Chapter 130 - Mom's Chaos Now

Chapter 130 - Mom's Chaos Now
Chapter 28 - Mom's Chaos Now

Nyxaria POV

I felt the portal snap before I heard it.

One second Lyrielle and I were in our suite arguing about whether we could afford to skip class prep just one more hour, and the next, a sharp ripple of power slammed through the academy like a bell struck underwater.

My dragon, Vhalra, stiffened in my head. “That was divine magic.”

Seiryn hissed inside Lyrielle’s mind across the link.

“Not the gods we know.”

My heart dropped.

“Mom?” I whispered.

Lyrielle didn’t answer. She was already sprinting for the door, her silver hair whipping behind her like a comet’s tail. I bolted after her, panic clawing up my spine.

The courtyard was already filling.

Students froze mid-training. Professors rushed from the halls. Even the Moonglade Tree trembled, leaves shivering with a quiet warning.

Then the portal expanded, white, crackling at the edges, and five forms stepped through.

Amaris. Jace. Noctara. Ravek. Kylion. But no Mom. No Daxon, or Lachlan, or Bram, or Ashrian, or Vaelrix. A cold spike of fear sank deep into my ribs.

“Where are they?” Lyrielle breathed, grabbing my hand.

Our siblings gathered with us in seconds, like magnets snapping together. Drayen pushed through the crowd first, his eyes wild.

“Where’s Mom?” he demanded.

Finnian and Maeve flanked him, both pale. Seren and Kaelen hovered close behind, their magic trembling visibly around them. Even Theo, Amaris’s son, stood stiffly beside his mother, with his hands flapping anxiously against his thighs.

And then the Velmira twins emerged from behind the professors, Lucen’s jaw was tight, and Rhaen’s eyes were glowing a shade too bright.

Azara stood between them with her arms crossed, and her demi-goddess aura flickering with agitation.

Noctara stepped forward. Her expression told us everything before she even spoke.

“Children,” she said softly, “there’s no need to panic.”

Lyrielle made a strangled noise. “That means we absolutely should panic.”

Ravek placed a hand on her shoulder. “Your mom is alive.”

My knees almost buckled. “Where is she?” I asked.

Kylion exhaled, lightning crackling faintly across his shoulders.

“Elowen has… changed.”

The word settled wrong in my stomach. Vhalra snarled. “They’re softening it.”

Amaris stepped closer and knelt so her eyes were level with ours.

“Your mother is now the mortal embodiment of Chaos.”

Silence. Then my heart started hammering in my throat. Chaos. The First Magic. The Forgotten Child of Creation. A force that could twist a realm inside out with a thought.

Lyrielle swayed, and Seiryn growled inside her.

“No,” she whispered. “That’s impossible.”

“It’s done,” Noctara replied gently. “Chaos chose her. They have merged fully.”

Finnian’s eyes filled. “Is she hurt?”

“She will recover,” Jace said, putting a hand on his son’s shoulder. “But she needed distance from this realm until she stabilizes.”

“And the gods?” Drayen asked hoarsely.

Ravek’s face darkened. “Selene took Elowen and her mates to the Divine Realm for training.”

Training. Training for something so powerful it made even gods nervous. I pressed a hand to my chest, trying to breathe around the ache.

“She’s okay?” I whispered.

“She is strong,” Noctara said firmly, squeezing both my shoulders. “Stronger than anyone I’ve ever known. If anyone can bear Chaos, it’s her.”

Lyrielle sagged against me, relief breaking her posture. I hugged her close, both of us shaking.

Drayen stepped forward, pulling us into his arms without hesitation, his wolf wrapping around our minds like a warm shield.

“It’s Mom,” he murmured. “Nothing keeps her down.”

Maeve and Seren tucked in beside us. Kaelen sniffled but nodded bravely.

Theo leaned into Amaris, rocking slightly. The fear didn’t go away. But family helped. It always did.

Noctara exhaled and looked over our group.

“So,” she said, clapping her hands once. “Now that the terrifying part is over, let’s address one more issue.”

Rhaen groaned. “Don’t.”

Lucen muttered, “Please, gods, no.”

Noctara smiled like a wolf. “You boys turn eighteen tonight.”

Lyrielle and I both choked. Drayen snorted. “Here we go.”

Maeve and Seren squealed quietly.

Azara rolled her eyes. “They’re so dramatic.”

Ravek crossed his arms, amused. “We should celebrate.”

“Party!” Maeve declared.

Lyrielle elbowed her. “Too soon.”

Maeve shrugged. “Mom’s not dead.”

Seren nodded. “She’d want us to have fun.”

Lucen scrubbed a hand through his hair. “Can we not...”

“Nope,” Noctara said, cutting him off. “There will be food. Music. And probably spontaneous public chaos from the two of you.”

Rhaen looked like he wanted to sink into the earth.

I smirked despite myself.

Noctara leaned in conspiratorially. “And maybe, just maybe, you two should use the opportunity to stop making everything worse with your mates.”

Lucen growled low. I growled right back.

She snorted. “Touchy.”

Everyone broke apart then, heading toward the academy halls.

Rhaen caught Lyrielle’s wrist gently. Lucen mirrored him with me.

“Can we… walk you to your rooms?” Rhaen asked.

Lyrielle blushed. “Um. Yeah. Sure.”

I nodded, giggling under my breath. “Okay.”

