"Serena is resting. She promised me this morning she’d stay in bed until this afternoon." Dex delivered this information to the room the way a general delivered a status report.

The silence between them was so pointed it could have drawn blood.

Elara’s jaw was doing something complicated, cycling between amusement and the mercy of not saying what she was thinking out loud.

Hyran studied the ceiling.

Dex pinched the bridge of his nose. Before he could say anything else, a pink portal formed.

"Ah. Perfect timing," Hyran said flatly. His arms were crossed and he had the unmistakable expression of a scholar who was robbed of a treasure hunt.

Serena ran through soaking wet, chest heaving.

Gav’s voice rang from the other side. "Serena, wait!"

Hale looked at the portal. Then at Serena. Then at Dex.

"So," Hale said carefully. "She rested hard. Really leaned into it."

Elara shot him a warning look, then turned away to look at the wall, shoulders shaking.

With concerted effort, Dex kept his expression stern.

She met his eyes and opened her mouth. Closed it.

"Bed, Serena. The flat thing with pillows. You were in it two hours ago. We discussed this. There was eye contact."

Then he took her in. She was soaked and shaking in a silk robe that was hiding nothing.

Behind her, his best friend wore an expression that suggested he’d just detonated his own life and was still standing in the blast radius.

Aegon: Mate forgot to wear clothes. See-through.

"Hang on," Dex said, closing the distance. "I need to get my mate some dry clothes."

He picked her up, moving her from his private study, into the bedroom part of his quarters, setting her down in his closet.

He grabbed a thick towel, and began drying her off.

His brows furrowed at the emotions flooding through their matebond. Guilt. Fear. Shame.

Aegon: She is trembling.

Dex: I see that.

"Hey..." he said softly, crouching a little to meet her eyes. "What’s wrong?"

She blinked back tears, unsuccessfully, and wouldn’t look at him.

"Serena. What happened?"

She couldn’t answer. Instead she mindlinked Elara, not realizing it wasn’t private.

Serena: Can you come to the closet and say you need me for something?

Elara: Yes. I think I know why.

Dex watched her closely. He could tell she was trying not to spiral into a full-on panic.

"Baby... tell me. What happened? I’ll fix it."

Wrong thing to say. Her tears fell harder.

"Hey, it’s okay," he said softly, pulling her into a hug.

She didn’t hug him back.

He tried surging calmness and love into her through their matebond, the way he always did when she was overwhelmed.

But for the first time ever, it didn’t help.

She blinked back more tears, hiccuping.

Aegon: Fix this. Mate is sad.

Dex: I’m trying.

Elara arrived a second later, eyes landing on Serena still in her soaked silk robe, a towel draped over her shoulders, and Dex trying his best to comfort her.

"Serena, I need you for something. Really urgent." She glanced at Dex and added, "Woman troubles."

Dex had no intention of letting Serena leave. But she slipped out of his arms in a blur of alpha speed. He reached for her again, grasping empty air.

He didn’t hesitate, and ran after them. Just as he turned the corner, he saw a portrait swing shut. Hidden door.

Eavesdropping was wrong. He trusted her. But why was she telling Elara something and not him? She was so rattled. That wasn’t like her.

He exhaled. The last time he let her leave after something like that was the night he was poisoned with Viper’s Kiss.

No.

He moved behind the picture frame, already accepting the consequences. She was his mate and he was done being in the dark.

He followed her scent, down multiple passages, then stopped behind a tapestry. He could hear her voice on the other side. The tapestry was translucent enough that he could barely make out the room.

It was a storage room with two cushions on the floor. There was a bottle of wine sitting on a crate, half empty.

Aegon: So this is where they’ve been disappearing to. A female war room.

Dexmon: Noted.

"You are not a horrible person," Elara said. "Serena, look at me. Breathe. In through your nose, come on, with me." Elara inhaled slow and deep, exaggerating the movement.

Serena followed, her breathing still uneven, but trying.

Dex’s chest cracked open. Every part of him wanted to push through that tapestry and hold her. But he didn’t. His instincts were never wrong with her. And something told him to wait.

Bit by bit, Serena’s shaking began to slow. Her breaths started to sync with Elara’s, though tears still streamed down her face.

"Let’s make this easier. I’ll ask, you answer yes or no."

"Okay."

"Gav came out of the portal calling your name. Did you two fight?"

"Yes," Serena croaked.

"Did he confess his undying, can’t-live-without-you love?"

"Yes."

On the other side of the tapestry, Dex’s stomach dropped. Surely he misheard that. His hand found the wall, palm pressed flat against the stone. He held it there like the floor was moving.

"Ha. I knew it."

"I feel so bad, Elara." Her voice cracked.

Dex’s eyes widened in slow, horrible realization. He hadn’t misheard. All along he’d assumed Shadowclaw was the threat. At least Shadowclaw had made his intentions known. Gav. His best friend. His Gamma.

"Did you kiss him?"

"Yes." Her voice was wrecked, and she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

Dex closed his eyes. His jaw locked so tight the tendon in his neck jumped twice, and his breathing stopped for three full seconds before he forced it to restart.

"Did you go beyond kissing?"

"No. I stopped it. I don’t know what the hell happened."

"Okay. So that could be way worse."

He pressed his forehead on the stone wall next to the tapestry. He held it there. The cold of it was the only thing in this corridor that wasn’t on fire.

"He was one of my best friends here," Serena whispered. "And now. Gods."

"Here’s what you’re going to do. Let him save face. Say that you understand it was adrenaline. A life-or-death situation gone wrong—" she paused. "Don’t give me that look. Knowing you, it was, and we both know it. Chalk it up to that."

Serena gave a wet laugh. "Fair."

"Say you understand he doesn’t actually feel that way. Throw him an underhand softball and let him hit it."

"I can do that."

"Moving forward. You aren’t his friend. Until he finds his mate. And even after that."

"I understand," Serena whispered, swallowing.

"For the record, Serena, Hale and I both thought he has been in love with you. When you broke your matebond with Dex, he was the one lying next to you until you woke up."

Dex’s knees went, just for a second. He locked them and stayed upright, but the two inches had happened and his body knew it. His eyes were still closed and forehead still pressed on the stone wall.

"I remember, Elara. He took care of me."

She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.