For one treacherous second the world stills, as I gather what’s left of my power and reach into the spell.
Turning it into itself. Turning it back onto Sage.
The magical backlash is catastrophic. Sage's own power consumes her, purple fire turning inward as her spell inverts on itself. She dies screaming—a sound that cuts off so abruptly the silence afterward is profound. Her body crumples to scorched earth, twisted at impossible angles. Smoke rises from what remains, acrid and wrong.
The shadow chains binding Nathan and Luca dissolve instantly. They collapse as wolves before shifting back human, gasping and shaking from the ordeal. Their bodies bear marks from the magical restraints—angry red welts that will heal but speak to the power Sage wielded.
"Coralina!" Nathan crawls toward me, his composure shattered. "Can you hear me?"
I try to answer but my throat won't work. Everything hurts. My bloodline magic feels raw and exposed. The mate bonds pulse erratically—three strands pulling in different directions, none stable.
"We need to move," Luca says hoarsely. "The explosion could've attracted anything—rogues, more witches, anyone hunting for power."
"She can barely stand," Nathan argues. "She's exhausted from channeling that much power."
"Which is why we can't stay," Luca insists. "The capital's two days away."
I force myself to focus through the exhaustion weighing down my bones like lead. "The horses," I manage to whisper, my voice barely audible. "Where are they?"
"Here," Nathan says, whistling sharply. Our mounts emerge from the treeline, eyes rolling white with terror but trained well enough to return despite their fear. "Can you ride?"
"I don't think I can even stand without help," I admit, hating how weak I sound. The admission costs me—I've always prided myself on strength, on never being the burden Mother claimed I was.
"Then you ride with us," Luca decides quickly, already adjusting saddles with practiced efficiency. "We'll alternate—whoever's not carrying you leads your horse."
They lift me like I weigh nothing, though I feel every muscle in my body protest the movement. Nathan swings up behind me first, settling me against his chest with my head tucked securely under his chin.
His heartbeat thunders against my back—too fast, still panicked from our near-death experience. His arms wrap around me, holding the reins while keeping me secure.
"I've got you," he murmurs into my hair, his breath warm against my temple. "Just rest. Let us handle everything else."
But I can't truly rest because the mate bonds won't let me. They're pulling harder now, growing more unstable with each passing hour.
Especially the one connecting me to Ryder.
It blazes like a beacon in my chest, simultaneously drawing me toward him and warning him of our approach. Through that golden thread, I feel his emotions in waves—confusion mixing with desperate hope, fear that this is some cruel trick or magical manipulation.
"He knows we're coming," I tell Nathan. "Ryder feels us through the bond."
"Good," Nathan says tightly. "Four people bound by the Goddess—unprecedented."
We ride hard before exhaustion forces a stop. The twins alternate between who's going to ride with me, settling me on the horse in front of them and hiding me in their arms, and who's going to take care of my horse meanwhile. Luca takes over, cradling me while Nathan leads my mare.
"The mate bonds are growing more unstable," I admit during our third transition, feeling the strain intensify with each mile we cover. "I can feel the strain, like something pulling in three directions at once. They're trying to complete themselves but can't because we're not all together. They're literally tearing me apart."
"How literally do you mean that?" Luca asks, real fear creeping into his voice. "Because you're starting to glow again—those marks the elders identified are becoming visible even through your clothes."
He's right. The mystical patterns etched into my skin during the ceremony pulse with increasing brightness. Three distinct designs interweaving but incomplete, searching desperately for their fourth component to achieve balance.
"The elders warned this could happen," Nathan says, urging our horses faster despite their exhaustion. "Incomplete bonds seeking resolution. We need to reach Ryder before—"
"Before what?" I ask, though I already know the answer. "Before they destabilize completely? Before they start damaging us permanently?"
Neither twin answers, which is answer enough. The silence speaks volumes about their fear.
The second night arrives with me barely conscious, held upright only by whoever's currently riding with me. The bonds have become visible threads of light extending from my body—two silver streams reaching for Nathan and Luca, one golden thread stretching desperately southward toward the capital.
"She's burning up," Luca says, pressing his hand to my forehead. "This isn't normal exhaustion anymore. The magical strain is killing her."
"Then we don't stop," Nathan declares, though exhaustion lines his own features. "We ride through the night. Switch every two hours to keep the horses fresh."
"If we don't push hard enough, she dies," Nathan's voice breaks slightly. "I can feel it through our bond—she's fragmenting. The three connections are tearing her apart trying to find balance without the fourth."
They ride through darkness. I drift between consciousness, aware only of strong arms and constant hoofbeats.
When we finally reach the capital and ride through the gates, dawn is breaking. Guards scatter, recognizing the twins.
The moment we thunder through the palace gates, Ryder's presence hits like physical force. The golden bond snaps taut.
Ryder is waiting in the courtyard. He must have felt us approaching through the bond. His usual royal composure is completely shattered—hair disheveled, clothes thrown on carelessly, silver eyes wild with emotions I've never seen him display so openly.
The moment I dismount, my legs buckling immediately, he's there, pulling me into his arms with desperate strength.
"Coralina," he breathes my name like a prayer answered. "You're real. You're here. I thought I was losing my mind when the bond activated. I felt you from hundreds of miles away, felt your ceremony, your pain—"
The mate bond between us blazes, absolute and real, golden fire racing through my veins. Through it, I feel his relief so profound it brings tears to his eyes, his joy so intense it steals breath from his lungs, his terror that this might somehow still be a dream.
"It's real," I manage to say, hands fisting in his shirt. "All of it. The bonds, the ceremony—I'm your mate too. The Goddess bound me to all three of you."
He crushes me against him harder, and I can feel him shaking—the invincible Lycan King trembling as he holds me.
"I've been going insane," he confesses roughly against my hair. "Feeling you but not understanding why. Knowing you were in danger but unable to reach you. The bond activated during your ceremony and I couldn't explain it to anyone—how could I tell them I suddenly had a mate when you were supposed to be with Nathan and Luca?"
"We can explain everything," Nathan says quietly, and I realize the twins have dismounted too, standing close but giving us this moment. "But the bonds need to be completed properly. All of them, together, or they'll continue destabilizing."
After a long moment, he pulls back enough to look at me, silver eyes scanning my exhausted features with wonder and concern. Then at the twins—his best friends since childhood. His mate's other mates.
The situation is written clearly in the glowing marks visible on all our skin. Three distinct patterns on me that each echo on one of them. Four people bound by the Goddess into something unprecedented.
But I feel lighter. Better. My fever subsides, just because I’m here, because all three of them at my arm’s reach.
I take a deep breath. It’s not enough, this won’t stop until we’re properly bonded, but I’m better. And finally home.