"Survived what?" Panic edged into her voice. "What does that mean?"
"Our ancestors buried dozens of these throughout our territory centuries ago, but our Alpha destroyed them all. Or so we thought." His eyes fixed on her with a piercing intensity that made her feel transparent. "This is a claim marker, and it has significance you clearly don't understand yet."
The words hit her like physical blows. "So dragons actually exist? Have existed for centuries? And there's an Alpha who destroyed these artifacts? Why would he do that?"
"Dear, you're standing in hidden dragon territory right now." Bram's smile held secrets. "And we're dragon shifters, to be precise. And our Alpha is... let's say he's controlling and probably won't appreciate this development."
Without thinking, Maple reached toward the claim marker. The moment her fingers brushed the surface, light erupted from its core and heat flooded her system with an intensity that left her gasping.
Bram stared at her with fascination that bordered on reverence. "Remarkable."
"I don't understand why this thing keeps reacting to me," Maple managed, her voice rough with the effort of speaking through the overwhelming sensation. "I just want it to stop, but I also can't bear the thought of giving it up. This is the discovery of my career."
"Well," Bram said slowly, "you can certainly keep the artifact. It belongs to you and you alone now. But I don't think we can unbind you from it. We would need to speak to the Alpha."
Unbind?
The word sent ice through her veins even as the artifact's warmth continued to flood her system. She was standing in a hidden dragon town, holding an ancient claim marker that responded to her touch like it had been waiting centuries for her specifically, talking to people who spoke casually about Alphas and mates and binding as if these were normal, everyday concepts.
Everything she'd believed about the world—about reality itself—was crumbling around her, but underneath the terror was something she'd never expected to feel. Vindication. The impossible things she'd dreamed about as a child weren't fantasies. They were real, and she'd found them.
Or maybe they'd found her.
"Well, can we meet this Alpha then?" she heard herself asking, the words coming from some deep place of curiosity that had always been stronger than her sense of self-preservation. "Maybe he'll have an idea what to do next."
FOUR
RUNE
Rune prowled through his mansion like a caged predator that morning, the polished marble floors echoing with the sharp staccato of his Italian leather shoes. Each step carried the weight of barely contained fury—not at any external threat, but at the impossible situation fate had thrust upon him yesterday. His jaw clenched as he ran a hand through his black hair, the careful styling from this morning's board meeting now destroyed by hours of restless movement.
How did I miss one?
The question burned through his mind for the hundredth time since yesterday afternoon, when the ancient magic had slammed into him like a freight train. He'd spent decades methodically hunting down every claim marker his ancestors had buried throughout the territory. Decades of careful excavation, systematic destruction, ensuring that no piece of ancient dragon magic could drag him into the mate bond that had destroyed his father.
Yet somewhere on his land, a woman had found what he'd somehow overlooked.
She should have come by now.
The logical part of his mind—the part that had built a global empire and commanded respect from dragons twice his age—insisted that any female dragon shifter who'd activated a claim marker would be compelled to seek him out immediately. The ancient magic was designed to bring mates together with the inevitability of gravity.
But his fated mate hadn't appeared at his doorstep. And she hadn't come flying across the canyon in dragon form, following the pull that should have been irresistible. Instead, there was only silence and the maddening awareness that somewhere out there, she existed.
Maybe she's as resistant to this as I am.
That thought should have been comforting, but it only added another layer of complexity to an already impossible situation. His dragon snarled in disagreement, the beast wanting nothing more than to tear through the sky until he found her, claimed her, made her understand that she belonged to him now whether either of them wanted it or not.
Rune paused at the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the canyon, his reflection staring back at him—blue eyes shot through with molten gold that betrayed his dragon's agitation. The view beyond showed his territory stretching toward the horizon, red rock formations catching the sunlight like ancient monuments to power and permanence.
This is my domain. My rules.
But even as he thought it, heat flooded his system again—that same rush of awareness that had been plaguing him since yesterday. She was touching the claim marker again, wherever she was, and the ancient magic that linked them together whether he wanted it or not pulsed through his veins. His hands pressed against the cool glass as the sensation washed through him, his dragon roaring with satisfaction at the connection.
No. Stop.
Last night had been a special kind of torture. Every time she'd handled the marker, his body had responded as if she were touching him directly. The heat, the awareness, the maddening knowledge that somewhere his mate was experiencing the same overwhelming connection—it had driven him to pace his chambers until exhaustion finally claimed him around three in the morning.
Three hours of sleep.
