When Roxy stepped out of Syris’s room after a few days, she felt as though she had just survived a hurricane.

She leaned heavily against the doorframe, pulling the edges of her thick silk robe tightly around her bare shoulders. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Physically, Roxy was completely wrecked. Her legs were trembling so violently they felt like overcooked noodles, her lower back throbbed with a deep, lingering ache, and the skin of her neck and collarbone was painted with a chaotic canvas of dark, territorial bruises.

But she was still glowing regardless. The anxiety that had been choking her for weeks was entirely gone, replaced by peace. Syris was currently dead to the world, sleeping off in the ruins of their bed.

Roxy took a slow, shaky step forward, intending to make her way to the nursery to see her children.

She didn’t even make it past the first woven rug.

"I’ve got you," a smooth, incredibly fond voice murmured.

Before her trembling knees could buckle, a pair of strong arms scooped her effortlessly off the floorboards. Caspian looked down at her, his striking aquatic eyes crinkling at the corners with deep affection.

"You look like you wrestled a leviathan and lost, my Queen," Caspian teased gently, adjusting her weight against his chest. He began carrying her away from the corridor. "And you smell entirely like a swamp. To the bathing chambers with you."

Roxy let out a soft, exhausted laugh, resting her head against his shoulder. "I missed you guys. Did the Manor burn down while I was gone?"

"Torian and Zarek returned from the Dragon Peaks with the children," Caspian reported, his tone light but carrying a hint of amusement. "Torian looks like he aged a decade after a conversation with the Dragon Elders, but the Manor remains standing. Now, you are going to rest."

Caspian carried her directly into the sprawling, steam-filled bathing chambers of the Manor. In the center of the room, a massive, sunken stone tub was already filled with hot water. Caspian had infused it with crushed abyssal pearls, healing sea salts, and fragrant winter-pine oils.

He gently set her down, allowing her to slip out of her robe and step into the water.

Roxy let out a long, ragged groan of pure bliss as she sank into the heat up to her chin. The sea salts immediately went to work, sinking deep into her violently overworked muscles and drawing out the heavy lactic acid buildup from days of relentless movement.

A moment later, the heavy wooden doors pushed open, and Torian stepped inside.

The White Tiger Alpha had rolled his thick tunic sleeves up to his elbows. He completely bypassed any formal greetings, dropping to his knees at the edge of the stone tub. He plunged his hands into the water, resting them on her shoulders.

"Lean forward," Torian rumbled, his deep voice vibrating with absolute devotion.

Roxy obediently leaned her chin against her folded arms on the edge of the tub. Torian began to massage her shoulders and back. His calloused thumbs dug precisely into the tight, agonizing knots clustered along her spine.

He didn’t ask questions about the room; he simply focused entirely on putting his Matriarch back together. The combination of Caspian’s healing waters and Torian’s deep-tissue massage was so euphoric it nearly brought tears to her eyes.

For a long while, the bathing chamber was silent, save for the splashing of water and Roxy’s soft, breathless sighs of relief.

But as her physical body began to heal, her mind abruptly kicked back into gear.

Roxy opened her brilliant green eyes, staring at the rippling surface of the water as she thought about the human diary hidden deep within the ancestral vaults of the Fox Kingdom.

"I need to go," Roxy blurted out suddenly, her voice slicing through the tranquil atmosphere of the bathing chamber.

Torian’s thumbs paused their kneading. "Go where, Roxy? To the nursery? Kaelen is feeding Fedor right now."

"No," Roxy said, sitting up slightly, the hot water cascading down her chest. She turned her head to look at Torian, and then at Caspian, who was folding towels nearby. "I need to go to the Fox Kingdom. Today. I need to pack some supplies and leave."

The heavy wooden doors of the bathing chamber clicked open.

Kaelen stepped into the steamy room. The stoic King of the North was dressed in his dark silk shirt and a loose pant, holding a fresh set of clothes for her. He had heard her declaration clearly from the hallway.

