Chapter 104 A Place To Breathe

Chapter 104 A Place To Breathe
Aurora:

I was already outside Serena’s room when Jax opened the door. My instincts had told me I was needed here. Levi followed as usual. He stood beside me, one hand resting low on my back in that quiet way of his, not just holding me in place but grounding me. The house was still dimly lit with early morning light, the storm outside finally calming into a soft rain against the windows. The fresh air carried the scent of rain-soaked earth and garden flowers washed clean by the storm, soothing the tension in the room.

I had felt everything through the walls. Not clearly. Not like words. More like pressure moving through the air. Pain, shame, anger, fear, regret. Serena’s panic had been sharp enough to make my chest ache. Jax’s had been heavier and rougher, like something clawing at the inside of a locked door.

The door opened, Jax stepped out, and stopped. He looked at me first, then Levi. Then Lucas and Rylan, who had both come down the hall at some point without making a sound. The moment Jax saw all of us waiting, his shoulders dropped.

“You heard?”

“Felt,” I said softly.

His jaw tightened. “That's worse.”

Levi looked him over once. “Is she stable?”

“She’s awake. Weak, but awake.” Jax looked back toward the closed door, as if leaving her behind physically hurt him, and I was sure it did. “She asked me to leave.”

Lucas spoke, working on his tablet without looking up. “That quick?”

Jax glared at him. Lucas ignored it with the calm of a man who had chosen violence before breakfast. He continued without caring for the daggers Jax was throwing at him. “Perimeter is clear. No anomalies since their arrival. The pulses beneath the island are still continuing, but there are no breach signatures, no external movement, and no hidden channels lighting up. Which means for the moment we are not under immediate attack.”

“Good,” Levi said.

Lucas finally looked at Jax. “So, with the war not actively killing us for five minutes, may I ask whether you already managed to ruin your mate bond?”

Jax’s face went flat. Rylan coughed into his fist.

Lucas continued, “Very loyal of you, by the way. Following your Alpha’s example with impressive speed.”

Levi cursed under his breath. “Lucas.”

“What? I am saying it's impressive."

I pressed my lips together to keep from smiling. Jax looked between Levi and me with something dangerously close to helplessness, which on him looked almost painful.

“I said something I shouldn’t have,” he admitted. “She wanted to see Levi. Rex reacted before I could think.”

Levi’s expression shifted, understanding the meaning behind it.

Jax rubbed both hands over his face. “My wolf has been dormant for years. I almost forgot what it felt like to have another soul inside my head, always pushing, always reacting, always giving its opinion whether I asked for it or not.”

Rylan muttered, “Rex never did know how to shut up.”

Jax shot him a look.

Rylan raised both hands. “I’m just saying.”

“You’re not helping, so please shut up,” Jax said. That worked for a moment.

Levi leaned one shoulder against the wall, the corner of his mouth almost lifting. “Well, if you don’t make mistakes and then grovel properly, what is even the point of having a mate?”

He looked at me while saying it. I elbowed him in the ribs.

“Do not preach your bad decisions as wisdom,” I warned.

Lucas made a quiet sound that was definitely a laugh.

Levi caught my hand before I could move it away and held it against his side, unbothered. “I prefer calling them lessons.”

“Of course you do.”

Jax did not smile, "Could you both not make lovesick puppy eyes at each other right after my mate kicked me out? It's like rubbing salt on the wound."

That sobered me. I stepped away from Levi and faced him properly.

“Jax,” I said gently, “you and Serena are both new to this.”

He looked at me, his expression tight.

“It took me much longer to understand the bond,” I continued. “And I had two children, years of history with Levi, a thousand impossible signs, and I still kept denying what was right in front of me.”

Levi’s thumb moved lightly over the back of my hand. I ignored him.

“So you need to be patient with her. And with yourself.”

Jax’s throat worked once. “She looked at me like I hurt her.”

“You did.”

The words landed hard, but I didn’t soften them. He needed the truth more than comfort right now. His throat worked, and he looked down, saying, “I know."

“But one mistake is not the end of anything,” I added. “It just means you need to be careful with the next ones.”

