The mate bond pulsed harder, demanding he return to Maple immediately. Rune's hands clenched at his sides as he fought the urge to shift and fly straight back to his mansion.
"Don't worry, Alpha. The situation is being handled," Bram interjected with his usual measured authority. "I told the local police it was an accident, but they'll want your statement."
Just perfect.
Rune's jaw ticked as another complication added itself to the growing list. His overprotectiveness in saving Maple's life had just dragged him into a legal mess that would require careful maneuvering through human bureaucracy.
"Fine. I'll deal with that later." He stepped further into the office, his presence filling the space like a gathering storm. "But speaking of the accident, those dead men were after the claim marker. And because Maple had it, they were chasing her."
The mate bond flared again, sending heat racing through his veins at the memory of her terror in that sedan. His dragon snarled, demanding vengeance against threats to his mate.
"Do you have any idea why that is?" Rune's voice dropped to a dangerous growl. "And more importantly, do you have any idea how one claim marker even survived? That seems impossible after I destroyed them all."
Bram's ancient eyes flickered with something that looked suspiciously like guilt. Kade squirmed in his chair, his muscles coiling as if preparing to physically intervene in whatever confrontation was about to explode between Alpha and Elder.
"Well, about that," Bram began, his voice carrying the careful cadence of a man about to confess a grave sin. "I may have had your ancestors make a few extra ones for safekeeping. Just in case you did something drastic like you did."
Heat exploded behind his ribs as his dragon roared with betrayal and rage, his vision tinging gold at the edges.
"What are you exactly saying?" Each word came out sharp enough to cut glass.
Bram's weathered hands remained steady on his desk, but his shoulders tensed as if bracing for impact. "Well, after you destroyed all the claim markers a century ago, I had one reburied. Then I put out a rumor—cryptic enough that I didn't think it would draw the wrong attention—that something was here on our land. I thought it would draw your mate."
The confession detonated through Rune's chest like dragon fire. His vision flashed molten gold as his human form wavered, scales threatening to ripple across his skin.
"How dare you go behind my back and do this?" Rune's voice carried the full weight of Alpha authority, reverberating off the office walls. "Do you have any idea what danger you just brought to me and to our town?"
Bram actually looked genuinely guilty, his ancient composure cracking around the edges. "I didn't think it would bring danger, Rune. I just hoped it would bring your fated mate. And well... it did."
"Yes, it did!" Rune slammed his palm against the desk, the solid oak groaning under the force. "And you knew I didn't want it. Now she's in danger and our town is in danger."
The mate bond pulsed again, stronger now, pulling at him like a physical chain. Maple was miles away, but he could feel her restlessness, her confusion, her stubborn determination to understand what was happening. His dragon demanded he return to her immediately.
Kade rose from his chair with fluid grace, his tactical mind already working through solutions. "Rune, we can handle this. We'll triple the security of our borders and the hidden entrance. We'll triple the security at Trigg Corporation's office in Phoenix. We'll make sure Maple has a security detail?—"
"I'm Maple's security detail. No one else."
The words escaped before Rune could stop them, his protective instincts overriding every rational thought about maintaining distance. His dragon purred with satisfaction at the declaration, while his human mind reeled at what he'd just committed to.
Kade's eyebrows rose slightly, but he simply nodded with the kind of tactical acceptance that had made him invaluable for four centuries. "Very well. I'll go ensure everything else is secure and assume you have Maple and her friend's safety handled."
Without another word, Kade strode from the office, leaving Rune alone with the elder who had orchestrated this entire mess. The mate bond thrummed harder now, demanding he return to his mate, but fury still burned in his chest like molten gold.
Rune fixed Bram with a stare that had reduced lesser dragons to ash. "If anything happens to Maple because of what you did—burying that claim marker and putting that rumor out there—you will pay for it."
The threat hung in the air between them, heavy with the promise of an Alpha's wrath. Bram received it in silence, his weathered face grave with understanding.
Without waiting for a response, Rune turned and stormed from the office, his boots echoing against marble as he made his way back through the corridors. The mate bond pulled at him with increasing intensity, no longer just a whisper but a roar demanding he return to the woman who had become the center of his carefully controlled world.
He needed to get back to his mansion. Back to Maple. Even if he was going to resist the mate bond with every fiber of his being, he couldn't let anything happen to her.
The Porsche's engine soon roared to life, and he peeled away from the curb, desert wind whipping through the open windows as he raced back toward the canyon. Back toward the woman who threatened to unravel five centuries of carefully maintained control with nothing more than her sharp green eyes and fearless curiosity.
ELEVEN
MAPLE
Maple stood at the tall windows of her guest suite, her palms pressed against the cool glass as she gazed out at the sprawling canyon landscape that stretched endlessly beyond Rune's fortress-like mansion. The morning light painted the red rock formations in shades of amber and gold, but she barely registered the breathtaking view. Her mind was consumed by the memory of last night—the explosive passion on the dining room table, the way Rune's hands had claimed every inch of her skin, and then his devastating retreat.
