "She was in a lot of pain. Kept insisting she was fine and wouldn't let me help her."
"That's when I arrived and tried to heal her," Aeron added, eyes locked with Hyran's. "But she vanished into thin air."
Gavriel and Hale exchanged a glance, faces darkening. That alone told Fin everything he needed to know.
Without a word, Hyran carved a portal in the middle of the tent. He ran through and Fin didn't ask permission. He bolted after him before the others could move.
He gave zero fucks that he was running into a portal with an unknown destination. Hyran made that portal for a reason, and there was no question she was on the other side.
Serena's scent hit him immediately. He followed it at alpha speed, ignoring the excruciating pain in his body, and slid to his knees beside her.
Her eyes were closed. But even unconscious, her brows were furrowed and face pained.
Fin inhaled sharply, clocking the shift in her coloring even from a few minutes ago. Her complexion now had a slight grey hue. Small veins darkened beneath her eyes, like ink spreading through water. She looked like she was dying.
A healer knelt over her, gold magic glowing from his hands.
Fin recognized him instantly. Alaric Kestrel. They had met once through Aeron. He was known as one of the best healers on the continent.
That should have made Fin feel better. But it didn't.
"Standard antidote first," Alaric muttered, hands still glowing over Serena.
"I don't think she was poisoned." Aeron moved next to Fin, voice clipped. "Has she had recent prolonged silver exposure?"
Neither of them bothered with the usual decorum involved when visiting another pack. There wasn't time.
"Yes, she has." A woman's voice cracked. "One year of it."
Fin looked up. A redheaded woman stood beside Hale, their hands linked. He assumed this was Elara Vaelor, the other person Garrett had mentioned.
Gavriel slid in on Alaric's other side across from Fin, face tight with concern.
The burning sensation on Fin's arm flashed hotter. A bead of sweat rolled down his temple and he made a concerted effort to not react. At the same moment, Gavriel and Alaric both winced.
Aeron noticed. So did Fin.
"What the hell..." Gavriel breathed.
Then, to Fin's surprise, King Tiberon stepped out of a portal with Queen Bellatrix.
Optics be damned. Fin didn't care if he gave away too much at this point. She was dying and that was unacceptable.
"The sensation she's having is that of a shift," he ground out through gritted teeth. "But she can't shift, so it's been getting worse."
Alaric frowned, glancing up at Fin, then Aeron. "Even with prolonged silver exposure, it shouldn't be this severe."
"She hasn't shifted before," Fin and Aeron answered in unison.
Fin gathered Serena had told them that in confidence earlier. Everyone's reactions confirmed it. The last thing he wanted was to out her for that. But what choice did he have?
Silence. A few heartbeats.
Hyran broke it first. "She never mentioned that. I was not aware."
Fin's wolf spoke in his mind.
Xeon: It won't matter if she dies either way.
The others were mindlinking. It was obvious from the way their expressions shifted without anyone speaking.
"Forgive me, ruling out variables. This is relevant." Aeron glanced at Hyran. "Why isn't she marked?"
Tension thickened in the air.
The color drained from Gavriel's face at that question. His eyes stayed locked on Serena, an internal debate playing across his features.
He exhaled, coming to some kind of decision.
When he spoke, his voice was reluctant. Like he wished he could have mindlinked this instead of saying it aloud. But she was dying and he didn't have a choice.
"She broke her matebond early this morning. Shattered it, actually. Passed out cold for a few hours but she was functioning fine after."
King Tiberon's head snapped to Gavriel at that. So did Hyran's and Alaric's.
Fin's jaw ticked.
So no one was aware of that either. Noted.
They all began mindlinking again. They weren't bothering to hide it now.
Aeron spoke, ignoring the conversation he and Fin weren't privy to. "Breaking a matebond damages both the human and wolf. She's weaker now than she was before she was marked, by a high degree."
He paused, piecing it together. "If she was cuffed in silver for a year, she's lucky to be alive. That alone will take months to heal."
He felt Serena's forehead with the back of his hand, then nodded as if confirming something. "His venom would have been jumpstarting her healing this entire time. She lost that, on top of weakening her own defenses by breaking the matebond. It built up in her bloodstream all day. She couldn't fight it off like she normally would, and now her body is in shock."
His voice dropped, eyes certain. "Yes, I am sure of it now. These are textbook silver poisoning symptoms. Right before fatal outcomes."
Fin stiffened at those words. None of this felt right.
Aeron glanced at Hyran then to King Tiberon.
"If she's marked again, worst case, she'll stay passed out but the pain will stop for a few hours. Best case, and what I believe will happen, the venom will help her fight the silver as it did before and stabilize her wolf."
More mindlinks. By the look on Alaric's face, Fin gathered they were arguing about something.
He was about to speak, unwilling to wait while they sorted themselves out and she lay there dying, when another portal opened.
Prince Dexmon walked through.
For someone who had just broken a matebond, he looked completely unaffected.
He wasn't alone either. A woman clung to his arm, wearing a crown.
Fin's eyes narrowed, studying both of them.
Fin: Did they crown Serena, knowing she'd be tied to Dexmon even though he clearly already has a mate?
Aeron: I was wondering the same thing.
Aeron shot Hyran a look, and Hyran's expression was one of equal disgust at the scene.