Lucas tucked the tablet under his arm, quieter now. Rylan’s teasing expression had vanished too. This mattered. All of us knew it. I stepped closer to Jax, stopping just short of touching him.

“I can feel what you feel,” I said. “Not everything. Not every thought. But enough to know you didn’t mean what you said to her.”

His eyes lifted.

“But Serena doesn’t know that,” I continued. “She doesn’t know you. She woke up in a strange house after nearly dying, after being poisoned and hunted, after whatever else happened before she reached us. Then the first thing she learns is that she has a mate.”

Jax closed his eyes briefly. “I know.”

“No,” I said softly. “You don’t. Not yet.”

His eyes opened again.

“She has been controlled all her life,” I said. “Watched. Used. Trained. Hurt. I could feel it on her even before she woke. There is so much weight inside her that I don’t know how she is still standing at all.”

Something dark moved across his face. “Who did that to her?”

“We’ll learn in time,” Levi said quietly.

Jax’s jaw clenched.

I kept my voice low. “And when we do, you cannot become another force taking choices from her, not even because you want to protect her.”

That hit him hardest. Good. He needed that.

“She needs your support,” I said. “Your comfort if she accepts it. Your distance if she asks for it. Your patience even when it cuts into you. But not your pity. Not your jealousy. Not your anger aimed at the wrong person.”

His breathing shifted.

“She doesn’t owe you trust because the bond chose you,” I said. “You have to earn it.”

Jax looked toward the door again. For the first time since Serena arrived, he looked less like a warrior ready to tear apart a room and more like a man terrified of doing the wrong thing.

“I don’t know how,” he admitted.

The honesty in that nearly broke my heart. Levi pushed away from the wall and came to stand beside me.

“You start by not making it about you,” he said.

Jax looked at him. Levi’s voice was quiet, but there was iron under it. “The bond will scream. Your wolf will push. Every instinct you have will tell you to stay close, to guard, to decide, to fix. Don’t. She has had enough men deciding her life for her.”

Jax flinched. Levi did not apologize.

“Be near enough that she knows she is not alone,” he said. “But far enough that she can breathe.”

Jax nodded slowly. Lucas sighed. “That sounded annoyingly useful.”

Levi gave him a flat look.

“What?” Lucas said. “I praise growth when I see it.”

Rylan leaned back against the wall. “This is strange. I don’t like being the emotionally stable one here.”

“You’re not,” Lucas said.

“Fair enough.”

A small laugh escaped me before I could stop it.

The sound eased something in the hall for one brief second. Then another pulse moved beneath the house. Softer this time. Almost like a reminder. The lamps flickered once. The floor gave a faint tremor under my feet. Jax instantly turned toward Serena’s door. No sound came from inside. Still, his whole body pulled toward her. I placed myself gently in front of him.

“I’ll go.”

He hesitated.

“She asked for space from you,” I reminded him. “Not from everyone.”

His mouth tightened, but he stepped back.

“Tell her that…” He stopped midsentence.

“What?”

He shook his head. “Nothing, just…make sure she’s alright.”

“I will.”

I turned toward the door, then paused beside him.

“One more thing.”

He looked at me.

“You are scared for her, I know, but that doesn't make you weak.”

His expression flickered. For a moment, he said nothing, then he nodded once and moved to sit on the couch. I opened the door quietly and stepped inside, closing it behind me. The room was dim and warm. Serena sat against the pillows, pale and exhausted, her hands twisted in the blanket like she was holding herself together by force. Her eyes lifted to mine immediately. She looked guarded, wounded, and ready to run despite barely being able to stand. I understood that look too well.

So I did not move closer right away. I stayed by the door and let her see my empty hands.

“Hi, Serena,” I said gently. “It’s just me.”

Her shoulders shook once with a breath she tried to hide. Then she looked away toward the window, voice rough from sleep and tears.

“I suppose he sent you.”

“No,” I said. “I came because I wanted to.” That made her look back at me.

Outside, the rain softened against the glass. For the first time since she arrived, there was no shouting. No blood. No storm at the door.

Only two women in a quiet room, both carrying lives that powerful men had once tried to decide for them. And I knew before she said another word that whatever truth Serena brought with her, it was going to hurt.