13. Maple #2
The air rushed from her lungs as understanding crashed over her.
She wasn't just Rune's mate—she was his weakness.
The claim marker that had drawn her to him had also painted a target on both their backs.
Every moment she stayed in his world, every deepening of the bond between them, made him more vulnerable to enemies who'd been circling for decades.
She was the key Elias had needed to finally breach defenses that had protected the Trigg clan for centuries.
"I need air," she managed, pushing back from the desk with unsteady movements.
She had to get out of this room, away from the evidence of her own culpability, away from the knowledge that her childhood dreams had led them all into a trap she never could have imagined.
Maple fled through the mansion like a woman escaping a fire, her heart hammering as corridors blurred past in a haze of ancient tapestries and priceless artifacts.
The weight of revelation crushed down on her chest—she wasn't just Rune's fated mate, she was his destruction.
Every childhood dream, every archaeological pursuit, every forum post and midnight research session had painted a target on the back of the most powerful dragon in North America.
Five years, she thought desperately as she pushed through the French doors leading to the back terrace. Five years of reckless obsession, and I never once considered that bad people might be watching.
The desert air hit her lungs like salvation, dry and sharp and infinite.
She stumbled onto the stone terrace that overlooked Rune's sprawling back gardens, gripping the carved railing until her knuckles went white.
The sun hung low on the horizon, painting the canyon walls in shades of copper and gold that should have been breathtaking but felt like mockery now.
How could she have been so naive?
Serena had always been competitive, always watching Maple's career with calculating eyes and barely concealed resentment. But trafficking artifacts? Working with rogue dragons who systematically destroyed entire clans? The scope of betrayal made her stomach churn.
And Elias—God, how long had he been monitoring her work? Tracking her forum posts, following her research, waiting for the moment she stumbled onto something worth killing for? The memory of those cold eyes made her skin crawl.
"I'm such a fool," she whispered to the empty desert, her voice cracking. "Such a reckless, selfish fool."
The mate bond pulsed beneath her skin, carrying echoes of Rune's emotions—concern, frustration, something that felt close to tenderness.
She could feel him moving through the mansion, searching for her, and part of her wanted to run deeper into the gardens where he couldn't find her and see the shame burning in her eyes.
But another part—the part that had kissed him desperately, that had felt utterly complete soaring through the sky on his dragon's back—craved his presence like oxygen.
The sound of the terrace doors opening behind her made her shoulders tense, but she didn't turn around. His footsteps approached slowly, deliberately, giving her space to breathe while making his intentions clear.
"Are you alright?" Rune's deep voice carried that careful control she was beginning to recognize as his default.
"No." The word came out raw and honest. "I'm not alright. I just put you and your entire hidden town at risk because I was chasing fantasies."
She felt him move closer, close enough that his body heat began to wrap around her. The mate bond pulled tighter, whispering that she should turn around, should let him comfort her, and should stop carrying this alone.
"You weren't chasing fantasies." His voice held absolute conviction, no trace of the judgment she expected. "You were chasing something your soul knew existed. There's nothing foolish in that—it's actually quite admirable."
Despite everything, his words sent warmth spiraling through her chest. She'd spent so many years being told her dragon obsession was childish, impractical, a waste of her considerable intellect.
Hearing Rune—an ancient dragon Alpha who commanded such respect—call it admirable nearly undid her completely.
"To believe in something so much that you would do whatever it takes to discover it," he continued, stepping close enough that she could smell his scent. "To fight for truth when everyone around you insists it's impossible. That takes courage most people don't possess."
"Well, that courage just put a target on your back," she whispered, finally turning to face him.
The sight of him nearly stole her breath.
The setting sun cast his powerful frame in golden light, highlighting the sharp angles of his jaw and the way his black henley stretched across his broad chest. But it was his eyes that captured her—those brilliant blue depths flickered with molten gold, and for the first time since she'd met him, his carefully maintained walls seemed to crack.
He stepped closer still, close enough that the mate bond sang between them like music. His hand lifted toward her face, hesitated for a heartbeat, then gently cupped her cheek.
"Look at me," he commanded softly.
She did, drowning in the intensity of his gaze. What she saw there—genuine care, protective fury, something that looked dangerously like devotion—made her heart stutter.
"I've always had a target on my back," he said, his thumb brushing across her cheekbone with devastating gentleness.
"Rival Alphas, rogue dragons, human organizations that suspect we exist—they've all been circling for centuries.
At least now I know one of the more dangerous threats.
And we can try to stop Elias before he destroys more clans. "
His other hand found hers, intertwining their fingers with careful reverence.
"Without you… without you being the one to discover that claim marker, I might have been worse off. In more ways than one."
The subtext in his words hit her like lightning. Despite all his resistance, all his careful emotional distance, he was glad she'd stumbled into his world. Glad their paths had crossed. Glad fate had tied them together in ways neither of them fully understood.
"What are we going to do now?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
His eyes darkened. "In regard to Elias, we're going to put a stop to him. We just need to come up with a game plan."
He paused, his gaze dropping to her lips before returning to her eyes with obvious effort. "In regard to us, I think we should go take a walk in my gardens."
The invitation hung in the air, loaded with promise and possibility. The sun continued its descent toward the horizon, painting the desert in shades of fire that matched the heat building between them.
"I would like that," she said, her heart thundering as she realized they were about to have the conversation that would change everything between them.