Page 58 of Billionaire Dragon King’s Rejected Mate

The words hung between them and Chance found that he already knew they couldn’t. It had been solidified in that throne room. His father was out for blood.

“If we stay, we’re not safe.” Chance pulled her arm. “I don’t care about me, but I can’t let anything happen to you.”

Randi slowed to a stop and turned fully toward him. “Chance, I’m not afraid of your father,” she said quietly, “but I’m not going to be stupid and just sit around waiting for him to decide when I’ve outlived my usefulness.”

A flicker of something fierce and protective rose in his chest at that and cut clean through the frustration and anger. Whatever else he felt about the situation, whatever conflict still twisted inside him when it came to his father, there was one thing that had become painfully, undeniably clear.

He wasn’t willing either.

“We won’t,” Chance said with no hesitation in his voice. It was the only choice and he wasn’t going to pretend otherwise. “I should have known better than to come back here at all. We’re not staying.”

Randi searched his face for a moment. “Stagholt,” she said. That single word carried with it both a question and a plan. They both knew why it was their best option.

Chance nodded. “Sven will help us figure out what to do.”

“And he won’t see me as a liability,” Randi finished, unable to hide the trace of bitterness in her voice

Chance allowed himself a faint smile. “Bryn will see you as a valuable asset before you’ve even finished your first sentence.”

That earned the smallest hint of a smile from her in return,and it felt like a victory far greater than it should have in a moment like this.

“Then let’s go,” Randi said, her resolve firmly into place.

Chance glanced once over his shoulder, back in the direction of the throne room. “Yeah, we should leave now. They may not be expecting us to duck out so soon.”

“Yeah,” he said, turning back to her, his expression set. “We should.”

And as they began walking again back toward the hotel to gather their belongings, the path ahead was uncertain but undeniably their own, Chance felt the anger toward his father settle into something colder.

“You know my life in Tampa is pretty much over, right?”

Randi nodded. “I was thinking that. If you take your father out like Sven and Jakob want, you’ll have a throne to sit on and a kingdom to run.”

He wanted to ask her if she would stay with him, but he didn’t. It wasn’t fair when she had just started her life over again after leaving Stagholt.

“You don’t have to stay with me while I do this.” That was the crux of the problem. If his father had him as a target right in his own back yard, he might leave Randi alone back in Florida.

She looked at him like his eyes had popped out of his head. “If you think I’m going to tuck my tail and run, you’re crazy so just give it up.”

He grinned despite himself and let it go.

By the time they crossed back into Stagholt, the tension from Noriveille hadn’t eased, it had only settled deeper. The train ride had been quiet, even with Randi there beside him the entire time. His father’s words still echoed loud and clear even in the silence.

Now, standing in the familiar stone hall with Sven and Bryn facing him, everything felt even more real, if that was even possible.

Sven stepped forward as if he’d been waiting for Chance to cross the threshold back into Stagholt before shifting from concern to command. His gaze flicked briefly to Randi, then settled fully on Chance.

“We don’t have the luxury of time,” Sven said. His tone wasn’t urgent but it didn’t need to be. “Your father is already calling for support. Rulers who were undecided before will start choosing sides now that you’ve shown yourself.”

Chance exhaled slowly. “That assumes he sees me as a threat.”

Bryn folded her arms. “If he doesn’t,” she said, “then he’s already dismissed you. And that’s worse.”

Chance glanced at her. “Worse how?”

She met his gaze evenly. “I may not be a king, but I know things. A threat gets dealt with quickly. Someone irrelevant gets ignored until it’s convenient to remove them entirely.”

Randi’s brow furrowed as she looked between them. “He let us walk out so he doesn’t see us as much of a threat yet, mostly because I don’t think he has any idea about my connection to this kingdom. But either way, he’s not just stepping aside and handing you the throne.”