Jaxon's Emotional Return: A Father's Embrace

When we finally broke apart, Rhys stared at me with wonderment, his hands trembling as they cupped my face. "How are you here? I thought—we were told the portals were destroyed."

"They were," I said, grinning. "But have you met us? We're pretty resourceful."

His laughter was half-sob as he pulled me close again, burying his face in my hair. "I missed you so much. Every day was torture."

Behind us, Kaelen cleared his throat. "Perhaps we could continue this reunion sitting down? I'm not entirely steady yet."

Rhys looked past me, noticing Kaelen's pallor. "Holy shit, what happened to you?"

"Void entrapment," Ronan explained, helping Kaelen to the couch. "Our girl here marched into the nothingness between worlds and dragged him out by sheer force of will."

"Just another Tuesday," I joked, though my legs felt wobbly from the emotional overload.