Chapter 5- Safe & Loved

Rylen Varric POV

Healing Wing

Stormclaw Keep

Taya looked like hell. Beautiful, stubborn, snarling hell. Which meant she was gonna be just fine. I sat in the damn healer's chair next to her cot, arms crossed, leg bouncing like I had a goddamn motor strapped to my thigh, and watched her breathe like it was the only thing keeping me from wrecking the entire wing.

Bandages wrapped her ribs, one arm was in a soft brace, and her red hair was matted with dried sweat and a little blood. Her face? Still the prettiest fucking thing I'd ever seen.

Even if she was scowling at me.

“You’re breathing like a beast in heat,” she growled without opening her eyes. “Go find a punching bag or a hobby before I throat punch you, Ry.”

I grunted and leaned forward, brushing my fingers down her uninjured arm. “You’re alive. Throat punch away.”

Her eyes cracked open, just barely. “You’re being annoying.”

“Noted,” I said, still not moving.

"She’s fine," Anton muttered in the back of my head, pacing like a caged beast. "But check again. Smell her. Scan her. What if we missed something? What if..."

Zuki’s voice cut in like a whipcrack. “We’re fine, dumbass. Chill before your overgrown mate energy chokes the whole castle.”

Anton huffed. I almost smiled.

Taya snorted. “Let me guess. Zuki told you to fuck off?”

“Something like that.” I brushed her wild curls away from her face. “But I’m not moving. Not until I’m damn sure you’re staying here. In one piece. With me.”

She stared at me. Blinked slowly. Then sighed and reached up to hook her fingers in the collar of my shirt.

“Get in the bed before I change my mind and bite you,” she mumbled.

“Permission granted,” Anton barked like a happy pup. “Touch mate. Snuggle mate. Never let mate leave again.”

I climbed in carefully, wrapping my arm around her shoulder without pressing on her bruises. She curled into me like she always did, like she belonged there.

“Next time,” I said softly, “let me be the one charging into vampire death towers.”

“Next time,” she whispered back, “we both go. And we burn the place to the ground.”

“Murder,” Anton hummed. “I like her.”

Zuki cackled across the link. “Duh, we're awesome.”

I kissed the top of her head and held her tighter, letting the steady rhythm of her heartbeat anchor mine. She was home.

And I wasn’t going anywhere.

Amaris Grayfall POV

Healing Wing

Stormclaw Keep

“I told you,” Jace wheezed through a grin, “vampire claws are just fancy back scratchers. You should see the other guy...”

“You mean the one that gutted you?” I snapped, hovering over him with a soaked cloth and way too many emotions bottled under my ribs. “Yeah, Jace. He looked great.”

He chuckled and winced at the same time, which only pissed me off more.

“He’s okay,” Sira murmured in the back of my mind, her voice soft and serene like a breeze through pine needles. “He’s breathing. He’s whole. Let your heart rest, little flame.”

Little flame. Only Sira called me that. And right now, I was about to ignite. Jace lay on the cot like he hadn’t just walked through hell, shirt torn to shreds, bruises blooming like dark paint across his ribs. His left side was stitched and glowing faintly with healing runes.

I hated seeing him like this. I hated the way he smiled through pain. Like he didn’t want me to worry. Like he didn’t know I always would.

“You’re not invincible,” I muttered, wiping blood from his temple. “You don’t have to act like you are.”

“I know,” he said softly, eyes locking onto mine. “But I like being your hero.”

I froze. My throat clenched. “You are,” I whispered.

His hand found mine, rough fingers tangling with mine gently. “Even with a hole in my side?”

“Especially with a hole in your side,” I said, sitting on the edge of the bed and leaning over him, brushing his hair back from his forehead. “Because you came back.”

He tilted his head up, face softening. “Always will. I made you a promise.”

“Mate is strong. Stubborn. Like you,” Sira chimed, warmth flooding through my chest. “Your love makes him stronger. Let it.”

I exhaled, finally letting my guard drop as I rested my forehead against his. He kissed the corner of my mouth with cracked lips and whispered, “Still think I’m sexy?”

I huffed out a laugh despite the tears burning behind my eyes. “Only when you’re bleeding.”

He grinned, eyes closing. “Knew it.”

I pulled the blanket higher around his waist, curled up beside him as carefully as I could, and let myself feel him safe.

Wounded or not, broken or whole, Jace was mine.

Elowen Skye POV

Stormclaw Keep

Guest Wing

Recovery Chamber

I hadn’t moved from the chaise in hours. Bram had carried me in here, blanket and all, and posted up outside like the six foot eight bear built guard dog he was. I scrolled my phone mindlessly, Lyssira murmuring in the back of my head, always half focused on the sleeping girl across the room.

She looked… fragile wasn’t the right word. She looked like a shattered sunbeam.

Golden brown hair tangled across the pillow, her skin tanned but kissed by moon tinted bruises, glowing golden eyes flickering behind shut lids. Every so often her fingers twitched like she was still fighting something in her dreams.

