Jax sat on the edge of the stone bench outside the training arena, maps sprawled across his lap. Warriors clashed nearby, their steel clanging against shields as the evening drills commenced.
He was supposed to be reviewing field formations, prepping for the final exercises with Alpha Finric, but his attention kept drifting. And when he saw her, all hope of focusing vanished.
Nova.
She was walking up from the training fields with that thick silver-blonde hair twisted under her cloak, cheeks still pink from exertion. Her roommate Elle walked beside her, animated as always. But it was the three omega boys trailing behind them that had Jax's jaw tightening.
One of them said something — a joke, probably — and Nova laughed. It wasn't loud, just soft and quick, but it still hit him like a blow to the chest.
Just a girl, he told himself.
But even he knew that was a lie. She wasn't just a girl. She was the girl.
She spotted him and her smile softened, warm and genuine. "Jax," she greeted with familiarity, "It's good to see you. How are things?"
His heart skipped. Every damn time.
No curtsy. No Gamma. Just Jax.
From across the courtyard, Finric looked up. The Alpha's expression barely shifted — but Jax noticed the way his knuckles clenched a little tighter on the edge of the bench. Like he'd felt something he couldn't name. Then he looked away, too quickly.
Jax scrambled to answer, stumbling over his words. "Oh, uh—yeah. Good. I mean…" He caught himself, then cracked a grin. "We're finally on first-name terms. Took, what? A hundred tries? And carrying you unconscious twice?"
Nova laughed, and her friends joined in, even the three boys.
The tallest one elbowed her playfully. "He's not wrong."
Jax tilted his head. "You all headed to dinner?"
Nova hesitated, just for a second.
The boys avoided eye contact. Suspicious.
Elle stepped in quickly with her best innocent smile. "Yes, that's where we're going, Gamma."
Polite. Too polite. Jax narrowed his eyes, unconvinced.
"That so?" he asked, arching a brow. "What about after dinner?"
Elle glanced at Nova, then quickly looked away. "We're taking her somewhere," she said, flushed now. "But it's a surprise. She's not allowed to know."
One of the boys muttered under his breath, "Don't worry, they only serve drinks with seven types of poison."
Elle stomped hard on his foot, making him yelp.
Ash muttered, "Idiot," like it was a term of endearment.
"He's joking," she added with a too-sweet smile. "Very good seeing you, Gamma. We should really be going."
She gave a stiff curtsy and grabbed Nova's arm. All five of them bowed — even the one limping now — and scurried off into the castle corridor, whispering furiously among themselves.
Jax stood frozen, watching them disappear.
Then — because Omega etiquette was a battlefield — she dipped into a stiff curtsy, grabbed Nova by the wrist like she was kidnapping her, and hissed, "Walk, walk, walk."
All five bowed awkwardly — even Rael, who was now limping — and scrambled down the corridor like guilty puppies trying to look dignified.
Their whispers echoed:
"Rael, why would you SAY that?"
"I panicked, okay?"
"She's going to kill you."
"She already stepped on me! I'm halfway to death!"
Jax stood there, jaw tight, arms crossed, staring after them with the expression of a man who knew trouble when he saw it — and wanted to murder it gently.
His jaw tightened. The knot in his chest grew tighter by the second.
From the corner of his eye, he saw Fin rise silently from the bench beside him, eyes fixed on the hallway Nova had vanished down.
The maps on Jax's lap fluttered in the breeze, long forgotten.
He didn't know where they were taking her tonight. But he knew one thing for damn sure.
He didn't like it.