The moment Gerrin said, "The Beast King knows you're here," something inside me froze.
Not literally—though with Yllas standing nearby, that felt possible—but mentally. Like my brain hit a malfunction screen and just… rebooted.
The rune over my heart pulsed again, faintly this time, like a warning.
Owain stepped closer, tension rolling off him. "We need to move her. Now."
"No," Gerrin said. "Not until I stabilize her aura."
Yllas crossed his arms, frost swirling around his shoulders. "You cannot stabilize her. You cannot even stabilize yourself around her."
Helion exhaled through his nose—calm, amused, like he'd been waiting for everyone else to say the obvious.
"You're all missing the real problem," Helion said, stepping into the center of the courtyard.
Every elf tensed as his leopard aura slid through the air, sharp and warm like heated spice.
"Kanah's rune is reacting to the arguing," Helion continued. "To all of you. To competing instincts. It's overwhelming her."
Owain barked, "We're trying to help her!"
"No," Helion said simply. "You're crowding her."
Gerrin's jaw tightened. "She needs support—"
"She needs space," Helion cut in.
The air shifted.
Everyone looked at me.
I swallowed hard. "I—I don't know what I need."
Helion's gaze softened—just barely—as he stepped closer, moving with the kind of quiet, fluid precision I'd seen earlier in the forest.
He stopped a few feet away, hands at his sides. Not reaching. Not touching.
"Kanah," he said quietly, "do you want to stay here? With them shouting over each other? With the Court staring like you're a threat?"
My chest tightened.
The elves were watching me like I was a magical bomb ticking down. Owain looked like he wanted to throw everyone into a wall. Yllas was glaring at any elf who breathed too close.
Helion's voice dropped, smooth and careful:
"Or do you want air?"
Before I could answer, Darian scoffed. "She is not leaving Sylvarin grounds."
Owain snarled. "Try and stop us."
Helion ignored both.
His golden eyes held mine.
Steady. Warm.
Dangerously persuasive.
"Come with me," he said. "Just for a moment. No yelling. No pulling. No portals. No magic."
"Absolutely not," Darian snapped.
Gerrin lifted his hand. "Helion, don't—"
Owain's voice was sharp. "Kanah stays with me."
Yllas didn't speak, but frost cracked across the tiles.
I looked at Helion again.
He wasn't tense.
Wasn't fighting.
Wasn't crowding me.
He was giving me a choice.
And in a world where I'd been grabbed, dragged, chased, lifted, argued over, and teleported without consent—
A choice mattered.
I stepped toward him.
Owain cursed.
Yllas snarled.
Gerrin flinched.
Darian's eyes widened.
Helion merely extended a hand—not touching, just offering direction.
"This way," he said softly. "We'll be close. If anyone threatens you, they'll feel four sets of claws before they reach you."
"Helion!" Gerrin shouted.
But it was too late.
I followed the leopard.
He led me into the trees.
Not far. Only a few steps past the courtyard, past the glowing vines and shimmering stonework. But the shift was immediate.
The air here felt calmer. Warmer. Less… suffocating.
Helion walked ahead, hands tucked casually into his pockets, golden markings shifting faintly along his shoulders like they were alive.
He didn't speak until the voices from the courtyard faded behind us.
"Better?" he asked without turning.
I let out a breath I didn't know I'd been holding. "A little."
He glanced over his shoulder, eyes warm. "You handled that well."
"I almost passed out."
"Yes. And you handled that well, too."
A laugh escaped me—half-stress, half-relief. "This place is insane."
"Aetheryon?" he asked. "Or Sylvarin Court?"
"Everything."
"Fair," he said.
We reached a small clearing between two tall silver trees. The air hummed quietly, the floating lights drifting lazily around us.
Helion leaned back against a tree, arms crossed lightly.
"Do you know why your presence is dangerous?" he asked.
I groaned. "If one more person calls me dangerous—"
He held up a hand.
"Dangerous for you, Kanah. Not for us."
I blinked. "What?"
He tilted his head.
"Do you know what happens when four Highborn males—all from rival species—are drawn to the same female?"
"Uh… they fight?" I guessed.
"Yes. Usually until one wins and the others die."
My stomach dropped.
Helion continued gently, "But your rune rejected them. Do you know what that means?"
"No."
"It means you can influence our instincts. Push them away. Pull them in. Turn them off." His eyes softened. "Your scent is a void. Your aura is a spark. Your presence is a trigger."
"That sounds… terrifying."
"It's power."
"I don't want power," I whispered.
"You have it anyway."
I sank onto a smooth rock, rubbing my temples. "I didn't ask for this."
"We rarely ask for destiny," Helion said, voice low. "But we decide what to do with it."
I looked up. "Why are you being nice to me?"
He smiled slightly. "Because I see what the others miss."
"And what's that?"
Helion stepped closer—not too close, but enough for his presence to warm the air.
"You're scared," he said softly. "And you're pretending you're not."
My throat tightened.
He crouched down in front of me, elbows resting on his knees, golden eyes meeting mine.
"I won't grab you. I won't drag you. I won't try to claim you. I want you to feel safe enough to speak."
I exhaled shakily. "That's… more than anyone else has offered me today."
"Good," he murmured.
Silence settled around us—calm, fragile, strangely intimate.
Helion broke it gently.
"You want to know what leopards are like?"
I sniffed. "Is this a cultural lesson or an intimidation tactic?"
"Neither," he said. "It's an explanation."
