In Chap­ter Sev­en­teen of Bran­thor, the nar­ra­tive cen­ters on the pro­tag­o­nist, who is gripped by wor­ry after Teal goes miss­ing. After search­ing at the homes of Nova, Hol­ly, and Maren with­out suc­cess, pan­ic sets in. He reflects on their ear­li­er con­fronta­tion, rec­og­niz­ing his self­ish­ness had pushed her away, mak­ing him feel guilty and help­less. Teal’s last known direc­tion is towards the moun­tains out­side Moss­dale, a dan­ger­ous choice for some­one like her who seemed agi­tat­ed and need­ed space.

As he search­es, he begins to notice sub­tle clues indi­cat­ing her passage—broken twigs and shoe imprints—leading him to the Thun­der­ing Caves. His dread ampli­fies when he finds signs of a strug­gle: flat­tened grass and larg­er foot­prints, which fills him with fear. The imprint of Teal’s small shoe is unmis­tak­able, hint­ing she had an encounter with two human males. It becomes clear that she might have been tak­en.

Bran­thor rush­es toward the sound of voic­es and dis­cov­ers the two men—uniformed Peacemakers—abusing Teal. Anger fuels his approach as they shoot at him, yet he is unfazed, dri­ven by a pro­tec­tive instinct. As he con­fronts the men, they claim to be Teal’s broth­ers, leav­ing him furi­ous at their actions. Teal’s des­per­ate plea reveals the truth: they’ve always been abu­sive, and their claim of fam­i­ly is a facade.

Ulti­mate­ly, Bran­thor releas­es his anger when Teal, still shak­en but grate­ful, claims him as her true fam­i­ly. He con­fronts the broth­ers, warn­ing them against return­ing, as he gains strength from her faith in him and their com­mu­ni­ty. They escape, both humil­i­at­ed and hurt, while Bran­thor and Teal share a ten­der moment, con­fess­ing their love amidst the tur­moil. Despite Bran­thor’s injuries from the con­fronta­tion, they share a ten­ta­tive return towards safe­ty, know­ing that their bond has only deep­ened through this cri­sis.

Teal, now back in Bran­thor’s pres­ence, feels secure, and they begin to under­stand the strength of their con­nec­tion, even in the face of dan­ger .