Twenty minutes later we were in our suite.

And somehow...we were all on the couch. And somehow....I was on Lucen’s lap.

And Lyrielle was pressed against Rhaen’s chest.

His lips moved over hers, soft but hungry, like a promise he’d waited years to reclaim.

Lucen’s kiss was different, rougher and restrained, his fangs brushing my lower lip like he didn’t trust himself not to bite.

Vhalra purred in my mind. “He tastes like fate.”

I whimpered into his mouth. Then the front door burst open. Azara stepped in and froze.

“Oh, ewwwww,” she said flatly. “My brothers. Disgusting.”

Maeve and Seren barreled in behind her.

“Kissies!” Maeve squealed.

“Oh my gods, finally!” Seren laughed.

Kerra, Mae, and Saphira followed, making dramatic smooching noises and clapping like drunken seals.

Lucen and Rhaen practically levitated off the couch, their ears red, and their cheeks blazing.

Rhaen stammered, “We..uh...we’ll see you tonight!”

Lucen bowed so fast he nearly head-butted the table. Then the twins bolted from the room like their asses were on fire. Lyrielle and I collapsed against each other laughing while the girls screamed in delight.

For the first time all day, the fear in my chest loosened.

Mom was gone. Chaos was awake. The world was shifting.

But some things, like embarrassing fated mate disasters, remained constant.

A tiny shard of comfort.
________________________

Lucen POV

I hated how nervous I was.

Me. Lucen Velmira. Half vampire, half wolf, fully unbothered by basically everything...Except this.

Except her.

Rhaen paced the length of our living room, running a hand through his hair for the thousandth time. “Lucen, are you sure this looks okay?” he asked, holding up a small wooden ring box.

“It looks fine,” I muttered, even though it looked more than fine. The idiot carved the damn thing himself. Vines, stars, tiny dragon wings. It was stupidly romantic.

And mine was no better.

My own ring sat heavy in my palm, glowing faintly with shadow-forged silver and amber. I’d shaped it from my own blood magic, the kind that lived beneath my skin. A moon was etched inside the band. A dragon curled around the outside.

I’d made it for Nyx before I even admitted I wanted her.

Rhaen stopped pacing. “We’re doing this tonight.”

It wasn’t a question. It was a vow.

I swallowed hard. “Yeah.”

Kaelth huffed in my skull. “We should have done it years ago.”

I ignored him.

The door opened, and Noctara stepped in with the kind of authority that made people twice her size shrink.

She took one look at us holding ring boxes and froze.

“…Oh my gods,” she breathed. “You’re actually doing it.”

Rhaen smiled sheepishly. “Yea, Mom. We are.”

She clapped both hands over her mouth like she’d just witnessed the moon rise for the first time.

I rolled my eyes. “Don’t start crying.”

“I am allowed to cry,” she snapped, wiping her cheek. “My sons are finally pulling their heads out of their asses.”

Rhaen grinned. “We want to make tonight about the girls, not us. So we prepared something.”

Noctara arched a brow. “Something?”

“We wrote vows,” he said, tapping his pocket.

A growl almost slipped out of me. “They’re not mate vows. Just… apology vows.”

Noctara snorted. “Lucen, you made her a ring.”

I bristled. “It’s not a mating ritual. It’s a promise.”

“A promise is the first thread of a bond,” she said gently.

I hated when she was right.

Rhaen stepped closer to me, his tone turning quiet. “We treated them poorly. We were stupid. And they still looked at us last night like we hung the damn stars. We owe them more.”

Something tight twisted in my chest. Guilt. Want. Fear.

Kaelth rumbled. “She is ours. You are delaying the inevitable.”

I clenched my jaw. “I just don’t want to trap her.”

“You’re not trapping her,” Noctara said, coming to stand before me. She cupped my face like she used to when I was little. “You’re showing her respect. And devotion. And the fact that you’re choosing her, not because the bond forces it, but because you want to.”

I exhaled slowly.

“I do,” I whispered. “I want her.”

Rhaen slapped my back so hard I winced. “Finally.”

Noctara beamed. “So what’s the plan?”

Rhaen’s eyes lit up. “We tell everyone the night is for them. Not for our birthday. Then we pull them aside. Alone. Somewhere quiet. And we say our vows.”

“And the cameras?” Noctara asked, smirking.

I groaned. “You’re going to record it anyway, so don’t pretend you’re asking.”

She shrugged. “I am obligated as your mother to show the entire realm what fine, loyal, handsome sons I raised.”

Rhaen snorted. “Also to make everyone else jealous.”

Noctara grinned. “Absolutely that too.”

I couldn’t help smiling. “What do we do after?”

“Then,” Noctara said, smoothing my shirt, “you dance with them. And you let everyone see, without a single doubt, that Lyrielle and Nyxaria are claimed.”

Rhaen’s magic sparked gold around him, instinctive and possessive. Mine slid like shadows over my skin.

Noctara clapped her hands. “Gods, you two are terrifying. But this is going to be beautiful.”

Rhaen inhaled sharply, looking at his ring box. “They deserve it.”

I tapped mine gently with my thumb. “They deserve everything.”

Noctara hugged us both, fierce and proud.

“My boys,” she murmured. “Tonight… you grow up.”

I swallowed hard.

Yeah. We did.

And for the first time ever, I was fucking ready.