“She’s close,” Lyssira whispered. “Her soul is waking up.”

I set the phone aside just as her lips parted and a soft whimper escaped. My heart cracked. I rose...awkwardly, gently....and hobbled the few steps to her bedside.

“Hey,” I said softly, brushing a stray lock from her forehead. “You’re safe now, I promise...”

Her eyes snapped open. She gasped, then screamed, and scrambled backwards so fast it rattled the metal bedframe. Her spine hit the wall, knees pulled up to her chest, breathing sharp and ragged.

And then she looked at me. Really looked. Glowing gold met glowing blue, like twin flames trying to decide if they were friends or foes.

We stared. Silent. Waiting. I didn't reach for her again.

“My name is Elowen,” I said softly, keeping my voice low and steady. “My wolf is Lyssira. I saw you in a dream. Your soul called to me.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat. “So I answered.”

She didn’t blink. Didn’t speak. But her hands trembled.

“I’m glad you’re out of that cage,” I added, stepping back just slightly to give her space. “You’re safe here.”

A breath. Another. Then finally, her lips parted.

“I am… Noctara Velmira.”

The door creaked open before I could reply.

“Velmira?” Luna Aelira’s voice rang with a sudden sharpness that made us both flinch. She stepped inside, stunned, her hands covering her mouth. “Of the ancient Velmira line?”

Noctara froze.

“Child,” the Luna whispered, stepping forward slowly. “Who were your parents?”

“I don’t know,” Noctara whispered. “I was raised in a rogue pack. They… they told me my parents were killed. I was five.”

Aelira gasped so loud it cracked something open in the room. Her eyes filled with tears. Her knees buckled and she gripped the edge of the bed to steady herself.

“I knew you looked familiar,” she whispered. “I knew. Your mother had that same gold in her eyes. Your father… his voice echoed like thunder when he spoke.”

Noctara just stared, lips trembling.

“They were killed by the Hollow Creed. Fourteen years ago. We all thought their daughter was dead too.” Aelira broke into sobs, hands covering her face. “You’re the missing alpha daughter of the Velmira line. There is an entire keep to the east that bears your name. Your parents ruled there, Lords under Alpha King Draven himself. Your bloodline traces back to the First Wolves.”

Noctara didn’t say a word. Just pulled her knees tighter. Processing. Breaking. Healing. All at once. I stepped forward again, slowly, lowering myself to sit beside her on the bed.

“You don’t have to carry all that alone,” I said gently. “You’ve got me now.”

She blinked at me.

“We’re sisters,” I said with finality. “Soul sisters. Pack sisters. Trauma sisters. Fate sisters. Whatever the fuck you want to call it.”

I gave her a small grin. “You’re stuck with me now. Period.”

Her golden eyes shimmered. Her shoulders dropped the tiniest bit in relief and I sighed. She had a long way to go.

Noctara Velmira POV

Recovery Wing

Stormclaw Keep

Safe

For the first time in my life, silence wasn’t terrifying.

It wasn’t the heavy, breath holding quiet before a fist landed or the sick, cold hush that settled after a scream in the dark. It wasn’t the sound of chains rattling or cruel laughter echoing down stone walls.

It was soft. Still. Safe. And it terrified me in a whole new way.

I sat on the bed...my bed?....wrapped in the softest blanket I’d ever touched. My body still ached like I’d been chewed up and spit out by a monster. My skin, marked with fading bruises, felt foreign. I’d gotten so used to pain that the absence of it made me flinch.

But it was her...Elowen. The girl from my dream. The one whose eyes had glowed like moonfire. She saw me. Not the mess. Not the trauma. Me.

“I think we’re safe,” I whispered to Lynthra.

My wolf stirred slowly in my mind like a creature that had been asleep for years. Her voice was hoarse, shaking with emotion. “I know,” she whispered back. “I feel it too.”

Tears welled up, uninvited. The kind I used to swallow down and bury beneath grit and snarls. But now? I let them fall. Silent. Hot. Cleansing. I looked down at my trembling hands and realized they weren’t clenched. I wasn’t curled into a defensive ball. My back wasn’t pressed to a wall. I was upright. Breathing. Healing.

“We can rest now,” Lynthra whispered, nuzzling my soul. “You don’t have to fight every second anymore.”

My breath hitched. I had never… rested.

Even in sleep, I fought. In dreams, I bled. Every moment of my life was survival, but now? There were glowing eyes and warm blankets. Soft voices instead of snarling threats. A Luna who cried when she looked at me, not from disappointment, but from recognition and love.

I was someone. I meant something. My name, Noctara Velmira, was not a curse. It was a legacy. And for the first time, I believed I’d live long enough to claim it.

I curled up beneath the blanket again, letting my head fall against the pillow that smelled faintly of lavender and safety. I pulled the soft fabric closer, and Lynthra sighed in my mind, curling with me like a protective shadow.

“We’re safe,” I whispered out loud, voice cracking. Not a question this time. A truth.

A fucking miracle. And I wasn’t letting go. Not ever again.