Kaelen stopped at the edge of the tub, his icy blue eyes sweeping over her flushed, exhausted form.

"Absolutely not," Kaelen stated, his voice completely flat and devoid of any room for negotiation.

Roxy frowned, a spark of pure, proactive stubbornness igniting in her chest. She turned fully to face the Wolf King. She just looked at him with genuine, desperate urgency.

"Kaelen, you don’t understand," Roxy argued, her hands gripping the stone rim of the tub. "The Demon King isn’t going to sit around and wait for me to prove to him that this is all real. I have to go find it."

"The diary has been buried for centuries, Roxy. It will still be there next month," Kaelen countered smoothly, his tone remarkably calm but entirely unyielding. He crossed his arms over his broad chest. "You are not traversing across the continent right now."

"I’ll ride in a carriage!" Roxy insisted, her voice rising in frustration. "Zarek can fly me there! I’m not going to fight anyone, Kaelen, I’m just going to read! I have to do this. I am going."

"Look at yourself," Kaelen challenged softly, stepping closer to the edge of the water. His piercing blue gaze locked onto her trembling hands and the dark circles of exhaustion shadowing her eyes. "You spent days locked in a feral mating cycle. Your strength is completely depleted. A strong gust of wind would knock you over right now, let alone the residual traps guarding a Kitsune vault."

Roxy gripped the edge of the tub harder, pushing herself up slightly from the water, her stubbornness refusing to let her back down. "I am fine! I am going to get dressed, and I am going to the Fox Kingdom. I will go no matter what you say, Kaelen. I need this."

She expected him to sigh. She expected him to grumble, complain about the logistics, and eventually yield, just like he always did when she set her mind to something.

But Kaelen did not yield.

The stoic King of the North did not drop his arms. He didn’t soften his posture. Instead, the ambient temperature in the bathing chamber plummeted violently. The warm, comforting steam instantly turned into a chilling, biting frost that crept across the stone floorboards.

Kaelen stepped right up to the edge of the tub, completely blocking her path to exit the water. He looked down at her, his icy blue eyes darkening into absolute, terrifying glaciers of uncompromising Alpha authority.

"You are my wife," Kaelen said, his voice a low, chilling, and utterly absolute command that echoed off the tiled walls. "And I will not let you leave this house. The answer is no."

Roxy completely froze. The breath was knocked entirely out of her lungs. She stared up at Kaelen, her mind completely short-circuiting at the sheer, blatant refusal. He had never spoken to her like that. He had never laid down an absolute, unmovable boundary.

Before Roxy could even formulate a single syllable of a response, Kaelen simply turned his back on her. Without another word, he walked gracefully out of the bathing chamber, the heavy wooden doors clicking decisively shut behind him.

Roxy sat in the hot water, completely stunned.

And then, a massive, overwhelming wave of fury washed over her. Her cheeks burned hot.

She whipped her head around to look at Torian, who was still kneeling beside the tub, and Caspian, who was standing completely still holding the towels. Zarek had just stepped into the doorway to see what the commotion was about, freezing as he assessed the situation.

"Aren’t you guys going to say anything?!" Roxy demanded, her brilliant green eyes flashing with rage as she glared at her husbands.

Torian suddenly found a very microscopic, incredibly fascinating speck of dirt on the tiled wall and began to intensely study it. Caspian completely averted his gaze, whistling a very soft, off-key tune as he meticulously began to refold a towel that was already perfectly folded.

Zarek simply turned on his heel and immediately walked back out into the hallway, pretending he had never entered the room in the first place.

They were not touching this argument with a ten-foot pole.

Roxy stared at her supposedly fearsome, bloodthirsty mates cowering from the conflict, her mouth hanging open in sheer disbelief. She slapped her hands down against the surface of the bathwater, sending a massive splash over the rim.

"Ugh!"