Chapter 4- In the Fire

Elowen POV

The portal cracked the air like a whip of lightning....flaring, wild, unstable.

And then...They came through. Amaris tumbled out first, blood on her face, dagger clutched in one hand, eyes wide with rage and panic. Her armor was torn at the shoulder, and her breath came in ragged gasps.

She wasn’t alone. In her arms, wrapped in one of our enchanted blankets, was her.

The girl from my dream. The one with the golden brown eyes.

The one from the silver fucking cage.

She was limp. Barely conscious. Covered in bruises, dried blood, and filth. Her golden eyes blinked once, just once...before fluttering closed.

“NO!” I cried, lurching up from the bench before my legs could argue. “Where’s Taya?! Where’s the others?!”

Amaris dropped to her knees, still clutching the girl like a lifeline. “Lucien,” she gasped. “He...he came through the door. Rylen and Jace held him. They told us to run. Taya…” Her voice broke. “Taya went back in.”

I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t fucking breathe.

“She went back,” Lyssira whispered in my mind, pacing like a wild animal. “Of course she did. That stupid, beautiful bitch.”

“No, no no no!!” My heart slammed against my ribs. I reached for the portal, but it was flickering, unstable. Lachlan was already gripping his staff tighter, sweat running down his temples as he tried to hold it open.

“She's still inside,” I said, my voice shaking. “We have to go back.”

“Then we’re going,” Daxon said, already shedding his coat, his wolf rising in his voice.

“I’m coming too,” Bram growled, cracking his knuckles. “I owe Lucien a punch in the face anyway.”

“No!” I snapped. “I just got back to you! If something happens!”

Daxon cupped my face gently, forehead pressed to mine. “If something happens to Taya, we’ll never forgive ourselves. You know that.”

Bram kissed my hair, the bear in him already rumbling. “We'll bring her back, El. Swear it.”

I nodded, even though my whole fucking soul was screaming. The two of them turned and launched themselves into the portal before I could change my mind. Lachlan grunted, anchoring the gate with everything he had.

Then they were gone. And I was alone again.

I dropped back onto the bench, my nails digging into my thighs, every breath shallow and tight.

Vaelrix knelt beside me, one clawed hand resting on my shoulder. “They’ll get her. They’ll bring all of them home.”

“Unless they don’t,” I whispered, my voice cracking. “Unless he...”

“No,” Lyssira snapped. “Don’t go there. Taya is smart. Vicious. Fast. She doesn’t die in cages...she breaks them.”

“She’s still in there,” I whispered. “She was right there. She almost made it.”

My fingers curled into fists. My nails broke skin. The girl stood just feet away, finally safe. But my pack wasn’t whole.

And until it was?

I wasn’t either.

Taya Quinn POV

Lucien’s tower was shaking, cracks in the walls, smoke curling through the corridor, and the sound of pure chaos erupting just ahead.

“You’re a fucking lunatic,” Zuki panted in my head. “I’m not even mad, I’m just...godsdammit, Taya!”

“We’re not leaving them.”

I sprinted, legs burning, boots slamming stone as I rounded the corner, just in time to see Jace bleeding down one side, blade in hand, his mouth split in a feral grin. Rylen stood behind him, fangs bared, slashes across his chest. Blood everywhere. Lucien was laughing, fucking laughing, his eyes glowing, face twisted in madness. He looked like something rabid, not a man.

He slashed toward Jace, and I screamed. “HEY ASSHOLE!” I launched a dagger directly into his shoulder. It buried deep. His laughter stopped.

“Stupid mutt,” he growled, turning to face me.

“You wanna die today?” I shouted, teeth clenched, another blade already drawn. “Because I have time!”

And then, like gods descending, Rivena burst through the smoke. Druen at her side, shadows rippling. Lazurien trailing behind, golden vines twisting at his feet like they were waiting to be unleashed.

Lucien growled low. “You’re all going to bleed for this.”

“Oh shut the fuck up,” Rivena snarled.

Before Lucien could move, Rylen lunged low and slammed into his ribs, knocking him back into the pillar. Jace followed up with a blade swipe across his chest that left black blood dripping onto the stone. I moved in to flank......but Lucien flared. A blast of red black magic exploded outward and hit me hard in the side.

I screamed as I flew across the room, hit the floor, and slid hard into a wall. Pain sparked bright across my ribs and hip, and everything went momentarily numb.

“TAYA!” Jace screamed. I blinked hard. Blood in my mouth. Zuki howling. Everything spinning.

And then...Lazurien. Snapped.

He let out a sound, a roar, that made the tower shake again. His form shifted as bark rippled across his skin, vines lacing his limbs, his eyes glowing like twin suns over a forest fire. He towered upward, ancient and divine, dryad magic exploding from his core.

Lucien turned. And for the first time, that smug bastard stared in fear.

Lazurien raised his arm. “ENOUGH.”

The earth cracked. Thorned vines as thick as tree trunks ripped through the marble floors and shattered the walls. They spiraled and surged toward Lucien, slamming into him like wild snakes.