He sat beside me—again not too close, but close enough that I could feel heat radiating from him.
"Leopards don't chase," he said. "We stalk. We wait. We observe. We pick our moment."
"That sounds creepy."
He laughed quietly. "Accurate, but creepy."
I elbowed him lightly. "So you're telling me you're watching me like prey?"
"No," he said. "I'm watching you like possibility."
Heat rose to my cheeks.
He continued, voice low and warm:
"We move through shadows. Not to hide—but to understand. You've had no time to understand anything since you arrived. Everyone's been pulling at you. Pushing you. Demanding things."
"Yeah," I whispered. "They have."
"So I'm giving you what they won't."
"And that is…?"
He turned his head slightly, eyes resting on my face.
"Space."
My chest tightened.
For the first time since I landed in this insane world, someone wasn't trying to take something from me.
"Helion," I said quietly. "Why do you care?"
He didn't answer right away.
Then:
"Because I can smell fear," he said simply. "Because I can hear your heartbeat from across a forest. Because I know what it looks like when a creature is overwhelmed."
"So I'm a creature to you?"
His eyes softened. "No. You're a woman who fell into our world and immediately drowned in everyone else's instincts."
A weight lifted from my chest.
He was right.
I felt overwhelmed.
Terrified.
Dragged along by forces I didn't understand.
But Helion wasn't demanding. He wasn't claiming. He wasn't raging.
He was watching.
Waiting.
Letting me breathe.
It was… grounding.
I looked away, staring at the glowing moss. "Thank you."
"For what?"
"For not treating me like a… thing."
He leaned back on his palms. "I don't see you as a thing, Kanah."
"How do you see me?"
His answer was quiet.
Honest.
"Rare."
Heat crawled up my neck.
Helion noticed. His gaze sharpened slightly, pupils narrowing—predator interest, but controlled.
"You should rest," he said gently. "Your rune is pulsing."
I touched my chest. "Is it dangerous?"
"No. But it responds to emotion."
"Which emotion?"
"Right now?" he said with a faint smirk. "All of them."
I smacked his shoulder lightly. "Stop reading me like a book."
"Not reading," he said. "Sensing."
"Same thing."
His smile deepened. "No. A book doesn't stare back."
My cheeks warmed again, traitorously.
Before I could respond, a sharp crack split the silence.
Not mana.
Not magic.
Branches.
Breaking.
Hard.
Owain's voice thundered across the clearing:
"Kanah!"
I jerked upright.
Helion sighed. "Of course."
A blast of cold wind followed—Yllas.
Then a ripple of arcane light—Gerrin.
They found us.
Helion stood smoothly. "Stay behind me."
"Owain's going to explode," I muttered.
"Yes," Helion said. "Let him."
Owain burst into the clearing first, half-shifted, eyes glowing with fury.
"What the hell are you doing with her alone?!"
Helion barely blinked. "Calming her."
"You don't get to calm her!"
"No," Helion said. "You don't."
Yllas stepped forward, frost trembling across his shoulders. "You isolate her again and—"
Helion held up a hand. "Before you threaten me, look at her."
Three sets of eyes snapped toward me.
I felt naked under their attention.
Helion continued softly, "Does she look scared?"
Owain froze.
Yllas's jaw tightened.
Gerrin exhaled.
And they saw it.
I was calmer.
Breathing normally.
Not overwhelmed.
Owain's voice was low, confused. "How did you…?"
"Leopards don't force," Helion said quietly. "We coax."
Gerrin's markings dimmed. "Her rune isn't flaring."
"That's because you're not screaming," Helion said.
Owain rubbed his face. "Gods."
Yllas stepped closer, eyes softening slightly. "Kanah… are you unharmed?"
I nodded. "Yes."
Gerrin looked relieved. "Good."
Owain continued forward, slower now, claws retracting.
Thus far, nobody had touched me.
But when Owain lifted his hand toward mine, instinctively—
The rune pulsed.
A warning.
Owain froze.
His eyes widened.
He pulled his hand back.
"Sorry," he murmured.
The fact that he apologized—Owain, the territorial werewolf—was almost unbelievable.
Yllas cleared his throat. "We need to speak. All of us."
"In a circle?" Helion asked dryly. "Hold hands? Sing?"
Owain growled. "Shut up."
"No," Gerrin said. "He's right. We need to approach this calmly."
Helion sighed dramatically. "Fine."
Then he turned to me.
"Kanah," he said softly. "One question."
I blinked. "What?"
"Do you want to leave Sylvarin? Right now?"
Silence fell hard.
Owain tensed.
Yllas stared.
Gerrin stiffened.
They all waited for my answer.
I swallowed.
Hard.
"I don't feel safe here," I said honestly.
Gerrin bowed his head slightly, accepting the truth even though it hurt.
Yllas nodded once. "Then we take her."
Owain held out a hand—hesitant, careful not to touch. "Kanah?"
I stepped away from the elves.
Toward the three beastmen.
Sylvarin was no sanctuary.
Helion's voice was calm. "Then it's settled. We leave."
"Not without a fight," Gerrin warned.
A low rumble shook the ground.
The distant roar of dragons.
The howl of wolves.
The crackle of elven magic.
And the rune over my heart flared once.
Soft.
Warm.
Certain.
I nodded to Helion, Owain, and Yllas.
"Let's go."
Gerrin whispered a single word as the courtyard doors cracked behind us:
"Run."