20. Rune
TWENTY
RUNE
The ancient fury that had slumbered in Rune's chest for three centuries erupted like molten lava as the enforcer's words echoed through the ballroom.
Fifty hostile dragons. Minutes away. His clan—his entire clan—gathered in one location because he'd invited them here to celebrate the mate bond he'd finally allowed himself to claim.
Elias.
The name burned through his mind with the certainty of prophecy. The rogue dragon had been circling like a carrion bird, waiting for exactly this moment of weakness—when Rune's heart was finally open, finally vulnerable, finally worth destroying.
Through their newly completed bond, he felt Maple's fierce determination blazing like a beacon beside his own protective rage. She wasn't cowering or panicking. She was preparing to fight for his people as fiercely as he would.
His magnificent, brave mate.
"Maple," he commanded, his voice cutting through the rising chaos as clan members began panicking. "Find Jackie and Ben. Get to the reinforced chambers beneath the mansion. Now."
Her green eyes flashed with stubborn fire that would have been breathtaking under different circumstances. "I'm not letting these people become sitting ducks while I hide in some underground bunker."
She stepped closer, her chin lifted in defiance that made his dragon roar with both pride and terror. "I'm going to help get them to safety. All of them."
Of course she was.
His fierce, reckless mate who'd already told him she would risk herself for people she loved—and she was beginning to love his clan with the same fierce loyalty that had driven her to save Ben from Serena's thugs.
The logical part of his mind screamed that he should throw her over his shoulder and lock her away where Elias couldn't touch her.
But he'd learned enough about Maple Westen in their short time together to know that fighting her protective instincts would be like trying to stop a wildfire with his bare hands.
"Fine," he growled, his hands fisting at his sides. "But if you sense something you can't handle—anything at all—you call for me through our link immediately. Do you understand me?"
"Yes, I understand," she said, her voice steady despite the chaos erupting around them.
Before he could second-guess himself, he pulled her against him and claimed her mouth in a kiss that tasted of desperation and promises. She kissed him back with equal intensity, pouring her love and determination into the connection between them.
When they broke apart, her eyes were blazing with the same protective fire that burned in his chest.
"Go," he said roughly. "Keep them safe."
Then he was moving, Kade falling into step beside him with the fluid precision of four centuries of partnership. They'd barely reached the ballroom doors when the sound of running footsteps echoed behind them.
Rune spun around, expecting to see Maple following despite his orders. Instead, he found something that stopped him cold.
At least fifty of his clan members were streaming after them—dragons of all ages, from ancient elders to young adults barely past their first shift. Their faces were grim with determination, their eyes blazing with protective fury.
"Alpha," called Martin, the elderly dragon who'd greeted Maple so warmly just minutes ago. "We stand with you."
"You have given us hope again," added Sarah, a fierce female warrior who'd served his family for two centuries. "We will not let them destroy what you're building here."
Others echoed their sentiments as they gathered around him.
"We protect our own."
"No rogue takes our Alpha's mate and future happiness."
"This is our home too."
Rune stared at them in stunned silence. For three hundred years, he'd isolated himself from his clan, convinced that emotional distance was necessary for effective leadership. He'd assumed they resented his coldness, his refusal to truly connect with them beyond duty and obligation.
Instead, they were volunteering to risk their lives for him and for his mate. And for the happiness he'd finally allowed himself.
They want to protect this future as much as I do.
"Then we fight together," Rune said, his voice carrying the authority of five centuries but warmed by genuine gratitude.
They soon burst through the mansion's front entrance into the cool canyon air, and Rune's enhanced senses immediately picked up the approaching threat. The acrid scent of smoke and ash—Elias's signature—carried on the desert wind, along with the unmistakable musk of at least fifty hostile dragons.
Above them, dark shapes moved against the star-filled sky like a plague. But it was the rumble of engines that made Rune's blood run cold.
Black SUVs were pouring through the hidden entrance to his territory—vehicles that had no business knowing how to find this place, let alone breach his carefully maintained defenses. The convoy moved with military precision, and Rune realized with sinking dread that this wasn't just an attack.
It was a full-scale invasion designed to strip him of everything—his clan, his territory, and the ancient hoard his family had protected for millennia.
"They're not just here to destroy us," he told Kade grimly. "They're here to take everything."
His second-in-command's jaw tightened. "Then we make sure they leave with nothing or don't leave at all."
Around them, his clan members were already beginning their shifts—clothing shredding as powerful dragon forms emerged in flashes of scale and flame.
The sight of his people preparing to defend their home sent a surge of fierce pride through Rune's chest. Through his bond with Maple, he felt her calm efficiency, clearly directing panicked guests toward safety while keeping Jackie and Ben close.
Her courage in the face of danger made his heart swell even as it terrified him.
The first wave of hostile dragons crested the canyon ridge, their wings blotting out the stars. At their head flew a massive smoke-gray dragon whose scales gleamed like tarnished metal—Elias in his true form, finally revealing himself after decades of manipulation from the shadows.
Rune felt his own shift surging forward as ancient power flooded his veins. "Protect our future," he commanded his clan.
Another thunderous sound filled the canyon air as twenty of his dragon enforcers came racing from the perimeter, their boots pounding against the stone pathway leading to his mansion.
Rune's voice cut through the chaos like a blade, his Alpha authority making every word a command that couldn't be ignored.
"Defensive positions around the mansion," he barked, his eyes blazing with molten gold as his dragon pressed close to the surface. "Nothing gets through to the hoard. Nothing touches my people."
The lead enforcer, a grizzled veteran named Rory whose loyalty had been tested in battles spanning five centuries, stepped forward with weapons already in hand. "What about the interior defenses, Alpha?"
