"Alpha," Bram interjected smoothly, "surely you can overlook this legal detail and consider handling this more gently. Perhaps you could offer to let Maple stay, and you two could investigate how to unbind her from the marker together."
The suggestion hung in the air like a trap waiting to spring. Rune's rational mind screamed warnings but looking at Maple, he found his resolve wavering. Maybe he shouldn't be so harsh. She was his mate, after all, even if neither of them wanted to acknowledge it. Whatever it took to get her unbound and safely away from him, he would facilitate.
He turned to face her fully, careful to maintain distance between them. If he touched her—even accidentally—the mate bond would lock fully into place, and there would be no going back.
"You can stay the night in town," he heard himself saying, "and we can investigate how to unbind you."
Her response was immediate and firm. "I didn't pack a bag and didn't anticipate staying, so I'm going to leave."
Perfect. Let her leave.
The thought should've brought relief, but instead, panic clawed at his chest. Every instinct he possessed screamed against letting her walk away, his dragon thrashing violently against his mental barriers. The scent of citrus and roses was making it impossible to think clearly, and her presence was unraveling centuries of careful emotional control.
End this conversation now, before you do something irreversible.
"Fine," he managed, his voice strained with the effort of maintaining composure. "But you'd better not tell anyone else you found this artifact, and you'd better not tell anyone about our hidden town, or I'll ruin your career."
The threat hung between them, and he watched her jaw tighten with what looked like the desire to argue further. But after a moment, she simply nodded.
"Fine. I won't tell anyone about this. But you'd better figure out a way to unbind me from this thing, or I'll expose you."
Feisty.
His dragon roared with approval at her boldness, the beast clearly delighted by a mate who refused to be intimidated. But Rune was rapidly reaching his breaking point, caught between the overwhelming urge to claim her and the desperate need to maintain the control that had kept him safe for five centuries.
"Fine," he repeated, the word coming out rougher than intended. "I'll figure it out."
Without another word, he turned and walked out of Bram's office, his stride carefully controlled despite the chaos raginginside him. Every step away from her felt like tearing away pieces of himself, his dragon protesting the distance.
Once in the main corridor, he braced his hand against the wall and fought to catch his breath. The conflicting urges warring inside him were almost unbearable—the primitive need to return to that office, gather that spirited woman in his arms, and never let her go battled against the rational voice that insisted this was exactly what had destroyed his father.
Focus on solving how to unbind her from the ancient magic and move on with your controlled and isolated life.
But even as he thought it, Rune knew with bone-deep certainty that nothing would ever be the same again.
FIVE
MAPLE
The drive back to Phoenix had passed in a haze of stunned silence, both Maple and Gerri lost in their own thoughts as the desert landscape had blurred past the windows. But now, standing alone in her familiar condo, Maple felt like she'd been transported to an alternate reality where everything she thought she knew about the world had been turned upside down and shaken until nothing made sense anymore.
She paced the length of her living room for what felt like the hundredth time, her boots wearing a path in the hardwood as her mind struggled to process the morning's revelations. Dragons weren't just real—they lived among humans, hidden in plain sight, with their own towns and ambitions and ancient traditions that stretched back centuries. This incredible discovery should have made her joyous, should have sent her reaching for more answers and more evidence.
Instead, all she could think about was the way her body had responded the moment Rune Trigg walked into Bram's office.
God, what was that?
The memory sent heat flooding through her system all over again. She'd thought her reaction to the artifact was intense, but when Rune's presence had filled that room—his scent ofsandalwood and spice wrapping around her like a warm hug—every nerve ending in her body had suddenly come alive.
The connection between herself, the artifact, and him had formed a perfect triangle of awareness that left her breathless and confused and wanting things she couldn't even articulate.
"This is ridiculous," she muttered, running her hands through her dark hair and pulling it loose from the ponytail she'd twisted it into that morning. "Completely, utterly ridiculous."
But even as she said it, she could still feel the lingering effects of whatever had happened between them. Her skin felt hypersensitive, her pulse still slightly elevated, and there was a restless energy thrumming through her veins that made it impossible to sit still. It was exactly like her reaction to the artifact but amplified a thousand-fold.
Like he was a direct extension of the artifact himself.
The thought made her heart race with something that felt dangerously close to excitement, which was absolutely not what she should be feeling about a man who'd threatened to press charges against her and ruin her career. Rune Trigg was intense, overbearing, and clearly used to getting his way through sheer force of will and intimidation. Everything about him screamed danger and control, from the predatory grace in his movements to the way his blue eyes had flashed almost golden when he'd gotten angry.