Lucien screamed.The vines snapped around his arms, legs, throat, pinning him to the wall, bleeding him, choking him. The thorns pulsed, glowing, humming with divine rage.

Rivena, panting, stared up at her mate. “You’ve been holding that in?”

Lazurien’s voice echoed with layered power. “He hurt my family. I’ll grow my vengeance from his bones.”

“Oh gods,” Zuki breathed. “I might be into him now.”

I laughed, coughed, because blood was in my throat. But then arms scooped me up, strong and steady.

Daxon. “You’re okay,” he said, holding me like I weighed nothing.

Bram was behind him, already helping Rylen and Jace up, hauling them toward the courtyard as the tower began to collapse.

“Portal’s still open,” Daxon said, clutching his side. “But barely.”

“MOVE!” Rylen barked.

We ran. The whole building was crumbling behind us, Lucien still roaring, the vines tightening. We sprinted through shattered corridors, through flame and smoke and ruin, and burst into the courtyard like war born ghosts.

The portal flickered....dim, sputtering....And Lachlan was on his knees, face pale, veins glowing with magical strain as he held it open with everything he had left.

“GO!” he roared.

Daxon didn’t stop, just charged through the gate with me in his arms. Bram followed, dragging Rylen and Jace through. Rivena and Druen sprinted in next, covered in blood. Lazurien came last, shrinking his massive form just enough to leap through, vines retreating, eyes still burning.

And then...BOOM. The portal imploded as we crashed through.

Lachlan collapsed. The courtyard shook. And we were home.

Broken. Bleeding. But home.

Elowen POV

I've been holding my breath for who knows how long waiting on them to return. And then....They crashed through.

Jace tumbled through, dragging Rylen with one arm, both of them cut, bruised and panting. Daxon and Bram burst through next, Taya limp in Daxon's arms. Rivena and her mates, Druen and Lazurien, came after, looking like wrath made flesh. Lazurien’s glowing eyes were still crackling with leftover earth power.

And behind them...The portal snapped shut. Lachlan hit his knees with a curse and I cried out for him. "Lach!"

They’d made it. I stood, well, half rose, on trembling legs, propped against the bench I’d been sitting on.

“HEALERS!” I barked, voice sharper than steel. “NOW!”

They were already running. White robed, magic lit. Half the med wing had been prepped. We knew this might happen.

“Get Rylen and Jace on the left side, priority treatment, broken ribs, deep lacerations,” I shouted. “Taya, hip, ribs, right side! Treat for internal bruising! I want every damn scan you’ve got!”

One healer moved toward the girl, still limp in Amaris’s arms.

“Take her gently,” I ordered, my throat tight. “Don’t wake her. Don’t rush her. Just keep her safe.”

Amaris looked up at me, jaw tight. “She didn’t speak. Not once.”

“I know,” I whispered. “We’ve got her now.”

Just as the healer moved to drape a sheet over the girl’s

bruised, naked form...Isolde appeared. She didn’t walk. She materialized in a ripple of silk and moonlight, looking like death’s favorite aunt.

With a snap of her fingers and a swirl of soft power, clothing appeared directly on the girl’s body, a shift dress of starlight linen and warded runes, cut for comfort, warmth, and dignity.

“There,” Isolde said softly. “No one will see her bare again.”

My eyes burned. The healers lifted her with magic and care, vanishing down the hall toward the guest wing.

I turned and immediately gripped Bram’s arm. “I want to go. Now.”

He didn’t argue. He scooped me up like it was the easiest thing in the world, holding me against his chest with that same steady strength that never wavered.

“You’re getting lighter,” he said with a teasing grunt. “Might start doing squats with you.”

“Try it,” I muttered, resting my forehead against his neck. “I’ll fart on your face.”

“Gross,” Lyssira muttered. “And yet… valid.”

Bram chuckled as he carried me through the castle. Guards stepped aside. Healers dipped their heads. I didn’t say anything else, I just held tight. Because the girl was safe. But she wasn’t whole.

Not yet. We reached the room, dim, quiet, lit by a soft glow crystal above the bed. The air smelled like lavender and healing salves. The girl lay tucked beneath a pale blue blanket, clean now, her golden brown hair braided loosely by someone with gentle hands.

She still hadn’t moved.

Bram carried me to the chaise lounge beside her bed and set me down carefully, propping a pillow behind my back, brushing the hair from my face like he couldn’t help it.

“I’ll check on the others,” he said softly. “You good?”

I nodded, throat tight. “Yeah. Just… tell them I’ll be here. When she wakes up.”

He kissed my forehead, then left without another word. I curled my legs up, pulled out my phone and started idly flicking through Wolfnet just to keep my mind from spiraling.

“She’ll wake,” Lyssira said gently. “When she does, she needs to see something real. Not fear. Not chaos. You.”

“I’m not leaving her.”

I set the phone down and just… watched her. Even asleep, there was pain etched into every line of her face.She looked so young. Too young to have survived what she had.

But she had. We both had. I imagined we had more in common than we both realized.

And now?

She wasn’t alone anymore.