"Seal the vault chambers." Rune's hands were already beginning to shift, claws extending as his human form started to blur at the edges. "If they breach the mansion, make them bleed for every inch."
The enforcers nodded as one, their faces grim with the weight of protecting centuries of accumulated dragon history. "We will defend this place and your hoard with our lives, Alpha," Rory declared, and the others echoed his vow with fierce determination.
The sound of Rune's shift began—a deep, rumbling transformation that made the very air vibrate with ancient power.
His formal clothing shredded as massive black scales erupted across his expanding frame, his human shape dissolving into something far more primal and deadly.
Within seconds, where the billionaire CEO had stood, now crouched a dragon of legend—obsidian scales gleaming like polished armor, and veins of molten gold pulsing beneath the surface with barely contained rage.
Around him, Kade's own transformation rippled through the air, his slate-gray form built for speed and tactical precision rather than raw dominance.
Thirty other dragons followed suit, the canyon filling with the sounds of shifting bone and expanding wing membranes as his clan prepared for war.
Then Rune's massive wings caught the desert wind as he launched himself skyward, Kade flanking him with the fluid coordination of four centuries fighting side by side.
Minutes later, the collision of the two forces shook the canyon walls.
Rune's claws found purchase on the first enemy dragon, and then his jaws clamped down on a wing joint with bone-crushing force.
The taste of blood filled his mouth as he twisted, sending his opponent spiraling toward the rocky ground below.
But there was no time to savor the victory—two more rogues dove toward him from above, their combined weight threatening to drive him from the sky.
His dragonfire erupted in a torrent of white-gold flame that turned one attacker into a shrieking fireball.
The second rogue managed to rake claws across his shoulder, drawing lines of blood across his scales, but Rune's answering strike from his dragon tail crushed the dragon's skull with a sickening crack.
Through the mate bond, he felt Maple's steady determination as she orchestrated the evacuation below. But the sound of gunfire and shouting from the mansion grounds told him the human mercenaries were making their assault, trying to breach his home while the dragons battled overhead.
Focus on the dragon battle, her voice whispered through their telepathic link, fierce and steady despite the chaos surrounding her. We've got it handled down here.
He afforded himself one glance down and saw exactly what she meant.
His mate moved like a general commanding troops, her red silk gown somehow still elegant despite the dust and urgency as she guided elderly dragon shifters and younglings toward the reinforced shelters.
Bram stood beside her, his ancient authority helping to maintain order among the frightened clan members.
But the sight of armed mercenaries storming his mansion's perimeter sent fresh rage coursing through Rune's veins.
His enforcers were holding the line, but he could see muzzle flashes and the distinctive figure of Serena directing some of the human assault teams toward his most vulnerable entry points.
The only things that gave him comfort in this grave moment were that his territory wasn't burning yet, his people were reaching safety, and Maple was proving she belonged at his side in every way that mattered.
Then a shadow passed overhead, and Rune's attention snapped back to the aerial battle.
There, circling the carnage with the detached amusement of a spectator at a gladiator match, flew Elias.
The rogue's smoke-grey scales caught the moonlight, and even at this distance, Rune could see the cruel satisfaction in those pale dragon eyes.
Watching. Waiting. Letting others die while he stays safe.
The coward's strategy ignited something primal and furious in Rune's chest. With a roar that shook the canyon walls, he broke away from the main battle and shot toward Elias like a black meteor.
The rogue tried to bank away, but centuries of territorial dominance had made Rune faster, stronger, and infinitely more motivated.
Elias's telepathic voice slithered through Rune's mind as they collided in midair, claws and fangs seeking vulnerable flesh.
You think this changes anything? All I'm doing is taking what I deserved from the beginning. You're weak, Trigg. Love has made you soft, but delightfully accessible.
Rune's answering flame seared across Elias's wing membrane, the smell of burning scale and flesh filling the air between them.
The only thing you deserve is to die for every clan you've destroyed and every life you've taken.
They grappled and twisted through the sky, trading blows that would have killed lesser dragons.
Elias managed to sink his claws deep into Rune's flank, but Rune's retaliating bite crushed bone in the rogue's shoulder.
Blood streamed from both combatants as they fought with the primal fury of apex predators.
Maple's voice suddenly reached him again, filled with love and absolute faith.
Fight for us. Fight for our future.
Those words sent a surge of power through Rune's exhausted frame that felt like touching lightning. His claws found purchase on Elias's throat, and this time when his jaws clamped down, there was no escape. The killing bite crushed windpipe and spine in one devastating motion.
Elias's eyes went wide with shock, then dim with approaching death. His massive form went limp, and Rune released him to watch the rogue's body plummet toward the canyon floor far below.
Around him, the battle was ending. His dragons and Kade were finishing off the last of the hostile forces, their coordinated assault leaving no survivors among the invading rogues.
On the ground, the gunfire had ceased, and he could see his enforcers standing victorious among the defeated mercenaries.
I'm safe, Maple assured him before he could even ask. Everyone's safe. Come to me.
Rune's battered wings carried him swiftly toward her—a shelter a mile from the mansion where she'd successfully evacuated the most vulnerable clan members. When he landed and shifted back to human form, his body was a map of cuts and bruises, blood streaking his skin from a dozen wounds.
But none of that mattered the moment Maple's arms wrapped around him, her warmth and strength anchoring him to everything that made the fight worthwhile. He pulled her against his chest, breathing in her scent and letting the reality of their survival wash over him.
They held each other in the moonlit canyon, two souls who had found their way home despite impossible odds. Around them, his clan began emerging from the shelters, their faces filled with awe and gratitude as they realized their Alpha and his mate had saved not just their lives, but their future.
Love hadn't destroyed him, Rune realized as Maple's arms tightened around him. It had made him unstoppable.